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Publications

Products (journal articles, reports, fact sheets) authored by current and past scientists are listed below. Please check the USGS Pubs Warehouse for other USGS publications.

Filter Total Items: 1829

Geophysical insights into Paleoproterozoic tectonics along the southern margin of the Superior Province, central Upper Peninsula, Michigan, USA

The southern margin of the Archean Superior Province in the central Upper Peninsula of Michigan was a nexus for key Paleoproterozoic tectonic events involved in the ~2.1 Ga rifting of proposed Archean supercraton Superia and subsequent assembly of Laurentia. Interpretations of the region’s tectonic history have historically been hampered by extensive Pleistocene glacial and Paleozoic sedimentary c
Authors
Benjamin J. Drenth, William F. Cannon, Klaus J. Schulz, Robert A. Ayuso

Geology of the Payette National Forest and vicinity, west-central Idaho

Before the Late Cretaceous, the eastern and western parts of the geologically complex Payette National Forest, as divided by the Salmon River suture, had fundamentally different geologic histories. The eastern part is underlain by Mesoproterozoic to Cambrian(?) rocks of the Laurentian (Precambrian North American) continent. Thick Mesoproterozoic units, which are at least in part equivalent in age
Authors
Karen Lund

Postcaldera intrusive magmatism at the Platoro caldera complex, Southern Rocky Mountain volcanic field, Colorado, USA

The Oligocene Platoro caldera complex of the San Juan volcanic locus in Colorado (USA) features numerous exposed plutons both within the caldera and outside its margins, enabling investigation of the timing and evolution of postcaldera magmatism. Intrusion whole-rock geochemistry and phenocryst and/or mineral trace element compositions coupled with new zircon U-Pb geo-chronology and zircon in situ
Authors
Amy K. Gilmer, Ren A. Thompson, Peter W. Lipman, Jorge A. Vazquez, Amanda (Kate) Souders

Landscape evolution in eastern Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County, California

This study investigates sedimentary and geomorphic processes in eastern Chuckwalla Valley, Riverside County, California, a region of arid, basin-and-range terrain where extensive solar-energy development is planned. The objectives of this study were to (1) measure local weather parameters and use them to model aeolian sediment-transport potential; (2) identify surface sedimentary characteristics i
Authors
Amy E. East, Harrison J. Gray, Margaret Hiza Redsteer, Matthew Ballmer

Dating fault damage along the eastern Denali fault zone with hematite (U-Th)/He thermochronometry

Unraveling complex slip histories in fault damage zones to understand relations among deformation, hydrothermal alteration, and surface uplift remains a challenge. The dextral eastern Denali fault zone (EDFZ; southwest Yukon, Canada) bounds the Kluane Ranges and hosts a variety of fault-related rocks, including hematite fault surfaces, which have been exhumed through the brittle regime over a prot

Authors
Robert G. McDermott, Alexis K. Ault, Jonathan Caine

Toward an effective global green economy: The Critical Minerals Mapping Initiative (CMMI)

Global population growth, economic development and the accelerating pace of technological innovation are driving increased demand for non-fuel mineral commodities that are vital for emerging and low-carbon technologies. Examples of such commodities include cobalt and graphite for rechargeable batteries, tellurium in thin-film solar photovoltaics and rare earth elements (REE) in permanent magnets,
Authors
Karen D. Kelley, David Huston, Jan Peter

Paragenesis of an orogenic gold deposit: New insights on mineralizing processes at the Grass Valley District, California

The Grass Valley orogenic gold district in the Sierra Nevada foothills province, central California, is the largest historical gold producer of the North American Cordillera. Gold mineralization is associated with shallowly dipping north-south veins hosted by the 160 Ma Grass Valley granodiorite to the southwest of the Grass Valley fault and steeply dipping east-west veins in accreted oceanic rock
Authors
Ryan Taylor, Thomas Monecke, T. James Reynolds, Jochen Monecke

Eocene magma plumbing system beneath Cortez Hills Carlin-type gold deposit, Nevada: Is there a deep-seated pluton?

