Colin is the Mineral Resources Program Coordinator. Colin was previously the Director of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center. He previously led the Geothermal Resource Studies Project, which assessed the geothermal resources of the US and conducted research on geothermal systems.
Colin's primary research interest is in measuring and modeling the flow of heat and fluids through the Earth's crust and using those measurements to understand hydrothermal processes, earthquakes, and groundwater flow. He joined the USGS after earning a PhD and MPhil in Geological Sciences from Columbia University, an MS in Mechanical Engineering from UC Berkeley, and a BS in Engineering from Harvey Mudd College.
Professional Experience
Present, Program Coordinator for the Mineral Resources Program
2012-2023, Center Director, USGS Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Menlo Park, CA
2004-2012, Supervisory Research Geophysicist and Geothermal Project Chief, USGS, EQ Science Center, Menlo Park, CA
1989-2004, Research Geophysicist, Heat Flow Studies, USGS Branch of Tectonophysics, Menlo Park, CA
Education and Certifications
M.Phil, PhD., Geophysics, Columbia University, 1989
M.S., Mechanical Engineering, University of California-Berkeley, 1984
B.S., Engineering, Harvey Mudd College, 1983
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Geophysical Union
Geological Society of America
Geothermal Resources Council
International Geothermal Association
2000-2012, Seismological Society of America
NASA - Non-USGS
Department of Energy - Non-USGS
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 42
Using saline or brackish aquifers as reservoirs for thermal energy storage, with example calculations for direct-use heating in the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA
Tools to evaluate reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES; heat storage in slow-moving or stagnant geochemically evolved permeable zones in strata that underlie well-connected regional aquifers) are developed and applied to the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) beneath the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA. The performance of RTES for heat storage and recovery in the Portland Basin is strongly dependent
Authors
Erick Burns, John Bershaw, Colin F. Williams, Ray E Wells, Matt W Uddenberg, Darby P Scanlon, Trenton T Cladouhos, Boz Van Houten
An integrated feasibility study of reservoir thermal energy storage in Portland, Oregon, USA
In regions with long cold overcast winters and sunny summers, Deep Direct-Use (DDU) can be coupled with Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES) technology to take advantage of pre-existing subsurface permeability to save summer heat for later use during cold seasons. Many aquifers worldwide are underlain by permeable regions (reservoirs) containing brackish or saline groundwater that has limited b
Authors
John Bershaw, Erick Burns, Trenton T Cladouhos, Alison E Horst, Boz Van Houten, Peter Hulseman, Alisa Kane, Jenny H Liu, Robert B Perkins, Darby P Scanlon, Ashley R. Streig, Ellen E Svadlenak, Matt W Uddenberg, Ray E Wells, Colin F. Williams
Controls on deep direct-use thermal energy storage (DDU-TES) in the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA
Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage is being evaluated as a complementary technology to Deep Direct-Use for the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA. Aquifers can be used to efficiently distribute and store heat for seasonal use. The use of injection-extraction well pairs precludes the need to store or dispose of large volumes of pumped groundwater or to obtain a consumptive groundwater right. Injection tempera
Authors
Erick Burns, Trenton T. Cladouhos, C.F. Williams, J. Bershaw,
Thermal effect of climate change on groundwater-fed ecosystems
Groundwater temperature changes will lag surface temperature changes from a changing climate. Steady state solutions of the heat-transport equations are used to identify key processes that control the long-term thermal response of springs and other groundwater discharge to climate change, in particular changes in (1) groundwater recharge rate and temperature and (2) land-surface temperature transm
Authors
Erick Burns, Yonghui Zhu, Hongbin Zhan, Michael Manga, Colin F. Williams, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Jason B. Dunham
Geologic setting of the proposed West Flank Forge Site, California: Suitability for EGS research and development
The proposed West Flank FORGE site is within the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS), China Lake, CA. The West Flank is west of the Coso geothermal field, an area of China Lake NAWS dominated by the Quaternary Coso volcanic field largely comprised of rhyolite domes and their volcaniclastic and epiclastic horizons. The largest dome flow complex, Sugarloaf Mountain, marks the northwestern ma
Authors
Andrew Sabin, Kelly Blake, Mike Lazaro, Douglas Blankenship, Mack Kennedy, Jess McCullough, S.B. DeOreo, Stephen H. Hickman, Jonathan M.G. Glen, J. Ole Kaven, Colin F. Williams, Geoffrey Phelps, James E. Faulds, Nicholas H. Hinz, Wendy M. Calvin, Drew Siler, Ann Robertson-Tait
Seismic imaging of the metamorphism of young sediment into new crystalline crust in the actively rifting Imperial Valley, California
