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Publications

Scientific reports, journal articles, and information products produced by USGS Pacific Coastal and Marine Science Center scientists.

Filter Total Items: 1414

Leg 84 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project Leg 84 of the Deep Sea Drilling Project

No abstract available.
Authors
J. Aubouin, Roland von Huene, M. Baltuck, Robert Arnott, J. Bourgois, M.V. Filewicz, Keith Kvenvolden, Barry Leinert, Tom McDonald, Kristin McDougall-Reid, Y. Ogawa, Elliot Taylor, Barbara Winsborough

Ancient plate boundaries in the Bering Sea region Ancient plate boundaries in the Bering Sea region

Plate tectonic models of the Bering Sea suggest that the abyssal Bering Sea Basin is underlain by oceanic crust, a supposition supported by refraction and magnetic data. The oceanic crust is thought to be a remnant of the Kula(?) plate that was isolated within what is now the Bering Sea when the proto-Aleutian arc began to form between the Alaska Peninsula and Kamchatka in late Mesozoic...
Authors
M. Marlow, Alan Cooper, David Scholl, H. McLean

Measurements of storm-generated bottom stresses on the continental shelf Measurements of storm-generated bottom stresses on the continental shelf

Large values of bottom friction velocity, u*, and roughness length, z0, determined from burst-averaged speed data taken on the continental shelf in outer Norton Sound, Alaska, with the GEOPROBE tripod during a storm in September 1977 are correlated with extremely large values of near-bottom concentration of total suspended particulate matter (TSM). Combined wind-driven and tidal currents...
Authors
D.A. Cacchione, D.E. Drake

Uranium-series and soil-geomorphic dating of the Calico archaeological site, California Uranium-series and soil-geomorphic dating of the Calico archaeological site, California

Lithic specimens identified as artifacts have been recovered from near the base of the Yermo fan deposits at Calico, California. The soil on the fan surface is a strongly developed relict paleosol. Comparison of this soil with dated paleosols elsewhere in the southwestern United States suggests that the surface is about 80,000 to 125,000 yr old. Clasts near the base of the deposit are...
Authors
James Bischoff, Roy Shlemon, T. Ku, R.D. Simpson, Robert Rosenbauer, Budinger

Petrographic and chemical characteristics of pyrite-marcasite mineralization in hole 465A, southern Hess Rise Petrographic and chemical characteristics of pyrite-marcasite mineralization in hole 465A, southern Hess Rise

Core recovered from Hess Rise contains concentrations of pyrite, marcasite, and barite in the lowermost meter of limestone (Unit II) and in the brecciated upper part of the underlying volcanic basement (Unit HI). Petrographic and chemical data indicate that the sulfide-barite assemblage in the limestone is mainly a product of low-temperature diagenetic processes. The iron-sulfide phases...
Authors
Randolph Koski, James Hein

Age estimations based on amino acid racemization: Reply to comments of J.F. Wehmiller Age estimations based on amino acid racemization: Reply to comments of J.F. Wehmiller

Determining geologic ages of fossils by amino acid racemization techniques is often difficult because of the uncertainties in assumptions about diagenetic temperatures. Two kinetic model methods have been employed. Method 1, used by us, assumes that racemization of amino acids in the bivalve mollusk Saxidomus giganteus from Willapa Bay, Washington, follows linear kinetics. Ages are...
Authors
Keith Kvenvolden, D. Blunt, H. Clifton

Geochemistry of amino acids in sediments from Clear Lake, California Geochemistry of amino acids in sediments from Clear Lake, California

By studying the geochemistry of amino acids, we attempt to clarify uncertainties in the radiocarbon chronology and in correlations of ash beds and pollen spectra in lacustrine sediment from Clear Lake, California. Two amino acids, aspartic acid and alanine, are considered in detail. Relative concentrations of aspartic acid decrease with depth, a result likely due to diagenesis and to...
Authors
D. Blunt, Keith Kvenvolden, John Sims

Thermogenic hydrocarbons in unconsolidated sediment of Eel river basin, offshore northern California Thermogenic hydrocarbons in unconsolidated sediment of Eel river basin, offshore northern California

Thermally produced hydrocarbons were recovered from unconsolidated sediment ponded within a bathymetric depression on the surface of a shale diapir in the offshore Eel River Basin of northern California. Evidence that the hydrocarbons are thermogenic consists of the following: (1) very high concentrations of hydrocarbon gases, particularly ethane through butanes (C2-C4); (2) methane...
Authors
Keith Kvenvolden, Michael Field

Organic geochemistry in the Deep Sea Drilling Project Organic geochemistry in the Deep Sea Drilling Project

Since the beginning of the Deep Sea Drilling Project DSDP in 1968 and extending through 1975 organic geochemical studies have been undertaken on about 2300 samples recovered on Legs I through 44 from sediments beneath the ocean floors These studies have provided fundamental information regarding the distribution of carbon in oceanic sediments and have yielded a better understanding of...
Authors
Keith Kvenvolden
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