Chris Holm-Denoma is a Research Geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, CO.
He is currently involved in studies related to the structure, tectonics, and geochronology of regions with mineral deposits. Chris started his career at the the USGS as a postdoc in the Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program where he studied the structure and stratigraphy of the Roberts Mountains allochthon as related to Carlin-type Au deposits. Chris was an Lecturer at the University of Vermont from 2007-2008 where he taught Introductory Geology, Petrology, and a seminar in Appalachian Geology. He also spent a year in Minneapolis as a visiting scholar at the University of Minnesota and concurrently taught Geology and Oceanography courses at North Hennepin Community College. During his Ph.D. he used detailed mapping, structural analyses and isotopic/geochemical methods to investigate the Paleozoic evolution of a backarc and associated igneous rocks in the southern Appalachians. His areas of expertise include: structure/tectonics, field mapping, in situ geochronology (SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS) and trace element geochemistry.
Education and Certifications
Ph.D., Geological Sciences, Florida State University, 2006
B.S., Geology, The George Washington University, 1998
Science and Products
From Outcrop to Ions: development and application of in-situ isotope ratio measurements to solve geologic problems
Petrogenesis and REE Metallogenesis of 1.4 Ga Magmatism in the Conterminous U.S.
Basement Tectonic Framework of the U.S.: Role of Cratonization of Juvenile Crust and Structural Modification in Forming Metallogenic Provinces
SHRIMP U-Pb and LA-ICPMS U-Pb geochronologic data for igneous and metasedimentary rocks in central Idaho mineral province, U.S.A.
U-Pb Ages, Hafnium Isotope Ratios, and Trace Element Concentrations by Laser-ablation Split Stream (LASS) Analysis of Igneous and Metamorphic Zircons from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Eastern Alaska
U-Pb zircon data for Cenozoic clastic and volcaniclastic units deformed along the Gales Creek Fault zone, northwestern Oregon
Data for Uranium-Lead Geochronology, Carbon and Sulfur Stable Isotopes, and Raman Spectroscopy from Graphite Creek, Alaska
U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from Southwestern Alaska and the Yukon-Tanana Upland and Environs of Eastern Interior Alaska and Eastern Yukon, Canada
Whole Rock Geochemistry and Uranium Lead Isotopic Data from the Dinwiddie Terrane, Virginia, USA
U-Pb zircon geochronology data from Eocene igneous rocks in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district and vicinity, Idaho
Whole Rock Major and Trace Element Chemistry for Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska
U-Pb zircon data for igneous units related to mineralization in the eastern Yukon-Tanana upland, eastern Alaska
Grain size, mineralogic, and trace-element data from field samples near Hinkley, California
U-Pb zircon data for: Upper Triassic and Jurassic sedimentary rocks from Sonora, MX
U-Pb data for inherited cassiterite in "Tin Granites", an example from the Yazov Granite, Eastern Siberia
Geologic map of the Poncha Pass area, Chaffee, Fremont, and Saguache Counties, Colorado
Geology of the Mount Rogers area, revisited: Evidence of Neoproterozoic continental rifting, glaciation, and the opening and closing of the Iapetus Ocean, Blue Ridge, VA–NC–TN
Constraints on the genesis of Au veins in interior Alaska: Evidence from geochronology and vein textures
Roles of regional structures and country-rock facies in defining mineral belts in central Idaho mineral province with detail for Yellow Pine and Thunder Mountain mining districts
Geochronology and mapping constraints on the time-space evolution of the igneous and hydrothermal systems in the Taurus Cu-Mo district, eastern Alaska
Redefinition of the Petersburg batholith and implications for crustal inheritance in the Dinwiddie terrane, Virginia, USA
The geometry and kinematics of the latest paleozoic Allatoona Fault, one of the youngest thrusts in the southernmost Appalachian Hinterland, Alabama and Georgia, U.S.A.
Insights into the metamorphic history and origin of flake graphite mineralization at the Graphite Creek graphite deposit, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA
Provenance of Devonian-Carboniferous strata of Colorado: The influence of the Cambrian and the Proterozoic
A geochronological review of magmatism along the external margin of Columbia and in the Grenville-age orogens forming the core of Rodinia
Major reorganization of the Snake River modulated by passage of the Yellowstone Hotspot
Stop 3 – The Petersburg “Granite” redefined: Recognition and implications of Silurian to Devonian rocks in central-eastern Virginia
Detrital zircon record of magmatism and sediment dispersal across the North American Cordilleran arc system (28-48°N)
Science and Products
- Science
From Outcrop to Ions: development and application of in-situ isotope ratio measurements to solve geologic problems
Project objectives are to (1) develop innovative analytical techniques for isotope geochemistry and U-Pb geochronology using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and (2) apply these techniques to collaborative research projects of high priority to the Mineral Resources Program, including studies related to the formation of "critical mineral" deposits, 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.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. - Data
Filter Total Items: 19
SHRIMP U-Pb and LA-ICPMS U-Pb geochronologic data for igneous and metasedimentary rocks in central Idaho mineral province, U.S.A.
