Publications

On September 17 and 18, 2001, samples of settled dust and airfall debris were collected from 34 sites within a 1-km radius of the WTC collapse site, including a sample from an indoor location unaffected by rainfall, and samples of insulation from two steel beams at Ground Zero. Laboratory spectral and x-ray diffraction analyses of the field samples detected trace levels of serpentine...

Success Dam is a zonedearth fill embankment located near Porterville, CA. Studies of Success Dam by the recent Dam Safety Assurance Program (DSAP) have demonstrated the potential for seismic instability and large deformation of the dam due to relatively low levels of earthquake shaking. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers conducted several phases of investigations to determine the...

In order to document the Alamo Event and to investigate its influence on shallow-marine environments, we undertook a study of ostracods, conodonts, and analysis of the sedimentology of the lower member of the type Devils Gate Limestone, Six major carbonate microfacies (MF1-MF6) ranging from open-marine environments below storm wave base to pre-evaporitic supratidal lagoons were...

Spectroscopy is a tool that has been used for decades to identify, understand, and quantify solid, liquid, or gaseous materials, especially in the laboratory. In disciplines ranging from astronomy to chemistry, spectroscopic measurements are used to detect absorption and emission features due to specific chemical bonds, and detailed analyses are used to determine the abundance and...

The gravity method was the first geophysical technique to be used in oil and gas exploration. Despite being eclipsed by seismology, it has continued to be an important and sometimes crucial constraint in a number of exploration areas. In oil exploration the gravity method is particularly applicable in salt provinces, overthrust and foothills belts, underexplored basins, and targets of...

The early Late Devonian (early Frasnian) Alamo Impact targeted an oceanic, off-platform site in southern Nevada, excavating a crater with a final diameter of 44–65 km. The original crater is now dismembered and buried beneath younger rocks. Consequently, its size and site must be deduced through multiple converging lines of geological and paleontological evidence. Previous and new...

The growth in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) has highlighted the need for regional and national digital geologic maps attributed with age and lithology information. Such maps can be conveniently used to generate derivative maps for purposes including mineral-resource assessment, metallogenic studies, tectonic studies, and environmental research. This Open-File Report is...

Stable isotopic (dD and d18O) data indicate about 13% total evaporative concentration has occurred in Yellowstone Lake, yet lake waters are enriched in dissolved As, B, Cl, Cs, Ge, Li, Mo, Sb, and W by at least an order-of-magnitude relative to the flow-weighted composition of inflowing streams. We conclude that lake water is a mixture of inflowing surface water and hydrothermal source...

No abstract available.

The U.S. Geological Survey and the University of Kentucky Center for Applied Energy Research are collaborating with an Indiana utility company to determine the physical and chemical properties of feed coal and coal combustion products from a coal-fired power plant. The Indiana power plant utilizes a low-sulfur (0.23 to 0.47 weight percent S) and lowash (4.9 to 6.3 weight percent ash)...

This report is one in a series that presents results of an interdisciplinary U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) study of ground-water quality in the lower Red River watershed prior to open-pit and underground molybdenite mining at Molycorp’s Questa mine. The stretch of the Red River watershed that extends from just upstream of the town of Red River, N. Mex., to just above the town of Questa...

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Mexico Environment Department, is investigating the pre-mining ground-water chemistry at the Molycorp molybdenum mine in the Red River Valley, northern New Mexico. The primary approach is to determine the processes controlling ground-water chemistry at an unmined, off-site, proximal analog. The Straight Creek drainage basin, chosen...