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Jamey Jones

Jamey is an Associate Center Director for Geology for the Alaska Science Center.

His research is focused on the bedrock geology, tectonic evolution, and mineral resources of Alaska and western North America. He specializes in field geology, structural geology, metamorphic petrology, and U-Pb geochronology. USGS areas of focus include the Mineral Resources Program and the National Cooperative Mapping Program.  Past and ongoing projects are also focused on the Precambrian tectonic evolution of the southwestern United States.

Professional Experience

  • 2022 - Present  Associate Center Director for Geology, USGS Alaska Science Center

  • 2011 - 2022       Research Geologist, USGS Alaska Science Center

  • 2005 - 2011       Professor, University of Minnesota Morris and University of Arkansas at Little Rock

Education and Certifications

  • Ph.D.  2005   University of Texas at Austin   Geology

  • M.S.   1999    University of Wyoming   Geology

  • B.S.    1997    University of the South   Geology

Science and Products

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Half-meter-thick quartz veins cut across outcrops of granitic gneiss on Divide Mountain along the Alaska-Yukon border

Alaska Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)

Our objective is to provide a strategic framework for planning, coordination, and execution of the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) in Alaska. Earth MRI aims to improve knowledge of the U.S. geologic framework through new geological and geophysical mapping and to identify areas that have the potential to contain undiscovered critical mineral resources.
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Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center, Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)
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Alaska Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)

Our objective is to provide a strategic framework for planning, coordination, and execution of the USGS Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) in Alaska. Earth MRI aims to improve knowledge of the U.S. geologic framework through new geological and geophysical mapping and to identify areas that have the potential to contain undiscovered critical mineral resources.
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Half-meter-thick quartz veins cut across outcrops of granitic gneiss on Divide Mountain along the Alaska-Yukon border

Tectonic and Metallogenic Evolution of the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska

The Yukon-Tanana upland in eastern interior Alaska is a geologically complex block containing deposits of base-metal, platinum-group-element, and gold-silver-copper mineralization. It also hosts numerous mineral systems that are known or suspected to contain critical minerals.
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Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center
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Tectonic and Metallogenic Evolution of the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska

The Yukon-Tanana upland in eastern interior Alaska is a geologically complex block containing deposits of base-metal, platinum-group-element, and gold-silver-copper mineralization. It also hosts numerous mineral systems that are known or suspected to contain critical minerals.
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Scientists wait for a helicopter pickup at a geologic mapping and sampling station high in the Neacola Mountains, Alaska

Metallogeny and Tectonics of the Lake Clark and Neacola Mountains Region, South-central Alaska

Alaska hosts a well-documented belt of ore deposits that lies roughly parallel to the Alaska Range, beginning at the Alaska Peninsula in the southwest, continuing up through the Fairbanks Mining District in the north, and curving back into the Tintina Gold Belt on its eastern end. Known mineral prospects and occurrences include porphyry copper, intrusion-related gold, volcanogenic massive sulfides...
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Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center
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Metallogeny and Tectonics of the Lake Clark and Neacola Mountains Region, South-central Alaska

Alaska hosts a well-documented belt of ore deposits that lies roughly parallel to the Alaska Range, beginning at the Alaska Peninsula in the southwest, continuing up through the Fairbanks Mining District in the north, and curving back into the Tintina Gold Belt on its eastern end. Known mineral prospects and occurrences include porphyry copper, intrusion-related gold, volcanogenic massive sulfides...
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Filter Total Items: 15

Fission Track Data and Ages of Apatite and U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Igneous and Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from the Lake Clark and Lake Iliamna Region of South-Central Alaska

This data set contains fission track data and associated ages of apatite from igneous and sedimentary rocks, U-Pb isotopic data and associated ages of zircon from a subset of the igneous rock samples, and U-Pb isotopic data and associated ages of detrital zircon from a subset of the sedimentary rock samples. All samples were collected from the region surrounding Lake Clark and Lake Iliamna in sout
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb Ages, Hafnium Isotope Ratios, and Trace Element Concentrations by Laser-ablation Split Stream (LASS) Analysis of Igneous and Metamorphic Zircons from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Eastern Alaska

