Heather A Lowers
Heather Lowers is a Research Geologist with the Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center.
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 32
Particulate Matter Identification in Lung Tissue from Deployers, Positive, and Negative controls Using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (2013-2016) Particulate Matter Identification in Lung Tissue from Deployers, Positive, and Negative controls Using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (2013-2016)
We developed and tested a new method for in situ characterization of the types and distribution of inorganic particles in biopsied lung tissue from three diverse human subject groups using field emission scanning electron microscopy with an energy dispersive analyzer. Backscattered electron and secondary electron images of particulate matter in lung tissue were acquired. Inorganic...
USGS Spectral Library Version 7 Data USGS Spectral Library Version 7 Data
This data release provides the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Spectral Library Version 7 and all related documents. The library contains spectra measured with laboratory, field, and airborne spectrometers. The instruments used cover wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared (0.2 to 200 microns). Laboratory samples of specific minerals, plants, chemical compounds, and man-made...
Filter Total Items: 109
The geochemical and textural transition between the Reef Package and its hanging wall, Stillwater Complex, Montana, USA The geochemical and textural transition between the Reef Package and its hanging wall, Stillwater Complex, Montana, USA
The highest grade Pd-Pt deposit on Earth, the J-M Reef, is hosted in coarse-grained to pegmatoidal cumulates called the Reef Package. Decades of mine development of the J-M Reef have revealed that a distinct discontinuity in rock fabric marks the top of the rock unit that hosts economic-grade sulfide mineralization. Mine geologists refer to this discontinuity as the hanging wall contact...
Authors
M. Christopher Jenkins, James E. Mungall, Michael L. Zientek, Kevin Butak, Sam R. Corson, Paul Holick, Ryan McKinley, Heather A. Lowers
Demonstration of a novel quantitative microscopy technique for automated characterization of in situ particulate matter in coal miners with progressive massive fibrosis Demonstration of a novel quantitative microscopy technique for automated characterization of in situ particulate matter in coal miners with progressive massive fibrosis
Rationale: Increasing exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) linked to changes in mining production processes has been implicated in the resurgence of severe lung disease in U.S. coal miners. Lung mineralogy can provide insight into particle pathogenesis. However, standard approaches to characterizing in situ particulate matter (PM) by pulmonary pathologists have poor inter...
Authors
Jeremy T. Hua, Lauren M. Zell-Baran, L. H. Go, Carlyne D. Cool, Heather A. Lowers, K. S. Almberg, Emily A. Sarver, Susan M. Majka, Kathy D. Pang, R. A. Cohen, Cecil S. Rose
The dynamic floor of Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, USA: The last 14 k.y. of hydrothermal explosions, venting, doming, and faulting The dynamic floor of Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, USA: The last 14 k.y. of hydrothermal explosions, venting, doming, and faulting
Hydrothermal explosions are significant potential hazards in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. The northern Yellowstone Lake area hosts the three largest hydrothermal explosion craters known on Earth empowered by the highest heat flow values in Yellowstone and active seismicity and deformation. Geological and geochemical studies of eighteen sublacustrine cores provide the first...
Authors
Lisa Ann Morgan Morzel, Wayne (Pat) Shanks, Kenneth L. Pierce, Nels Iverson, Christopher Schiller, Sabrina R. Brown, Petra Zahajska, Rosine Cartier, Ron Cash, James Best, Cathy Whitlock, Sherilyn Fritz, William Benzel, Heather A. Lowers, D. A. Lovalvo, J. M. Licciardi
Petrogenesis and rare earth element mineralization of the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska, USA Petrogenesis and rare earth element mineralization of the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska, USA
Although carbonatites are the primary source of the world’s rare earth elements (REEs), the processes responsible for ore-grade REE enrichment in carbonatites are still poorly understood. In this study, we present a petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic evaluation of the Elk Creek carbonatite in southeast Nebraska to constrain the origin of REE mineralization. The Elk Creek carbonatite...
Authors
Philip Verplanck, G. Lang Farmer, Richard M. Kettler, Heather A. Lowers, Craig A. Johnson, Alan E. Koenig, Michael J. Blessington
Pathology and mineralogy demonstrate respirable crystalline silica is a major cause of severe pneumoconiosis in US coal miners Pathology and mineralogy demonstrate respirable crystalline silica is a major cause of severe pneumoconiosis in US coal miners
Rationale: The reasons for resurgent coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and its most severe forms, rapidly progressive pneumoconiosis and progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), in the United States (US) are not yet fully understood. Objective: To compare the pathologic and mineralogic features of contemporary coal miners suffering severe pneumoconiosis to their historical counterparts. Methods...
Authors
R. A. Cohen, Cecil S. Rose, L. H. Go, Lauren M. Zell-Baran, K. S. Almberg, Emily A. Sarver, Heather A. Lowers, C. Iwaniuk, S. Clingerman, D. Richardson, J.L. Abraham, Carlyne D. Cool, A. Franko, A.F. Hubbs, J. D. Murray, M.S. Orandle, S. Sanyal, N.I. Vorajee, E.L. Petsonk, R. Zulfikar, F.H. Green
Approach for quantifying rare Earth elements at low keV Approach for quantifying rare Earth elements at low keV
The challenges of analyzing bastnaesite (REECO3F) and hydroxylbastnaesite (REECO3OH) include beam sensitivity, quantification of light elements in a heavy element matrix, the presence of elements that cannot be analyzed with EPMA (H), and the use of x-ray lines whose physical constants are not well known. To overcome some of these challenges, Ca, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Sm were analyzed at...