These data are for a geochronologic study of emplacement ages for plutons of the Cretaceous Idaho batholith and detrital zircon ages for metasedimentary rocks, west-central Idaho. Zircon from six samples of discrete plutons across a regional transect were dated by sensitive high resolution ion microprobe (SHRIMP). SHRIMP U-Pb ages of igneous rocks connect the igneous activity to structural historyU-Pb Ages, Hafnium Isotope Ratios, and Trace Element Concentrations by Laser-ablation Split Stream (LASS) Analysis of Igneous and Metamorphic Zircons from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Eastern Alaska
This data set contains U-Pb isotopic data and ages, Hf isotope data, and trace element concentrations of zircon from igneous rocks collected from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, eastern Alaska. The sample suite was collected as part of geological mapping and supporting geochemical and geochronological analysis conducted from 2013 to 2019. Zircon was obtained from these igneous rocks to determine the crysU-Pb zircon data for Cenozoic clastic and volcaniclastic units deformed along the Gales Creek Fault zone, northwestern Oregon
This data release includes laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) U-Pb zircon geochronology data from four samples collected from fault-bounded bedrock units in northwestern Oregon. Samples were collected from a paleoseismic trench excavated across the Scoggins Valley strand of the Gales Creek Fault and nearby quarry. The trench is located on a ridge top saddle on tData for Uranium-Lead Geochronology, Carbon and Sulfur Stable Isotopes, and Raman Spectroscopy from Graphite Creek, Alaska
This data release supports the paper titled, "Insights into the metamorphic history and origin of flake graphite mineralization at the Graphite Creek graphite deposit, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA", published in the journal Mineralium Deposita. The data release includes zircon and titanite U-Pb-Thisotope and age data, monazite U-Pb-Th isotope, trace element and age data, carbon and sulfur stableiU-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from Southwestern Alaska and the Yukon-Tanana Upland and Environs of Eastern Interior Alaska and Eastern Yukon, Canada
This data set contains U-Pb isotopic data and associated ages of detrital zircon from sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks collected from southwestern Alaska and from the Yukon-Tanana upland and environs of eastern interior Alaska and western Yukon, Canada. The samples were collected as part of geological mapping and research conducted from 1996 to 2021 and funded by the Mineral Resources ProgramWhole Rock Geochemistry and Uranium Lead Isotopic Data from the Dinwiddie Terrane, Virginia, USA
This data release includes whole rock geochemical data, and uranium-lead isotopic data collected by both Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe-Reverse Geometry (SHRIMP-RG) methods. Whole rock geochemistry was collected by Activation Laboratories in Ancaster, Ontario. LA-ICP-MS data was collected at the PLASMA at the USGU-Pb zircon geochronology data from Eocene igneous rocks in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district and vicinity, Idaho
This data release includes laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) U-Pb zircon geochronology data to determine the ages of Challis igneous rocks in the Thunder Mountain volcanic field and dikes west of the volcanic field, especially in and near the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district, ID. These efforts were made to help understand the stratigraphy and lithologic chaWhole Rock Major and Trace Element Chemistry for Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska
This data set consists of one table containing whole-rock geochemistry data for 753 igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Yukon-Tanana upland of eastern interior Alaska, collected between 2013 and 2019. All materials were analyzed by ALS Global, between 2014 and 2020, by a range of different techniques, so multiple unique entries for a given element relate to different analytical methods or prepaU-Pb zircon data for igneous units related to mineralization in the eastern Yukon-Tanana upland, eastern Alaska
From 2017-2019, framework metallogenic studies were completed in the eastern Yukon-Tanana upland in eastern Alaska. Numerous previously undated plutons known or suspected to contain components of porphyry, epithermal, and intrusion-related gold systems and associated deposit types were sampled for age and zircon trace element determinations between the Black Mountain area and the Yukon border, norGrain size, mineralogic, and trace-element data from field samples near Hinkley, California
This data release is part of a study examining the occurrence of chromium and natural and anthropogenic hexavalent Chromium, Cr(VI) in groundwater. Data will be used to estimate naturally-occurring background Cr(VI) concentrations upgradient, near the plume margins, and downgradient from a mapped Cr(VI) contamination plume near Hinkley, CA (Izbicki and Groover, 2016). The data release includes gU-Pb zircon data for: Upper Triassic and Jurassic sedimentary rocks from Sonora, MX
