Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Browse recent USGS publications related to energy resources. 

Filter Total Items: 2846

Research in the Geysers-Clear Lake geothermal area, Northern California Research in the Geysers-Clear Lake geothermal area, Northern California

The Geysers-Clear Lake area is one of two places in the world where major vapor-dominated hydrothermal reservoirs are commercially exploited for electric power production. Because energy can be extracted more efficiently from steam than from hot water, vapor-dominated systems are preferable for electric power generation, although most geothermal electric power facilities tap water...

Economics and coal resource appraisal: strippable coal in the Illinois Basin ( USA) Economics and coal resource appraisal: strippable coal in the Illinois Basin ( USA)

Coal-resource appraisals generally describe the location and general characteristics of coal beds. Estimates are made of the average overburden depth (depth of the coal bed below the surface), bed thickness, and perhaps certain chemical properties of the coal [1]. Although such resource compilations represent an important initial step, neither they nor current estimates provide...
Authors
E. D. Attanasi, E.K. Green

Munsell color value as related to organic carbon in Devonian shale of Appalachian basin Munsell color value as related to organic carbon in Devonian shale of Appalachian basin

Comparison of Munsell color value with organic carbon content of 880 samples from 50 drill holes in the Appalachian basin shows that a power curve is the best fit for the data. A color value below 3 to 3.5 indicates the presence of organic carbon but is meaningless in determining the organic carbon content because a large increase in amount of organic carbon causes only a minor decrease...
Authors
John W. Hosterman, Sallie I. Whitlow

Seismic evidence for an extensive gas-bearing layer at shallow depth, offshore from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska Seismic evidence for an extensive gas-bearing layer at shallow depth, offshore from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska

High-resolution seismic reflection data, recorded offshore from Prudhoe Bay, Alaska, were processed digitally to determine the reflectivity structure of the uppermost layers of the seafloor. A prominent reflector, found at 27 m below the mud line (water depths 7-9 m), has a negative reflection coefficient greater than 0.5. The large acoustic impedance contrast, coupled with a report of...
Authors
G. Boucher, E. Reimnitz, E. Kempema

Two oil types on North slope of Alaska: Implications for exploration Two oil types on North slope of Alaska: Implications for exploration

Forty oil samples from across the North Slope of Alaska have been analyzed by the U.S. Bureau of Mines and the U.S. Geological Survey. Results of these analyses suggest two separate genetic oil types. The first, the Simpson-Umiat oil type, occurs in reservoir rocks of Cretaceous and Quaternary age and includes oil from seeps in the Skull Cliff, Cape Simpson, Manning Point, and Ungoon...
Authors
L. B. Magoon, George E. Claypool

Magnetic effects of maghemitization of oceanic crust Magnetic effects of maghemitization of oceanic crust

Both theoretical considerations and available experimental results indicate that magnetic effects of maghemitization are strongly dependent on the grain size of the originally unoxidized titanomagnetite. Maghemitization of single‐domain titanomagnetite results in a decrease in coercivity, an increase in susceptibility, and a large decrease in Q ratio. Maghemitization of multidomain...
Authors
M. Prevot, A. Lecaille, Edward A. Mankinen

Geologic mapping of Kentucky: A history and evaluation of the Kentucky Geological Survey--U.S. Geological Survey Mapping Program, 1960-1978 Geologic mapping of Kentucky: A history and evaluation of the Kentucky Geological Survey--U.S. Geological Survey Mapping Program, 1960-1978

In 1960, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Kentucky Geological Survey began a program to map the State geologically at a scale of 1:24,000 and to publish the maps as 707 U.S. Geological Survey Geologic Quadrangle Maps. Fieldwork was completed by the spring of 1977, and all maps were published by December 1978. Geologic mapping of the State was proposed by the Kentucky Society of...
Authors
Earle Rupert Cressman, Martin C. Noger

Uranium contents of glassy and devitrified andesites and dacites, Mount Mazama, Oregon Uranium contents of glassy and devitrified andesites and dacites, Mount Mazama, Oregon

By direct comparison of devitrified and granophyrically crystallized specimens with nonhydrated glassy materials from the same units, Rosholt and coworkers (Rosholt and Noble, 1969; Rosholt et al., 1971) showed that specimens of primarily crystallized but otherwise unaltered peralkaline and subalkaline rhyolite from the western United States had lost from 30 to 80 percent of the uranium...
Authors
D. C. Noble, W.I. Rose, Robert A. Zielinski
Was this page helpful?