Geology
Geology
Studies on the occurrence and formation of earth materials that can be used for economic, technological, or industrial purposes. Several tools, including geochemistry, geologic mapping, geochronology, electron microscopy, tectonics, structural geology, and crustal fluid flow, are used to advance understanding of orebody formation in the Earth’s crust.
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New Mineral Deposit Models for Gold, Phosphate Rare Earth Elements, and Placer Rare Earth Element-Titanium Resources
USGS Mineral Deposit Models are "an organized arrangement of information describing the essential characteristics or properties of a class of mineral deposits. Models themselves can be classified according to their essential attributes (for example: descriptive, grade-tonnage models, genetic, geoenvironmental, geophysical, probability of occurrence, and quantitative process models)." (Stoeser and...
Petrogenesis and REE Metallogenesis of 1.4 Ga Magmatism in the Conterminous U.S.
This project evaluated the petrology and metallogeny of rare earth element-mineralized 1.4 Ga intrusive systems at Mountain Pass and in the St. Francois Mountains relative to those of other, apparently, unmineralized 1.4 Ga intrusive systems in the conterminous U.S.
Sagebrush Mineral Resource Assessment
The USGS Mineral Resources Program completed a comprehensive assessment and inventory of potential mineral resources covering approximately10 million acres of federal and adjacent lands in Oregon, Idaho, Nevada, Utah, Wyoming and Montana.
Fluids in Rare Earth Element (REE) Ore Genesis
The project objective is to better understand the role fluids play in the formation of ore-grade rare earth element enrichment. In many rare earth element deposits, enrichment of rare earth elements is largely controlled by their transport in fluids (orthomagmatic, hydrothermal, groundwater). The project focuses on carbonatite-related deposits because these deposits are the world's primary source...
Nonmetallic Industrial Mineral Resources of the U.S.
In 2012, this project initiated a multi-year effort to characterize domestic nonmetallic industrial mineral resources that are important for national infrastructure, agriculture, and energy development. Activities included (1) a national-scale compilation of production data, providing a snapshot of the nonmetallic industrial mineral deposits that were of significance through the 20th century and...
Denver Microbeam Laboratory
TThe USGS Denver Microbeam Laboratory provides critical analytical and characterization support for a wide variety of internal USGS projects and external collaborators. In addition, the lab continually works to develop new methods or improve existing methods to analyze a variety of sample matrices.
Critical Metals in Black Shales
Project objectives were to improve the understanding of critical mineral enrichment in black shales and improve accuracy of resource assessments.
Bokan Mountain and Dora Bay Rare Earth Element Deposits, Prince of Wales Island, Alexander Terrane, Southeast Alaska
We sought to characterize the Dotson Zone heavy-rare earth element (HREE) enriched deposit at Bokan Mountain, Alaska, and conduct a parallel characterization and comparison of a less well-mineralized HREE analogue at Dora Bay, Alaska.
Basement Tectonic Framework of the U.S.: Role of Cratonization of Juvenile Crust and Structural Modification in Forming Metallogenic Provinces
Project objectives were to publish a map of the nation's geologic basement. The map portrayed these pieces (domains) from the most ancient to recent, by the events that influenced their composition, starting with their origin.
Headwaters Province - Idaho and Montana: Earth Science Studies in Support of Public Policy Development and Land Stewardship
The Headwaters Province project provided geoscience data and interpretations to the Federal Land Management Agencies (FLMA) that were basic to sound policy and land-stewardship practices.
Environmental Studies of the World Trade Center Area After the September 11, 2001 Attack
USGS scientists conducted a remote sensing and mineralogical characterization study of lower Manhattan around the WTC after the September 11, 2001 attack.