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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.

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Punctuated sediment discharge during early Pliocene birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontology Punctuated sediment discharge during early Pliocene birth of the Colorado River: Evidence from regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and paleontology

The Colorado River in the southwestern U.S. provides an excellent natural laboratory for studying the origins of a continent-scale river system, because deposits that formed prior to and during river initiation are well exposed in the lower river valley and nearby basinal sink. This paper presents a synthesis of regional stratigraphy, sedimentology, and micropaleontology from the...
Authors
Rebecca J. Dorsey, Brennan O’Connell, Kristin McDougall-Reid, Mindy B. Homan

Ore-forming adakitic porphyry produced by fractional crystallization of oxidized basaltic magmas in a subcrustal chamber (Jiamate, East Junggar, NW China) Ore-forming adakitic porphyry produced by fractional crystallization of oxidized basaltic magmas in a subcrustal chamber (Jiamate, East Junggar, NW China)

Adakitic intrusions are supposed to have a close genetic and spatial relationship to porphyry Cu deposits. However, the genesis of adakitic intrusions is still under dispute. Here, we describe newly discovered intrusive complex rocks, which are composed of ore-bearing, layered magnetite-bearing gabbroic and adakitic rocks in Jiamate, East Junggar, NW China. These Jiamate Complex...
Authors
Tao Hong, Xing-Wang Xu, Jungang Gao, Stephen Peters, Di Zhang, Reyaniguli Jielili, Peng Xiang, Hao Li, Chu Wu, Jun You, Jie Liu, Qiang Ke

Environmental characteristics and utilization potential of metallurgical slag Environmental characteristics and utilization potential of metallurgical slag

Slag, an abundant byproduct from the pyrometallurgical processing of ores, can be an environmental liability or a valuable resource. The most common environmental impact of slag is from the leaching of potentially toxic elements, acidity, or alkalinity that may impact nearby soils and surface water and groundwater. Factors that influence its environmental behavior include physical...
Authors
Nadine M. Piatak

Lead and strontium isotopes as monitors of anthropogenic contaminants in the surficial environment Lead and strontium isotopes as monitors of anthropogenic contaminants in the surficial environment

Isotopic discrimination can be an effective tool in establishing a direct link between sources of Pb contamination and the presence of anomalously high concentrations of Pb in waters, soils, and organisms. Residential wells supplying water containing up to 1600 ppb Pb to houses built on the former Mohr orchards commercial site, near Allentown, Pennsylvania, United States, were evaluated...
Authors
Robert A. Ayuso, Nora K. Foley

Chemical elements in the environment: multi-element geochemical datasets from continental to national scale surveys on four continents Chemical elements in the environment: multi-element geochemical datasets from continental to national scale surveys on four continents

During the last 10-20 years, Geological Surveys around the world have undertaken a major effort towards delivering fully harmonized and tightly quality-controlled low-density multi-element soil geochemical maps and datasets of vast regions including up to whole continents. Concentrations of between 45 and 60 elements commonly have been determined in a variety of different regolith types...
Authors
Patrice de Caritat, Clemens Reimann, David B. Smith, Xueqiu Wang

Detrital zircon geochronology of quartzose metasedimentary rocks from parautochthonous North America, east-central Alaska Detrital zircon geochronology of quartzose metasedimentary rocks from parautochthonous North America, east-central Alaska

We report eight new U-Pb detrital zircon ages for quartzose metasedimentary rocks from four lithotectonic units of parautochthonous North America in east-central Alaska: the Healy schist, Keevy Peak Formation, and Sheep Creek Member of the Totatlanika Schist in the northern Alaska Range, and the Butte assemblage in the northwestern Yukon-Tanana Upland. Excepting 1 of 3 samples from the...
Authors
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, James V. Jones, John N. Aleinikoff, James K. Mortensen

Mineralogical characterization of weathered outcrops as a tool for constraining water chemistry predictions during project planning Mineralogical characterization of weathered outcrops as a tool for constraining water chemistry predictions during project planning

Weathered samples from naturally exposed outcrops of troctolite associated with a magmatic Ni-Cu sulphide deposit were characterized by synchrotron-based micro-X-ray fluorescence mapping (µ-XRF) and X-ray absorption spectroscopy (XAS), as well as by lab-based X-ray diffraction, electron microscopy, Raman spectroscopy and wet chemical methods. Metal mobility in weathered samples was...
Authors
Tamara Diedrich, Paul Fix, Andrea L. Foster

Geologic sources of energy Geologic sources of energy

This chapter describes the exploration, development, and geologic setting of petroleum resources (including tar sands), coal resources (including coalbed methane), and geothermal energy resources of the Northern Cordillera.For petroleum resources, the chapter describes: (1) the history of petroleum development and production, first for Alaska and then for the Canadian Cordillera; and (2)
Authors
Thomas K. Bundtzen, Warren J. Nokleberg

Geochemistry and mineralogy of the Dotson Zone HREE deposit in the Bokan Mountain peralkaline igneous complex, southeastern Alaska, USA Geochemistry and mineralogy of the Dotson Zone HREE deposit in the Bokan Mountain peralkaline igneous complex, southeastern Alaska, USA

The Bokan Mountain igneous complex (BMIC) is a typical example of a peralkaline intrusive system that has evolved to the point of developing late stage HFSE- and REE-rich silicic pegmatites and dikes. The Dotson Zone comprises a series of felsic dikes that extend from the southeast margin of the composite pluton and may represent an important resource of critical HREEs. Petrographically...
Authors
Cliff D. Taylor, Heather A. Lowers, David Adams, R. James Robinson
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