Plate-boundary rifting between transform faults is opening the Imperial Valley of southern California and the rift is rapidly filling with sediment from the Colorado River. Three 65–90 km long seismic refraction profiles across and along the valley, acquired as part of the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project, were analyzed to constrain upper crustal structure and the transition from sediment to un
Authors
Liang Han, John Hole, Joann Stock, Gary S. Fuis, Colin F. Williams, Jonathan Delph, Kathy Davenport, Amanda Livers
Geology and mineral resources of the Southwestern and South-Central Wyoming Sagebrush Focal Area, Wyoming, and the Bear River Watershed Sagebrush Focal Area, Wyoming and Utah: Chapter E in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Monta
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpo
Authors
Anna B. Wilson, Timothy S. Hayes, Mary Ellen Benson, Douglas B. Yager, Eric D. Anderson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Jacob DeAngelo, Connie L. Dicken, Ronald M. Drake, Gregory L. Fernette, Stuart A. Giles, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Jon E. Haacke, John D. Horton, Heather L. Parks, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Colin F. Williams
Geology and mineral resources of the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Oregon and Nevada), the Southeastern Oregon and North-Central Nevada, and the Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada (and Utah) Sagebrush Focal Areas: Chapter B in
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpo
Authors
Peter G. Vikre, Mary Ellen Benson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Joseph Colgan, Pamela M. Cossette, Jacob DeAngelo, Connie L. Dicken, Ronald M. Drake, Edward A. du Bray, Gregory L. Fernette, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Jon E. Haacke, Susan M. Hall, Albert H. Hofstra, David John, Stephen Ludington, Mark J. Mihalasky, James J. Rytuba, Brian N. Shaffer, Lisa L. Stillings, John C. Wallis, Colin F. Williams, Douglas B. Yager, Lukas Zürcher
Geology and mineral resources of the North-Central Idaho Sagebrush Focal Area: Chapter C in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpo
Authors
Karen Lund, Lukas Zürcher, Albert H. Hofstra, Bradley S. Van Gosen, Mary Ellen Benson, Stephen E. Box, Eric D. Anderson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Jacob DeAngelo, Ronald M. Drake, Gregory L. Fernette, Stuart A. Giles, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Jon E. Haacke, John D. Horton, David John, Gilpin R. Robinson, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Carma A. San Juan, Brian N. Shaffer, Steven M. Smith, Colin F. Williams
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, National Minerals Information Center
Geology and mineral resources of the North-Central Montana Sagebrush Focal Area: Chapter D in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpo
Authors
Jeffrey L. Mauk, Michael L. Zientek, B. Carter Hearn, Heather L. Parks, M. Christopher Jenkins, Eric D. Anderson, Mary Ellen Benson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Jacob DeAngelo, Paul Denning, Connie L. Dicken, Ronald M. Drake, Gregory L. Fernette, Helen W. Folger, Stuart A. Giles, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Matthew Granitto, Jon E. Haacke, John D. Horton, Karen D. Kelley, Joyce A. Ober, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Carma A. San Juan, Elizabeth S. Sangine, Peter N. Schweitzer, Brian N. Shaffer, Steven M. Smith, Colin F. Williams, Douglas B. Yager
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, National Minerals Information Center
Are the Columbia River Basalts, Columbia Plateau, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, USA, a viable geothermal target? A preliminary analysis
The successful development of a geothermal electric power generation facility relies on (1) the identification of sufficiently high temperatures at an economically viable depth and (2) the existence of or potential to create and maintain a permeable zone (permeability >10-14 m2) of sufficient size to allow efficient long-term extraction of heat from the reservoir host rock. If both occur at depth
Authors
Erick R. Burns, Colin F. Williams, Terry Tolan, Joern Ole Kaven
Evaluating geothermal and hydrogeologic controls on regional groundwater temperature distribution
A one-dimensional (1-D) analytic solution is developed for heat transport through an aquifer system where the vertical temperature profile in the aquifer is nearly uniform. The general anisotropic form of the viscous heat generation term is developed for use in groundwater flow simulations. The 1-D solution is extended to more complex geometries by solving the equation for piece-wise linear or uni
Authors
Erick R. Burns, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Michael Manga, Colin F. Williams
Space Economy Workshop Series 2023
Technologies to Fill Observation & Capability Gaps for the Off-World Mineral Resource Economy NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are hosting an invitational workshop intended to inform the development of new technologies to detect and assess off-world mineral resources, as well as to identify alignments with advanced terrestrial applications. April 11, 2023 at NASA Ames, Moffett...
