Renee Pillers
Renee Pillers is a Physical Science Technician with the Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center.
Science and Products
Argon Geochronology
This project supports the USGS argon geochronology laboratory in Denver. The USGS 40Ar/39Ar geochronology laboratory is a state-of-the-art research facility for determining absolute ages of minerals and rocks. The 40Ar/39Ar laboratory contributes critical geochronology to individual USGS research projects and to partners in academia and other Federal agencies. This laboratory develops methodology...
Critical commodity studies, Stillwater Complex, Montana and Duluth Complex, Minnesota
Scientific research can make our resource assessments of critical minerals more effective. This project focuses on the Stillwater Complex, Montana, which has rocks enriched in platinum-group elements (PGE), chromium, cobalt, and nickel. Project objectives are to update databases, evaluate new mapping techniques, document new styles of mineralization, and document and support research on the...
Method to characterize inorganic particulates in lung tissue biopsies using field emission scanning electron microscopy
Humans accumulate large numbers of inorganic particles in their lungs over a lifetime. Whether this causes or contributes to debilitating disease over a normal lifespan depends on the type and concentration of the particles. We developed and tested a protocol for in situ characterization of the types and distribution of inorganic particles in biopsied lung tissue from three human groups using fiel
Authors
Heather A. Lowers, George N. Breit, Matthew Strand, Renee M. Pillers, Gregory P. Meeker, Todor I. Todorov, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Ruth E. Wolf, Maura Robinson, Jane Parr, Robert J. Miller, Steve Groshong, Francis Green, Cecile Rose
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
The Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite (IOA) deposit is one of the major rhyolite-hosted magnetite deposits of the St. Francois Mountains terrane, which is located within the Mesoproterozoic (1.5–1.3 Ga) Granite-Rhyolite province in the U.S. Midcontinent. Precise and accurate determination of the timing and duration of oreforming processes in this deposit is crucial for understanding its origin and plac
Authors
Leonid A. Neymark, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Aaron Pietruszka, John N. Aleinikoff, C. Mark Fanning, Renee M. Pillers, Richard J. Moscati
U-Pb, Re-Os, and Ar/Ar geochronology of rare earth element (REE)-rich breccia pipes and associated host rocks from the Mesoproterozoic Pea Ridge Fe-REE-Au deposit, St. Francois Mountains, Missouri
Rare earth element (REE)-rich breccia pipes (600,000 t @ 12% rare earth oxides) are preserved along the margins of the 136-million metric ton (Mt) Pea Ridge magnetite-apatite deposit, within Mesoproterozoic (~1.47 Ga) volcanic-plutonic rocks of the St. Francois Mountains terrane in southeastern Missouri, United States. The breccia pipes cut the rhyolite-hosted magnetite deposit and contain clasts
Authors
John N. Aleinikoff, David Selby, John F. Slack, Warren C. Day, Renee M. Pillers, Michael A. Cosca, Cheryl Seeger, C. Mark Fanning, Iain Samson
Constraints on the timing of Co-Cu ± Au mineralization in the Blackbird district, Idaho, using SHRIMP U-Pb ages of monazite and xenotime plus zircon ages of related Mesoproterozoic orthogneisses and metasedimentary rocks
The Blackbird district, east-central Idaho, contains the largest known Co reserves in the United States. The origin of strata-hosted Co-Cu ± Au mineralization at Blackbird has been a matter of controversy for decades. In order to differentiate among possible genetic models for the deposits, including various combinations of volcanic, sedimentary, magmatic, and metamorphic processes, we used U-Pb g
Authors
John N. Aleinikoff, John F. Slack, Karen Lund, Karl V. Evans, C. Mark Fanning, Frank K. Mazdab, Joseph L. Wooden, Renee M. Pillers
SHRIMP U-Pb ages of xenotime and monazite from the Spar Lake red bed-associated Cu-Ag deposit, western Montana: Implications for ore genesis
Xenotime occurs as epitaxial overgrowths on detrital zircons in the Mesoproterozoic Revett Formation (Belt Supergroup) at the Spar Lake red bed-associated Cu-Ag deposit, western Montana. The deposit formed during diagenesis of Revett strata, where oxidizing metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids encountered a reducing zone. Samples for geochronology were collected from several mineral zones. Xenotime o
Authors
John N. Aleinikoff, Timothy S. Hayes, Karl V. Evans, Frank K. Mazdab, Renee M. Pillers, C. Mark Fanning
Structural controls and evolution of gold-, silver-, and REE-bearing copper-cobalt ore deposits, Blackbird district, east-central Idaho: Epigenetic origins
The Cu-Co ± Au (± Ag ± Ni ± REE) ore deposits of the Blackbird district, east-central Idaho, have previously been classified as Besshi-type VMS, sedex, and IOCG deposits within an intact stratigraphic section. New studies indicate that, across the district, mineralization was introduced into the country rocks as a series of structurally controlled vein and alteration systems. Quartz-rich and bioti
Authors
K. Lund, Russell G. Tysdal, Karl V. Evans, Michael J. Kunk, Renee M. Pillers
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 particulate matt
Science and Products
Argon Geochronology
This project supports the USGS argon geochronology laboratory in Denver. The USGS 40Ar/39Ar geochronology laboratory is a state-of-the-art research facility for determining absolute ages of minerals and rocks. The 40Ar/39Ar laboratory contributes critical geochronology to individual USGS research projects and to partners in academia and other Federal agencies. This laboratory develops methodology...
