Publications
Here you will find publications, reports and articles produced by geology, energy, and mineral scientists. For a comprehensive listing of all USGS publications, click the button below.
Filter Total Items: 1427
Stratigraphy and chronology of offshore to nearshore deposits associated with the Provo shoreline, Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, Utah Stratigraphy and chronology of offshore to nearshore deposits associated with the Provo shoreline, Pleistocene Lake Bonneville, Utah
Stratigraphic descriptions and radiocarbon data from eleven field locations are presented in this paper to establish a chronostratigraphic framework for offshore to nearshore deposits of Lake Bonneville. Based on key marker beds and geomorphic position, the deposits are interpreted to have accumulated during the period from the late transgressive phase, through the overflowing phase...
Authors
Holly S. Godsey, Charles G. Oviatt, David M. Miller, Marjorie A. Chan
Chapter 48 Geology and petroleum potential of the Eurasia Basin Chapter 48 Geology and petroleum potential of the Eurasia Basin
The Eurasia Basin petroleum province comprises the younger, eastern half of the Arctic Ocean, including the Cenozoic Eurasia Basin and the outboard part of the continental margin of northern Europe. For the USGS petroleum assessment (CARA), it was divided into four assessment units (AUs): the Lena Prodelta AU, consisting of the deep-marine part of the Lena Delta; the Nansen Basin Margin...
Authors
Thomas E. Moore, Janet K. Pitman
Geology, geochronology, and paleogeography of the southern Sonoma volcanic field and adjacent areas, northern San Francisco Bay region, California Geology, geochronology, and paleogeography of the southern Sonoma volcanic field and adjacent areas, northern San Francisco Bay region, California
Recent geologic mapping in the northern San Francisco Bay region (California, USA) supported by radiometric dating and tephrochronologic correlations, provides insights into the framework geology, stratigraphy, tectonic evolution, and geologic history of this part of the San Andreas transform plate boundary. There are 25 new and existing radiometric dates that define three temporally...
Authors
David L. Wagner, George J. Saucedo, Kevin B. Clahan, Robert J. Fleck, Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert J. McLaughlin, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, James R. Allen, Alan L. Deino
Ages and sources of components of Zn-Pb, Cu, precious metal, and platinum group element deposits in the goodsprings district, Clark County, Nevada Ages and sources of components of Zn-Pb, Cu, precious metal, and platinum group element deposits in the goodsprings district, Clark County, Nevada
The Goodsprings district, Clark County, Nevada, includes zinc-dominant carbonate replacement deposits of probable late Paleozoic age, and lead-dominant carbonate replacement deposits, copper ± precious metal-platinum group element (PGE) deposits, and gold ± silver deposits that are spatially associated with Late Triassic porphyritic intrusions. The district encompasses ~500 km2 although...
Authors
Peter G. Vikre, Quentin J. Browne, Robert J. Fleck, Albert H. Hofstra, Joseph L. Wooden
The influence of stream channels on distributions of Larrea tridentata and Ambrosia dumosa in the Mojave Desert, CA, USA: Patterns, mechanisms and effects of stream redistribution The influence of stream channels on distributions of Larrea tridentata and Ambrosia dumosa in the Mojave Desert, CA, USA: Patterns, mechanisms and effects of stream redistribution
Drainage channels are among the most conspicuous surficial features of deserts, but little quantitative analysis of their influence on plant distributions is available. We analysed the effects of desert stream channels (‘washes’) on Larrea tridentata and Ambrosia dumosa density and cover on an alluvial piedmont in the Mojave Desert, based on a spatial analysis of transect data...
Authors
S. Schwinning, D.R. Sandquist, D. M. Miller, D. R. Bedford, S. L. Phillips, J. Belnap
Disaster risk assessment case study: Recent drought on the Navajo Nation, USA Disaster risk assessment case study: Recent drought on the Navajo Nation, USA
The Navajo Nation is an ecologically sensitive semi-arid to arid section of the southern Colorado Plateau. In this remote part of the United States, located at the Four Corners (Arizona, New Mexico, Colorado, and Utah), traditional people live a subsistence lifestyle that is inextricably tied to, and dependent upon, landscape conditions and water supplies. Soft bedrock lithologies and...
Authors
Margaret Hiza, Klara B. Kelley, Harris Francis, Debra Block
Introduction: Tectonics, volcanism, and stratigraphy within the evolving transform margin north of San Francisco Bay, California Introduction: Tectonics, volcanism, and stratigraphy within the evolving transform margin north of San Francisco Bay, California
No abstract available.
Authors
Victoria E. Langenheim, Donald S. Sweetkind
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
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