Publications
Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Filter Total Items: 2477
Synergy between geology and geophysics in graphite mineral resource assessment Synergy between geology and geophysics in graphite mineral resource assessment
Graphite is designated as a critical mineral by the U.S. Government due to its essential role in modern technology and its vulnerability to supply chain disruption. To evaluate domestic graphite resources, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted two airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys as part of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) over prospective areas in the...
Authors
Patricia Grace Macqueen, George N.D. Case, Paul A. Bedrosian, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Susan M. Karl, Graham W. Lederer, Elizabeth M. Bollen, John Whitmore, Dane VanDervoort, Abraham M. Emond, Logan Fusso, Philip J. Brown, Gregory J. Walsh, Keith A. Labay, Martha Stokes, Andrew Arnold Stewart
Petrogenesis and mineralization potential of the Bradley Peak komatiitic basalts, Wyoming Province Petrogenesis and mineralization potential of the Bradley Peak komatiitic basalts, Wyoming Province
The ca. 2.72 Ga Bradley Peak greenstone terrane in the Wyoming Province contains spinifex- and cumulate-textured komatiitic volcanic rocks that may host Ni-Cu-PGE sulfide mineralization. New whole rock geochemistry classifies these rocks as Al-undepleted komatiitic basalts derived from a parental melt with ~17 wt. % MgO. Isotopic data (Sm-Nd, Re-Os) and REE profiles suggest a plume...
Authors
Lisa Joanne Zieman, Michael Jenkins, Michael L. Zientek, Jacob Evan Poletti, Alan D. Rooney
Favorability mapping for hydrothermal power resource assessments of the Great Basin, USA Favorability mapping for hydrothermal power resource assessments of the Great Basin, USA
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) is updating the 2008 assessment of conventional hydrothermal resources for the Great Basin in the western United States. As part of this work, the workflow for hydrothermal resource favorability maps is being modified to integrate modern data-driven machine learning (ML) methods. Improvements include: [1] using new and refined evidence layers (features)...
Authors
Stanley Paul Mordensky, Erick R. Burns, John Lipor, Jacob DeAngelo
Gravity and magnetic surveys of the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland Gravity and magnetic surveys of the Skaergaard intrusion, East Greenland
Aeromagnetic and gravity surveys of the Skaergaard intrusion in East Greenland were carried out in July–August 1971 as part of a grant to the University of Oregon Center for Volcanology to refine the models of crystallization and differentiation of the intrusion, specifically to test whether the intrusion is underlain by dense rocks of a reservoir 20 kilometers (km) thick (referred to as...
Authors
Mark E. Gettings
Dynamic feedbacks between river meandering and landsliding in northwestern Washington glacial terraces Dynamic feedbacks between river meandering and landsliding in northwestern Washington glacial terraces
Landsliding in river valleys poses unique risks for cascading hazards and can damage infrastructure and cause fatalities. In postglacial valleys, many landslides are posited to occur in relation to lateral river erosion, but the dynamics of fluvial-hillslope interactions are not well understood. Here, we investigate a section of the Nooksack River in western Washington State where the...
Authors
Shelby Marie Ahrendt, Benjamin Mirus, Sean Richard LaHusen, Jonathan Patrick Perkins
Arctic fold-and-thrust belts Arctic fold-and-thrust belts
The modern Arctic has been formed through a series of continent–continent collisions, accretion of terranes and phases of crustal extension. The Neoproterozoic Timanian, Paleozoic Caledonian and Uralian, and late Mesozoic Verkhoyansk–Kolyma, Chukotkan and Brookian orogenies formed several large fold-and-thrust belts (FTBs). The FTBs are exposed across vast areas of continents and...
Authors
Sergey S. Drachev, Andrey K. Khudoley, Iwona Klonowska, Jaroslaw Majka, Thomas E. Moore, Karsten Piepjohn, Andrey V. Prokopiev
Dietary bioavailability of uranium to a model freshwater invertebrate Dietary bioavailability of uranium to a model freshwater invertebrate
Uranium (U) mining increases environmental exposures. Understanding how U is taken up by organisms can aid in evaluating the potential for bioaccumulation and toxicity. Although the importance of aqueous geochemical speciation is well recognized for U bioavailability after dissolved exposures, far less is known about the processes controlling U bioavailability after dietary exposures...