Authors
Heather A. Lowers
Science and Products
Filter Total Items: 32
Particulate Matter Identification in Lung Tissue from Deployers, Positive, and Negative controls Using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (2013-2016) Particulate Matter Identification in Lung Tissue from Deployers, Positive, and Negative controls Using Scanning Electron Microscopy and Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (2013-2016)
We developed and tested a new method for in situ characterization of the types and distribution of inorganic particles in biopsied lung tissue from three diverse human subject groups using field emission scanning electron microscopy with an energy dispersive analyzer. Backscattered electron and secondary electron images of particulate matter in lung tissue were acquired. Inorganic...
USGS Spectral Library Version 7 Data USGS Spectral Library Version 7 Data
This data release provides the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Spectral Library Version 7 and all related documents. The library contains spectra measured with laboratory, field, and airborne spectrometers. The instruments used cover wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared (0.2 to 200 microns). Laboratory samples of specific minerals, plants, chemical compounds, and man-made...
Filter Total Items: 109
The geochemical and textural transition between the Reef Package and its hanging wall, Stillwater Complex, Montana, USA The geochemical and textural transition between the Reef Package and its hanging wall, Stillwater Complex, Montana, USA
The highest grade Pd-Pt deposit on Earth, the J-M Reef, is hosted in coarse-grained to pegmatoidal cumulates called the Reef Package. Decades of mine development of the J-M Reef have revealed that a distinct discontinuity in rock fabric marks the top of the rock unit that hosts economic-grade sulfide mineralization. Mine geologists refer to this discontinuity as the hanging wall contact...
Authors
M. Christopher Jenkins, James E. Mungall, Michael L. Zientek, Kevin Butak, Sam R. Corson, Paul Holick, Ryan McKinley, Heather A. Lowers
Demonstration of a novel quantitative microscopy technique for automated characterization of in situ particulate matter in coal miners with progressive massive fibrosis Demonstration of a novel quantitative microscopy technique for automated characterization of in situ particulate matter in coal miners with progressive massive fibrosis
Rationale: Increasing exposure to respirable crystalline silica (RCS) linked to changes in mining production processes has been implicated in the resurgence of severe lung disease in U.S. coal miners. Lung mineralogy can provide insight into particle pathogenesis. However, standard approaches to characterizing in situ particulate matter (PM) by pulmonary pathologists have poor inter...
Authors
Jeremy T. Hua, Lauren M. Zell-Baran, L. H. Go, Carlyne D. Cool, Heather A. Lowers, K. S. Almberg, Emily A. Sarver, Susan M. Majka, Kathy D. Pang, R. A. Cohen, Cecil S. Rose
The dynamic floor of Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, USA: The last 14 k.y. of hydrothermal explosions, venting, doming, and faulting The dynamic floor of Yellowstone Lake, Wyoming, USA: The last 14 k.y. of hydrothermal explosions, venting, doming, and faulting
Hydrothermal explosions are significant potential hazards in Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, USA. The northern Yellowstone Lake area hosts the three largest hydrothermal explosion craters known on Earth empowered by the highest heat flow values in Yellowstone and active seismicity and deformation. Geological and geochemical studies of eighteen sublacustrine cores provide the first...
Authors
Lisa Ann Morgan Morzel, Wayne (Pat) Shanks, Kenneth L. Pierce, Nels Iverson, Christopher Schiller, Sabrina R. Brown, Petra Zahajska, Rosine Cartier, Ron Cash, James Best, Cathy Whitlock, Sherilyn Fritz, William Benzel, Heather A. Lowers, D. A. Lovalvo, J. M. Licciardi
Petrogenesis and rare earth element mineralization of the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska, USA Petrogenesis and rare earth element mineralization of the Elk Creek carbonatite, Nebraska, USA
Although carbonatites are the primary source of the world’s rare earth elements (REEs), the processes responsible for ore-grade REE enrichment in carbonatites are still poorly understood. In this study, we present a petrologic, geochemical, and isotopic evaluation of the Elk Creek carbonatite in southeast Nebraska to constrain the origin of REE mineralization. The Elk Creek carbonatite...
Authors
Philip Verplanck, G. Lang Farmer, Richard M. Kettler, Heather A. Lowers, Craig A. Johnson, Alan E. Koenig, Michael J. Blessington
Pathology and mineralogy demonstrate respirable crystalline silica is a major cause of severe pneumoconiosis in US coal miners Pathology and mineralogy demonstrate respirable crystalline silica is a major cause of severe pneumoconiosis in US coal miners
Rationale: The reasons for resurgent coal workers’ pneumoconiosis and its most severe forms, rapidly progressive pneumoconiosis and progressive massive fibrosis (PMF), in the United States (US) are not yet fully understood. Objective: To compare the pathologic and mineralogic features of contemporary coal miners suffering severe pneumoconiosis to their historical counterparts. Methods...
Authors
R. A. Cohen, Cecil S. Rose, L. H. Go, Lauren M. Zell-Baran, K. S. Almberg, Emily A. Sarver, Heather A. Lowers, C. Iwaniuk, S. Clingerman, D. Richardson, J.L. Abraham, Carlyne D. Cool, A. Franko, A.F. Hubbs, J. D. Murray, M.S. Orandle, S. Sanyal, N.I. Vorajee, E.L. Petsonk, R. Zulfikar, F.H. Green
Approach for quantifying rare Earth elements at low keV Approach for quantifying rare Earth elements at low keV
The challenges of analyzing bastnaesite (REECO3F) and hydroxylbastnaesite (REECO3OH) include beam sensitivity, quantification of light elements in a heavy element matrix, the presence of elements that cannot be analyzed with EPMA (H), and the use of x-ray lines whose physical constants are not well known. To overcome some of these challenges, Ca, La, Ce, Pr, Nd, and Sm were analyzed at...
Authors
Heather A. Lowers