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Publications

Results from our Program’s research and minerals information activities are published in USGS publications series as well as in outside journals.  To follow Minerals Information Periodicals, subscribe to the Mineral Periodicals RSS feed.

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Sedimentary petrology and reservoir quality of the Middle Jurassic Red Glacier Formation, Cook Inlet forearc basin: Initial impressions Sedimentary petrology and reservoir quality of the Middle Jurassic Red Glacier Formation, Cook Inlet forearc basin: Initial impressions

The Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys and Division of Oil & Gas are currently conducting a study of the hydrocarbon potential of Cook Inlet forearc basin (Gillis, 2013, 2014; LePain and others, 2013; Wartes, 2015; Herriott, 2016 [this volume]). The Middle Jurassic Tuxedni Group is recognized as a major source of oil in Tertiary reservoirs (Magoon, 1994), although the potential...
Authors
K. P. Helmold, D. L. LePain, Richard Stanley

Excursions in fluvial (dis)continuity Excursions in fluvial (dis)continuity

Lurking below the twin concepts of connectivity and disconnectivity are their first, and in some ways, richer cousins: continuity and discontinuity. In this paper we explore how continuity and discontinuity represent fundamental and complementary perspectives in fluvial geomorphology, and how these perspectives inform and underlie our conceptions of connectivity in landscapes and rivers...
Authors
Gordon E. Grant, James E. O'Connor, Elizabeth Safran

Origin and evolution of mineralizing fluids and exploration of the Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit (Azuero Peninsula, Panama) from a fluid inclusion and stable isotope perspective Origin and evolution of mineralizing fluids and exploration of the Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit (Azuero Peninsula, Panama) from a fluid inclusion and stable isotope perspective

Cerro Quema is a high sulfidation epithermal Au-Cu deposit with a measured, indicated and inferred resource of 35.98 Mt. @ 0.77 g/t Au containing 893,600 oz. Au (including 183,930 oz. Au equiv. of Cu ore). It is characterized by a large hydrothermal alteration zone which is interpreted to represent the lithocap of a porphyry system. The innermost zone of the lithocap is constituted by...
Authors
Isaac Corral, Esteve Cardellach, Merce Corbella, Angels Canals, Albert Griera, David Gomez-Gras, Craig Johnson

Byproduct metal requirements for U.S. wind and solar photovoltaic electricity generation up to the year 2040 under various Clean Power Plan scenarios Byproduct metal requirements for U.S. wind and solar photovoltaic electricity generation up to the year 2040 under various Clean Power Plan scenarios

The United States has and will likely continue to obtain an increasing share of its electricity from solar photovoltaics (PV) and wind power, especially under the Clean Power Plan (CPP). The need for additional solar PV modules and wind turbines will, among other things, result in greater demand for a number of minor metals that are produced mainly or only as byproducts. In this analysis...
Authors
Nedal T. Nassar, David Wilburn, Thomas Goonan

Global stocks of selected mineral-based commodities Global stocks of selected mineral-based commodities

Introduction The U.S. Geological Survey, National Minerals Information Center, analyzes mineral and metal supply chains by identifying and describing major components of mineral and material flows from ore extraction, through intermediate forms, to a final product. This report focuses on an important component of the world’s supply chain: the amounts and global distribution of major...
Authors
David Wilburn, Donald Bleiwas, Nick Karl

Mineralogy, chemistry, and fluid-aided evolution of the Pea Ridge Fe oxide-(Y + REE) deposit, southeast Missouri, USA Mineralogy, chemistry, and fluid-aided evolution of the Pea Ridge Fe oxide-(Y + REE) deposit, southeast Missouri, USA

The Kiruna-type Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite (IOA) deposit is hosted by a sequence of 1.47 Ga rhyolite tuffs of the St. Francois Mountains, southeast Missouri, USA. It consists of a series of altered zones composed mainly of amphibole, magnetite, hematite, and quartz, together with the presence of several rare earth element (Y + REE)-rich breccia pipes. In many cases, the fluorapatite...
Authors
Daniel Harlov, Corey Meighan, Ian Kerr, Iain Samson

