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Browse recent USGS publications related to energy resources. 

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Kimmeridgian Shales Total Petroleum System of the North Sea Graben Province Kimmeridgian Shales Total Petroleum System of the North Sea Graben Province

The North Sea Graben of northwestern Europe, World Energy Project Province 4025, is entirely offshore within the territorial waters of Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Norway, and the United Kingdom. Extensional tectonics and failed rifting are fundamental to the distribution of oil and gas in the province. Accordingly, the geologic history and reser-voir rocks of the province are...
Authors
Donald Gautier

Implications of volcanism in coastal California for the Neogene deformation history of western North America Implications of volcanism in coastal California for the Neogene deformation history of western North America

The geologic record of coastal California includes evidence of numerous volcanic centers younger than 30 Ma that do not appear to have erupted in an arc setting. By correlating these volcanic centers with specific slab windows predicted from analysis of magnetic anomalies on the Pacific plate, we add new constraints to tectonic reconstructions since 30 Ma. Our correlations, such as...
Authors
Douglas Wilson, Patricia McCrory, Richard Stanley

Early to middle Jurassic salt in Baltimore Canyon trough Early to middle Jurassic salt in Baltimore Canyon trough

A pervasive, moderately deep (5-6 s two-way traveltime), high-amplitude reflection is traced on multichannel seismic sections over an approximately 7500 km² area of Baltimore Canyon Trough. The layer associated with the reflection is about 25 km wide, about 60 m thick in the center, and thins monotonically laterally, though asymmetrically, at the edges. Geophysical characteristics are...
Authors
B. McKinney, Myung Lee, Warren Agena, C. Poag

Tar yields from low-temperature carbonization of coal facies from the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, USA Tar yields from low-temperature carbonization of coal facies from the Powder River Basin, Wyoming, USA

Tar yields from low-temperature carbonization correlate with the amount of crypto-eugelinite in samples selected to represent petrographically distinct coal facies of the Wyodak-Anderson coal zone. Tar yields from Fischer Assay range from
Authors
Ronald Stanton, Peter Warwick, Sharon Swanson

Porphyry copper deposit density Porphyry copper deposit density

Estimating numbers of undiscovered mineral deposits has been a source of unease among economic geologists yet is a fundamental task in considering future supplies of resources. Estimates can be based on frequencies of deposits per unit of permissive area in control areas around the world in the same way that grade and tonnage frequencies are models of sizes and qualities of undiscovered...
Authors
Donald Singer, Vladimir Berger, W. Menzie, Byron Berger

Statistical guides to estimating the number of undiscovered mineral deposits: an example with porphyry copper deposits Statistical guides to estimating the number of undiscovered mineral deposits: an example with porphyry copper deposits

Estimating numbers of undiscovered mineral deposits is a fundamental part of assessing mineral resources. Some statistical tools can act as guides to low variance, unbiased estimates of the number of deposits. The primary guide is that the estimates must be consistent with the grade and tonnage models. Another statistical guide is the deposit density (i.e., the number of deposits per...
Authors
Donald Singer, W. D. Menzie

Discovery sequence and the nature of low permeability gas accumulations Discovery sequence and the nature of low permeability gas accumulations

There is an ongoing discussion regarding the geologic nature of accumulations that host gas in low-permeability sandstone environments. This note examines the discovery sequence of the accumulations in low permeability sandstone plays that were classified as continuous-type by the U.S. Geological Survey for the 1995 National Oil and Gas Assessment. It compares the statistical character...
Authors
E. Attanasi
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