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Publications

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

Filter Total Items: 1166

Radiometric dating of marine-influenced coal using Re–Os geochronology

Coal deposits are integral to understanding the structural evolution and thermal history of sedimentary basins and correlating contemporeous estuarine and fluvial delatic strata with marine sections. While marine shales may readily lend themselves to Re–Os dating due to the dominance of hydrogenous Re and Os, the lack of a chronometer for near-shore sedimentary environments hampers basinwide corr
Authors
Gyana Ranjan Tripathy, Judith L. Hannah, Holly J. Stein, Nicholas J. Geboy, Leslie F. Ruppert

Qualitative assessment of selected areas of the world for undiscovered sediment-hosted stratabound copper deposits: Chapter Y in Global mineral resource assessment

A qualitative mineral resource assessment of sediment-hosted stratabound copper mineralized areas for undiscovered copper deposits was performed for 10 selected areas of the world. The areas, in alphabetical order, are (1) Belt-Purcell Basin, United States and Canada; (2) Benguela and Cuanza Basins, Angola; (3) Chuxiong Basin, China; (4) Dongchuan Group rocks, China; (5) Egypt–Israel–Jordan Rift,
Authors
Michael L. Zientek, Niki E. Wintzer, Timothy S. Hayes, Heather L. Parks, Deborah A. Briggs, J. Douglas Causey, Shyla A. Hatch, M. Christopher Jenkins, David J. Williams

Assessment of undiscovered sandstone-hosted uranium resources in the Texas Coastal Plain, 2015

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 220 million pounds of recoverable uranium oxide (U3O8 ) remaining as potential undiscovered resources in southern Texas. This estimate used a geology-based assessment method for Tertiary sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the Texas Coastal Plain sedimentary strata (fig.1).
Authors
Mark J. Mihalasky, Susan M. Hall, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Kathleen R. Tureck, Mark T. Hannon, George N. Breit, Robert A. Zielinski, Brent Elliott

A practical guide to the use of major elements, trace elements, and isotopes in compositional data analysis: Applications for deep formation brine geochemistry

In the geosciences, isotopic ratios and trace element concentrations are often used along with major element concentrations to help determine sources of and processes affecting geochemical variation. Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) is a set of tools, generally attuned to major element data, concerned with the proper statistical treatment and removal of spurious correlations from compositional d
Authors
Madalyn S. Blondes, Mark A. Engle, Nicholas Geboy

Unconventional energy resources: 2015 review. Shale gas and liquids

Introduction As the source rocks from which petroleum is generated, organic-rich shales have always been considered an important component of petroleum systems. Over the last few years, it has been realized that in some mudrocks, sufficient hydrocarbons remain in place to allow for commercial development, although advanced drilling and completion technology is typically required to access hydro
Authors
Neil S. Fishman, Kent Bowker, Harris Cander, Brian Cardott, Marc Charette, Kenneth Chew, Thomas Chidsey, Russell F. Dubiel, Sven O. Egenhoff, Catherine B. Enomoto, Ursula Hammes, William Harrison, Shu Jiang, Julie A. LeFever, Jock McCracken, Stephen Nordeng, Richard Nyahay, Stephen Sonnenberg, Michael Vanden Berg

Persistent U(IV) and U(VI) following in-situ recovery (ISR) mining of a sandstone uranium deposit, Wyoming, USA

Drill-core samples from a sandstone-hosted uranium (U) deposit in Wyoming were characterized to determine the abundance and distribution of uranium following in-situ recovery (ISR) mining with oxygen- and carbon dioxide-enriched water. Concentrations of uranium, collected from ten depth intervals, ranged from 5 to 1920 ppm. A composite sample contained 750 ppm uranium with an average oxidation st
Authors
Tanya J. Gallegos, Kate M. Campbell, Robert A. Zielinski, P.W. Reimus, J.T. Clay, N. Janot, J. J. Bargar, William Benzel

Factors controlling Li concentration and isotopic composition in formation waters and host rocks of Marcellus Shale, Appalachian Basin

In this study, water and whole rock samples from hydraulically fractured wells in the Marcellus Shale (Middle Devonian), and water from conventional wells producing from Upper Devonian sandstones were analyzed for lithium concentrations and isotope ratios (δ7Li). The distribution of lithium concentrations in different mineral groups was determined using sequential extraction. Structurally bound Li
Authors
Thai T. Phan, Rosemary C Capo, Brian W. Stewart, Gwen Macpherson, Elisabeth L. Rowan, Richard W. Hammack

Porphyry copper assessment of the Tethys region of western and southern Asia: Chapter V in Global mineral resource assessment

A probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in the Tethys region of western and southern Asia was carried out as part of a global mineral resource assessment led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The purpose of the study was to delineate geographic areas as permissive tracts for the occurrence of porphyry copper deposits at a scale of 1:1,0
Authors
Lukas Zürcher, Arthur A. Bookstrom, Jane M. Hammarstrom, John C. Mars, Stephen Ludington, Michael L. Zientek, Pamela Dunlap, John C. Wallis, Lawrence J. Drew, David M. Sutphin, Byron R. Berger, Richard J. Herrington, Mario Billa, Ilkay Kuşcu, Charles J. Moon, Jeremy P. Richards

Profiles of reservoir properties of oil-bearing plays for selected petroleum provinces in the United States

Profiles of reservoir properties of oil-bearing plays for selected petroleum provinces in the United States were developed to characterize the database to be used for a potential assessment by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) of oil that would be technically recoverable by the application of enhanced oil recovery methods using injection of carbon dioxide (CO2-EOR). The USGS assessment methodology
Authors
Philip A. Freeman, Emil D. Attanasi

Extraction of hydrocarbons from high-maturity Marcellus Shale using supercritical carbon dioxide

Shale is now commonly exploited as a hydrocarbon resource. Due to the high degree of geochemical and petrophysical heterogeneity both between shale reservoirs and within a single reservoir, there is a growing need to find more efficient methods of extracting petroleum compounds (crude oil, natural gas, bitumen) from potential source rocks. In this study, supercritical carbon dioxide (CO2) was used
Authors
Palma J. Botterell, Philip A. Candela, Wenlu Zhu, Alan J. Kaufman

Soil geochemical survey of abandoned mining sites in the Eastern-Central Peloritani Mountains, Sicily, Italy

This investigation focused on topsoils (n = 122) and vertical profiles (n = 6) distributed over an area of 250 km2 in the eastern-central Peloritani Mountains, northeastern Sicily. Georeferenced concentration of 53 elements (including potentially harmful ones), determined by ICP-MS after an aqua regia leach, were used to produce geochemical maps by means of a GIS-aided spatial interpolation proces
Authors
A. Consenza, A. Lima, Robert A. Ayuso, Nora K. Foley, S. Albanese, A. Messina, B. De Vivo

Measurement of in situ sulfur isotopes by laser ablation multi-collector ICPMS: opening Pandora’s Box

Laser ablation multi-collector ICPMS is a modern tool for in situ measurement of S isotopes. Advantages of the technique are speed of analysis and relatively minor matrix effects combined with spatial resolution sufficient for many applications. The main disadvantage is a more destructive sampling mechanism relative to the ion microprobe technique. Recent advances in instrumentation allow precise
Authors
William I. Ridley, Michael Pribil, Alan E. Koenig, John F. Slack