Authors
Marie Noele Croteau, Christopher C. Fuller, Daniel J. Cain, Kate M. Campbell
Grand Canyon landslide-dam and paleolake triggered by the Meteor Crater impact at 56 ka Grand Canyon landslide-dam and paleolake triggered by the Meteor Crater impact at 56 ka
This paper hypothesizes that the Meteor Crater impact in Arizona, USA, 56,000 years ago triggered landslides in Grand Canyon that dammed the Colorado River and formed Nankoweap paleolake. This is compatible with shock and earthquake physics for the impact that infer a M5.4 seismic event, attenuated to an effective magnitude of M3.5 at Grand Canyon. Results that support the hypothesis...
Authors
Karl Karlstrom, Christopher H. Baisan, David A. Kring Kring, Richard Hereford, Christian Turney, A. Hogg, Laura M. Norman, P. O’Brien, Jonathon Palmer, T.M. Rittenour, J. Ballensky, L.J. Crossey
‘The fish that stop’: Drivers of historical decline for Pacific cod and implications for modern management in an era of rapidly changing climate ‘The fish that stop’: Drivers of historical decline for Pacific cod and implications for modern management in an era of rapidly changing climate
n the Gulf of Alaska, a series of marine heat waves depleted Pacific cod (Gadus macrocephalus) biomass to the lowest abundance ever recorded and led to the fishery’s closure in 2020. Although the fishery has been productive for decades, this collapse may have historical precedents. Traditional knowledge holders refer to cod as ‘the fish that stop’, and there is a suggested period of...
Authors
Loren McClenachan, Bruce T. Anderson, Jason A. Addison, Steven J. Barbeaux, Karoline Moore, Kai Muir, Katherine L. Reedy, Ingrid B. Spies, Catherine F. West
Avian navigation: Comparing the olfactory navigational “map” and the infrasound direction-finding hypotheses to aeronautics Avian navigation: Comparing the olfactory navigational “map” and the infrasound direction-finding hypotheses to aeronautics
Animal navigation has long been a fascinating but bewildering subject. Humans and animals might well share similar navigational strategies because they developed within the same physical environments. A “map-and-compass” model has been proposed to explain the two-step avian navigational process, but the “map” step has remained elusive. Although scalar values from bicoordinate geomagnetic...
Authors
Jonathan T. Hagstrum
Permafrost–wildfire interactions: active layer thickness estimates for paired burned and unburned sites in northern high latitudes Permafrost–wildfire interactions: active layer thickness estimates for paired burned and unburned sites in northern high latitudes
As the northern high-latitude permafrost zone experiences accelerated warming, permafrost has become vulnerable to widespread thaw. Simultaneously, wildfire activity across northern boreal forest and Arctic/subarctic tundra regions impacts permafrost stability through the combustion of insulating organic matter, vegetation, and post-fire changes in albedo. Efforts to synthesis the...
Authors
Anna Talucci, Michael M. Loranty, Jean E. Holloway, Brendan M. Rogers, Heather D. Alexander, Natalie Baillargeon, Jennifer L. Baltzer, Logan T. Berner, Amy Breen, Leya Brodt, Brian Buma, Jacqueline Dean, Clement J.F. Delcourt, Lucas R. Diaz, Catherine M. Dieleman, Thomas A. Douglas, Gerald Frost, Benjamin V. Gaglioti, Rebecca E. Hewitt, Teresa N. Hollingsworth, M. Torre Jorenson, Mark J. Lara, Rachel A. Loehman, Michelle C. Mack, Kristen L. Manies, Christina Minions, Susan M. Natali, Jonathan A. O’Donnell, David Olefeldt, Alison K. Paulson, Adrian V. Rocha, Lisa B. Saperstein, T.A. Shestakova, Seeta Sistla, Oleg Sizov, Andrey Soromotin, Merritt R. Turetksy, Sander Veraverbeke, Michelle A. Walvoord
Complex carbonate ore mineralogy in the Mountain Pass carbonatite rare earth element deposit, USA Complex carbonate ore mineralogy in the Mountain Pass carbonatite rare earth element deposit, USA
Economic concentrations of rare earth element (REE) minerals are uncommon in the Earth’s crust, with most occurring in carbonatites. Unlike most igneous rocks composed of silicate minerals, carbonatites are dominated by carbonate minerals, some of which can incorporate significant light REEs (LREEs; La, Ce, Pr, Nd). Technological applications of REEs are numerous and they have been...
Authors
Kathryn E. Watts, Allen K. Andersen