Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Browse recent USGS publications related to energy resources. 

Filter Total Items: 2852

Resampling of spatially correlated data with preferential sampling for the estimation of frequency distributions and semivariograms Resampling of spatially correlated data with preferential sampling for the estimation of frequency distributions and semivariograms

Spatial data are commonly minimal and may have been collected in the process of confirming the profitability of a mining venture or investigating a contaminated site. In such situations, it is common to have measurements preferentially taken in the most critical areas (sweet spots, allegedly contaminated areas), thus conditionally biasing the sample. While preferential sampling makes...
Authors
Ricardo A. Olea

Paleomagnetism and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the Plio-Pleistocene Boring Volcanic Field: Implications for the geomagnetic polarity time scale and paleosecular variation Paleomagnetism and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology of the Plio-Pleistocene Boring Volcanic Field: Implications for the geomagnetic polarity time scale and paleosecular variation

Paleomagnetic directions and 40Ar/39Ar ages have been determined for samples of lava flows from the same outcrops, where possible, for 84 eruptive units ranging in age from 3200 ka to 60 ka within the Boring Volcanic Field (BVF) of the Pacific Northwest, USA. This study expands upon our previous results for the BVF, and compares the combined results with the current geomagnetic polarity...
Authors
Jonathan T. Hagstrum, Robert J. Fleck, Russell C. Evarts, Andrew T. Calvert

Depositional environment and organic matter accumulation of Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian marine shale in the Upper Yangtze Platform, South China Depositional environment and organic matter accumulation of Upper Ordovician–Lower Silurian marine shale in the Upper Yangtze Platform, South China

The main controlling factors of organic matter accumulation in the Upper Ordovician Wufeng–Lower Silurian Longmaxi Formations are complex and remain highly controversial. This study investigates the vertical variation of total organic carbon (TOC) content as well as major and trace element concentrations of four Ordovician–Silurian transition sections from the Upper Yangtze Platform of...
Authors
Yangfang Li, Tongwei Zhang, Geoffrey S. Ellis, Deyong Shao

Real-time specific surface area measurements via laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy Real-time specific surface area measurements via laser-induced breakdown spectroscopy

From healthcare to cosmetics to environmental science, the specific surface area (SSA) of micro- and mesoporous materials or products can greatly affect their chemical and physical properties. SSA results are also widely used to examine source rocks in conventional and unconventional petroleum resource plays. Despite its importance, current methods to measure SSA are often cumbersome...
Authors
Kathryn E. Washburn, Justin E. Birdwell, James C. Howard

Geology of Seattle, a field trip Geology of Seattle, a field trip

Seattle’s geologic record begins with Eocene deposition of fluvial arkosic sandstone and associated volcanic rocks of the Puget Group, perhaps during a time of regional strike-slip faulting, followed by late Eocene and Oligocene marine deposition of the Blakeley Formation in the Cascadia forearc. Older Quaternary deposits are locally exposed. Most of the city is underlain by up to 100 m...
Authors
Ralph A. Haugerud, Kathy Goetz Troost, William T. Laprade

Data cleaning methodology for monthly water-to-oil and water-to-gas production ratios in continuous resource assessments Data cleaning methodology for monthly water-to-oil and water-to-gas production ratios in continuous resource assessments

Petroleum production data are usually stored in a format that makes it easy to determine the year and month production started, if there are any breaks, and when production ends. However, in some cases, you may want to compare production runs where the start of production for all wells starts at month one regardless of the year the wells started producing. This report describes the JAVA...
Authors
Brian A. Varela, Seth S. Haines, Nicholas J. Gianoutsos

The Iġnik Sikumi Field Experiment, Alaska North Slope: Design, operations, and implications for CO2−CH4 exchange in gas hydrate reservoirs The Iġnik Sikumi Field Experiment, Alaska North Slope: Design, operations, and implications for CO2−CH4 exchange in gas hydrate reservoirs

The Iġnik Sikumi Gas Hydrate Exchange Field Experiment was conducted by ConocoPhillips in partnership with the U.S. Department of Energy, the Japan Oil, Gas and Metals National Corporation, and the U.S. Geological Survey within the Prudhoe Bay Unit on the Alaska North Slope during 2011 and 2012. The primary goals of the program were to (1) determine the feasibility of gas injection into...
Authors
Ray Boswell, David Schoderbek, Timothy S. Collett, Satoshi Ohtsuki, Mark White, Brian J. Anderson

Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Hope Basin Province, 2008 Geology and assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the Hope Basin Province, 2008

The Hope Basin, an independent petroleum province that lies mostly offshore in the southern Chukchi Sea north of the Chukotka and Seward Peninsulas and south of Wrangel Island, the Herald Arch, and the Lisburne Peninsula, is the largest in a series of postorogenic (successor) basins in the East Siberian-Chukchi Sea region and the only one with exploratory-well control and extensive...
Authors
Kenneth J. Bird, David W. Houseknecht, Janet K. Pitman

Tectonic evolution Tectonic evolution

The middle Paleozoic through Present tectonic evolution of the Northern Cordillera is portrayed in a series of 15 Tectonic Model figures. These figures depict the successive stages of formation and accretion of orogenic collages along the western margin of the North American Plate (craton and craton margin) and adjacent marine areas. The orogenic collages are composed of terranes and...
Authors
Warren J. Nokleberg, James W.H. Monger, David B. Stone, Thomas K. Bundtzen, David W. Scholl

Influence of the Eastern California Shear Zone on deposition of the Mio-Pliocene Bouse Formation: Insights from the Cibola area, Arizona Influence of the Eastern California Shear Zone on deposition of the Mio-Pliocene Bouse Formation: Insights from the Cibola area, Arizona

The Eastern California Shear Zone (ECSZ) is a wide zone of late Cenozoic strike-slip faults and related diffuse deformation that currently accommodates ~20–25% of relative Pacific–North America plate motion in the lower Colorado River region (Fig. 1A; Dokka and Travis, 1990; Miller et al., 2001; Guest et al., 2007; Mahan et al., 2009). The ECSZ is kinematically linked southward to...
Authors
Rebecca J. Dorsey, Brennan O’Connell, Mindy B. Homan, Scott E.K. Bennett
Was this page helpful?