This data set contains U-Pb isotopic data and ages, Hf isotope data, and trace element concentrations of zircon from igneous rocks collected from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, eastern Alaska. The sample suite was collected as part of geological mapping and supporting geochemical and geochronological analysis conducted from 2013 to 2019. Zircon was obtained from these igneous rocks to determine the crys
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from Southwestern Alaska and the Yukon-Tanana Upland and Environs of Eastern Interior Alaska and Eastern Yukon, Canada

This data set contains U-Pb isotopic data and associated ages of detrital zircon from sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks collected from southwestern Alaska and from the Yukon-Tanana upland and environs of eastern interior Alaska and western Yukon, Canada. The samples were collected as part of geological mapping and research conducted from 1996 to 2021 and funded by the Mineral Resources Program
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Detrital Zircon from Selected Rocks from northern Yukon, Canada

This data set contains U-Pb isotopic data and associated ages of detrital zircon from sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks collected in northern Yukon, Canada. The samples were originally collected as part of geological mapping and research conducted by the Geological Survey of Canada. They were recovered from archived collections and sent to the U.S. Geological Survey for analysis of detrital zi
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Alaska 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

Whole Rock Major and Trace Element Chemistry for Igneous Rocks from Tyonek, Lime Hills, Talkeetna, McGrath, and Lake Clark Quadrangles, Western Alaska Range, Alaska

This data release contains whole rock major and trace element data for 69 igneous rock samples collected from the Western Alaska Range between 2011 and 2012. The Series field relates to chronological units discussed in Jones et al. (2021, Geosphere) and Todd et al. (2022 IN PREP). Descriptions are from original collector notebooks and are provided here for informational purposes only.
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Alaska Science Center

Whole Rock Major and Trace Element Chemistry for Igneous and Sedimentary Rocks from the Western Alaska Range, Alaska

This data release contains whole rock major and trace element data for 399 igneous and sedimentary rock samples collected from the Western Alaska Range between 1968 and 2014 and funded by the Mineral Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey. All materials were analyzed by ALS Global, between 2014 and 2018, by a range of different techniques, so multiple unique entries for a given element re
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb and 40Ar/39Ar Geochronologic Data for Selected Rocks from the Western Alaska Range, Alaska

This dataset includes four tables with isotopic data and ages for selected igneous bedrock samples collected in 2001 through 2003 from the Western Alaska Range, southcentral Alaska: (1) the concentration of uranium (U) and thorium (Th), ratios of multiple isotopes of lead (Pb) and U, and the age of multiple analytical aliquots, or fractions, of zircon for each sample; (2) the 40Ar/39Ar analytical
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Zircon from the Manzano Mountains, New Mexico

This data set contains tables containing uranium-lead (U-Pb) isotopic data and the crystallization age of zircon from a metamorphic rock from the Manzano Mountains, New Mexico, collected in 2005. The bulk sample was processed into concentrated mineral separates of zircon at the University of Texas at Austin and analyzed by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research scientists at the Stanford-USGS Sens
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Alaska Science Center

40Ar/39Ar Isotopic Data and Ages for Rocks from the Yukon-Tanana Upland of Eastern Alaska and the Northern Aleutian Range of South-Central Alaska

This data set contains 40Ar/39Ar isotopic data and ages for rocks from the Yukon-Tanana upland of eastern Alaska and the northern Aleutian Range of south-central Alaska. The entire sample suite was collected as part of geological mapping and supporting geochemical and geochronological analysis were conducted from 2013 to 2019 by the Mineral Resources Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). L
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Zircon and Titanite from Rocks from the Yukon-Tanana Upland, Alaska

This data set contains 3 tables containing uranium-lead (U-Pb) isotopic data and crystallization ages of zircon and titanite from igneous, metamorphic, and sedimentary rocks collected from the Yukon-Tanana upland of eastern interior Alaska between 2013 and 2019. Bulk samples of igneous and metamorphic rocks were processed into concentrated mineral separates of zircon and (or) titanite in USGS labo
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb Isotopic Data and Ages of Zircon and Titanite from Rocks from the Western Alaska Range, Northern Aleutian Range, Taylor Mountains, and Tikchik Mountains Regions, Alaska