Digital data from USGS OFR 83-250: Selected data for low-temperature (less than 90 degrees C) geothermal systems in the United States; reference data for U.S. Geological Survey Circular 892
The data in the csv and text files provided in this release are an update to the data tables originally published in USGS Open-File Report (OFR) 83-250 (https://doi.org/10.3133/cir892). Those data were published as paper tables and have until now only been available as pdf image documents that were not machine readable. USGS OFR 83-250 presented data for 2071 geothermal sites which are representat
Science and Products
- Publications
Filter Total Items: 42
Using saline or brackish aquifers as reservoirs for thermal energy storage, with example calculations for direct-use heating in the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA
Tools to evaluate reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES; heat storage in slow-moving or stagnant geochemically evolved permeable zones in strata that underlie well-connected regional aquifers) are developed and applied to the Columbia River Basalt Group (CRBG) beneath the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA. The performance of RTES for heat storage and recovery in the Portland Basin is strongly dependentAuthorsErick Burns, John Bershaw, Colin F. Williams, Ray E Wells, Matt W Uddenberg, Darby P Scanlon, Trenton T Cladouhos, Boz Van HoutenAn integrated feasibility study of reservoir thermal energy storage in Portland, Oregon, USA
In regions with long cold overcast winters and sunny summers, Deep Direct-Use (DDU) can be coupled with Reservoir Thermal Energy Storage (RTES) technology to take advantage of pre-existing subsurface permeability to save summer heat for later use during cold seasons. Many aquifers worldwide are underlain by permeable regions (reservoirs) containing brackish or saline groundwater that has limited bAuthorsJohn Bershaw, Erick Burns, Trenton T Cladouhos, Alison E Horst, Boz Van Houten, Peter Hulseman, Alisa Kane, Jenny H Liu, Robert B Perkins, Darby P Scanlon, Ashley R. Streig, Ellen E Svadlenak, Matt W Uddenberg, Ray E Wells, Colin F. WilliamsControls on deep direct-use thermal energy storage (DDU-TES) in the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA
Aquifer Thermal Energy Storage is being evaluated as a complementary technology to Deep Direct-Use for the Portland Basin, Oregon, USA. Aquifers can be used to efficiently distribute and store heat for seasonal use. The use of injection-extraction well pairs precludes the need to store or dispose of large volumes of pumped groundwater or to obtain a consumptive groundwater right. Injection temperaAuthorsErick Burns, Trenton T. Cladouhos, C.F. Williams, J. Bershaw,Thermal effect of climate change on groundwater-fed ecosystems
Groundwater temperature changes will lag surface temperature changes from a changing climate. Steady state solutions of the heat-transport equations are used to identify key processes that control the long-term thermal response of springs and other groundwater discharge to climate change, in particular changes in (1) groundwater recharge rate and temperature and (2) land-surface temperature transmAuthorsErick Burns, Yonghui Zhu, Hongbin Zhan, Michael Manga, Colin F. Williams, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Jason B. DunhamGeologic setting of the proposed West Flank Forge Site, California: Suitability for EGS research and development
The proposed West Flank FORGE site is within the China Lake Naval Air Weapons Station (NAWS), China Lake, CA. The West Flank is west of the Coso geothermal field, an area of China Lake NAWS dominated by the Quaternary Coso volcanic field largely comprised of rhyolite domes and their volcaniclastic and epiclastic horizons. The largest dome flow complex, Sugarloaf Mountain, marks the northwestern maAuthorsAndrew Sabin, Kelly Blake, Mike Lazaro, Douglas Blankenship, Mack Kennedy, Jess McCullough, S.B. DeOreo, Stephen H. Hickman, Jonathan M.G. Glen, J. Ole Kaven, Colin F. Williams, Geoffrey Phelps, James E. Faulds, Nicholas H. Hinz, Wendy M. Calvin, Drew Siler, Ann Robertson-TaitSeismic imaging of the metamorphism of young sediment into new crystalline crust in the actively rifting Imperial Valley, California
Plate-boundary rifting between transform faults is opening the Imperial Valley of southern California and the rift is rapidly filling with sediment from the Colorado River. Three 65–90 km long seismic refraction profiles across and along the valley, acquired as part of the 2011 Salton Seismic Imaging Project, were analyzed to constrain upper crustal structure and the transition from sediment to unAuthorsLiang Han, John Hole, Joann Stock, Gary S. Fuis, Colin F. Williams, Jonathan Delph, Kathy Davenport, Amanda LiversGeology and mineral resources of the Southwestern and South-Central Wyoming Sagebrush Focal Area, Wyoming, and the Bear River Watershed Sagebrush Focal Area, Wyoming and Utah: Chapter E in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Monta
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpoAuthorsAnna B. Wilson, Timothy S. Hayes, Mary Ellen Benson, Douglas B. Yager, Eric D. Anderson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Jacob DeAngelo, Connie L. Dicken, Ronald M. Drake, Gregory L. Fernette, Stuart A. Giles, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Jon E. Haacke, John D. Horton, Heather L. Parks, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Colin F. WilliamsGeology and mineral resources of the Sheldon-Hart Mountain National Wildlife Refuge Complex (Oregon and Nevada), the Southeastern Oregon and North-Central Nevada, and the Southern Idaho and Northern Nevada (and Utah) Sagebrush Focal Areas: Chapter B in
