Leonid Neymark
Leonid Neymark is a Scientist Emeritus with the Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center.
I am currently a Scientist Emeritus in the Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center after being transferred from the Geochemistry Team, Yucca Mountain Project Branch where I conducted U-series studies of soils, fracture minerals and water-rock interaction processes.
I conduct a wide spectrum of isotope-geochemical studies involving radiogenic isotopes of U, Pb, Sr, and Nd and using ICP-MS and TIMS techniques. Before 2010 I was a principal investigator and a member of the Geochemistry Team in the Yucca Mountain Project Branch, WRD. The team's task was to evaluate geochemical aspects of the hydrogeologic suitability of Yucca Mountain to permanently store high-level radioactive waste. My focus was on the history of secondary mineral deposition (largely calcite and silica) in soil and unsaturated- and saturated-zone settings and on isotope-geochemical indicators of water-rock interaction as evidence of past water flow. These studies used U-Pb and U-series and other isotope-geochemical methods to characterize the timing of low-temperature surface processes of mineral deposition and to evaluate past water-rock interaction. In 2004 I was closely involved in the installation and detailed testing of a new ThermoFinnigan thermal-ionization mass-spectrometer Triton. I developed reproducible mass-spectrometric methods of U-series isotope measurements for whole rock samples with large Th/U and 232Th/230Th ratios. Previous YMPB work included systematic characterization of subsurface and soil hydrogenic minerals to provide a basis for understanding past hydrologic and climate variability in the Yucca Mountain region.
Current Projects
- Sources of Pb contamination in domestic well water in SW Missouri
- Matrix Pore Waters - Ultracentrifugation Method for Low-Permeability Sedimentary and Crystalline Rocks
- The U-Th-Pb whole-rock isotope system in the Chalk River core and past redox conditions
- Impact of Exhalative Hydrothermal Systems on Marine Chemistry: Applications for Mineral Assessment
- Conditions and Processes Affecting Radionuclide Transport (writing a chapter for the GSA Memoir devoted to Yucca Mountain, volume 2
Professional Experience
Research Chemist, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, USGS
Principal investigator and member of the Geochemistry Team in the Yucca Mountain Project Branch, USGS
2001-2004. S.M. Stoller Corporation, Senior Geochemist
1996-2001. Pacific Western Technologies, Ltd. Senior Scientist
1993-1996. US Geological Survey Visiting Research Scientist
1985-1993. Institute of Precambrian Geology and Geochronology (IPGG), St. Petersburg, Russian Academy of Sciences
1971-1985. All Union Geological Research Institute, Leningrad (USSR Ministry of Geology). Engineer (1971-1981) and Junior Research Scientist (1981-1985)
Education and Certifications
Ph.D. in Geochemistry, St. Petersburg, Russia
MS degree in Radiochemistry, St. Petersburg, Russia
Affiliations and Memberships*
American Geophysical Union
Geological Society of America
International Geochemistry Association
Geochemical Society
Science and Products
From Outcrop to Ions: development and application of in-situ isotope ratio measurements to solve geologic problems
Pb-Pb and U-Pb data of Proterozoic to Phanerozoic cassiterite deposits in Russia
In situ U-Pb dating of apatite and rutile from St. Francois Mountains IOA and IOCG deposits, southeast Missouri
U-Pb data for the Coles Hill uranium deposit, Virginia
U-Pb data for inherited cassiterite in "Tin Granites", an example from the Yazov Granite, Eastern Siberia
U-Pb data for Origin of Tin Mineralization in the Sullivan Pb-Zn-Ag Deposit, British Columbia: Constraints from Textures, Geochemistry, and LA-ICP-MS U-Pb Geochronology of Cassiterite
U-Pb data for: Monazite and cassiterite U-Pb dating of the Abu Dabbab rare-metal granite, Egypt: Late Cryogenian metalliferous granite magmatism in the Arabian-Nubian Shield
U-Pb data for: U-Pb geochronology of tin deposits associated with the Cornubian Batholith of southwest England: Direct dating of cassiterite by in situ LA-ICPMS
U-Pb data for: In situ LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating of cassiterite without a known-age matrix-matched reference material: Examples from worldwide tin deposits spanning the Proterozoic to Tertiary
Pb-Pb and U-Pb dating of cassiterite by in situ LA-ICPMS: Examples spanning ~1.85 Ga to ~100 Ma in Russia and implications for dating Proterozoic to Phanerozoic tin deposits.