Mineral thermometry and fluid inclusion studies of the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite–rare earth element deposit, Mesoproterozoic St. Francois Mountains Terrane, southeast Missouri, USA Mineral thermometry and fluid inclusion studies of the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite–rare earth element deposit, Mesoproterozoic St. Francois Mountains Terrane, southeast Missouri, USA

Mineral thermometry and fluid inclusion studies were conducted on variably altered and mineralized samples from the Mesoproterozoic Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite (IOA)-rare earth element (REE) deposit in order to constrain P-T conditions, fluid chemistry, and the source of salt and volatiles during early magnetite and later REE mineralization. Scanning electron microscopy (SEM)...
Authors
Albert Hofstra, Corey Meighan, Xinyu Song, Iain Samson, Erin Marsh, Heather Lowers, Poul Emsbo, Andrew Hunt

A comprehensive survey of faults, breccias, and fractures in and flanking the eastern Española Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico A comprehensive survey of faults, breccias, and fractures in and flanking the eastern Española Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico

A comprehensive survey of geologic structures formed in the Earth’s brittle regime in the eastern Española Basin and flank of the Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, reveals a complex and protracted record of multiple tectonic events. Data and analyses from this representative rift flank-basin pair include measurements from 53 individual fault zones and 22 other brittle structures, such as...
Authors
Jonathan Caine, Scott Minor, V. Grauch, James Budahn, Tucker Keren

Oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and carbon isotopes in the Pea Ridge magnetite-apatite deposit, southeast Missouri, and sulfur isotope comparisons to other iron deposits in the region Oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and carbon isotopes in the Pea Ridge magnetite-apatite deposit, southeast Missouri, and sulfur isotope comparisons to other iron deposits in the region

Oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and carbon isotopes have been analyzed in the Pea Ridge magnetite-apatite deposit, the largest historic producer among the known iron deposits in the southeast Missouri portion of the 1.5 to 1.3 Ga eastern granite-rhyolite province. The data were collected to investigate the sources of ore fluids, conditions of ore formation, and provenance of sulfur, and to...
Authors
Craig Johnson, Warren Day, Robert Rye

Iron and oxygen isotope signatures of the Pea Ridge and Pilot Knob magnetite-apatite deposits, southeast Missouri, USA Iron and oxygen isotope signatures of the Pea Ridge and Pilot Knob magnetite-apatite deposits, southeast Missouri, USA

New O and Fe stable isotope ratios are reported for magnetite samples from high-grade massive magnetite of the Mesoproterozoic Pea Ridge and Pilot Knob magnetite-apatite ore deposits and these results are compared with data for other iron oxide-apatite deposits to shed light on the origin of the southeast Missouri deposits. The δ18O values of magnetite from Pea Ridge (n = 12) and Pilot...
Authors
Tristan Childress, Adam Simon, Warren Day, Craig Lundstrom, Ilya Bindeman

High spatial resolution U-Pb geochronology and Pb isotope geochemistry of magnetite-apatite ore from the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite deposit, St. Francois Mountains, southeast Missouri, USA High spatial resolution U-Pb geochronology and Pb isotope geochemistry of magnetite-apatite ore from the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite deposit, St. Francois Mountains, southeast Missouri, USA

The Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite (IOA) deposit is one of the major rhyolite-hosted magnetite deposits of the St. Francois Mountains terrane, which is located within the Mesoproterozoic (1.5–1.3 Ga) Granite-Rhyolite province in the U.S. Midcontinent. Precise and accurate determination of the timing and duration of oreforming processes in this deposit is crucial for understanding its...
Authors
Leonid A. Neymark, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Aaron Pietruszka, John Aleinikoff, C. Fanning, Renee Pillers, Richard Moscati

The Bonneville Flood—A veritable débâcle The Bonneville Flood—A veritable débâcle

The Bonneville Flood was one of the largest floods on Earth. First discovered by G.K. Gilbert in the 1870s during his inspection of the outlet at Red Rock Pass, it was rediscovered in the 1950s by Harold Malde and coworkers, leading to mapping and assessment of spectacular flood features along Marsh Creek, Portneuf River, and Snake River for over 1100 km between the outlet and Lewiston...
Authors
Jim E. O'Connor
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