Douglas B Yager
Biography
EDUCATION
University College University of Denver, Certificate of Advanced Studies in GIS 1998
University of Colorado at Boulder, M.S. Geology 1995
Colorado State University, B.S. Geology, 1984
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
Geologist, U.S. Geological Survey, 1985–present
RESEARCH INTERESTS
Douglas Yager has extensive experience working in volcanic and mineralized terrain as part of abandoned mine lands investigations. Much of his USGS career has focused on the San Juan Mountains, in the southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado, where he has worked on hydrothermally altered volcanic rocks that are host to precious- and base-metals extensively mined there since the late 1870’s. Doug has co-led several field trips and student field courses in the San Juan Mountains. His work on acid neutralizing capacity of propylitically altered lavas has aided in understanding possible alternative methods of mine land cleanup. His watershed approach to analyzing geologic parameters that control surface water and groundwater geochemistry helps to identify source areas for potential mineral deposits and can be used to prioritize and rank watersheds based on the severity of water quality impacts from mining-related and natural sources of acidity and metals to streams. He currently is a project co-leader for developing a 3-D geologic and geophysical model of the San-Juan and Silverton caldera complex in Silverton, Colorado.
Data Releases
Anderson, E.D., Deszcz-Pan, M., Yager, D.B., and Smith, B.D., 2018, High resolution helicopter-borne magnetic and electromagnetic survey Eureka Graben area, Colorado September 1999: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F75D8R1W.
Denning, P.D., Lee, G.K. Yager, D.B., Mauk, J.L., Granitto, Matthew, Wang, Bronwen, and Werdon, M.B., 2016, Data supporting The Geochemical Atlas of Alaska, 2016: U.S. Geological Survey data release, https://doi.org/10.5066/F7GF0RK5.
Science and Products
A Shallow- to Deep- View Inside the Hydrothermally-Altered and Mineralized Silverton Caldera Complex: New Geologic Insights Gained From Modern Geophysical Interpretations
The Silverton caldera complex in southwest Colorado hosts base and precious metals that have been mined since the late 1800s. Extensive mine workings, excellent bedrock exposures, and deeply incised drainages make this area a natural laboratory ideally suited for furthering our understanding of the mineral systems in a volcanic environment. In addition, state-of-the-art geophysical...
Potash—A vital agricultural nutrient sourced from geologic deposits
This report summarizes the primary sources of potash in the United States. Potash is an essential nutrient that, along with phosphorus and nitrogen, is used as fertilizer for growing crops. Plants require sufficient potash to activate enzymes, which in turn catalyze chemical reactions important for water uptake and photosynthesis. When potassium...
Yager, Douglas B.
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...
Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Zientek, Michael L.; Hearn, B. Carter; Parks, Heather L.; Jenkins, M. Christopher; Anderson, Eric D.; Benson, Mary Ellen; Bleiwas, Donald I.; DeAngelo, Jacob; Denning, Paul; Dicken, Connie L.; Drake, Ronald M.; Fernette, Gregory L.; Folger, Helen W.; Giles, Stuart A.; Glen, Jonathan M. G.; Granitto, Matthew; Haacke, Jon E.; Horton, John D.; Kelley, Karen D.; Ober, Joyce A.; Rockwell, Barnaby W.; San Juan, Carma A.; Sangine, Elizabeth S.; Schweitzer, Peter N.; Shaffer, Brian N.; Smith, Steven M.; Williams, Colin F.; Yager, Douglas B.
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 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...
Vikre, Peter G.; Benson, Mary Ellen; Bleiwas, Donald I.; Colgan, Joseph P.; Cossette, Pamela M.; DeAngelo, Jacob; Dicken, Connie L.; Drake, Ronald M.; du Bray, Edward A.; Fernette, Gregory L.; Glen, Jonathan M.G.; Haacke, Jon E.; Hall, Susan M.; Hofstra, Albert H.; John, David A.; Ludington, Stephen; Mihalasky, Mark J.; Rytuba, James J.; Shaffer, Brian N.; Stillings, Lisa L.; Wallis, John C.; Williams, Colin F.; Yager, Douglas B.; Zürcher, Lukas
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, 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...
Wilson, Anna B.; Hayes, Timothy S.; Benson, Mary Ellen; Yager, Douglas B.; Anderson, Eric D.; Bleiwas, Donald I.; DeAngelo, Jacob; Dicken, Connie L.; Drake, Ronald M.; Fernette, Gregory L.; Giles, Stuart A.; Glen, Jonathan M. G.; Haacke, Jon E.; Horton, John D.; Parks, Heather L.; Rockwell, Barnaby W.; Williams, Colin F.