Petrology and geochronology of 1.48 to 1.45 Ga igneous rocks in the St. Francois Mountains terrane, southeast Missouri
LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating reveals cassiterite inheritance in the Yazov granite, Eastern Siberia: Implications for tin mineralization
Monazite and cassiterite Usingle bondPb dating of the Abu Dabbab rare-metal granite, Egypt: Late Cryogenian metalliferous granite magmatism in the Arabian-Nubian Shield
U-Pb geochronology of tin deposits associated with the Cornubian Batholith of southwest England: Direct dating of cassiterite by in situ LA-ICPMS
In situ LA-ICPMS U–Pb dating of cassiterite without a known-age matrix-matched reference material: Examples from worldwide tin deposits spanning the Proterozoic to the Tertiary
Evaluation of laser ablation double-focusing SC-ICPMS for “common” lead isotopic measurements in silicate glasses and mineral
High spatial resolution U-Pb geochronology and Pb isotope geochemistry of magnetite-apatite ore from the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite deposit, St. Francois Mountains, southeast Missouri, USA
A millennial-scale record of Pb and Hg contamination in peatlands of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, USA
Isotope hydrology of the Chalk River Laboratories site, Ontario, Canada
40Ar/39Ar Geochronology, Isotope Geochemistry (Sr, Nd, Pb), and petrology of alkaline lavas near Yampa, Colorado: migration of alkaline volcanism and evolution of the northern Rio Grande rift
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
Science and Products
From Outcrop to Ions: development and application of in-situ isotope ratio measurements to solve geologic problems
Pb-Pb and U-Pb data of Proterozoic to Phanerozoic cassiterite deposits in Russia
In situ U-Pb dating of apatite and rutile from St. Francois Mountains IOA and IOCG deposits, southeast Missouri
U-Pb data for the Coles Hill uranium deposit, Virginia
U-Pb data for inherited cassiterite in "Tin Granites", an example from the Yazov Granite, Eastern Siberia
U-Pb data for Origin of Tin Mineralization in the Sullivan Pb-Zn-Ag Deposit, British Columbia: Constraints from Textures, Geochemistry, and LA-ICP-MS U-Pb Geochronology of Cassiterite
U-Pb data for: Monazite and cassiterite U-Pb dating of the Abu Dabbab rare-metal granite, Egypt: Late Cryogenian metalliferous granite magmatism in the Arabian-Nubian Shield
U-Pb data for: U-Pb geochronology of tin deposits associated with the Cornubian Batholith of southwest England: Direct dating of cassiterite by in situ LA-ICPMS
U-Pb data for: In situ LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating of cassiterite without a known-age matrix-matched reference material: Examples from worldwide tin deposits spanning the Proterozoic to Tertiary
Pb-Pb and U-Pb dating of cassiterite by in situ LA-ICPMS: Examples spanning ~1.85 Ga to ~100 Ma in Russia and implications for dating Proterozoic to Phanerozoic tin deposits.
Petrology and geochronology of 1.48 to 1.45 Ga igneous rocks in the St. Francois Mountains terrane, southeast Missouri
LA-ICPMS U-Pb dating reveals cassiterite inheritance in the Yazov granite, Eastern Siberia: Implications for tin mineralization
Monazite and cassiterite Usingle bondPb dating of the Abu Dabbab rare-metal granite, Egypt: Late Cryogenian metalliferous granite magmatism in the Arabian-Nubian Shield
U-Pb geochronology of tin deposits associated with the Cornubian Batholith of southwest England: Direct dating of cassiterite by in situ LA-ICPMS
In situ LA-ICPMS U–Pb dating of cassiterite without a known-age matrix-matched reference material: Examples from worldwide tin deposits spanning the Proterozoic to the Tertiary
Evaluation of laser ablation double-focusing SC-ICPMS for “common” lead isotopic measurements in silicate glasses and mineral
High spatial resolution U-Pb geochronology and Pb isotope geochemistry of magnetite-apatite ore from the Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite deposit, St. Francois Mountains, southeast Missouri, USA
A millennial-scale record of Pb and Hg contamination in peatlands of the Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta of California, USA
Isotope hydrology of the Chalk River Laboratories site, Ontario, Canada
40Ar/39Ar Geochronology, Isotope Geochemistry (Sr, Nd, Pb), and petrology of alkaline lavas near Yampa, Colorado: migration of alkaline volcanism and evolution of the northern Rio Grande rift
Non-USGS Publications**
**Disclaimer: The views expressed in Non-USGS publications are those of the author and do not represent the views of the USGS, Department of the Interior, or the U.S. Government.
*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