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Publications

Listed below are publication products directly associated with the Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center:

Filter Total Items: 1166

A New Occurrence Model for National Assessment of Undiscovered Volcanogenic Massive Sulfide Deposits

Volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits are very significant current and historical resources of Cu-Pb-Zn-Au-Ag, are active exploration targets in several areas of the United States and potentially have significant environmental effects. This new USGS VMS deposit model provides a comprehensive review of deposit occurrence and ore genesis, and fully integrates recent advances in the understandi
Authors
W.C. Pat Shanks, Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, Randolph Koski, Lisa A. Morgan, Dan Mosier, Nadine M. Piatak, Ian Ridley, Robert R. Seal, Klaus J. Schulz, John F. Slack, Roland Thurston

Inference of distributional parameters from compositional samples containing nondetects

Low concentrations of elements in geochemical analyses have the peculiarity of being compositional data and, for a given level of significance, are likely to be beyond the capabilities of laboratories to distinguish between minute concentrations and complete absence, thus preventing laboratories from reporting extremely low concentrations of the analyte. Instead, what is reported is the detection
Authors
Ricardo A. Olea

Low-fluorine Stockwork Molybdenite Deposits

Low-fluorine stockwork molybdenite deposits are closely related to porphyry copper deposits, being similar in their tectonic setting (continental volcanic arc) and the petrology (calc-alkaline) of associated igneous rock types. They are mainly restricted to the Cordillera of western Canada and the northwest United States, and their distribution elsewhere in the world may be limited. The deposits c
Authors
Steve Ludington, Jane Hammarstrom, Nadine M. Piatak

Geochemistry and geochronology of carbonate-hosted base metal deposits in the southern Brooks Range, Alaska: Temporal association with VMS deposits and metallogenic implications

The Brooks Range contains enormous accumulations of zinc and copper, either as VMS or sediment-hosted deposits. The Ruby Creek and Omar deposits are Cu-Co stratabound deposits associated with dolomitic breccias. Numerous volcanogenic Cu-Zn (+/-Ag, Au) deposits are situated ~20 km north of the Ruby Creek deposit. The carbonate-hosted deposits consist of chalcopyrite and bornite that fill open space
Authors
Karen Kelly, John Slack, David Selby

Impact of wildfire on levels of mercury in forested watershed systems: Voyageurs National Park, Minnesota

Atmospheric deposition of mercury to remote lakes in mid-continental and eastern North America has increased approximately threefold since the mid-1800s (Swain and others, 1992; Fitzgerald and others, 1998; Engstrom and others, 2007). As a result, concerns for human and wildlife health related to mercury contamination have become widespread. Despite an apparent recent decline in atmospheric deposi
Authors
Laurel G. Woodruff, Mark B. Sandheinrich, Mark E. Brigham, William F. Cannon

Economics of undiscovered oil and gas in the North Slope of Alaska: Economic update and synthesis

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has published assessments by geologists of undiscovered conventional oil and gas accumulations in the North Slope of Alaska; these assessments contain a set of scientifically based estimates of undiscovered, technically recoverable quantities of oil and gas in discrete oil and gas accumulations that can be produced with conventional recovery technology. The assess
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman

Michigan Magnetic and Gravity Maps and Data: A Website for the Distribution of Data

This web site provides the best available, public-domain, aeromagnetic and gravity data in the State of Michigan and merges these data into composite grids that are available for downloading. The magnetic grid is compiled from 25 separate magnetic surveys that have been knit together to form a single composite digital grid and map. The magnetic survey grids have been continued to 305 meters (1,000
Authors
David L. Daniels, Robert P. Kucks, Patricia L. Hill, Stephen L. Snyder

Development of a probabilistic assessment methodology for evaluation of carbon dioxide storage

This report describes a probabilistic assessment methodology developed by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) for evaluation of the resource potential for storage of carbon dioxide (CO2) in the subsurface of the United States as authorized by the Energy Independence and Security Act (Public Law 110-140, 2007). The methodology is based on USGS assessment methodologies for oil and gas resources create
Authors
Robert A. Burruss, Sean T. Brennan, Philip A. Freeman, Matthew D. Merrill, Leslie F. Ruppert, Mark F. Becker, William N. Herkelrath, Yousif K. Kharaka, Christopher E. Neuzil, Sharon M. Swanson, Troy A. Cook, Timothy R. Klett, Philip H. Nelson, Christopher J. Schenk

Mesozoic magmatism and base-metal mineralization in the Fortymile mining district, eastern Alaska — Initial results of petrographic, geochemical, and isotopic studies in the Mount Veta area

We present here the initial results of a petrographic, geochemical, and isotopic study of Mesozoic intrusive rocks and spatially associated Zn-Pb-Ag-Cu-Au prospects in the Fortymile mining district in the southern Eagle quadrangle, Alaska. Analyzed samples include mineralized and unmineralized drill core from 2006 and 2007 exploration by Full Metal Minerals, USA, Inc., at the Little Whiteman (LWM)
Authors
Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, John F. Slack, John N. Aleinikoff, James K. Mortensen

Postimpact deposition in the Chesapeake Bay impact structure: Variations in eustasy, compaction, sediment supply, and passive-aggressive tectonism

The Eyreville and Exmore, Virginia, core holes were drilled in the inner basin and annular trough, respectively, of the Chesapeake Bay impact structure, and they allow us to evaluate sequence deposition in an impact crater. We provide new high-resolution geochronologic (<1 Ma) and sequence-stratigraphic interpretations of the Exmore core, identify 12 definite (and four possible) postimpact deposit
Authors
A.A. Kulpecz, K.G. Miller, J.V. Browning, Lucy E. Edwards, David S. Powars, P.P. McLaughlin, A.D. Harris, M.D. Feigenson

Seismic analysis of clinoform depositional sequences and shelf-margin trajectories in Lower Cretaceous (Albian) strata, Alaska North Slope

Lower Cretaceous strata beneath the Alaska North Slope include clinoform depositional sequences that filled the western Colville foreland basin and overstepped the Beaufort rift shoulder. Analysis of Albian clinoform sequences with two‐dimensional (2D) seismic data resulted in the recognition of seismic facies inferred to represent lowstand, transgressive and highstand systems tracts. These are st
Authors
David W. Houseknecht, Kenneth J. Bird, Christopher J. Schenk