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpoAuthorsPeter G. Vikre, Mary Ellen Benson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Joseph Colgan, Pamela M. Cossette, Jacob DeAngelo, Connie L. Dicken, Ronald M. Drake, Edward A. du Bray, Gregory L. Fernette, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Jon E. Haacke, Susan M. Hall, Albert H. Hofstra, David John, Stephen Ludington, Mark J. Mihalasky, James J. Rytuba, Brian N. Shaffer, Lisa L. Stillings, John C. Wallis, Colin F. Williams, Douglas B. Yager, Lukas ZürcherGeology and mineral resources of the North-Central Idaho Sagebrush Focal Area: Chapter C in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpoAuthorsKaren Lund, Lukas Zürcher, Albert H. Hofstra, Bradley S. Van Gosen, Mary Ellen Benson, Stephen E. Box, Eric D. Anderson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Jacob DeAngelo, Ronald M. Drake, Gregory L. Fernette, Stuart A. Giles, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Jon E. Haacke, John D. Horton, David John, Gilpin R. Robinson, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Carma A. San Juan, Brian N. Shaffer, Steven M. Smith, Colin F. WilliamsByEnergy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, National Minerals Information CenterGeology and mineral resources of the North-Central Montana Sagebrush Focal Area: Chapter D in Mineral resources of the Sagebrush Focal Areas of Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming
SummaryThe U.S. Department of the Interior has proposed to withdraw approximately 10 million acres of Federal lands from mineral entry (subject to valid existing rights) from 12 million acres of lands defined as Sagebrush Focal Areas (SFAs) in Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, and Wyoming (for further discussion on the lands involved see Scientific Investigations Report 2016–5089–A). The purpoAuthorsJeffrey L. Mauk, Michael L. Zientek, B. Carter Hearn, Heather L. Parks, M. Christopher Jenkins, Eric D. Anderson, Mary Ellen Benson, Donald I. Bleiwas, Jacob DeAngelo, Paul Denning, Connie L. Dicken, Ronald M. Drake, Gregory L. Fernette, Helen W. Folger, Stuart A. Giles, Jonathan M. G. Glen, Matthew Granitto, Jon E. Haacke, John D. Horton, Karen D. Kelley, Joyce A. Ober, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Carma A. San Juan, Elizabeth S. Sangine, Peter N. Schweitzer, Brian N. Shaffer, Steven M. Smith, Colin F. Williams, Douglas B. YagerByEnergy and Minerals Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, National Minerals Information CenterAre the Columbia River Basalts, Columbia Plateau, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, USA, a viable geothermal target? A preliminary analysis
The successful development of a geothermal electric power generation facility relies on (1) the identification of sufficiently high temperatures at an economically viable depth and (2) the existence of or potential to create and maintain a permeable zone (permeability >10-14 m2) of sufficient size to allow efficient long-term extraction of heat from the reservoir host rock. If both occur at depthAuthorsErick R. Burns, Colin F. Williams, Terry Tolan, Joern Ole KavenEvaluating geothermal and hydrogeologic controls on regional groundwater temperature distribution
A one-dimensional (1-D) analytic solution is developed for heat transport through an aquifer system where the vertical temperature profile in the aquifer is nearly uniform. The general anisotropic form of the viscous heat generation term is developed for use in groundwater flow simulations. The 1-D solution is extended to more complex geometries by solving the equation for piece-wise linear or uniAuthorsErick R. Burns, Steven E. Ingebritsen, Michael Manga, Colin F. Williams - Science
Space Economy Workshop Series 2023
Technologies to Fill Observation & Capability Gaps for the Off-World Mineral Resource Economy NASA and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) are hosting an invitational workshop intended to inform the development of new technologies to detect and assess off-world mineral resources, as well as to identify alignments with advanced terrestrial applications. April 11, 2023 at NASA Ames, Moffett... - Data
Digital data from USGS OFR 83-250: Selected data for low-temperature (less than 90 degrees C) geothermal systems in the United States; reference data for U.S. Geological Survey Circular 892
The data in the csv and text files provided in this release are an update to the data tables originally published in USGS Open-File Report (OFR) 83-250 (https://doi.org/10.3133/cir892). Those data were published as paper tables and have until now only been available as pdf image documents that were not machine readable. USGS OFR 83-250 presented data for 2071 geothermal sites which are representat
*Disclaimer: Listing outside positions with professional scientific organizations on this Staff Profile are for informational purposes only and do not constitute an endorsement of those professional scientific organizations or their activities by the USGS, Department of the Interior, or U.S. Government