Publications

Pb isotope compositions of detrital K-feldspars and U-Pb ages of detrital zircons are used as indicators for determining the sources of Peoria Loess deposited during the last glacial period (late Wisconsin, ca. 25–14 ka) in Nebraska and western Iowa. Our new data indicate that only loess adjacent to the Platte River has Pb isotopic characteristics suggesting derivation from this river...

Limestone, as used by the minerals industry, is any rock composed mostly of calcium carbonate (CaCO3). Although limestone is common in many parts of the United States, it is critically absent from some. Limestone is used to produce Portland cement, as aggregate in concrete and asphalt, and in an enormous array of other products, making it a truly versatile commodity. Portland cement is...

Estimates of numbers of mineral deposits are fundamental to assessing undiscovered mineral resources. Just as frequencies of grades and tonnages of well-explored deposits can be used to represent the grades and tonnages of undiscovered deposits, the density of deposits (deposits/area) in well-explored control areas can serve to represent the number of deposits. Empirical evidence...

No abstract available.

The Steens Basalt, now considered part of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG), contains the earliest eruptions of this magmatic episode. Lava flows of the Steens Basalt cover about 50,000 km2 of the Oregon Plateau in sections up to 1000 m thick. The large number of continuously exposed, quickly erupted lava flows (some sections contain over 200 flows) allows for small loops in the...

No abstract available.

A distinctive set of fine-grained deposits occurs throughout the lower Colorado River Valley, extending from just below the mouth of Grand Canyon to well into the river delta below Yuma, AZ (Figure 1), an along-channel distance of over 700 km. Upstream of Parker, Arizona, the deposits consist of scattered erosional remnants up to 150 m above the modern floodplain. Below Parker, they...

This rapid trip will explore wild fluvial and tectonic events resulting in scenic and rugged topography. The extreme differences in elevation caused valleys to be choked by alluvium and incised by the Colorado River drainage system.

Deposits in lower Mohave Valley and upper Topock Gorge near Topock, Arizona and Park Moabi, California record a succession of depositional and erosional events since late Miocene time that relate to the development of the Colorado River. Upper Miocene alluvial fans were deposited toward a depocenter east of the present valley bottom, indicating there was no valley outlet then through the...

Yellowstone National Park, rimmed by a crescent of older mountainous terrain, has at its core the Quaternary Yellowstone Plateau, an undulating landscape shaped by forces of volcanism, tectonism, and later glaciation. Its spectacular hydrothermal systems cap this landscape. From 1997 through 2003, the United States Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program conducted a multidisciplinary...

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) cooperated with the Afghanistan Geological Survey (AGS) of the Afghanistan Ministry of Mines to assess the undiscovered non-fuel mineral resources of Afghanistan between 2006 and 2007. This report presents the results of this work and contains chapters describing and assessing the mineral resources of Afghanistan. An accompanying Geographical Information...

The Newark Valley area, eastern Nevada is one of thirteen major ground-water basins investigated by the BARCAS (Basin and Range Carbonate Aquifer Study) Project. Gravity data are being used to help characterize the geophysical framework of the region. Although gravity coverage was extensive over parts of the BARCAS study area, data were sparse for a number of the valleys, including the...