Use of mineral/solution equilibrium calculations to assess the potential for carnotite precipitation from groundwater in the Texas Panhandle, USA
This study investigated the potential for the uranium mineral carnotite (K2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O) to precipitate from evaporating groundwater in the Texas Panhandle region of the United States. The evolution of groundwater chemistry during evaporation was modeled with the USGS geochemical code PHREEQC using water-quality data from 100 groundwater...
Ranalli, Anthony J.; Yager, Douglas B.
The geochemical atlas of Alaska, 2016
A rich legacy of geochemical data produced since the early 1960s covers the great expanse of Alaska; careful treatment of such data may provide significant and revealing geochemical maps that may be used for landscape geochemistry, mineral resource exploration, and geoenvironmental investigations over large areas. To maximize the spatial density...
Lee, Gregory K.; Yager, Douglas B.; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Granitto, Matthew; Denning, Paul; Wang, Bronwen; Werdon, Melanie B. New perspectives on a 140-year legacy of mining and abandoned mine cleanup in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado
The Gold King mine water release that occurred on 5 August 2015 near the historical mining community of Silverton, Colorado, highlights the environmental legacy that abandoned mines have on the environment. During reclamation efforts, a breach of collapsed workings at the Gold King mine sent 3 million gallons of acidic and metal-rich mine water...
Yager, Douglas B.; Fey, David L.; Chapin, Thomas; Johnson, Raymond H.
GIS-based identification of areas with mineral resource potential for six selected deposit groups, Bureau of Land Management Central Yukon Planning Area, Alaska
This study, covering the Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Central Yukon Planning Area (CYPA), Alaska, was prepared to aid BLM mineral resource management planning. Estimated mineral resource potential and certainty are mapped for six selected mineral deposit groups: (1) rare earth element (REE) deposits associated with peralkaline to carbonatitic...
Jones, James V.; Karl, Susan M.; Labay, Keith A.; Shew, Nora B.; Granitto, Matthew; Hayes, Timothy S.; Mauk, Jeffrey L.; Schmidt, Jeanine M.; Todd, Erin; Wang, Bronwen; Werdon, Melanie B.; Yager, Douglas B. A GIS and statistical approach to identify variables that control water quality in hydrothermally altered and mineralized watersheds, Silverton, Colorado, USA
Hydrothermally altered bedrock in the Silverton mining area, southwest Colorado, USA, contains sulfide minerals that weather to produce acidic and metal-rich leachate that is toxic to aquatic life. This study utilized a geographic information system (GIS) and statistical approach to identify watershed-scale geologic variables in the Silverton area...
Yager, Douglas B.; Johnson, Raymond H.; Rockwell, Barnaby W.; Caine, Jonathan S.; Smith, Kathleen S.
Miscellaneous geochemical data from waters in the Upper Animas River Watershed, Colorado
This report releases geochemistry data in waters from the upper Animas River watershed that have been analyzed by inductively coupled plasma–mass spectrometry. These samples were collected at various sites and at various dates (41 sites and 86 samples from 2008 to 2010). A main data table is provided and the text discusses the sampling methods and...
Johnson, Raymond H.; Yager, Douglas B.
Analyzing legacy U.S. Geological Survey geochemical databases using GIS: applications for a national mineral resource assessment
This report emphasizes geographic information system analysis and the display of data stored in the legacy U.S. Geological Survey National Geochemical Database for use in mineral resource investigations. Geochemical analyses of soils, stream sediments, and rocks that are archived in the National Geochemical Database provide an extensive data...
Yager, Douglas B.; Hofstra, Albert H.; Granitto, Matthew
Geochemical data from waters in Prospect Gulch, San Juan County, Colorado, that span pre- and post-Lark Mine remediation
In San Juan County, Colorado, the effects of historical mining continue to contribute dissolved metals to groundwater and surface water. Water samples in Prospect Gulch near Silverton, Colorado, were collected at selected locations that span pre- and post-reclamation activities at the Lark Mine, located in the Prospect Gulch watershed. Geochemical...
Johnson, Raymond H.; Yager, Douglas B.; Johnson, Hugh D.
USGS April 2 Open House in Silverton Colorado Well Received
On April 2, the USGS hosted an Open House in Silverton, Colorado, about planned airborne geophysical surveys in the Silverton region.
Potash Cache: USGS Study Summarizes U.S. Sources of an Essential Nutrient for Agriculture
A new USGS report summarizes the primary sources of potash in the United States. Potash is an essential nutrient that, along with phosphorus and nitrogen, is used as fertilizer for growing crops.