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Christopher Holm-Denoma

Chris Holm-Denoma is a Research Geologist at the U.S. Geological Survey in Denver, CO.

He is currently involved in studies related to the structure, tectonics, and geochronology of regions with mineral deposits. Chris started his career at the the USGS as a postdoc in the Mendenhall Research Fellowship Program where he studied the structure and stratigraphy of the Roberts Mountains allochthon as related to Carlin-type Au deposits. Chris was an Lecturer at the University of Vermont from 2007-2008 where he taught Introductory Geology, Petrology, and a seminar in Appalachian Geology. He also spent a year in Minneapolis as a visiting scholar at the University of Minnesota and concurrently taught Geology and Oceanography courses at North Hennepin Community College. During his Ph.D. he used detailed mapping, structural analyses and isotopic/geochemical methods to investigate the Paleozoic evolution of a backarc and associated igneous rocks in the southern Appalachians. His areas of expertise include: structure/tectonics, field mapping, in situ geochronology (SHRIMP and LA-ICP-MS) and trace element geochemistry.

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D., Geological Sciences, Florida State University, 2006

  • B.S., Geology, The George Washington University, 1998

Science and Products

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plasma lab instruments

From Outcrop to Ions: development and application of in-situ isotope ratio measurements to solve geologic problems

Project objectives are to (1) develop innovative analytical techniques for isotope geochemistry and U-Pb geochronology using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and (2) apply these techniques to collaborative research projects of high priority to the Mineral Resources Program, including studies related to the formation of "critical mineral" deposits, and...
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
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From Outcrop to Ions: development and application of in-situ isotope ratio measurements to solve geologic problems

Project objectives are to (1) develop innovative analytical techniques for isotope geochemistry and U-Pb geochronology using laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), and (2) apply these techniques to collaborative research projects of high priority to the Mineral Resources Program, including studies related to the formation of "critical mineral" deposits, and...
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granitoid

Petrogenesis and REE Metallogenesis of 1.4 Ga Magmatism in the Conterminous U.S.

This project evaluated the petrology and metallogeny of rare earth element-mineralized 1.4 Ga intrusive systems at Mountain Pass and in the St. Francois Mountains relative to those of other, apparently, unmineralized 1.4 Ga intrusive systems in the conterminous U.S.
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
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Petrogenesis and REE Metallogenesis of 1.4 Ga Magmatism in the Conterminous U.S.

This project evaluated the petrology and metallogeny of rare earth element-mineralized 1.4 Ga intrusive systems at Mountain Pass and in the St. Francois Mountains relative to those of other, apparently, unmineralized 1.4 Ga intrusive systems in the conterminous U.S.
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Map of basement domains

Basement Tectonic Framework of the U.S.: Role of Cratonization of Juvenile Crust and Structural Modification in Forming Metallogenic Provinces

Project objectives were to publish a map of the nation's geologic basement. The map portrayed these pieces (domains) from the most ancient to recent, by the events that influenced their composition, starting with their origin.
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
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Basement Tectonic Framework of the U.S.: Role of Cratonization of Juvenile Crust and Structural Modification in Forming Metallogenic Provinces

Project objectives were to publish a map of the nation's geologic basement. The map portrayed these pieces (domains) from the most ancient to recent, by the events that influenced their composition, starting with their origin.
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Filter Total Items: 14

Whole Rock Geochemistry and Uranium Lead Isotopic Data from the Dinwiddie Terrane, Virginia, USA

This data release includes whole rock geochemical data, and uranium-lead isotopic data collected by both Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) and Sensitive High Resolution Ion Microprobe-Reverse Geometry (SHRIMP-RG) methods. Whole rock geochemistry was collected by Activation Laboratories in Ancaster, Ontario. LA-ICP-MS data was collected at the PLASMA at the USG
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

U-Pb zircon geochronology data from Eocene igneous rocks in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district and vicinity, Idaho

This data release includes laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) U-Pb zircon geochronology data to determine the ages of Challis igneous rocks in the Thunder Mountain volcanic field and dikes west of the volcanic field, especially in and near the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district, ID. These efforts were made to help understand the stratigraphy and lithologic cha
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Whole Rock Major and Trace Element Chemistry for Igneous and Metamorphic Rocks from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska

This data set consists of one table containing whole-rock geochemistry data for 753 igneous and metamorphic rocks from the Yukon-Tanana upland of eastern interior Alaska, collected between 2013 and 2019. All materials were analyzed by ALS Global, between 2014 and 2020, by a range of different techniques, so multiple unique entries for a given element relate to different analytical methods or prepa
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb zircon data for igneous units related to mineralization in the eastern Yukon-Tanana upland, eastern Alaska

From 2017-2019, framework metallogenic studies were completed in the eastern Yukon-Tanana upland in eastern Alaska. Numerous previously undated plutons known or suspected to contain components of porphyry, epithermal, and intrusion-related gold systems and associated deposit types were sampled for age and zircon trace element determinations between the Black Mountain area and the Yukon border, nor
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Grain size, mineralogic, and trace-element data from field samples near Hinkley, California

