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
P is for pit P is for pit
A gravel pit that was a source of happy childhood memories showcases the evolution of mining technology.
Authors
W. H. Langer
O is for obsidian O is for obsidian
Although a relative youngster in geologic terms, obsidian can change over time from glass to mineral.
Authors
W. H. Langer
N is for non-metallic N is for non-metallic
Annual non-metallic minerals are typically twice the value of metallic minerals, which takes a little of the sparkle out of gold.
Authors
W. H. Langer
Search for and limits on plume activity on Mimas, Tethys, and Dione with the Cassini Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) Search for and limits on plume activity on Mimas, Tethys, and Dione with the Cassini Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS)
Cassini Visual Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) observations of Mimas, Tethys, and Dione obtained during the nominal and extended missions at large solar phase angles were analyzed to search for plume activity. No forward scattered peaks in the solar phase curves of these satellites were detected. The upper limit on water vapor production for Mimas and Tethys is one order of...
Authors
B. J. Buratti, S.P. Faulk, J. Mosher, K. H. Baines, R. H. Brown, Randal C. Clark, P. D. Nicholson
Origin of minor and trace element compositional diversity in anorthitic feldspar phenocrysts and melt inclusions from the Juan de Fuca Ridge Origin of minor and trace element compositional diversity in anorthitic feldspar phenocrysts and melt inclusions from the Juan de Fuca Ridge
Melt inclusions trapped in phenocryst phases are important primarily due to their potential of preserving a significant proportion of the diversity of magma composition prior to modification of the parent magma array during transport through the crust. The goal of this investigation was to evaluate the impact of formational and post-entrapment processes on the composition of melt...
Authors
David T. Adams, Roger L. Nielsen, Adam J. R. Kent, Frank J. Tepley
Lunar mare deposits associated with the Orientale impact basin: New insights into mineralogy, history, mode of emplacement, and relation to Orientale Basin evolution from Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data from Chandrayaan-1 Lunar mare deposits associated with the Orientale impact basin: New insights into mineralogy, history, mode of emplacement, and relation to Orientale Basin evolution from Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) data from Chandrayaan-1
Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3) image and spectral reflectance data are combined to analyze mare basalt units in and adjacent to the Orientale multiring impact basin. Models are assessed for the relationships between basin formation and mare basalt emplacement. Mare basalt emplacement on the western nearside limb began prior to the Orientale event as evidenced by the presence of cryptomaria...
Authors
J. Whitten, J.W. Head, M. Staid, C.M. Pieters, J. Mustard, R. Clark, J. Nettles, R.L. Klima, L. Taylor
The dispersion of fibrous amphiboles by glacial processes in the area surrounding Libby, Montana, USA The dispersion of fibrous amphiboles by glacial processes in the area surrounding Libby, Montana, USA
Mining operations began at a world-class vermiculite deposit at Vermiculite Mountain near Libby, Montana, circa 1920 and ended in 1990. Fibrous and asbestiform amphiboles intergrown with vermiculite ore are suspected to be a causative factor in an abnormally high number of cases of respiratory diseases in former mine and mill workers, and in residents of Libby. The question addressed in...
Authors
William H. Langer, Bradley S. Van Gosen, Gregory P. Meeker, David T. Adams, Todd M. Hoefen
Aeromagnetic anomalies over faulted strata Aeromagnetic anomalies over faulted strata
High-resolution aeromagnetic surveys are now an industry standard and they commonly detect anomalies that are attributed to faults within sedimentary basins. However, detailed studies identifying geologic sources of magnetic anomalies in sedimentary environments are rare in the literature. Opportunities to study these sources have come from well-exposed sedimentary basins of the Rio...
Authors
V. J. S. Grauch, Mark R. Hudson
A first look at the petroleum geology of the Lomonosov Ridge microcontinent, Arctic Ocean A first look at the petroleum geology of the Lomonosov Ridge microcontinent, Arctic Ocean
The Lomonosov microcontinent is an elongated continental fragment that transects the Arctic Ocean between North America and Siberia via the North Pole. Although it lies beneath polar pack ice, the geological framework of the microcontinent is inferred from sparse seismic reflection data, a few cores, potential field data and the geology of its conjugate margin in the Barents–Kara Shelf...
Authors
Thomas E. Moore, Arthur Grantz, Janet K. Pitman, Philip J. Brown
Mg-spinel lithology: A new rock type on the lunar farside Mg-spinel lithology: A new rock type on the lunar farside
High-resolution compositional data from Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M 3) for the Moscoviense region on the lunar farside reveal three unusual, but distinctive, rock types along the inner basin ring. These are designated "OOS" since they are dominated by high concentrations of orthopyroxene, olivine, and Mg-rich spinel, respectively. The OOS occur as small areas, each a few kilometers in size...
Authors
C.M. Pieters, S. Besse, J. Boardman, B. Buratti, L. Cheek, R. N. Clark, J. #NAME? Combe, D. Dhingra, J.N. Goswami, R.O. Green, J.W. Head, P. Isaacson, R. Klima, G. Kramer, S. Lundeen, E. Malaret, T. McCord, J. Mustard, J. Nettles, N. Petro, C. Runyon, M. Staid, J. Sunshine, L.A. Taylor, K. Thaisen, S. Tompkins, J. Whitten