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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: 2582

Cathodoluminescence imaging and spectrometry of a jadeite microbeam reference crystal: Detection of Ce3+ Cathodoluminescence imaging and spectrometry of a jadeite microbeam reference crystal: Detection of Ce3+

Options for selecting a high Na concentration mineral for instrument calibration that are suitably stable under the electron beam are limited [1]. NaCl (approximately a mass fraction of 39 % Na) is not practical for use alongside other embedded and polished materials in a mounted block of standards. While albite (NaAlSi3O8; approximately a mass fraction of 8 % Na) represents a typical...
Authors
Thomas Lameris, Heather A. Lowers, Scott A. Wight, Edward P. Vicenzi

Correlating quantified cathodoluminescence spectra in jadeite with micro-scale color measurements in visible-near infrared reflectance spectrometry Correlating quantified cathodoluminescence spectra in jadeite with micro-scale color measurements in visible-near infrared reflectance spectrometry

Cultures throughout history have valued jadeite jade (hereinafter jade), a natural material assemblage composed predominately of the NaAl endmember pyroxene, jadeite (NaAlSi2O6) that is prized for its mechanical properties and enticing coloration [1, 2]. The geological setting for the formation of jadeite-rich rocks and associated complex geochemical phenomena is well documented in the...
Authors
Edward P. Vicenzi, Thomas Lameris, Heather A. Lowers, Colin MacRae

Compositional and structural mapping of Northwest Africa 15507 angrite Compositional and structural mapping of Northwest Africa 15507 angrite

Angrite meteorites represent interesting sampling of planetary crustal environments. Quench-textured angrites with strong crystal zoning originated from the shallow surface region, with evidence of reducing conditions during solidification. Plutonic angrites have more coarse-grained igneous and metamorphic textures with comparatively less zoning and are interpreted as having equilibrated...
Authors
Heather A. Lowers, Paul C. Carpenter, Jay M. Thompson, Anthony Irving

The early Earth as an analogue for exoplanetary biogeochemistry The early Earth as an analogue for exoplanetary biogeochemistry

Planet Earth has evolved over the past 4.5 billion years from an entirely anoxic planet with possibly a different tectonic regime to the oxygenated world with horizontal plate tectonics that we know today. For most of this time, Earth has been inhabited by a purely microbial biosphere albeit with seemingly increasing complexity over time. A rich record of this geobiological evolution...
Authors
Eva Stüeken, Stephanie Olson, Elisha Kelly Moore, Bradford Foley

Deep lithospheric controls on surface deformation and seismicity around the East Anatolian Fault Zone and A3 Triple Junction Deep lithospheric controls on surface deformation and seismicity around the East Anatolian Fault Zone and A3 Triple Junction

The East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ) is a plate-bounding strike-slip fault capable of hosting large earthquakes, as demonstrated by the extremely damaging February 2023 Mw 7.8 and Mw 7.7 mainshocks of the Kahramanmaraş earthquake sequence. Deformation related to this boundary, part of the Anatolia-Arabia-Africa (A3) Triple Junction, is diffuse, as was shown by part of this earthquake...
Authors
Jonathan Daily, Michael H. Darin, Donna L. Whitney, Michael A. Cosca, Christian Teyssier, Nuretdin Kaymakci, Tuna Eken, Mary R. Reid, Susan L. Beck

Microtextural evidence for the recrystallization of opal-A to quartz in epithermal veins: A case study from the McLaughlin deposit, California Microtextural evidence for the recrystallization of opal-A to quartz in epithermal veins: A case study from the McLaughlin deposit, California

High-grade ores in low-sulfidation epithermal deposits commonly consist of banded veins containing quartz as the most abundant gangue mineral. Previous studies suggested that at least some of the quartz has formed as a product of recrystallization from a noncrystalline silica precursor. Detailed petrographic studies confirm that high-grade veins from the
Authors
Garrett D. Gissler, Thomas Monecke, T. James Reynolds, Mario A. Guzman, Eric T. Ellison, Ross Sherlock

Characterizing sulfur redox state and geochemical implications in deep-time using mineral chemistry network analysis Characterizing sulfur redox state and geochemical implications in deep-time using mineral chemistry network analysis

Sulfur (S) is a central element in global biogeochemical cycling and Earth’s redox evolution. Minerals that contain S are an important record of local environmental conditions at the time of their formation based on chemical speciation and redox. However, the oxidation state of S for hundreds of different S-containing minerals and thousands of S-containing mineral localities is unknown...
Authors
Elisha Kelly Moore, Joseph Diedolf, Shaunna M. Morrison, Daniel Hummer

Earthquake relocations delineate discrete a fault network and deformation corridor throughout Southeast Alaska and Southwest Yukon Earthquake relocations delineate discrete a fault network and deformation corridor throughout Southeast Alaska and Southwest Yukon

Deformation in southeastern Alaska and southwest Yukon is governed by the subduction and translation of the Pacific-Yakutat plates relative to the North American plate in the St. Elias region. Despite notable historical seismicity and major regional faults, studies of the region between the Fairweather and Denali faults are complicated by glacial coverage and the remote setting. In the...
Authors
Katherine M. Biegel, Jeremy M. Gosselin, Jan Dettmer, Maurice Colpron, Eva Enkelmann, Jonathan Saul Caine

Annual review 2023: Critical minerals Annual review 2023: Critical minerals

No abstract available.
Authors
Graham W. Lederer, James V. Jones, Darcy McPhee, Jeffrey L. Mauk, Robert R. Seal,, Kate M. Campbell, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Paul A. Bedrosian, Patricia Grace Macqueen, Garth E. Graham, Federico Solano, George N.D. Case, David George Pineault

Revisiting geophysical interpretations of the Midcontinent Rift below Lake Superior— Insights from GLIMPCE seismic-reflection line C Revisiting geophysical interpretations of the Midcontinent Rift below Lake Superior— Insights from GLIMPCE seismic-reflection line C

The 1.1 Ga Midcontinent Rift System (MRS) has been investigated in the Lake Superior region for more than a century. The most influential geophysical data for modern paradigms has come from seismic-reflection profiles collected by the Great Lakes International Multidisciplinary Program on Crustal Evolution (GLIMPCE) in the late 1980s. We are revisiting seismic-reflection GLIMPCE line C...
Authors
V. J. S. Grauch, Samuel J. Heller, Laurel G. Woodruff, Esther K. Stewart

Thick- and thin-skinned contractional styles and the tectonic evolution of the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA Thick- and thin-skinned contractional styles and the tectonic evolution of the northern Sangre de Cristo Mountains, Colorado, USA

The Sangre de Cristo Mountains of southern Colorado and northern New Mexico, USA, contain an unusual combination of thick- and thin-skinned contractional structures involving both basement and cover rocks in the Laramide Rocky Mountain foreland. These structures are truncated by down-faulted extensional basins to the east and west. Together with synorogenic sediments, these structures...
Authors
David A. Lindsey, Jonathan Saul Caine
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