Data release accompanying Quantitative Mineral Resource Assessment of Lithium Pegmatite Deposits in the Southern Appalachian Orogen

A mineral resource assessment for lithium was carried out by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for the southern Appalachian region, between latitudes 31N and 40N and longitudes 75W and 89W, in the following states: Maryland, Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Georgia, Alabama. This study (Rosera and others, in press) integrates data from several sources, including geologic, geochemical, geophysical, watershed analysis, and mineral sites with recently developed grade and tonnage models, expert estimates, and software tools and analyses to generate probabilistic estimates of undiscovered lithium pegmatite resources.

These data are presented in several formats: shapefiles, vector data (flt), raster images (tif), and tabular (csv) data, listed in detail below. Several layers or individual files are derived or contain data from U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and other existing, published sources.

Shapefiles (SHP)

Digitized_pegmatite_line.shp: Digitized representations of pegmatites that were depicted as lines on raster maps of the study area; refer to Processing Step 2 for more information.
Digitized_pegmatite_point.shp: Digitized representations of pegmatites that were depicted as points on raster maps of the study area; refer to Processing Step 2 for more information.
Digitized_pegmatite_poly.shp: Digitized representations of pegmatites that were depicted as polygons on raster maps of the study area; refer to Processing Step 2 for more information.
FinalStudyArea.shp: Extent of the study area; refer to Processing Step 8 for more information.
Hibbard_lithotectonic.shp: Major lithotectonic boundaries as depicted in Hibbard (2006); refer to Processing Step 3 for more information.
Paleozoic_felsic_intrusive_rocks.shp: Digitized representations of Paleozoic felsic intrusive rocks; refer to Processing Step 4 for more information.
SGMC_metamorphic.shp: Results of a query of the State Geologic Map Compilation (SGMC) for metamorphic and intrusive igneous rocks; refer to Processing Step 1 for more information.
SGMC_pegmatites: Results of a query of the State Geologic Map Compilation (SGMC) for pegmatites; refer to Processing Step 1 for more information.
Watersheds_NGS.shp: Watershed polygons generated from stream sediment sample locations from the National Geochemical Survey (NGS); refer to Processing Step 5 for more information.
Watersheds_NURE.shp: Watershed polygons generated from stream sediment sample locations from the National Uranium Resource Evaluation (NURE) program; refer to Processing Step 5 for more information.
Ranked_tracts.shp: Polygons within the study area, ranked UNRANKED/LOW/MEDIUM/HIGH/VERY HIGH based on the presence of several mappable criteria; refer to Processing Step 9 for more information.
Domains_with_results.shp: Polygons within the study area with the results of the probabilistic simulation of the number, grades, and tonnages of undiscovered deposits appended; refer to Processing Step 10 for more information.


Tables (CSV)

MineralSites.csv: Table of mineral sites within the study area; refer to Processing Step 7 for more information.
References.csv: Full references associated with all sources used in this data release.
DataDictionary.csv: Entity and attribute information for all data products in this data release.


Geophysical data (FLT and TIF)

FallZone_1VD.flt: First vertical derivative of the reduced-to-pole magnetic data from the "Fall Zone" survey area in Virginia and North Carolina; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
FallZone_HGM.flt: Horizonal gradient maximum of the reduced-to-pole magnetic data from the "Fall Zone" survey area in Virginia and North Carolina; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
FallZoneRTP.flt: Reduced-to-pole magnetic data from the "Fall Zone" survey area in Virginia and North Carolina; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
FallZone_K.flt: Potassium radiometric grid from the "Fall Zone" survey area in Virginia and North Carolina; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
FallZone_Th.flt: Thorium radiometric grid from the "Fall Zone" survey area in Virginia and North Carolina; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
FallZone_U.flt: Uranium radiometric grid from the "Fall Zone" survey area in Virginia and North Carolina; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
TernaryRadFZ.tif: Ternary image (K, U, Th) from the "Fall Zone" survey area in Virginia and North Carolina; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
Mag1VD.flt: First vertical derivative of the magnetic data from the U.S. national geophysical data compilation; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
MagHGM.flt: Horizontal gradient maximum of the magnetic data from the U.S. national geophysical data compilation; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
ResidualMag.flt: Magnetic data from the U.S. national geophysical data compilation; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
FinalK.flt: Potassium radiometric grid from the U.S. national geophysical data compilation; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
FinalTh.flt: Thorium radiometric grid from the U.S. national geophysical data compilation; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
FinalUnew.flt: Uranium radiometric grid from the U.S. national geophysical data compilation; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.
TernaryRadiometrics.tif: Ternary image (K, U, Th) from the U.S. national geophysical data compilation; refer to Processing Step 6 for more information.