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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 2482

Alaska and Yukon magnetic compilation, residual total magnetic field Alaska and Yukon magnetic compilation, residual total magnetic field

This map is a compilation of aeromagnetic surveys over Yukon and eastern Alaska. Aeromagnetic surveys measure the total intensity of the earth's magnetic field. The field was measured by a magnetometer aboard an aircraft flown in parallel lines spaced at 200 m to 10000 m across the map area. The magnetic field reflects magnetic properties of bedrock and provides qualitative and...
Authors
W. Miles, Richard W. Saltus, Nathan Hayward, D. Oneschuk

Fluorine Fluorine

Fluorine compounds are essential in numerous chemical and manufacturing processes. Fluorspar is the commercial name for fluorite (isometric CaF2), which is the only fluorine mineral that is mined on a large scale. Fluorspar is used directly as a fluxing material and as an additive in different manufacturing processes. It is the source of fluorine in the production of hydrogen fluoride or
Authors
Timothy S. Hayes, M. Michael Miller, Greta J. Orris, Nadine M. Piatak

Tin Tin

Tin (Sn) is one of the first metals to be used by humans. Almost without exception, tin is used as an alloy. Because of its hardening effect on copper, tin was used in bronze implements as early as 3500 B.C. The major uses of tin today are for cans and containers, construction materials, transportation materials, and solder. The predominant ore mineral of tin, by far, is cassiterite...
Authors
Robert J. Kamilli, Bryn E. Kimball, James F. Carlin

Rare-earth elements Rare-earth elements

The rare-earth elements (REEs) are 15 elements that range in atomic number from 57 (lanthanum) to 71 (lutetium); they are commonly referred to as the “lanthanides.” Yttrium (atomic number 39) is also commonly regarded as an REE because it shares chemical and physical similarities and has affinities with the lanthanides. Although REEs are not rare in terms of average crustal abundance...
Authors
Bradley S. Van Gosen, Philip L. Verplanck, Robert R. Seal,, Keith R. Long, Joseph Gambogi

Platinum-group elements Platinum-group elements

The platinum-group elements (PGEs)—platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium, and osmium—are metals that have similar physical and chemical properties and tend to occur together in nature. PGEs are indispensable to many industrial applications but are mined in only a few places. The availability and accessibility of PGEs could be disrupted by economic, environmental, political...
Authors
Michael L. Zientek, Patricia J. Loferski, Heather L. Parks, Ruth F. Schulte, Robert R. Seal

Barite (Barium) Barite (Barium)

Barite (barium sulfate, BaSO4) is vital to the oil and gas industry because it is a key constituent of the mud used to drill oil and gas wells. Elemental barium is an additive in optical glass, ceramic glazes, and other products. Within the United States, barite is produced mainly from mines in Nevada. Imports in 2011 (the latest year for which complete data were available) accounted for...
Authors
Craig A. Johnson, Nadine M. Piatak, M. Michael Miller

Rhenium Rhenium

Rhenium is one of the rarest elements in Earth’s continental crust; its estimated average crustal abundance is less than 1 part per billion. Rhenium is a metal that has an extremely high melting point and a heat-stable crystalline structure. More than 80 percent of the rhenium consumed in the world is used in high-temperature superalloys, especially those used to make turbine blades for...
Authors
David A. John, Robert R. Seal, Désirée E. Polyak

Punctuated sediment discharge during early Pliocene birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontology Punctuated sediment discharge during early Pliocene birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontology

The Colorado River in the southwestern U.S. provides an excellent natural laboratory for studying the origins of a continent-scale river system, because deposits that formed prior to and during river initiation are well exposed in the lower river valley and nearby basinal sink. This paper presents a synthesis of regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and micropaleontology from the...
Authors
Rebecca J. Dorsey, Brennan O’Connell, Kristin McDougall-Reid, Mindy B. Homan

Ore-forming adakitic porphyry produced by fractional crystallization of oxidized basaltic magmas in a subcrustal chamber (Jiamate, East Junggar, NW China) Ore-forming adakitic porphyry produced by fractional crystallization of oxidized basaltic magmas in a subcrustal chamber (Jiamate, East Junggar, NW China)

Adakitic intrusions are supposed to have a close genetic and spatial relationship to porphyry Cu deposits. However, the genesis of adakitic intrusions is still under dispute. Here, we describe newly discovered intrusive complex rocks, which are composed of ore-bearing, layered magnetite-bearing gabbroic and adakitic rocks in Jiamate, East Junggar, NW China. These Jiamate Complex...
Authors
Tao Hong, Xing-Wang Xu, Jungang Gao, Stephen Peters, Di Zhang, Reyaniguli Jielili, Peng Xiang, Hao Li, Chu Wu, Jun You, Jie Liu, Qiang Ke

Detrital zircon geochronology of quartzose metasedimentary rocks from parautochthonous North America, east-central Alaska Detrital zircon geochronology of quartzose metasedimentary rocks from parautochthonous North America, east-central Alaska

We report eight new U-Pb detrital zircon ages for quartzose metasedimentary rocks from four lithotectonic units of parautochthonous North America in east-central Alaska: the Healy schist, Keevy Peak Formation, and Sheep Creek Member of the Totatlanika Schist in the northern Alaska Range, and the Butte assemblage in the northwestern Yukon-Tanana Upland. Excepting 1 of 3 samples from the...
Authors
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, James V. Jones, John N. Aleinikoff, James K. Mortensen
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