The magmatic-hydrothermal conceptual model for Carlin-type gold deposit genesis calls upon deep-seated Eocene plutons as the primary source of gold-bearing fluids. However, geophysical surveys, geologic mapping, drilling, geochronology, isotopic tracers, and fluid inclusion chemistry have returned ambiguous evidence for the existence of such plutons. The high-grade Cortez Hills gold deposit in nor
Authors
Celestine N. Mercer

Decadal-scale hotspot methane ebullition within lakes following abrupt permafrost thaw

Thermokarst lakes accelerate deep permafrost thaw and the mobilization of previously frozen soil organic carbon. This leads to microbial decomposition and large releases of carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4) that enhance climate warming. However, the time scale of permafrost-carbon emissions following thaw is not well known but is important for understanding how abrupt permafrost thaw impacts
Authors
K.W. Anthony, P. Lindgren, P. Hanke, M. Engram, P. Anthony, R. Daanen, A. Bondurant, A.K. Liljedahl, J. Lenz, G. Grosse, B.M. Jones, L. S. Brosius, Stephanie R. James, Burke J. Minsley, Neal Pastick, J. Munk, J. P. Chanton, C.E. Miller, F.J. Meyer

NASA's surface biology and geology designated observable: A perspective on surface imaging algorithms

The 2017–2027 National Academies' Decadal Survey, Thriving on Our Changing Planet, recommended Surface Biology and Geology (SBG) as a “Designated Targeted Observable” (DO). The SBG DO is based on the need for capabilities to acquire global, high spatial resolution, visible to shortwave infrared (VSWIR; 380–2500 nm; ~30 m pixel resolution) hyperspectral (imaging spectroscopy) and multispectral midw
Authors
Kerry Cawse-Nicholson, Philip A. Townsend, David Schimel, Ali M Assiri, Pamela L. Blake, Maria Fabrizia Buongiorno, Petya Campbell, Nimrod Carmon, Kimberly Ann Casey, Rosa Elvira Correa-Pabón, Kyla M. Dahlin, Hamid Dashti, Philip Dennison, Heidi Dierrsen, Adam Erickson, Joshua B. Fisher, Robert Frouin, Charles K. Gatebe, Hamed Gholizadeh, Michelle M. Gierach, Nancy F. Glenn, James A. Goodman, Daniel Mark Griffith, Liane Guild, Christopher R. Hakkenberg, Eric J. Hochberg, Thomas R. H. Holmes, Chaunmin Hu, Glynn Hulley, Karl F. Huemmrich, Raphael M. Kudela, Raymond F. Kokaly, Christine M. Lee, Roberta E. Martin, Charles E. Miller, Wesley J. Moses, Frank E. Muller-Karger, Joseph P. Ortiz, Daniel B. Otis, Nima Pahlevan, Thomas H. Painter, Ryan Pavlick, Benjamin Poulter, Yi Qi, Vincent J. Realmuto, Dar A. Roberts, Michael E. Schaepman, Fabian D Schneider, Florian M. Schwandner, Shawn P. Serbin, Alexey N. Shiklomanov, E. Natasha Stavros, David R. Thompson, Juan L. Torres-Perez, Kevin R. Turpie, Maria Tzortziou, Susan L. Ustin, Qian Yu, Yusri Yusup, Qingyuan Zhang

Petrology and geochronology of 1.48 to 1.45 Ga igneous rocks in the St. Francois Mountains terrane, southeast Missouri

The igneous geology of the St. Francois Mountains terrane in southeast Missouri is dominated by the products of 1.48 to 1.45 billion year old volcanic and plutonic magmatism but also includes volumetrically minor, compositionally bimodal contributions added during plutonism between 1.34 and 1.27 billion years ago. The 1.48 to 1.45 billion year old igneous rocks in the St. Francois Mountains terran
Authors
Edward A. du Bray, John N. Aleinikoff, Warren C. Day, Leonid A. Neymark, Seth D. Burgess

Airborne geophysical imaging of weak zones on Iliamna Volcano, Alaska: Implications for slope stability

Water‐saturated, hydrothermally altered rocks reduce the strength of volcanic edifices and increase the potential for sector collapses and far‐traveled mass flows of unconsolidated debris. Iliamna Volcano is an andesitic stratovolcano located on the western side of the Cook Inlet, ∼225 km southwest of Anchorage and is a source of repeated avalanches. The widespread snow and ice cover on Iliamna Vo
Authors
Dana E. Peterson, Carol A. Finn, Paul A. Bedrosian