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Publications

Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Filter Total Items: 2537

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 trans-dimensional Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for model assessment using frequency-domain electromagnetic data A trans-dimensional Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo algorithm for model assessment using frequency-domain electromagnetic data

A meaningful interpretation of geophysical measurements requires an assessment of the space of models that are consistent with the data, rather than just a single, ‘best’ model which does not convey information about parameter uncertainty. For this purpose, a trans-dimensional Bayesian Markov chain Monte Carlo (MCMC) algorithm is developed for assessing frequencydomain electromagnetic...
Authors
Burke J. Minsley

Disaster risk assessment case study: Recent drought on the Navajo Nation, USA Disaster risk assessment case study: Recent drought on the Navajo Nation, USA

The Navajo Nation is an ecologically sensitive semi-arid to arid section of the southern Colorado Plateau. In this remote part of the United States, located at the Four Corners (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah), traditional people live a subsistence lifestyle that is inextricably tied to, and dependent upon, landscape conditions and water supplies. Soft bedrock lithologies and...
Authors
Margaret Hiza, Klara B. Kelley, Harris Francis, Debra Block

Positive feedback and momentum growth during debris-flow entrainment of wet bed sediment Positive feedback and momentum growth during debris-flow entrainment of wet bed sediment

Debris flows typically occur when intense rainfall or snowmelt triggers landslides or extensive erosion on steep, debris-mantled slopes. The flows can then grow dramatically in size and speed as they entrain material from their beds and banks, but the mechanism of this growth is unclear. Indeed, momentum conservation implies that entrainment of static material should retard the motion of...
Authors
Richard M. Iverson, Mark E. Reid, Matthew Logan, Richard G. Lahusen, Jonathan W. Godt, Julia P. Griswold

Chromium(VI) generation in vadose zone soils and alluvial sediments of the southwestern Sacramento Valley, California: a potential source of geogenic Cr(VI) to groundwater Chromium(VI) generation in vadose zone soils and alluvial sediments of the southwestern Sacramento Valley, California: a potential source of geogenic Cr(VI) to groundwater

Concentrations of geogenic Cr(VI) in groundwater that exceed the World Health Organization’s maximum contaminant level for drinking water (50 μg L−1) occur in several locations globally. The major mechanism for mobilization of this Cr(VI) at these sites is the weathering of Cr(III) from ultramafic rocks and its subsequent oxidation on Mn oxides. This process may be occurring in the...
Authors
Christopher T. Mills, Jean M. Morrison, Martin B. Goldhaber, Karl J. Ellefsen

Magmatic-vapor expansion and the formation of high-sulfidation gold deposits: Structural controls on hydrothermal alteration and ore mineralization Magmatic-vapor expansion and the formation of high-sulfidation gold deposits: Structural controls on hydrothermal alteration and ore mineralization

High-sulfidation copper–gold lode deposits such as Chinkuashih, Taiwan, Lepanto, Philippines, and Goldfield, Nevada, formed within 1500 m of the paleosurface in volcanic terranes. All underwent an early stage of extensive advanced argillic silica–alunite alteration followed by an abrupt change to spatially much more restricted stages of fracture-controlled sulfide–sulfosalt mineral...
Authors
Byron R. Berger, Richard W. Henley

Updated paleomagnetic pole from Cretaceous plutonic rocks of the Sierra Nevada, California: Tectonic displacement of the Sierra Nevada block Updated paleomagnetic pole from Cretaceous plutonic rocks of the Sierra Nevada, California: Tectonic displacement of the Sierra Nevada block

We report remanent magnetization measurements from 13 sites in Cretaceous plutonic rocks in the northern Sierra Nevada (38°N–39.5°N). By increasing the number of available paleomagnetic sites, the new data tighten constraints on the displacement history of the Sierra Nevada block and its pre-extensional position relative to interior North America. We collected samples in freshly exposed...
Authors
John W. Hillhouse, Sherman Gromme

Early growth of Kohala volcano and formation of long Hawaiian rift zones Early growth of Kohala volcano and formation of long Hawaiian rift zones

Transitional-composition pillow basalts from the toe of the Hilo Ridge, collected from outcrop by submersible, have yielded the oldest ages known from the Island of Hawaii: 1138 ± 34 to 1159 ± 33 ka. Hilo Ridge has long been interpreted as a submarine rift zone of Mauna Kea, but the new ages validate proposals that it is the distal east rift zone of Kohala, the oldest subaerial volcano...
Authors
Peter W. Lipman, Andrew T. Calvert

Three-dimensional model of an ultramafic feeder system to the Nikolai Greenstone mafic large igneous province, central Alaska Range Three-dimensional model of an ultramafic feeder system to the Nikolai Greenstone mafic large igneous province, central Alaska Range

The Amphitheater Mountains and southern central Alaska Range expose a thick sequence of Triassic Nikolai basalts that is underlain by several mafic‐ultramafic complexes, the largest and best exposed being the Fish Lake and Tangle (FL‐T) mafic‐ultramafic sills that flank the Amphitheater Mountains synform. Three‐dimensional (3‐D) modeling of gravity and magnetic data reveals details of...
Authors
Jonathan M.G. Glen, Jeanine M. Schmidt, G. G. Connard

Deciphering fluid sources of hydrothermal systems: A combined Sr- and S-isotope study on barite (Schwarzwald, SW Germany) Deciphering fluid sources of hydrothermal systems: A combined Sr- and S-isotope study on barite (Schwarzwald, SW Germany)

Primary and secondary barites from hydrothermal mineralizations in SW Germany were investigated, for the first time, by a combination of strontium (Sr) isotope systematics (87Sr/86Sr), Sr contents and δ34S values to distinguish fluid sources and precipitation mechanisms responsible for their formation. Barite of Permian age derived its Sr solely from crystalline basement rocks, whereas...
Authors
S. Staude, S. Gob, K. Pfaff, F. Strobele, W. R. Premo, G. Markl

An overview of the petroleum geology of the Arctic An overview of the petroleum geology of the Arctic

Nine main petroleum provinces containing recoverable resources totalling 61 Bbbl liquids+269 Bbbloe of gas are known in the Arctic. The three best known major provinces are: West Siberia–South Kara, Arctic Alaska and Timan–Pechora. They have been sourced principally from, respectively, Upper Jurassic, Triassic and Devonian marine source rocks and their hydrocarbons are reservoired...
Authors
A.M. Spencer, A.F. Embry, Donald L. Gautier, A.V. Stoupakova, K. Sorensen
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