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Browse recent USGS publications related to energy resources. 

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Correlation of Miocene flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group from the central Columbia River Plateau to the coast of Oregon and Washington Correlation of Miocene flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group from the central Columbia River Plateau to the coast of Oregon and Washington

Nearly twenty flows of the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) can be paleomagnetically and chemically correlated westward as far as 500 km from the Columbia Plateau in Washington, through the Columbia Gorge, to the Coast Range of Oregon and Washington. In the Coast Range near Cathlamet, Washington, the CRBG flow stratigraphy includes 10 flows of Grande Ronde Basalt (1 low-MgO R2 flow, 6...
Authors
Ray E. Wells, R.W. Simpson, R. D. Bentley, Melvin H. Beeson, Margaret T. Mangan, Thomas L. Wright

Mechanisms of Cenozoic tectonic rotation, Pacific Northwest Convergent Margin, U.S.A. Mechanisms of Cenozoic tectonic rotation, Pacific Northwest Convergent Margin, U.S.A.

Large clockwise rotations (15–80°) are characteristic of Cenozoic volcanic and sedimentary rocks along the convergent margin of the northwestern United States. Abundant paleomagnetic data from 62–12 m.y. old rocks in forearc, arc, and backarc regions show that rotation increases with age and with proximity to the coast. Paleomagnetic and structural studies both support dextral shear as a
Authors
Ray E. Wells

Deformation of the Eastern Franciscan Belt, northern California Deformation of the Eastern Franciscan Belt, northern California

The late Jurassic and Cretaceous Eastern Franciscan belt of the northern California Coast Range consists of two multiply deformed, blueschist-facies terranes; the Pickett Peak and Yolla Bolly terranes. Four deformations have been recognized in the Pickett Peak terrane, and three in the Yolla Bolly terrane. The earliest recognized penetrative fabric, D1, occurs only in the Pickett Peak...
Authors
A. S. Jayko, M.C. Blake

New evidence for polyphase metamorphism of glaucophane schist and eclogite exotic blocks in the Franciscan Complex, California and Oregon New evidence for polyphase metamorphism of glaucophane schist and eclogite exotic blocks in the Franciscan Complex, California and Oregon

The early metamorphic history of high-grade exotic blocks in the Franciscan Complex may be more complicated than previously supposed. The different assemblages of high-grade glaucophane schists, eclogite, amphibolite and hornblende schist are commonly considered to have formed at the same time from essentially unmetamorphosed oceanic crust. However, new textural and mineralogical data...
Authors
Diane E. Moore, M.C. Blake
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