This data set contains U-Pb isotopic data and ages of zircon and titanite from igneous and metamorphic rocks collected from the western Alaska and northern Aleutian Range of south-central Alaska. The data sets also contain U-Pb isotopic data and ages of detrital zircon from sedimentary and metasedimentary rocks collected in the same region but also from the Taylor and Wood River Mountains of south
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Alaska Science Center
A USGS scientist is recording structural measurements collected from an outcrop of deformed and metamorphosed bedrock in the Yukon-Tanana upland of eastern interior Alaska.
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Helicopter to pick up field personnel in Fortymile region north of Tok
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Scientist examining outcrops of strongly deformed and metamorphosed rock, Divide Mountain, Yukon-Tanana, eastern Alaska
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Half-meter-thick quartz veins cut across outcrops of granitic gneiss on Divide Mountain along the Alaska-Yukon border
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A scientist and the helicopter pilot work together to install geophysical instrumentation in south-central Alaska. Helicopter in the background.
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Scientist and helicopter pilot install geophysical equipment northwest of Lake Clark National Park, Alaska
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Geologist examines granitic rocks in outcrop before collecting samples for geochemistry and geochronology
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Panoramic view of entrance to Chakachamma Lake (near Lake Clark, Alaska).
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Image: Blockade Glacier
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Scientists wait for a helicopter pickup at a geologic mapping and sampling station high in the Neacola Mountains, Alaska
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Helicopter arriving to move geologists from Redoubt Volcano, Alaska
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Blue Helicopter with painted rainbow waiting to pick up geologic mappers and move them to a new location in the western Alaska Range in south-central Alaska
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Filter Total Items: 28

Rapid active thrust faulting at the northern Alaska Range front

Plate convergence rates strongly influence seismicity and mountain building inboard of convergent margins, but the distribution and kinematics of structures accommodating farfield convergence can be elusive. In interior Alaska, Yakutat microplate convergence drives late Pleistocene–recent right slip on the Denali fault, but westward-decreasing slip rates leave substantial residual Yakutat motion u
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Adrian Bender, Richard O. Lease, Tammy M. Rittenour, James V. Jones
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Alaska Science Center

Yukon River incision drove organic carbon burial in the Bering Sea during global climate changes at 2.6 and 1 Ma

River erosion affects the carbon cycle and thus climate by exporting terrigenous carbon to seafloor sediment and by nourishing CO2-consuming marine life. The Yukon River–Bering Sea system preserves rare source-to-sink records of these processes across profound changes in global climate during the past 5 million years (Ma). Here, we expand the terrestrial erosion record by dating terraces along the
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Adrian Bender, Richard O. Lease, Lee B. Corbett, Paul R. Bierman, Marc W. Caffee, James V. Jones, Douglas C. Kreiner
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Alaska Science Center

Alaska focus area definition for data acquisition for potential domestic sources of critical minerals in Alaska for antimony, barite, beryllium, chromium, fluorspar, hafnium, magnesium, manganese, uranium, vanadium, and zirconium

Phase 3 of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) focuses on geologic belts that are favorable for hosting mineral systems that could contain the critical minerals antimony, barite, beryllium, chromium, fluorspar, hafnium, magnesium, manganese, uranium, vanadium, and zirconium. Prior phases of the Earth MRI program in Alaska focused only on rare earth elements, aluminum, cobalt, graphi
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Douglas C. Kreiner, James V. Jones, George N. Case
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Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center, Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI)

Late Paleoproterozoic to early Mesoproterozoic deposition of quartz arenites across southern Laurentia

Supermature siliciclastic sequences were deposited between 1.64 Ga and 1.59 Ga over a broad swath of southern Laurentia in the Archean, Penokean, Yavapai, and Mazatzal Provinces. These siliciclastic sequences are notable for their extreme mineralogical and chemical maturity, being devoid of detrital feldspar and ferromagnesian minerals, containing the clay mineral kaolinite (or its metamorphic equ
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L. Gordon Medaris, Christopher G. Daniel, Michael F. Doe, James V. Jones, Joshua J. Schwartz
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Alaska Science Center

Laurentia in transition during the Mesoproterozoic: Observations and speculation on the ca. 1500–1340 Ma tectonic evolution of the southern Laurentian margin

