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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: 2294

Multiscale hyperspectral imaging of hydrothermal alteration in Yellowstone National Park, USA

Imaging spectroscopy (hyperspectral imaging) data have mainly been used to map surface materials covering relatively small areas from airborne sensors over the past 20+ years. As part of the U.S. Geological Survey Integrated hyperspectral, geophysical and geochemical studies of Yellowstone National Park hydrothermal systems project, we have collected multiscale imaging spectrometer data including
Authors
Todd M. Hoefen, Raymond F. Kokaly, Keith Eric Livo, John Michael Meyer, JoAnn Holloway

Zirconium-bearing accessory minerals in UK Paleogene granites: Textural, compositional, and paragenetic relationships

The mineral occurrences, parageneses, textures, and compositions of Zr-bearing accessory minerals in a suite of UK Paleogene granites from Scotland and Northern Ireland are described. Baddeleyite, zirconolite, and zircon, in that sequence, formed in hornblende + biotite granites (type 1) and hedenbergite–fayalite granites (type 2). The peralkaline microgranite (type 3) of Ailsa Craig contains zirc
Authors
Harvey E. Belkin, Ray MacDonald

Geochemical and mineralogical properties of Boquillas Shale geochemical reference material ShBOQ-1

The ShBOQ-1 geochemical reference material is relevant to studies of the organic geochemistry and mineralogy of petroleum source rocks containing high concentrations of carbonate minerals and organic sulfur-rich, oil-prone marine organic matter. ShBOQ-1 is geochemically and mineralogically similar to the lower part of the Upper Cretaceous Eagle Ford Shale.
Authors
Justin E. Birdwell, Stephen A. Wilson

Mapping critical minerals from the sky

Critical mineral resources titanium, zirconium, and rare earth elements occur in placer deposits over vast parts of the U.S. Atlantic Coastal Plain. Key questions regarding provenance, pathways of minerals to deposit sites, and relations to geologic features remain unexplained. As part of a national effort to collect data over regions prospective for critical minerals, the first public high-resolu
Authors
Anjana K. Shah, Robert Morrow, Michael Pace, M.Scott Harris, William Doar III

Mineral resource inventory of North Dakota

Aside from construction aggregate materials, the value of nonfuel mineral commodities that have been produced in North Dakota is small, although there is potential for the existence of several mineral resource deposit types which are not economically viable at this time. In this report, we present a mineral resource inventory of the State of North Dakota, developed by the U.S. Geological Survey at
Authors
Stephen E. Box, Pamela M. Cossette

Introduction: Metallurgical slags - Environmental liability or valuable resource?

Slags are important by-products generated by ferrous and non-ferrous pyrometallurgical operations, with hundreds of millions of tonnes generated globally each year. Depending on the chemical and mineralogical compositions of slags, they may be disposed of as waste, which can then weather and release contaminants into the environment with the potential to impact the ecosystem and humans. Alternatel
Authors
Nadine M. Piatak, Vojtech Ettler

Weathering of slags

Weathering is a natural process causing the transformation of minerals, rocks, and related materials like glass under near-surface conditions. Although metallurgical slags are human-made materials, they also undergo natural weathering processes. As base metal slags weather, the released solutions may contain contaminants that could pose an environmental risk. On the other hand, weathering of ferro
Authors
Jakub Kierczak, Anna Pietranik, Nadine M. Piatak

Geochemistry and mineralogy of metallurgical slag

Slag is a waste product from the pyrometallurgical processing of natural ores or the recycling of man-made materials. This chapter provides an overview of the geochemical and mineralogical characteristics of different types of slag. A review of the analytical methods used to determine these characteristics is also provided. Ferrous slags include blast furnace, steelmaking, and ferroalloy slags; th
Authors
Nadine M. Piatak, Vojtech Ettler, Darryl Andre Hoppe

Reconnaissance study of the major and trace element content of bauxite deposits in the Arkansas bauxite region, Saline and Pulaski Counties, central Arkansas

The Arkansas bauxite district, which comprises about 275 square miles (710 square kilometers) of central Arkansas, produced an order of magnitude more bauxite and alumina than the other bauxite districts in the United States combined. Bauxite was mined in the region continuously from 1898 to 1982. These bauxites are laterite deposits, formed from intensive in-place weathering of the exposed surfac
Authors
Bradley S. Van Gosen, LaDonna M. Choate

Approach for quantifying rare Earth elements at low keV

The challenges of analyzing bastnaesite (REECO3F) and hydroxylbastnaesite (REECO3OH) include beam sensitivity, quantification of light elements in a heavy element matrix, the presence of elements that cannot be analyzed with EPMA (H), and the use of x-ray lines whose physical constants are not well known. To overcome some of these challenges, Ca, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Sm were analyzed at 15 keV acce

Authors
Heather A. Lowers

Chemical and structural degradation of CH3NH3PbI3 propagate from PEDOT:PSS interface in the presence of humidity

Understanding interfacial reactions that occur between the active layer and charge-transport layers can extend the stability of perovskite solar cells. In this study, the exposure of methylammonium lead iodide (CH3NH3PbI3) thin films prepared on poly(3,4-ethylenedioxythiophene):poly(styrenesulfonate) (PEDOT:PSS)-coated glass to 70% relative humidity (R.H.) leads to a perovskite crystal structure c
Authors
Sara A Thomas, J. Clay Hamill Jr, Sarah Jane White, Yueh-Lin Loo

Temporal and petrogenetic links between Mesoproterozoic alkaline and carbonatite magmas at Mountain Pass, California

Mountain Pass is the site of the most economically important rare earth element (REE) deposit in the United States. Mesoproterozoic alkaline intrusions are spatiotemporally associated with a composite carbonatite stock that hosts REE ore. Understanding the genesis of the alkaline and carbonatite magmas is an essential scientific goal for a society in which critical minerals are in high demand and
Authors
Kathryn E. Watts, Gordon B. Haxel, David M. Miller