This laser ablation ICPMS U-Pb zircon data set supports stratigraphic, biostratigraphic and age interpretations of the of the fossil-plant-bearing El Game?o Formation of west-central Sonora, Mexico and the potentially age-correlative fossil-plant-bearing Santa Clara and Coyote formations of southeastern Sonora, Mexico. The zircon data provides minimum age constraints (maximum depositional ages) foU-Pb data for inherited cassiterite in "Tin Granites", an example from the Yazov Granite, Eastern Siberia
Zircon (ZrSiO4) and cassiterite (SnO2) samples were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from the Yazov Granite, Transbaikalia region, Eastern Siberia, Russia. Samples (in the form of mounted loose grains) were prepared and analyzed for direct age dating on a laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA?ICPMS) system at the USGS in Denver, Colorado from February 2017 t - Maps
Geologic map of the Poncha Pass area, Chaffee, Fremont, and Saguache Counties, Colorado
This report presents a 1:24,000-scale geologic map, cross sections, and descriptive and interpretative text for the Poncha Pass area in central Colorado. The map area is irregular in shape, covering all of one 7 ½' quadrangle (Poncha Pass) and parts of five others (Mount Ouray, Maysville, Salida West, Salida East, and Wellsville). The map boundaries were drawn to cover all of the “Poncha mountain - Publications
Filter Total Items: 37
Geology of the Mount Rogers area, revisited: Evidence of Neoproterozoic continental rifting, glaciation, and the opening and closing of the Iapetus Ocean, Blue Ridge, VA–NC–TN
Recent field and geochronological studies in eight 7.5-minute quadrangles near Mount Rogers in Virginia, North Carolina and Tennessee recognize (1) important stratigraphic and structural relationships for the Neoproterozoic Mount Rogers and Konnarock Formations, and the northeast end of the Mountain City window; (2) the separation of Mesoproterozoic rocks of the Blue Ridge into three age groups; aAuthorsArthur J. Merschat, Ryan J. McAleer, Christopher Holm-Denoma, C. Scott SouthworthConstraints on the genesis of Au veins in interior Alaska: Evidence from geochronology and vein textures
The origin of Au-bearing, low sulfide quartz veins in the Pogo and Tibbs Creek regions of interior Alaska remain enigmatic. Intrusion-related Au and mesozonal orogenic vein models have both been proposed (Thompson and Newberry, 2000; Rhys et al., 2003; Goldfarb et al., 2022; Dilworth et al., 2007). To date, studies of igneous geochronology and metamorphic timing have shown that gold veins formed bAuthorsDouglas C. Kreiner, William Thompson, Jonathan Caine, Ashleigh Ball, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Paul O'Sullivan, Holly J. SteinRoles of regional structures and country-rock facies in defining mineral belts in central Idaho mineral province with detail for Yellow Pine and Thunder Mountain mining districts
The central Idaho metallogenic province hosts numerous mineral deposit types. These include Late Cretaceous precious-polymetallic vein deposits, amagmatic Paleocene–Eocene breccia-hosted gold-tungsten-antimony deposits, and Eocene mercury deposits in metasedimentary roof pendants and in Late Cretaceous granitoids. Hot-springs gold deposits in Eocene volcanic rocks are also included in the centralAuthorsKaren Lund, John N. Aleinikoff, Christopher Holm-DenomaGeochronology and mapping constraints on the time-space evolution of the igneous and hydrothermal systems in the Taurus Cu-Mo district, eastern Alaska
The Taurus porphyry Cu-Mo district contains four mineralized porphyry centers in the eastern interior of Alaska. All four centers were emplaced during a magmatic episode that spanned from ca. 72 to 67 Ma, with seven distinct igneous suites. Each igneous suite resulted in hydrothermal alteration and mineralization, with younger pulses overprinting older pulses. Each magmatic-hydrothermal system isAuthorsDouglas C. Kreiner, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Laura Pianowski, Zachary Flood, David J. Stevenson, Garth E. Graham, Jorge A. Vazquez, Robert A CreaserRedefinition of the Petersburg batholith and implications for crustal inheritance in the Dinwiddie terrane, Virginia, USA
Field relations as well as geochemical and petrologic studies of metaigneous rocks assigned to the Pennsylvanian–Permian Petersburg batholith identify at least two distinct rock types: foliated metagranitoid gneiss and massive to porphyritic granite. Foliated metagranitoid gneiss of mostly granodioritic composition is geochemically distinct from associated massive and porphyritic granitic rocks. TAuthorsMark W. Carter, Ryan J. McAleer, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Marcie E. Occhi, Brent E. Owens, Jorge A. VazquezThe geometry and kinematics of the latest paleozoic Allatoona Fault, one of the youngest thrusts in the southernmost Appalachian Hinterland, Alabama and Georgia, U.S.A.
