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Denver Microbeam Laboratory

The 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. 

 

News

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Secretary of the Interior Visits Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

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U.S. Geological Survey and Colorado School of Mines announce long-term partnership

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Investigating Lung Disease in Military Veterans

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Publications

Characterizing lung particulates using quantitative microscopy in coal miners with severe pneumoconiosis

Context.—Current approaches for characterizing retained lung dust using pathologists' qualitative assessment or scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectroscopy (SEM/EDS) have limitations.Objective.—To explore polarized light microscopy coupled with image-processing software, termed quantitative microscopy–particulate matter (QM-PM), as a tool to characterize in situ dust in lung t
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Jeremy T. Hua, Carlyne D. Cool, Heather A. Lowers, Leonard H. T. Go, Lauren M. Zell-Baran, Emily A. Sarver, Kirsten S. Almberg, Kathy D. Pang, Susan M. Majka, Angela D. Franko, Naseema I. Vorajee, Robert A. Cohen, Cecil S. Rose
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Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Denver Microbeam Laboratory

Formation of orogenic gold deposits by progressive movement of a fault-fracture mesh through the upper crustal brittle-ductile transition zone

Orogenic gold deposits are comprised of complex quartz vein arrays that form as a result of fluid flow along transcrustal fault zones in active orogenic belts. Mineral precipitation in these deposits occurs under variable pressure conditions, but a mechanism explaining how the pressure regimes evolve through time has not previously been proposed. Here we show that extensional quartz veins at the G
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Miguel Tavares Nassif, Thomas Monecke, T. James Reynolds, Yvette D. Kuiper, Richard J. Goldfarb, Sandra Piazolo, Heather A. Lowers
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Denver Microbeam Laboratory

Cathodoluminescence response of barite at room and liquid nitrogen temperatures

Rare earth element (REE) enrichment in the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska USA, is comparable to ore grade enrichment in carbonatite-hosted REE deposits[1]. Petrographic examination of textures documents a complex history of crystallization, brecciation, recrystallization, oxidation, and near surface alteration. Barite (BaSO4) is present in most units, including REE-enriched zones, such that it ma
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Heather A. Lowers, Colin MacRae, Nick Wilson, Philip Verplanck
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Denver Microbeam Laboratory
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Science

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Image shows a scan of a zircon on a black background

Trace Elements in Quartz, Rutile, and Zircon

Quartz is an ubiquitous mineral that forms in all geologic environments including diagenetic, metamorphic, plutonic, and volcanic settings. Quartz is relatively unreactive and is likely to preserve its geologic history. Trace elements in quartz offer clues to formation temperatures and pressures, fluid chemistry, and tectonic setting. Rutile and zircon are refractory minerals also found in a...
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Denver Microbeam Laboratory
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Trace Elements in Quartz, Rutile, and Zircon

Quartz is an ubiquitous mineral that forms in all geologic environments including diagenetic, metamorphic, plutonic, and volcanic settings. Quartz is relatively unreactive and is likely to preserve its geologic history. Trace elements in quartz offer clues to formation temperatures and pressures, fluid chemistry, and tectonic setting. Rutile and zircon are refractory minerals also found in a...
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Image shows a scan of an apatite grain on a black background

Rare Earth Element Microanalysis

Rare earth elements (REE) are critical elements in the technology and energy production sectors as they are used in everything from smartphones to wind turbines. The demand for these materials has seen steady growth and production is lagging. The laboratory supports several projects within the USGS that are characterizing rare earth element minerals from Bokan Mountain and Dora Bay, Alaska...
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Denver Microbeam Laboratory
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Rare Earth Element Microanalysis

Rare earth elements (REE) are critical elements in the technology and energy production sectors as they are used in everything from smartphones to wind turbines. The demand for these materials has seen steady growth and production is lagging. The laboratory supports several projects within the USGS that are characterizing rare earth element minerals from Bokan Mountain and Dora Bay, Alaska...
Learn More
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Old JEOL Scanning Electron Microscope.

Denver Microbeam Laboratory: Mineral Resources Research Support

The USGS Denver Microbeam Laboratory provides chemical analysis and characterization of rocks, minerals, and environmental samples in support of a wide variety of USGS projects related to mineral resources, including research projects funded by the USGS Mineral Resources Program. The research applications for these projects range from mineral resource research and assessments, to geologic mapping...
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Denver Microbeam Laboratory
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Denver Microbeam Laboratory: Mineral Resources Research Support

The USGS Denver Microbeam Laboratory provides chemical analysis and characterization of rocks, minerals, and environmental samples in support of a wide variety of USGS projects related to mineral resources, including research projects funded by the USGS Mineral Resources Program. The research applications for these projects range from mineral resource research and assessments, to geologic mapping...
Learn More
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