This data release is part of a study examining the occurrence of chromium and natural and anthropogenic hexavalent Chromium, Cr(VI) in groundwater. Data will be used to estimate naturally-occurring background Cr(VI) concentrations upgradient, near the plume margins, and downgradient from a mapped Cr(VI) contamination plume near Hinkley, CA (Izbicki and Groover, 2016). The data release includes g
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Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

U-Pb zircon data for: Upper Triassic and Jurassic sedimentary rocks from Sonora, MX

This laser ablation ICPMS U-Pb zircon data set supports stratigraphic, biostratigraphic and age interpretations of the of the fossil-plant-bearing El Game?o Formation of west-central Sonora, Mexico and the potentially age-correlative fossil-plant-bearing Santa Clara and Coyote formations of southeastern Sonora, Mexico. The zircon data provides minimum age constraints (maximum depositional ages) fo
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Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

U-Pb data for inherited cassiterite in "Tin Granites", an example from the Yazov Granite, Eastern Siberia

Zircon (ZrSiO4) and cassiterite (SnO2) samples were collected by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) from the Yazov Granite, Transbaikalia region, Eastern Siberia, Russia. Samples (in the form of mounted loose grains) were prepared and analyzed for direct age dating on a laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometer (LA?ICPMS) system at the USGS in Denver, Colorado from February 2017 t
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

U-Pb zircon data for: Cretaceous plutonic rocks of western Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve

In 2016, with National Park Service support, several previously undated plutons were sampled in Glacier Bay National Park and Preserve along the west side of Glacier Bay for age determinations. Geochronologic analyses were conducted to determine the ages of the plutonic rocks in the Glacier Bay area. Five samples were collected by Frederic Wilson (USGS Alaska Science Center), from Dundas Bay and G
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Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

U-Pb detrital zircon data for: Select Pennsylvanian-Triassic sedimentary rocks from Colorado

This dataset includes U-Pb detrital zircon age data for samples from the Ingleside and Lyons formations in north-central Colorado collected from Owl Canyon and Park Creek Reservoir, from the Molas and Hermosa formations in southwestern Colorado collected from Molas Pass, and from the Lykins formation and its equivalents along the Front Range and in southeastern Colorado. It accompanies publication
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Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

U-Pb detrital zircon data for: lower Paleozoic sedimentary rocks near Silverton, CO USA

This Laser ablation ICPMS U-Pb detrital zircon data set supports mapping and stratigraphic interpretations of the Upper Devonian Ignacio Formation in southwestern Colorado (Silverton area). All samples were collected from a measured stratigraphic section called "Sultan Creek South" located at 37.710010 and -107.67530 (Evans and others, 2019). The Ignacio Formation was previously interpre
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Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

U-Pb detrital zircon geochronology of cores and cuttings from selected wells in Arctic Alaska

Select samples were collected from boreholes in Arctic Alaska to determine the U-Pb ages of zircon to determine a maximum depositional age of the geologic units and/or provenance of the zircon in the samples. Samples were collected from the Department of Natural Resources-Alaska Geologic Materials Center in Anchorage Alaska and sent to U.S. Geological Survey-Geology, Geophysics and Geochemistry Sc
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

U-Pb zircon data for: The Poncha Pass and Deadman Creek areas, northern Sangre de Cristo mountains of south-central Colorado

Geologic mapping, characterization of geologic structures, and sampling for geochronology was completed in two areas of the northwestern Sangre de Cristo mountains from 2011 through 2017. This data release provides the raw analytical data, metadata and sample information for 20 zircon U-Pb age analyses from laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS). The two areas inclu
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Geologic map of the Poncha Pass area, Chaffee, Fremont, and Saguache Counties, Colorado

This report presents a 1:24,000-scale geologic map, cross sections, and descriptive and interpretative text for the Poncha Pass area in central Colorado. The map area is irregular in shape, covering all of one 7 ½' quadrangle (Poncha Pass) and parts of five others (Mount Ouray, Maysville, Salida West, Salida East, and Wellsville). The map boundaries were drawn to cover all of the “Poncha mountain
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National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center
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Provenance of Devonian-Carboniferous strata of Colorado: The influence of the Cambrian and the Proterozoic

We report new LA-ICPMS U-Pb detrital zircon ages and sedimentary petrology of silty to sandy limestones and dolostones, as well as calcareous to dolomitic sandstones of the Devonian-Carboniferous (Mississippian) Chaffee Group, as well as detrital zircon ages from the Late Cambrian Sawatch Quartzite and a U-Pb zircon crystallization age on a late Mesoproterozoic (1087.9 13.5 Ma) granitoid of under
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Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Major reorganization of the Snake River modulated by passage of the Yellowstone Hotspot

The details and mechanisms for Neogene river reorganization in the U.S. Pacific Northwest and northern Rocky Mountains have been debated for over a century with key implications for how tectonic and volcanic systems modulate topographic development. To evaluate paleo-drainage networks, we produced an expansive data set and provenance analysis of detrital zircon U-Pb ages from Miocene to Pleistocen
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National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Stop 3 – The Petersburg “Granite” redefined: Recognition and implications of Silurian to Devonian rocks in central-eastern Virginia

