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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.

Filter Total Items: 2587

Mineral resource of the month: potash Mineral resource of the month: potash

The article offers basic information about the mineral resource potash. According to the author, potash is the generic term for a variety of mined and manufactured salts that contain the mineral potassium in a water-soluble form. The author adds that potash is used in fertilizers, soaps and detergents, glass and ceramics, and alkaline batteries.
Authors
Stephen M. Jasinski

Mineral resource of the month: indium Mineral resource of the month: indium

Geologically, the occurrence of indium minerals is rare. The element most often occurs as a sulfide inclusion or substitutes in other base-metal minerals, including cassiterite, chalcopyrite, sphalerite and stannite. Indium’s abundance in the crust is estimated to be 0.05 parts per million, which makes it more abundant than silver, but it is so widely disseminated that it does not occur...
Authors
Amy C. Tolcin

The ShakeOut Scenario: Meeting the needs for construction aggregates, hot mix asphalt, and ready mix concrete The ShakeOut Scenario: Meeting the needs for construction aggregates, hot mix asphalt, and ready mix concrete

An Mw 7.8 earthquake as described in the ShakeOut Scenario would cause significant damage to buildings and infrastructure. Over 6 million tons of newly mined aggregate would be used for emergency repairs and for reconstruction in the five years following the event. This aggregate would be applied mostly in the form of concrete for buildings and bridges, asphalt or concrete for pavement...
Authors
William H. Langer

Mountain-block recharge, present and past, in the eastern Espanola Basin, New Mexico, USA Mountain-block recharge, present and past, in the eastern Espanola Basin, New Mexico, USA

Noble gas recharge temperatures (NGTs) and radiocarbon ages were determined for 43 groundwater samples collected in the eastern Española Basin, New Mexico (USA), to identify mountain-block recharge in waters
Authors
Andrew H. Manning

Effects of intrusions on grades and contents of gold and other metals in volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits Effects of intrusions on grades and contents of gold and other metals in volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits

The reason some VMS deposits contain more gold or other metals than others might be due to the influence of intrusions. A new approach examining this possibility is based on examining the information about many VMS deposits to test statistically if those with associated intrusions have significantly different grades or amounts of metals. A set of 632 VMS deposits with reported grades...
Authors
Donald A. Singer, Vladimir Berger, Dan L. Mosier

Updated paleomagnetic pole from Cretaceous plutonic rocks of the Sierra Nevada, California: Tectonic displacement of the Sierra Nevada block Updated paleomagnetic pole from Cretaceous plutonic rocks of the Sierra Nevada, California: Tectonic displacement of the Sierra Nevada block

We report remanent magnetization measurements from 13 sites in Cretaceous plutonic rocks in the northern Sierra Nevada (38°N–39.5°N). By increasing the number of available paleomagnetic sites, the new data tighten constraints on the displacement history of the Sierra Nevada block and its pre-extensional position relative to interior North America. We collected samples in freshly exposed...
Authors
John W. Hillhouse, Sherman Gromme

Age, composition, and areal distribution of the Pliocene Lawlor Tuff, and three younger Pliocene tuffs, California and Nevada Age, composition, and areal distribution of the Pliocene Lawlor Tuff, and three younger Pliocene tuffs, California and Nevada

The Lawlor Tuff is a widespread dacitic tephra layer produced by Plinian eruptions and ash flows derived from the Sonoma Volcanics, a volcanic area north of San Francisco Bay in the central Coast Ranges of California, USA. The younger, chemically similar Huichica tuff, the tuff of Napa, and the tuff of Monticello Road sequentially overlie the Lawlor Tuff, and were erupted from the same...
Authors
Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, Alan L. Deino, Robert J. Fleck, Robert J. McLaughlin, David Wagner, Elmira Wan, David B. Wahl, John W. Hillhouse, Michael Perkins

Evidence from lava flows for complex polarity transitions: The new composite Steens Mountain reversal record Evidence from lava flows for complex polarity transitions: The new composite Steens Mountain reversal record

Geomagnetic polarity transitions may be significantly more complex than are currently depicted in many sedimentary and lava-flow records. By splicing together paleomagnetic results from earlier studies at Steens Mountain with those from three newly studied sections of Oregon Plateau flood basalts at Catlow Peak and Poker Jim Ridge 70–90 km to the southeast and west, respectively, we...
Authors
Nicholas A. Jarboe, Robert S. Coe, Jonathan M. G. Glen

Derivation of S and Pb in phanerozoic intrusion-related metal deposits from neoproterozoic sedimentary pyrite, Great Basin, United States Derivation of S and Pb in phanerozoic intrusion-related metal deposits from neoproterozoic sedimentary pyrite, Great Basin, United States

The thick (≤8 km), regionally extensive section of Neoproterozoic siliciclastic strata (terrigenous detrital succession, TDS) in the central and eastern Great Basin contains sedimentary pyrite characterized by mostly high δ34S values (−11.6 to 40.8‰, >70% exceed 10‰; 51 analyses) derived from reduction of seawater sulfate, and by markedly radiogenic Pb isotopes (207Pb/204Pb >19.2; 15...
Authors
Peter G. Vikre, S.R. Poulson, Alan E. Koenig

Hydrothermal alteration of the Late Eocene Caetano ash-flow caldera, north-central Nevada: A field and ASTER remote sensing study Hydrothermal alteration of the Late Eocene Caetano ash-flow caldera, north-central Nevada: A field and ASTER remote sensing study

Geologic mapping and analysis of ASTER remote sensing data were used to define the effects of a large hydrothermal system in the 12–18 by 22 km Caetano caldera. The caldera formed at ~33.8Ma during eruption of >1100km3 of the rhyolitic Caetano Tuff that left a 1 km deep basin which was partly filled by a lake. Magma resurgence resulted in shallow(
Authors
David A. John, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Christopher D. Henry, Joseph P. Colgan

Erosion of tilted fault blocks and deposition of coarse sediments in half-graben basins during late stages of extension: Gold Butte area, Basin and Range Province Erosion of tilted fault blocks and deposition of coarse sediments in half-graben basins during late stages of extension: Gold Butte area, Basin and Range Province

The provenance and stratigraphic architecture of basin-filling Miocene sediments around the Gold Butte area, southern Nevada, and adjacent highlands record the erosion of fault blocks that progressively tilted during extension. This study focuses especially on upper Miocene correlatives of the red sandstone unit and the Muddy Creek Formation that were deposited during waning stages of...
Authors
Keith A. Howard, Sue Beard, M. A. Kuntz, Michael J. Kunk, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, M. E. Perkins, Ivo Lucchitta

Archeomagnetic dating in western North America: An updated reference curve based on paleomagnetic and archeomagnetic data sets Archeomagnetic dating in western North America: An updated reference curve based on paleomagnetic and archeomagnetic data sets

[1] A robust database of paleomagnetic (PM) and archeomagnetic (AM) data for western North America covering the past 4 millennia is assembled from three data sets: (1) published PM data for dated lava flows, (2) recently published AM data generated by R. L. DuBois, and (3) published AM data generated by J. L. Eighmy. Chronologic information for the AM data sets has been reassessed, and...
Authors
Jonathan T. Hagstrum, Eric Blinman
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