Critical commodity studies, Stillwater Complex, Montana and Duluth Complex, Minnesota
Scientific research can make our resource assessments of critical minerals more effective. This project focuses on the Stillwater Complex, Montana, which has rocks enriched in platinum-group elements (PGE), chromium, cobalt, and nickel. Project objectives are to update databases, evaluate new mapping techniques, document new styles of mineralization, and document and support research on the...
Method to characterize inorganic particulates in lung tissue biopsies using field emission scanning electron microscopy
Humans accumulate large numbers of inorganic particles in their lungs over a lifetime. Whether this causes or contributes to debilitating disease over a normal lifespan depends on the type and concentration of the particles. We developed and tested a protocol for in situ characterization of the types and distribution of inorganic particles in biopsied lung tissue from three human groups using fiel
Authors
Heather A. Lowers, George N. Breit, Matthew Strand, Renee M. Pillers, Gregory P. Meeker, Todor I. Todorov, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Ruth E. Wolf, Maura Robinson, Jane Parr, Robert J. Miller, Steve Groshong, Francis Green, Cecile Rose
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
The Pea Ridge iron oxide-apatite (IOA) deposit is one of the major rhyolite-hosted magnetite deposits of the St. Francois Mountains terrane, which is located within the Mesoproterozoic (1.5–1.3 Ga) Granite-Rhyolite province in the U.S. Midcontinent. Precise and accurate determination of the timing and duration of oreforming processes in this deposit is crucial for understanding its origin and plac
Authors
Leonid A. Neymark, Christopher S. Holm-Denoma, Aaron Pietruszka, John N. Aleinikoff, C. Mark Fanning, Renee M. Pillers, Richard J. Moscati
U-Pb, Re-Os, and Ar/Ar geochronology of rare earth element (REE)-rich breccia pipes and associated host rocks from the Mesoproterozoic Pea Ridge Fe-REE-Au deposit, St. Francois Mountains, Missouri
Rare earth element (REE)-rich breccia pipes (600,000 t @ 12% rare earth oxides) are preserved along the margins of the 136-million metric ton (Mt) Pea Ridge magnetite-apatite deposit, within Mesoproterozoic (~1.47 Ga) volcanic-plutonic rocks of the St. Francois Mountains terrane in southeastern Missouri, United States. The breccia pipes cut the rhyolite-hosted magnetite deposit and contain clasts
Authors
John N. Aleinikoff, David Selby, John F. Slack, Warren C. Day, Renee M. Pillers, Michael A. Cosca, Cheryl Seeger, C. Mark Fanning, Iain Samson
Constraints on the timing of Co-Cu ± Au mineralization in the Blackbird district, Idaho, using SHRIMP U-Pb ages of monazite and xenotime plus zircon ages of related Mesoproterozoic orthogneisses and metasedimentary rocks
The Blackbird district, east-central Idaho, contains the largest known Co reserves in the United States. The origin of strata-hosted Co-Cu ± Au mineralization at Blackbird has been a matter of controversy for decades. In order to differentiate among possible genetic models for the deposits, including various combinations of volcanic, sedimentary, magmatic, and metamorphic processes, we used U-Pb g
Authors
John N. Aleinikoff, John F. Slack, Karen Lund, Karl V. Evans, C. Mark Fanning, Frank K. Mazdab, Joseph L. Wooden, Renee M. Pillers
SHRIMP U-Pb ages of xenotime and monazite from the Spar Lake red bed-associated Cu-Ag deposit, western Montana: Implications for ore genesis
Xenotime occurs as epitaxial overgrowths on detrital zircons in the Mesoproterozoic Revett Formation (Belt Supergroup) at the Spar Lake red bed-associated Cu-Ag deposit, western Montana. The deposit formed during diagenesis of Revett strata, where oxidizing metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids encountered a reducing zone. Samples for geochronology were collected from several mineral zones. Xenotime o
Authors
John N. Aleinikoff, Timothy S. Hayes, Karl V. Evans, Frank K. Mazdab, Renee M. Pillers, C. Mark Fanning
Structural controls and evolution of gold-, silver-, and REE-bearing copper-cobalt ore deposits, Blackbird district, east-central Idaho: Epigenetic origins
The Cu-Co ± Au (± Ag ± Ni ± REE) ore deposits of the Blackbird district, east-central Idaho, have previously been classified as Besshi-type VMS, sedex, and IOCG deposits within an intact stratigraphic section. New studies indicate that, across the district, mineralization was introduced into the country rocks as a series of structurally controlled vein and alteration systems. Quartz-rich and bioti
Authors
K. Lund, Russell G. Tysdal, Karl V. Evans, Michael J. Kunk, Renee M. Pillers
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 particulate matt