An accretionary tectonic model for the Mesoproterozoic ca. 1500–1340 Ma tectonic evolution of the southern Laurentian margin is presented. The tectonic model incorporates key observations about the nature and timing of Mesoproterozoic deposition, magmatism, regional metamorphism, and deformation across the 5000-km-long southern Laurentian margin. This time period was one of transition in the super
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Christopher G. Daniel, Ruth Aronoff, Aphrodite Indares, James V. Jones
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Alaska Science Center

Circa 1.50–1.45 Ga metasedimentary rocks in southwestern Laurentia provide distinctive records of Mesoproterozoic regional orogenesis and craton interactions

The discovery of multiple deformed and metamorphosed sedimentary successions in southwestern Laurentia that have depositional ages between ca. 1.50 and 1.45 Ga marked a turning point in our understanding of the Mesoproterozoic tectonic evolution of the continent and its interactions with formerly adjacent cratons. Detrital zircon U-Pb ages from metasedimentary strata and igneous U-Pb zircon ages f
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James V. Jones, Christopher G. Daniel
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Alaska Science Center

Tectonic and magmatic controls on the metallogenesis of porphyry deposits in Alaska

Porphyry Cu and Mo deposits and occurrences are found throughout Alaska; they formed episodically during repeated subduction and arc-continent collisions spanning the Silurian to Quaternary. Porphyry systems occur in continental-margin and island arcs, which are broadly grouped into pre-accretionary or post-accretionary arcs. Pre-Mesozoic occurrences formed in continental or island arcs prior to a
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Douglas C. Kreiner, James V. Jones, Karen D. Kelley, Garth E. Graham
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Ecosystems Mission Area, Climate Adaptation Science Centers, Mineral Resources Program, Alaska Science Center, 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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James V. Jones, Erin Todd, Stephen E. Box, Peter J. Haeussler, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Susan M. Karl, Garth E. Graham, Dwight C. Bradley, Andrew R.C. Kylander-Clark, Richard M. Friedman, Paul W. Layer
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Alaska Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Imaging the tectonic grain of the Northern Cordillera orogen using Transportable Array receiver functions

Azimuthal variations in receiver function conversions can image lithospheric structural contrasts and anisotropic fabrics that together compose tectonic grain. We apply this method to data from EarthScope Transportable Array in Alaska and additional stations across the northern Cordillera. The best‐resolved quantities are the strike and depth of dipping fabric contrasts or interfaces. We find a st
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Vera Schulte-Pelkum, Jonathan Caine, James V. Jones, Thorsten W Becker
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Alaska Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center

Ancient rivers and critical minerals in eastern Alaska

No abstract available.
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Adrian Bender, Richard O. Lease, James V. Jones, Douglas C. Kreiner
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Alaska Science Center

Geochronologic and Hf-isotope framework of Proterozoic rocks from central New Mexico, USA: Formation of the Mazatzal crustal province in an extended continental margin arc

The growth of southern Laurentia has been attributed to the accretion of juvenile arc terranes during the successive 1.74-1.68 Ga Yavapai and 1.65-1.60 Ga Mazatzal orogenies. However, in light of the increasing importance of the ca. 1.49-1.40 Ga Mesoproterozoic Picuris orogeny, the tectonic setting in which the Mazatzal crustal province and its distinctive quartzite-rhyolite successions were gener
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Mark E. Holland, Tyler A. Grambling, Karl E. Karlstrom, James V. Jones, Kimberly N. Nagotko, Christopher G. Daniel
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Alaska Science Center

U-Pb Zircon ages from bedrock samples collected in the Tanacross D-1, and parts of the D-2, C-1, and C-2 quadrangles, Alaska

This Alaska Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) Preliminary Interpretive Report presents U-Pb ages of zircons from 14 sedimentary, metamorphic, and igneous samples collected during 2017 and 2018 field investigations in the northeastern Tanacross Quadrangle, Alaska. The DGGS Northeast Tanacross project is a part of multi-year effort to investigate the geology and mineral-resource po
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Alicja Wypych, James V. Jones, Paul B. O'Sullivan
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Alaska Science Center
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Study Evaluates Critical Mineral-Resource Potential in Alaska

Alaska has considerable potential for undiscovered mineral resources, including critical minerals.

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