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Publications

Products (journal articles, reports, fact sheets) authored by current and past scientists are listed below. Please check the USGS Pubs Warehouse for other USGS publications.

Filter Total Items: 1913

Evidence for low-grade metamorphism, hydrothermal alteration, and diagenesis on Mars from phyllosilicate mineral assemblages Evidence for low-grade metamorphism, hydrothermal alteration, and diagenesis on Mars from phyllosilicate mineral assemblages

The enhanced spatial and spectral resolution provided by the Compact Reconnaissance Imaging Spectrometer for Mars (CRISM) on the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter (MRO) has led to the discovery of numerous hydrated silicate minerals on Mars, particularly in the ancient, cratered crust comprising the southern highlands. Phases recently identified using visible/near-infrared spectra include...
Authors
Bethany L. Ehlmann, John F Mustard, Roger N. Clark, Gregg A. Swayze, Scott L. Murchie

The Christiansen Effect in Saturn's narrow dusty rings and the spectral identification of clumps in the F ring The Christiansen Effect in Saturn's narrow dusty rings and the spectral identification of clumps in the F ring

Stellar occultations by Saturn’s rings observed with the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini spacecraft reveal that dusty features such as the F ring and the ringlets in the Encke and the Laplace Gaps have distinctive infrared transmission spectra. These spectra show a narrow optical depth minimum at wavelengths around 2.87 μm. This minimum is likely due...
Authors
M.M. Hedman, P. D. Nicholson, M.R. Showalter, R. H. Brown, B. J. Buratti, R. N. Clark, K. Baines, Christophe Sotin

M is for millstone M is for millstone

Among the many European millstones, the geology of the French burrstone was prized for the effect of its quartz grain.
Authors
W. H. Langer

Correlation between deep fluids, tremor and creep along the central San Andreas fault Correlation between deep fluids, tremor and creep along the central San Andreas fault

The seismicity pattern along the San Andreas fault near Parkfield and Cholame, California, varies distinctly over a length of only fifty kilometres. Within the brittle crust, the presence of frictionally weak minerals, fault-weakening high fluid pressures and chemical weakening are considered possible causes of an anomalously weak fault northwest of Parkfield. Non-volcanic tremor from...
Authors
M. Becken, O. Ritter, P. A. Bedrosian, U. Weckmann

Shallow lithological structure across the Dead Sea Transform derived from geophysical experiments Shallow lithological structure across the Dead Sea Transform derived from geophysical experiments

In the framework of the DEad SEa Rift Transect (DESERT) project a 150 km magnetotelluric profile consisting of 154 sites was carried out across the Dead Sea Transform. The resistivity model presented shows conductive structures in the western section of the study area terminating abruptly at the Arava Fault. For a more detailed analysis we performed a joint interpretation of the...
Authors
J. Stankiewicz, G. Munoz, O. Ritter, Paul A. Bedrosian, T. Ryberg, U. Weckmann, M. Weber

Magmatic-vapor expansion and the formation of high-sulfidation gold deposits: Chemical controls on alteration and mineralization Magmatic-vapor expansion and the formation of high-sulfidation gold deposits: Chemical controls on alteration and mineralization

Large bulk-tonnage high-sulfidation gold deposits, such as Yanacocha, Peru, are the surface expression of structurally-controlled lode gold deposits, such as El Indio, Chile. Both formed in active andesite–dacite volcanic terranes. Fluid inclusion, stable isotope and geologic data show that lode deposits formed within 1500 m of the paleo-surface as a consequence of the expansion of low...
Authors
Richard W. Henley, Byron R. Berger

Porphyry Cu indicator minerals in till as an exploration tool: Example from the giant Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit, Alaska, USA Porphyry Cu indicator minerals in till as an exploration tool: Example from the giant Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit, Alaska, USA

Porphyry Cu indicator minerals are mineral species in clastic sediments that indicate the presence of mineralization and hydrothermal alteration associated with porphyry Cu and associated skarn deposits. Porphyry Cu indicator minerals recovered from shallow till samples near the giant Pebble Cu-Au-Mo porphyry deposit in SW Alaska, USA, include apatite, andradite garnet, Mn-epidote...
Authors
Karen D. Kelley, Robert G. Eppinger, J. Lang, Steven M. Smith, David L. Fey

Sources and physical processes responsible for OH/H2O in the lunar soil as revealed by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) Sources and physical processes responsible for OH/H2O in the lunar soil as revealed by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)

Analysis of two absorption features near 3 m in the lunar reflectance spectrum, observed by the orbiting M3 spectrometer and interpreted as being due to OH and H2O, is presented, and the results are used to discuss the processes producing these molecules. This analysis focuses on the dependence of the absorptions on lunar physical properties, including composition, illumination, latitude...
Authors
T. B. McCord, L.A. Taylor, J. #NAME? Combe, G. Kramer, C.M. Pieters, J.M. Sunshine, R. N. Clark

Compositional diversity and geologic insights of the Aristarchus crater from Moon Mineralogy Mapper data Compositional diversity and geologic insights of the Aristarchus crater from Moon Mineralogy Mapper data

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) acquired high spatial and spectral resolution data of the Aristarchus Plateau with 140 m/pixel in 85 spectral bands from 0.43 to 3.0 m. The data were collected as radiance and converted to reflectance using the observational constraints and a solar spectrum scaled to the Moon-Sun distance. Summary spectral parameters for the area of mafic silicate 1 and 2...
Authors
J.F. Mustard, C.M. Pieters, P.J. Isaacson, J.W. Head, S. Besse, R. N. Clark, R.L. Klima, N.E. Petro, M.I. Staid, J.M. Sunshine, C.J. Runyon, S. Tompkins

Mapping the distribution of materials in hyperspectral data using the USGS Material Identification and Characterization Algorithm (MICA) Mapping the distribution of materials in hyperspectral data using the USGS Material Identification and Characterization Algorithm (MICA)

Identifying materials by measuring and analyzing their reflectance spectra has been an important method in analytical chemistry for decades. Airborne and space-based imaging spectrometers allow scientists to detect materials and map their distributions across the landscape. With new satellite-borne hyperspectral sensors planned for the future, for example, HYSPIRI (HYPerspectral InfraRed...
Authors
Raymond F. Kokaly, T. V. V. King, Todd M. Hoefen

Optical maturity variation in lunar spectra as measured by Moon Mineralogy Mapper data Optical maturity variation in lunar spectra as measured by Moon Mineralogy Mapper data

High spectral and spatial resolution data from the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) instrument on Chandrayaan-1 are used to investigate in detail changes in the optical properties of lunar materials accompanying space weathering. Three spectral parameters were developed and used to quantify spectral effects commonly thought to be associated with increasing optical maturity: an increase in...
Authors
J.W. Nettles, M. Staid, S. Besse, J. Boardman, R. N. Clark, D. Dhingra, P. Isaacson, R. Klima, G. Kramer, C.M. Pieters, L.A. Taylor

Ammonium in thermal waters of Yellowstone National Park: Processes affecting speciation and isotope fractionation Ammonium in thermal waters of Yellowstone National Park: Processes affecting speciation and isotope fractionation

Dissolved inorganic nitrogen, largely in reduced form (NH4(T)≈NH4(aq)++NH3(aq)o), has been documented in thermal waters throughout Yellowstone National Park, with concentrations ranging from a few micromolar along the Firehole River to millimolar concentrations at Washburn Hot Springs. Indirect evidence from rock nitrogen analyses and previous work on organic compounds associated with...
Authors
J.M. Holloway, D. Kirk Nordstrom, J.K. Böhlke, R. Blaine McCleskey, J.W. Ball
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