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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

Geophysical data provide three dimensional insights into porphyry copper systems in the Silverton caldera, Colorado, USA Geophysical data provide three dimensional insights into porphyry copper systems in the Silverton caldera, Colorado, USA

The Silverton caldera in southwest Colorado, USA hosts polymetallic veins and pervasively altered rocks indicative of porphyry copper systems. Nearly a kilometer of erosion has exposed multiple levels of the hydrothermal systems from shallow lithocaps down to quartz-sericite-pyrite veins. New airborne electromagnetic and magnetic survey data are integrated with previous alteration...
Authors
Eric D. Anderson, Douglas Yager, Maria Deszcz-Pan, Bennett Eugene Hoogenboom, Brian D. Rodriguez, Bruce Smith

First principles calibration of 40Ar abundances in 40Ar/39Ar mineral neutron fluence monitors: Methodology and preliminary results First principles calibration of 40Ar abundances in 40Ar/39Ar mineral neutron fluence monitors: Methodology and preliminary results

The accuracy and traceability of geochronometers are of vital importance to questions asked by many Earth scientists. The widely applied 40Ar/39Ar geochronometer relies on the co-irradiation of samples with neutron fluence monitors (reference materials) of known ages; the ages and uncertainties of these monitors are critical to our ability to apply this chronometer. Previously, first...
Authors
Leah E. Morgan, Brett Davidheiser-Kroll, Klaudia F. Kuiper, Darren F. Mark, Noah M. McLean, Jan Wijbrans

Tectonics, fault zones, and topography in the Alaska-Canada Cordillera with a focus on the Alaska Range and Denali fault zone Tectonics, fault zones, and topography in the Alaska-Canada Cordillera with a focus on the Alaska Range and Denali fault zone

Synergistic interactions between geologic structures and topography have long been recognized to reflect numerous Earth processes and rock properties over time. It was not until the advent of plate tectonics in the midtwentieth century that researchers began to view the nature of the northern Cordillera orogen as a quilt of foreign pieces of crust or “suspect terranes”. The Alaska Range...
Authors
Jonathan Saul Caine, Jeff A. Benowitz

A case of Te-rich low-sulfidation epithermal Au-Ag deposits in a calc-alkaline magmatic arc, NE China A case of Te-rich low-sulfidation epithermal Au-Ag deposits in a calc-alkaline magmatic arc, NE China

Tellurium-bearing low-sulfidation epithermal Au-Ag deposits are significant producers of gold, silver, and potentially strategic elements if mineral processing methods are optimized for recovery. Although these deposits are generally related to alkaline magmatism, our study documents an unusual occurrence of Te-rich low-sulfidation epithermal systems in the North Heilongjiang Belt in...
Authors
Shen Gao, Albert H. Hofstra, K. Qin, H. Xue

Rapid and gradual permafrost thaw: A tale of two sites Rapid and gradual permafrost thaw: A tale of two sites

Warming temperatures and increasing disturbance by wildfire and extreme weather events is driving permafrost change across northern latitudes. The state of permafrost varies widely in space and time, depending on landscape, climate, hydrologic, and ecological factors. Despite its importance, few approaches commonly measure and monitor the changes in deep (>1 m) permafrost conditions with...
Authors
Burke J. Minsley, Neal Pastick, Stephanie R. James, Dana R.N. Brown, Bruce K. Wylie, Mason A. Kass, Vladimir E. Romanovsky

Formation of orogenic gold deposits by progressive movement of a fault-fracture mesh through the upper crustal brittle-ductile transition zone Formation of orogenic gold deposits by progressive movement of a fault-fracture mesh through the upper crustal brittle-ductile transition zone

Orogenic gold deposits are comprised of complex quartz vein arrays that form as a result of fluid flow along transcrustal fault zones in active orogenic belts. Mineral precipitation in these deposits occurs under variable pressure conditions, but a mechanism explaining how the pressure regimes evolve through time has not previously been proposed. Here we show that extensional quartz...
Authors
Miguel Tavares Nassif, Thomas Monecke, T. James Reynolds, Yvette D. Kuiper, Richard J. Goldfarb, Sandra Piazolo, Heather A. Lowers

Antimony in mine wastes: Geochemistry, mineralogy, microbiology Antimony in mine wastes: Geochemistry, mineralogy, microbiology

Antimony (Sb) is a valuable mined commodity, used mostly in fire retardants, and considered a critical element. It is also a potential environment hazard classed as a carcinogen. Antimony is concentrated in tailings and waste rock from Sb mines as well as other locations, such as precious metal deposits, where Sb is present in the ore but not recovered. This review covers the aqueous...
Authors
Anezka Borcinova Radkova, Heather E. Jamieson, Kate M. Campbell, Karen A. Hudson-Edwards

Improving gas-derived parameterization of groundwater using free phase gas measurements Improving gas-derived parameterization of groundwater using free phase gas measurements

Dissolved atmogenic gasses in groundwater provide significant information about recharge conditions, flowpath, and age. Free phase gas in aquifers is largely ignored in these analyses and there is a lack of quantitative analysis for gas flux mechanisms. Many related fields encountering multiphase flow acknowledge that the presence of bubbles allows for the rapid exsolution of dissolved...
Authors
Robert J Agnew, Andrew G. Hunt, Todd Halihan

Geoelectric constraints on the Precambrian assembly and architecture of southern Laurentia Geoelectric constraints on the Precambrian assembly and architecture of southern Laurentia

Using images from an updated and expanded three-dimensional electrical conductivity synthesis model for the contiguous United States (CONUS), we highlight the key continent-scale geoelectric structures that are associated with the Precambrian assembly of southern Laurentia. Conductivity anomalies are associated with the Trans-Hudson orogen, the Penokean suture, the ca. 1.8–1.7 Ga...
Authors
Benjamin Scott Murphy, Paul A. Bedrosian, Anna Kelbert

Incorporating streambank wells in stream mass loading studies to more effectively identify sources of solutes in stream water Incorporating streambank wells in stream mass loading studies to more effectively identify sources of solutes in stream water

Stream synoptic sampling studies that include flow estimates derived from the stream tracer dilution method are now commonly performed to identify sources and processes controlling solute transport to streams. However, a limitation of this mass-loading approach is its inability to identify the side of the stream on which a source is located in the common case where loading is largely...
Authors
Andrew H. Manning, Robert L. Runkel, Jean M. Morrison, Richard Wanty, Katherine Walton-Day

GSPy: A new toolbox and data standard for Geophysical Datasets GSPy: A new toolbox and data standard for Geophysical Datasets

The diversity of geophysical methods and datatypes, as well as the isolated nature of various specialties (e.g., electromagnetic, seismic, potential fields) leads to a profusion of separate data file formats and documentation conventions. This can hinder cooperation and reduce the impact of datasets researchers have invested in heavily to collect and prepare. An open, portable, and well...
Authors
Stephanie R. James, Nathan Leon Foks, Burke J. Minsley

Cathodoluminescence response of barite at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures Cathodoluminescence response of barite at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures

Rare earth element (REE) enrichment in the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska USA, is comparable to ore grade enrichment in carbonatite-hosted REE deposits[1]. Petrographic examination of textures documents a complex history of crystallization, brecciation, recrystallization, oxidation, and near surface alteration. Barite (BaSO4) is present in most units, including REE-enriched zones, such...
Authors
Heather A. Lowers, Colin MacRae, Nick Wilson, Philip Verplanck
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