Publications
Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Filter Total Items: 2354
Salinization of the upper Colorado River - Fingerprinting geologic salt sources
Salt in the upper Colorado River is of concern for a number of political and socioeconomic reasons. Salinity limits in the 1974 U.S. agreement with Mexico require the United States to deliver Colorado River water of a particular quality to the border. Irrigation of crops, protection of wildlife habitat, and treatment for municipal water along the course of the river also place restrictions on the
Authors
Michele L. Tuttle, Richard I. Grauch
Geophysical Interpretations of the Southern Espanola Basin, New Mexico, That Contribute to Understanding Its Hydrogeologic Framework
The southern Espanola basin consists of a westward- and northward-thickening wedge of rift fill, composed primarily of Santa Fe Group sediments, that serves as an important aquifer for the city of Santa Fe and surrounding areas. Detailed aeromagnetic surveys were flown to better understand ground-water resources in this aquifer. This report presents a synthesis of these data with gravity data an
Authors
V. J. S. Grauch, Jeffrey D. Phillips, Daniel Koning, Peggy S. Johnson, Viki Bankey
Aeromagnetic survey map of the central California Coast Ranges
This aeromagnetic survey was flown as part of a Cooperative Research and Development Agreement (CRADA) with the Pacific Gas and Electric Company and is intended to promote further understanding of the geology and structure in the central California Coast Ranges by serving as a basis for geophysical interpretations and by supporting geological mapping, mineral and water resource investigations, and
Authors
V. E. Langenheim, R.C. Jachens, K. Moussaoui
Geochemistry of the Arbuckle-Simpson Aquifer
The Arbuckle-Simpson aquifer in south-central Oklahoma provides water for public supply, farms, mining, wildlife conservation, recreation, and the scenic beauty of springs, streams, and waterfalls. A new understanding of the aquifer flow system was developed as part of the Arbuckle-Simpson Hydrology Study, done in 2003 through 2008 as a collaborative research project between the State of Oklahoma
Authors
Scott Christenson, Andrew G. Hunt, David L. Parkhurst, Noel I. Osborn
Physical-Property Measurements on Core samples from Drill-Holes DB-1 and DB-2, Blue Mountain Geothermal Prospect, North-Central Nevada
From May to June 2008, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) collected and measured physical properties on 36 core samples from drill-hole Deep Blue No. 1 (DB-1) and 46 samples from drill-hole Deep Blue No. 2 (DB-2) along the west side of Blue Mountain about 40 km west of Winnemucca, Nev. These data were collected as part of an effort to determine the geophysical setting of the Blue Mountain geotherma
Authors
David A. Ponce, Janet T. Watt, John Casteel, Grant Logsdon
Ground-Water Temperature, Noble Gas, and Carbon Isotope Data from the Espanola Basin, New Mexico
Ground-water samples were collected from 56 locations throughout the Espanola Basin and analyzed for general chemistry (major ions and trace elements), carbon isotopes (delta 13C and 14C activity) in dissolved inorganic carbon, noble gases (He, Ne, Ar, Kr, Xe, and 3He/4He ratio), and tritium. Temperature profiles were measured at six locations in the southeastern part of the basin. Temperature pro
Authors
Andrew H. Manning
A marine biogeochemical perspective on black shale deposition
Deposition of marine black shales has commonly been interpreted as having involved a high level of marine phytoplankton production that promoted high settling rates of organic matter through the water column and high burial fluxes on the seafloor or anoxic (sulfidic) water-column conditions that led to high levels of preservation of deposited organic matter, or a combination of the two processes.
Authors
David Z. Piper, S.E. Calvert
Inorganic chemical composition and chemical reactivity of settled dust generated by the World Trade Center building collapse
Samples of dust deposited around lower Manhattan by the September 11, 2001, World Trade Center (WTC) collapse have inorganic chemical compositions that result in part from the variable chemical contributions of concrete, gypsum wallboard, glass fibers, window glass, and other materials contained in the buildings. The dust deposits were also modified chemically by variable interactions with rain wa
Authors
Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Philip L. Hageman, Paul J. Lamothe, Thomas L. Ziegler, Gregory P. Meeker, Peter M. Theodorakos, Isabelle Brownfield, Monique G. Adams, Gregg A. Swayze, Todd M. Hoefen, Joseph E. Taggart, Roger N. Clark, S. Wilson, Stephen J. Sutley
The Columbia River Basalt Group: from the gorge to the sea
Miocene flood basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group inundated eastern Washington, Oregon, and adjacent Idaho between 17 and 6 Ma. Some of the more voluminous flows followed the ancestral Columbia River across the Cascade arc, Puget-Willamette trough, and the Coast Range to the Pacific Ocean. We have used field mapping, chemistry, and paleomagnetic directions to trace individual flows and flow
Authors
Ray E. Wells, Alan R. Niem, Russell C. Evarts, Jonathan T. Hagstrum
A comparison of phase inversion and traveltime tomography for processing near-surface refraction traveltimes
With phase inversion, one can estimate subsurface velocities using the phases of first-arriving waves, which are the frequency-domain equivalents of the traveltimes. Phase inversion is modified to make it suitable for processing traveltimes from near-surface refraction surveys. The modifications include parameterizing the model, correcting the observed phases, and selecting the complex frequency.
Authors
Karl J. Ellefsen
Instrumental record of debris flow initiation during natural rainfall: Implications for modeling slope stability
The middle of a hillslope hollow in the Oregon Coast Range failed and mobilized as a debris flow during heavy rainfall in November 1996. Automated pressure transducers recorded high spatial variability of pore water pressure within the area that mobilized as a debris flow, which initiated where local upward flow from bedrock developed into overlying colluvium. Postfailure observations of the bedro
Authors
D. R. Montgomery, K. M. Schmidt, W. E. Dietrich, J. McKean
New Permian durhaminid cerioid corals from east-central California
Permian colonial corals from Artinskian to Kungurian strata in the Conglomerate Mesa area, Inyo Mountains, east-central California, include five new species, one of which is assigned to a new genus. The new taxa are: Malpaisia maceyi n. gen. and n. sp., Pararachnastraea bellula n. sp., P. delicata n. sp., P. owensensis n. sp., and Cordillerastraea inyoensis n. sp. These species, several of which c
Authors
C. H. Stevens, P. Stone