Introduction Although the Petersburg Granite had long been in practical use as a building stone since the 1830s (Watson, 1906; 1907; 1910; Darton, 1911; Steidtmann, 1945), it was first formally defined as a geologic unit by Anna Jonas on the 1928 geologic map of Virginia. Anna Jonas defined this unit as a Precambrian coarse-grained porphyritic biotite granite that was intruded by finer grained gra
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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center

Detrital zircon record of magmatism and sediment dispersal across the North American Cordilleran arc system (28-48°N)

As zircon U-Pb geochronology has become a leading method in sediment provenance studies and basin analysis over the past 20 years, the volume of detrital zircon data made available in published literature has enabled researchers to go beyond source-to-sink provenance studies to explore increasingly complex geologic problems. In this review, we utilize the growing body of detrital zircon data acqui
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National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating reveals cassiterite inheritance in the Yazov granite, Eastern Siberia: Implications for tin mineralization

U-Pb dating of cassiterite and zircon from the Yazov granite (Transbaikalia region, Eastern Siberia, Russia) and cassiterite from spatially associated tin mineralization in the Tuyukan ore district in the Tonod uplift was conducted using in situ laser ablation inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry. These analyses allow comparison of isotopic systematics for both minerals, especially related
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Mineral Resources Program, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Cretaceous to Oligocene magmatic and tectonic evolution of the western Alaska Range: insights from U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar geochronology

New U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar ages integrated with geologic mapping and observations across the western Alaska Range constrain the distribution and tectonic setting of Cretaceous to Oligocene magmatism along an evolving accretionary plate margin in south-central Alaska. These rocks were emplaced across basement domains that include Neoproterozoic to Jurassic carbonate and siliciclastic strata of the Fare
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Alaska Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

U-Pb geochronology of igneous and detrital zircon samples from the Tok River area, eastern Alaska Range, and Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska

This Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) Raw Data File presents U-Pb zircon geochronology results from selected igneous, meta-igneous, and metasedimentary rocks collected during the Tok River and Wrangellia geologic mapping projects in the eastern Alaska Range and the northwestern Talkeetna Mountains, Alaska. The purpose of these analyses is to better constrain the age of se
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Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Geochronologic age constraints on tectonostratigraphic units of the central Virginia Piedmont, USA

New geologic mapping coupled with uranium-lead (U-Pb) zircon geochronology (sensitive high-resolution ion microprobe-reverse geometry [SHRIMP-RG] and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry [LA-ICP-MS]) analyses of 10 samples, provides new constraints on the tectonostratigraphic framework of the central Virginia Piedmont. Detrital zircon analysis confirms that the Silurian-Devo

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Florence Bascom Geoscience Center, Bascom ARgon Dating (BARD) Laboratory

A new stratigraphic framework and constraints for the position of the Paleocene-Eocene boundary in the rapidly subsiding Hanna Basin, Wyoming

The Paleocene–Eocene strata of the rapidly subsiding Hanna Basin give insights in sedimentation patterns and regional paleogeography during the Laramide orogeny and across the climatic event at the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). Abundant coalbeds and carbonaceous shales of the fluvial, paludal, and lacustrine strata of the Hanna Formation offer a different depositional setting than PETM
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National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

Links between tectonics, magmatism, and mineralization in the formation of Late Cretaceous porphyry systems in the Yukon-Tanana upland, eastern Alaska, USA

Cretaceous-Paleocene porphyry Cu(±Mo±Au) occurrences are scattered throughout the Yukon-Tanana upland in eastern Alaska. Known occurrences in eastern Alaska are poorly characterized, despite a resurgence in exploration. Porphyry deposits in the upland are emplaced into structurally complex metamorphic rocks representing a variety of tectonic environments, resulting in diverse alteration and minera
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Alaska Science Center

Recognition and significance of Late Devonian fluvial, estuarine, and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate nearshore marine environments in the San Juan Mountains (southwestern Colorado, U.S.A.): Multiple incised valleys backfilled by lowstand and transgressive

The Upper Devonian Ignacio Formation (as stratigraphically revised) comprises a transgressive, tide-dominated estuarine depositional system in the San Juan Mountains (Colorado, USA). The unit backfills at least three bedrock paleovalleys (10–30 km wide and ≥42 m deep) with a consistent stratigraphy of tidally influenced fluvial, bayhead-delta, central estuarine-basin, mixed tidal-flat, and estuari
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Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Petrographic, geochemical, and geochronologic data for cenozoic volcanic rocks of the Tonopah, Divide, and Goldfield Mining Districts, Nevada

The purpose of this report is to summarize geochemical, petrographic, and geochronologic data for samples, principally those of unmineralized Tertiary volcanic rocks, from the Tonopah, Divide, and Goldfield mining districts of west-central Nevada (fig. 1). Much of the data presented here for the Tonopah and Divide districts are for samples collected by Bonham and Garside (1979) during geologic map
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Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geosciences and Environmental Change Science Center

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