The Allatoona thrust fault in the southernmost hinterland of the Appalachian Blue Ridge-Piedmont megathrust sheet is among the latest structures in the kinematic sequence of events along the west flank of the orogen. It is an out-of-sequence, craton-directed thrust fault that cuts metamorphic isograds and earlier thrusts, and it has a nearly linear trace of ≥280 km, making it one of the major thruAuthorsJames F. Tull, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Nawwaf A. Almuntshry, Ericka L. McMahanInsights into the metamorphic history and origin of flake graphite mineralization at the Graphite Creek graphite deposit, Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA
Graphite Creek is an unusual flake graphite deposit located on the Seward Peninsula, Alaska, USA. We present field observations, uranium-lead (U–Pb) monazite and titanite geochronology, carbon (C) and sulfur (S) stable isotope geochemistry, and graphite Raman spectroscopy data from this deposit that support a new model of flake graphite ore genesis in high-grade metamorphic environments. The GraphAuthorsGeorge N. D. Case, Susan M. Karl, Sean P. Regan, Craig A. Johnson, Eric T Ellison, Jonathan Caine, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Laura Pianowski, Jeff A. BenowitzProvenance of Devonian-Carboniferous strata of Colorado: The influence of the Cambrian and the Proterozoic
We report new LA-ICPMS U-Pb detrital zircon ages and sedimentary petrology of silty to sandy limestones and dolostones, as well as calcareous to dolomitic sandstones of the Devonian-Carboniferous (Mississippian) Chaffee Group, as well as detrital zircon ages from the Late Cambrian Sawatch Quartzite and a U-Pb zircon crystallization age on a late Mesoproterozoic (1087.9 13.5 Ma) granitoid of underAuthorsChristopher Holm-Denoma, William A. Matthews, Linda Soar, Mark W. Longman, James W. HagadornA geochronological review of magmatism along the external margin of Columbia and in the Grenville-age orogens forming the core of Rodinia
A total of 4344 magmatic U-Pb ages in the range 2300 to 800 Ma have been compiled from the Great Proterozoic Accretionary Orogen along the margin of the Columbia / Nuna supercontinent and from the subsequent Grenvillian collisional orogens forming the core of Rodinia. The age data are derived from Laurentia (North America and Greenland, n = 1212), Baltica (NE Europe, n = 1922), Amazonia (central SAuthorsAke Johansson, Bernard Bingen, Hannu Huhma, Tod Waight, Rikke Vestergaard, Alvar Soesoo, Grazina Skridlaite, Ewa Krzeminska, Leonid Shumlyanskyy, Mark E. Holland, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Wilson Teixeira, Frederico Faleiros, Bruno Riberio, Joachim Jacobs, Cheng-Cheng Wang, Robert Thomas, Paul Macey, Christopher Kirkland, Michael Hartnady, Bruce Eglington, Stephen Puetz, Kent CondieMajor 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 PleistocenAuthorsLydia M. Staisch, Jim E. O'Connor, Charles M. Cannon, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Paul K. Link, John Lasher, Jeremy A. AlexanderStop 3 – The Petersburg “Granite” redefined: Recognition and implications of Silurian to Devonian rocks in central-eastern Virginia
Introduction Although the Petersburg Granite had long been in practical use as a building stone since the 1830s (Watson, 1906; 1907; 1910; Darton, 1911; Steidtmann, 1945), it was first formally defined as a geologic unit by Anna Jonas on the 1928 geologic map of Virginia. Anna Jonas defined this unit as a Precambrian coarse-grained porphyritic biotite granite that was intruded by finer grained graAuthorsMark W. Carter, Ryan J. McAleer, Marcie Occhi, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Jorge A. Vazquez, Brent E. OwensDetrital zircon record of magmatism and sediment dispersal across the North American Cordilleran arc system (28-48°N)
As zircon U-Pb geochronology has become a leading method in sediment provenance studies and basin analysis over the past 20 years, the volume of detrital zircon data made available in published literature has enabled researchers to go beyond source-to-sink provenance studies to explore increasingly complex geologic problems. In this review, we utilize the growing body of detrital zircon data acquiAuthorsTheresa Maude Schwartz, Kathleen D. Surpless, Joseph Colgan, Samuel Johnstone, Christopher Holm-Denoma