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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: 2523

Tectonic evolution of the Tualatin basin, northwest Oregon, as revealed by inversion of gravity data Tectonic evolution of the Tualatin basin, northwest Oregon, as revealed by inversion of gravity data

The Tualatin basin, west of Portland (Oregon, USA), coincides with a 110 mGal gravity low along the Puget-Willamette lowland. New gravity measurements (n = 3000) reveal a three-dimensional (3-D) subsurface geometry suggesting early development as a fault-bounded pull-apart basin. A strong northwest-trending gravity gradient coincides with the Gales Creek fault, which forms the...
Authors
Darcy McPhee, Victoria E. Langenheim, Ray E. Wells, Richard J. Blakely

Magmatism, ash-flow tuffs, and calderas of the ignimbrite flareup in the western Nevada volcanic field, Great Basin, USA Magmatism, ash-flow tuffs, and calderas of the ignimbrite flareup in the western Nevada volcanic field, Great Basin, USA

The western Nevada volcanic field is the western third of a belt of calderas through Nevada and western Utah. Twenty-three calderas and their caldera-forming tuffs are reasonably well identified in the western Nevada volcanic field, and the presence of at least another 14 areally extensive, apparently voluminous ash-flow tuffs whose sources are unknown suggests a similar number of...
Authors
Christopher D. Henry, David A. John

Descriptive and geoenvironmental model for Co-Cu-Au deposits in metasedimentary rocks Descriptive and geoenvironmental model for Co-Cu-Au deposits in metasedimentary rocks

Introduction This report is a revised model for a specific type of cobalt-copper-gold (Co-Cu-Au) deposit that will be evaluated in the next U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) assessment of undiscovered mineral resources in the United States (see Ferrero and others, 2012). Emphasis is on providing an up-to-date deposit model that includes both geologic and geoenvironmental aspects. The new...
Authors
John F. Slack, Craig A. Johnson, J. Douglas Causey, Karen Lund, Klaus J. Schulz, John E. Gray, Robert G. Eppinger

Energy and Minerals Science at the U.S. Geological Survey Energy and Minerals Science at the U.S. Geological Survey

The economy, national security, and standard of living of the United States depend on adequate and reliable supplies of energy and mineral resources. Based on population and consumption trends, the Nation’s and World’s use of energy and minerals is expected to grow, driving the demand for scientific understanding of resource formation, location, and availability. The importance of...
Authors
Richard C. Ferrero, Jonathan J. Kolak, Donald J. Bills, Zachary H. Bowen, Daniel J. Cordier, Tanya J. Gallegos, James R. Hein, Karen D. Kelley, Philip H. Nelson, Vito F. Nuccio, Jeanine M. Schmidt, Robert R. Seal

Precise determination of δ88Sr in rocks, minerals, and waters by double-spike TIMS: A powerful tool in the study of chemical, geologic, hydrologic and biologic processes Precise determination of δ88Sr in rocks, minerals, and waters by double-spike TIMS: A powerful tool in the study of chemical, geologic, hydrologic and biologic processes

We present strontium isotopic (88Sr/86Sr and 87Sr/86Sr) results obtained by 87Sr–84Sr double spike thermal ionization mass-spectrometry (DS-TIMS) for several standards as well as natural water samples and mineral samples of abiogenic and biogenic origin. The detailed data reduction algorithm and a user-friendly Sr-specific stand-alone computer program used for the spike calibration and...
Authors
Leonid A. Neymark, Wayne R. Premo, Nikolay N. Mel’nikov, Poul Emsbo

Effect of ultramafic intrusions and associated mineralized rocks on the aqueous geochemistry of the Tangle Lakes Area, Alaska Effect of ultramafic intrusions and associated mineralized rocks on the aqueous geochemistry of the Tangle Lakes Area, Alaska

Stream water was collected at 30 sites within the Tangle Lakes area of the Delta mineral belt in Alaska. Sampling focused on streams near the ultramafic rocks of the Fish Lake intrusive complex south of Eureka Creek and the Tangle Complex area east of Fourteen Mile Lake, as well as on those within the deformed metasedimentary, metavolcanic, and intrusive rocks of the Specimen Creek...
Authors
Bronwen Wang, Larry P. Gough, Richard B. Wanty, Gregory K. Lee, James Vohden, J. Michael O’Neill, L. Jack Kerin

Undiscovered gas resources in the Alum Shale, Denmark, 2013 Undiscovered gas resources in the Alum Shale, Denmark, 2013

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimates a mean undiscovered volume of 6.9 trillion cubic feet of natural gas in the Alum Shale in Denmark.
Authors
Donald L. Gautier, Ronald R. Charpentier, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Timothy R. Klett, Janet K. Pitman, Christopher J. Schenk, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Katherine J. Whidden

Silicate melt inclusion evidence for extreme pre-eruptive enrichment and post-eruptive depletion of lithium in silicic volcanic rocks of the western United States: implications for the origin of lithium-rich brines Silicate melt inclusion evidence for extreme pre-eruptive enrichment and post-eruptive depletion of lithium in silicic volcanic rocks of the western United States: implications for the origin of lithium-rich brines

To evaluate whether anatectic and/or highly fractionated lithophile element-enriched rhyolite tuffs deposited in arid lacustrine basins lose enough lithium during eruption, lithification, and weathering to generate significant Li brine resources, pre-eruptive melt compositions, preserved in inclusions, and the magnitude of post-eruptive Li depletions, evident in host rhyolites, were...
Authors
Albert H. Hofstra, T.I. Todorov, C.N. Mercer, D.T. Adams, E.E. Marsh

Petrologic, tectonic, and metallogenic evolution of the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades magmatic arc, California and Nevada Petrologic, tectonic, and metallogenic evolution of the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades magmatic arc, California and Nevada

Ongoing arc magmatism along western North America was preceded by ancestral arc magmatism that began ca. 45 Ma and evolved into modern arc volcanism. The southern ancestral arc segment, active from ca. 30 to 3 Ma, adjoins the northern segment in northern California across a proposed subducted slab tear. The east edge of the Walker Lane approximates the east edge of the southern arc whose...
Authors
Edward A. du Bray, David A. John, Brian L. Cousens

Paleomagnetic contributions to the Klamath Mountains terrane puzzle-a new piece from the Ironside Mountain batholith, northern California Paleomagnetic contributions to the Klamath Mountains terrane puzzle-a new piece from the Ironside Mountain batholith, northern California

We obtained paleomagnetic samples from six sites within the Middle Jurassic Ironside Mountain batholith (~170 Ma), which constitutes the structurally lowest part of the Western Hayfork terrane, in the Klamath Mountains province of northern California and southern Oregon. Structural attitudes measured in the coeval Hayfork Bally Meta-andesite were used to correct paleomagnetic data from...
Authors
Edward A. Mankinen, C. Sherman Gromme, W. Porter Irwin

Two flysch belts having distinctly different provenance suggest no stratigraphic link between the Wrangellia composite terrane and the paleo-Alaskan margin Two flysch belts having distinctly different provenance suggest no stratigraphic link between the Wrangellia composite terrane and the paleo-Alaskan margin

The provenance of Jurassic to Cretaceous flysch along the northern boundary of the allochthonous Wrangellia composite terrane, exposed from the Lake Clark region of southwest Alaska to the Nutzotin Mountains in eastern Alaska, suggests that the flysch can be divided into two belts having different sources. On the north, the Kahiltna flysch and Kuskokwim Group overlie and were derived...
Authors
Chad P. Hults, Frederic H. Wilson, Raymond A. Donelick, Paul B. O'Sullivan
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