Publications
Browse recent USGS publications related to energy resources.
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Reevaluation of the Crooked Ridge River- Early Pleistocene (ca. 2 Ma) age and origin of the White Mesa Alluvium, northeastern Arizona Reevaluation of the Crooked Ridge River- Early Pleistocene (ca. 2 Ma) age and origin of the White Mesa Alluvium, northeastern Arizona
Essential features of the previously named and described Miocene Crooked Ridge River in northeastern Arizona (USA) are reexamined using new geologic and geochronologic data. Previously it was proposed that Cenozoic alluvium at Crooked Ridge and southern White Mesa was pre–early Miocene, the product of a large, vigorous late Paleogene river draining the 35–23 Ma San Juan Mountains...
Authors
Richard Hereford, Sue Beard, William R. Dickinson, Karl E. Karlstrom, Matthew T. Heizler, Laura J. Crossey, Lee Amoroso, Kyle House, Mark Pecha
Seasonal changes in atmospheric noise levels and the annual variation in pigeon homing performance Seasonal changes in atmospheric noise levels and the annual variation in pigeon homing performance
Repeated releases of experienced homing pigeons from single sites were conducted between 1972 and 1974 near Cornell University in upstate New York and between 1982 and 1983 near the University of Pittsburgh in western Pennsylvania, USA. No annual variation in homing performance was observed at these sites in eastern North America, in contrast to results from a number of similar...
Authors
Jonathan T. Hagstrum, Hugh P. McIsaac, Douglas P. Drob
Calorific value and compositional ultimate analysis with a case study of a Texas lignite Calorific value and compositional ultimate analysis with a case study of a Texas lignite
Measurements to determine coal quality as fuel include proximate analysis, ultimate analysis and calorific value. The latter is an attribute taking non-negative real values, so a simple transformation is sufficient for its spatial modeling applying geostatistics. The analyses, however, involve proportions that follow the properties of compositional data, thus requiring special...
Authors
Ricardo A. Olea, James Luppens, Juan J. Egozcue, Vera Pawlowsky-Glahn
Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Cooper and Eromanga Basins, Australia, 2016 Assessment of undiscovered conventional oil and gas resources of the Cooper and Eromanga Basins, Australia, 2016
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated mean conventional resources of 68 million barrels of oil and 964 billion cubic feet of gas in the Cooper and Eromanga Basins of Australia.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Tracey J. Mercier, Timothy R. Klett, Thomas M. Finn, Phuong A. Le, Michael E. Brownfield, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Kristen R. Marra, Sarah J. Hawkins, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller, Janet K. Pitman
Mercury in U.S. coal—Priorities for new U.S. Geological Survey studies Mercury in U.S. coal—Priorities for new U.S. Geological Survey studies
In 2011, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) introduced emissions standards, known as Mercury and Air Toxics Standards (MATS), for a range of toxic constituents from coal-fired utility power stations and other combustion sources. This report presents the findings of an expert panel convened in September 2014 to assess the role of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in new coal
Authors
Allan Kolker
Geologic history of the Blackbird Co-Cu district in the Lemhi subbasin of the Belt-Purcell Basin Geologic history of the Blackbird Co-Cu district in the Lemhi subbasin of the Belt-Purcell Basin
The Blackbird cobalt-copper (Co-Cu) district in the Salmon River Mountains of east-central Idaho occupies the central part of the Idaho cobalt belt—a northwest-elongate, 55-km-long belt of Co-Cu occurrences, hosted in grayish siliciclastic metasedimentary strata of the Lemhi subbasin (of the Mesoproterozoic Belt-Purcell Basin). The Blackbird district contains at least eight stratabound...
Authors
Arthur A. Bookstrom, Stephen E. Box, Pamela M. Cossette, Thomas P. Frost, Virginia Gillerman, George King, N. Alex Zirakparvar
Geology of the Greenwater Range, and the dawn of Death Valley, California—Field guide for the Death Valley Natural History Conference, 2013 Geology of the Greenwater Range, and the dawn of Death Valley, California—Field guide for the Death Valley Natural History Conference, 2013
Much has been written about the age and formation of Death Valley, but that is one—if not the last—chapter in the fascinating geologic history of this area. Igneous and sedimentary rocks in the Greenwater Range, one mountain range east of Death Valley, tell an earlier story that overlaps with the formation of Death Valley proper. This early story has been told by scientists who have...
Authors
J.P. Calzia, O.T. Ramo, Robert Jachens, Eugene Smith, Jeffrey Knott
Geology of tight oil and potential tight oil reservoirs in the lower part of the Green River Formation, Uinta, Piceance, and Greater Green River Basins, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming Geology of tight oil and potential tight oil reservoirs in the lower part of the Green River Formation, Uinta, Piceance, and Greater Green River Basins, Utah, Colorado, and Wyoming
The recent successful development of a tight oil play in the Eocene-age informal Uteland Butte member of the lacustrine Green River Formation in the Uinta Basin, Utah, using modern horizontal drilling and hydraulic fracturing techniques has spurred a renewed interest in the tight oil potential of lacustrine rocks. The Green River Formation was deposited by two large lakes, Lake Uinta in...
Authors
Ronald C. Johnson, Justin E. Birdwell, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
Organic petrology and geochemistry of Eocene Suzak bituminous marl, north-central Afghanistan: Depositional environment and source rock potential Organic petrology and geochemistry of Eocene Suzak bituminous marl, north-central Afghanistan: Depositional environment and source rock potential
Organic geochemistry and petrology of Eocene Suzak bituminous marl outcrop samples from Madr village in north-central Afghanistan were characterized via an integrated analytical approach to evaluate depositional environment and source rock potential. Multiple proxies suggest the organic-rich (TOC ∼6 wt.%) bituminous marls are ‘immature’ for oil generation (e.g., vitrinite Ro
Authors
Paul C. Hackley, John Sanfilipo
Notes on the origin of copromacrinite based on nitrogen functionalities and δ13C and δ15N determined on samples from the Peach Orchard coal bed, southern Magoffin County, Kentucky Notes on the origin of copromacrinite based on nitrogen functionalities and δ13C and δ15N determined on samples from the Peach Orchard coal bed, southern Magoffin County, Kentucky
This paper represents the first attempt to show, by means other than just petrographic ones, that one type of macrinite, herein designated copromacrinite, may result from macrofauna feces. For that purpose a combination of coal petrography, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy, and elemental-analysis continuous-flow isotope ratio mass spectrometry methods were used to determine nitrogen
Authors
Bruno Valentim, Manuel Algarra, Alexandra Guedes, Leslie F. Ruppert, James C. Hower
Processing of multichannel seismic reflection data acquired in 2013 for seismic investigations of gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico Processing of multichannel seismic reflection data acquired in 2013 for seismic investigations of gas hydrates in the Gulf of Mexico
As part of a cooperative effort among the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the U.S. Department of Energy, and the U.S. Department of the Interior Bureau of Ocean Energy Management, two grids of two-dimensional multichannel seismic reflection data were acquired in the Gulf of Mexico over lease blocks Green Canyon 955 and Walker Ridge 313 between April 18 and May 3, 2013. The purpose of the...
Authors
John J. Miller, Warren F. Agena, Seth S. Haines, Patrick E. Hart