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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 2486

Multidisciplinary constraints on the thermal-chemical boundary between Earth's core and mantle Multidisciplinary constraints on the thermal-chemical boundary between Earth's core and mantle

Heat flux from the core to the mantle provides driving energy for mantle convection thus powering plate tectonics, and contributes a significant fraction of the geothermal heat budget. Indirect estimates of core-mantle boundary heat flow are typically based on petrological evidence of mantle temperature, interpretations of temperatures indicated by seismic travel times, experimental...
Authors
Daniel A. Frost, Margaret Susan Avery, Bruce Buffett, Bethany A. Chidester, Jie Deng, Susannah M. Dorfman, Zhi Li, Lijun Liu, Mingda Lv, Joshua F. Martin

Deconstructing the microbial necromass continuum to inform soil carbon sequestration Deconstructing the microbial necromass continuum to inform soil carbon sequestration

Microbial necromass is a large, dynamic and persistent component of soil organic carbon, the dominant terrestrial carbon pool. Quantification of necromass carbon stocks and its susceptibility to global change is becoming standard practice in soil carbon research. However, the typical proxies used for necromass carbon do not reveal the dynamic nature of necromass carbon flows and...
Authors
Kate M Buckeridge, Courtney Creamer, Jeanette Whitaker

Modeling subsurface performance of a geothermal reservoir using machine learning Modeling subsurface performance of a geothermal reservoir using machine learning

Geothermal power plants typically show decreasing heat and power production rates over time. Mitigation strategies include optimizing the management of existing wells—increasing or decreasing the fluid flow rates across the wells—and drilling new wells at appropriate locations. The latter is expensive, time-consuming, and subject to many engineering constraints, but the former is a...
Authors
Dmitry Duplyakin, Koenraad F Beckers, Drew L. Siler, Michael J. Martin, Henry E. Johnston

Major reorganization of the Snake River modulated by passage of the Yellowstone Hotspot Major reorganization of the Snake River modulated by passage of the Yellowstone Hotspot

The details and mechanisms for Neogene river reorganization in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains have been debated for over a century with key implications for how tectonic and volcanic systems modulate topographic development. To evaluate paleo-drainage networks, we produced an expansive data set and provenance analysis of detrital zircon U-Pb ages from Miocene to
Authors
Lydia M. Staisch, Jim E. O'Connor, Charles M. Cannon, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Paul K. Link, John Lasher, Jeremy A. Alexander

Geology and hydrogeology of the Yucaipa groundwater subbasin, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California Geology and hydrogeology of the Yucaipa groundwater subbasin, San Bernardino and Riverside Counties, California

The Yucaipa groundwater subbasin (referred to in this report as the Yucaipa subbasin) is located about 75 miles (mi) east of of Los Angeles and about 12 mi southeast of the City of San Bernardino. In the Yucaipa subbasin, as in much of southern California, limited annual rainfall and large water demands can strain existing water supplies; therefore, understanding local surface water and
Authors
Geoffrey Cromwell, Jonathan C. Matti

Early Pliocene marine transgression into the lower Colorado River valley, southwestern USA, by re-flooding of a former tidal strait Early Pliocene marine transgression into the lower Colorado River valley, southwestern USA, by re-flooding of a former tidal strait

Marine straits and seaways are known to host a wide range of sedimentary processes and products, but the role of marine connections in the development of large river systems remains little studied. This study explores a hypothesis that shallow-marine waters flooded the lower Colorado River valley at c. 5 Ma along a fault-controlled former tidal strait, soon after the river was first...
Authors
Rebecca Dorsey, Juan Carlos Braga, Kevin Gardner, Kristin McDougall-Reid, Brennan O’Connell

UAS-based tools for mapping and monitoring hydrothermal systems: An example from Mammoth Lakes, California UAS-based tools for mapping and monitoring hydrothermal systems: An example from Mammoth Lakes, California

Unoccupied Aerial Systems (UAS) can accommodate a variety of tools for mapping and monitoring hydrothermal systems (e.g., magnetic, gas, photogrammetry, and thermal infrared [TIR]). These platforms offer increased speed, coverage area, and uniformity compared to ground-based measurements, as well as lower flight height – and therefore higher resolution – than occupied aircraft. We...
Authors
Laurie Antoinette Zielinski, Jonathan M.G. Glen, Tait E. Earney, Grant H. Rea-Downing, R. Greg Vaughan, Peter J. Kelly, Gordon H. Keller, Branden James Dean, William Schermerhorn

Microcontinent breakup and links to possible plate boundary reorganization in the northern Gulf of California, México Microcontinent breakup and links to possible plate boundary reorganization in the northern Gulf of California, México

Faults on microcontinents record the dynamic evolution of plate boundaries. However, most microcontinents are submarine and difficult to study. Here, we show that the southern part of the Isla Ángel de la Guarda (IAG) microcontinent, in the northern Gulf of California rift, is densely faulted by a late Quaternary-active normal fault zone. To characterize the onshore kinematics of this...
Authors
Justin T. Higa, Nathan D. Brown, Seulgi Moon, Joann M. Stock, Leah Sabbeth, Scott E.K. Bennett, Arturo Martin-Barajas, Marina O. Argueta

Coastal paleogeography of the Pacific Northwest, USA, for the last 12,000 years accounting for three-dimensional earth structure Coastal paleogeography of the Pacific Northwest, USA, for the last 12,000 years accounting for three-dimensional earth structure

Predictive modeling of submerged archaeological sites requires accurate sea-level predictions in order to reconstruct coastal paleogeography and associated geographic features that may have influenced the locations of occupation sites such as rivers and embayments. Earlier reconstructions of the paleogeography of parts of the western U.S. coast used an assumption of eustatic sea level...
Authors
Jorie Clark, Jay R. Alder, Marisa Borreggine, Jerry X Mitrovica, Konstantin Latychev

Maybe so, maybe not: Canis lepophagus at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho, USA Maybe so, maybe not: Canis lepophagus at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, Idaho, USA

A canid dentary is described from the Pliocene Glenns Ferry Formation at Hagerman Fossil Beds National Monument, south-central Idaho, USA. The specimen possesses traits in alliance with and measurements falling within or exceeding those of Canis lepophagus. The dentary, along with a tarsal IV (cuboid) and an exploded canine come from the base of the fossiliferous Sahara complex within...
Authors
Kari A Prassack, Laura Walkup

An 11,300 yr record of paleoclimatology and paleoceanography of the central California coast in a gravity core from Pioneer Seamount An 11,300 yr record of paleoclimatology and paleoceanography of the central California coast in a gravity core from Pioneer Seamount

Diatom, pollen, silicoflagellate, and biogenic opal analyses from a 155 cm-long gravity core from Pioneer Seamount, offshore Santa Cruz, California (PS1410-06 GC, latitude 37.3°N, longitude 123.4°W, water depth 2165 m) are compiled for the last ~11,300 years and compared with those of ODP 1019 and TN062-O550 from northern California. The relative abundance record of the subtropical...
Authors
John A. Barron, Jason A. Addison, Linda E. Heusser, David Bukry, Valerie Evelyn Schwartz, Amy Wagner
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