Publications
Listed below are publication products directly associated with the Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center:
Filter Total Items: 1166
Geologic Field Notes, Geochemical Analyses, and Field Photographs of Outcrops and Rock Samples from the Big Delta B-1 Quadrangle, East-Central Alaska
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Alaska Department of Natural Resources Division of Mining, Land, and Water, has released a geologic map of the Big Delta B-1 quadrangle of east-central Alaska (Day and others, 2007). This companion report presents the major element oxide and trace element geochemical analyses, including those for gold, silver, and base metals, for representative
Authors
Warren C. Day, J. Michael O'Neill
Substrate Geochemistry and Soil Development in Boreal Forest and Tundra Ecosystems in the Yukon-Tanana Upland and Seward Peninsula, Alaska
We report on soil development as a function of bedrock type and the presence of loess in two high latitude ecosystems (boreal forest and tundra) and from two regions in Alaska?the Yukon-Tanana Upland (YTU, east-central Alaska) and the Seward Peninsula (SP, far-west coastal Alaska). This approach to the study of 'cold soils' is fundamental to the quantification of regional geochemical landscape pat
Authors
L. P. Gough, J. G. Crock, B. Wang, W. C. Day, D. D. Eberl, R.F. Sanzolone, P. J. Lamothe
Environmental geochemistry of a Kuroko-type massive sulfide deposit at the abandoned Valzinco mine, Virginia, USA
The abandoned Valzinco mine, which worked a steeply dipping Kuroko-type massive sulfide deposit in the Virginia Au-pyrite belt, contributed significant metal-laden acid-mine drainage to the Knight's Branch watershed. The host rocks were dominated by metamorphosed felsic volcanic rocks, which offered limited acid-neutralizing potential. The ores were dominated by pyrite, sphalerite, galena, and cha
Authors
R.R. Seal, J. M. Hammarstrom, A.N. Johnson, N.M. Piatak, G.A. Wandless
Permeability of continental crust influenced by internal and external forcing
The permeability of continental crust is so highly variable that it is often considered to defy systematic characterization. However, despite this variability, some order has been gleaned from globally compiled data. What accounts for the apparent coherence of mean permeability in the continental crust (and permeability–depth relations) on a very large scale? Here we argue that large‐scale crustal
Authors
S.A. Rojstaczer, S. E. Ingebritsen, D.O. Hayba
Mineral sources and transport pathways for arsenic release in a coastal watershed, USA
Metasedimentary bedrock of coastal Maine contains a diverse suite of As-bearing minerals that act as significant sources of elements found in ground and surface waters in the region. Arsenic sources in the Penobscot Formation include, in order of decreasing As content by weight: löllingite and realgar (c.70%), arsenopyrite, cobaltite, glaucodot, and gersdorffite (in the range of 34–45%), arsenian
Authors
Nora K. Foley, Robert A. Ayuso
Anthropogenic and natural lead isotopes in Fe-hydroxides and Fe-sulphates in a watershed associated with arsenic-enriched groundwater, Maine, USA
A survey of the natural and anthropogenic sources of lead contributing to secondary minerals in sulphidic schists associated with arsenic-enriched groundwater in Coastal Maine shows that the most likely source is natural Pb, particularly from coexisting sulphide minerals. The secondary minerals also reflect notable contributions from anthropogenic Pb. The Pb isotopes establish pathways by which Pb
Authors
Robert A. Ayuso, Nora K. Foley
Exploration maturity key to ranking search areas
The study area of US Geological Survey Circular 1288, the world outside the US and Canada, was partitioned into 44 countries and country groups. Map figures such as Fig. 2 and graphs similar to Figs. 3 and 4 provide a visual summary of maturity of oil and gas exploration. From 1992 through 2001, exploration data show that in the study area the delineated prospective area expanded at a rate of abou
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman
Framework for Evaluating Water Quality of the New England Crystalline Rock Aquifers
Little information exists on regional ground-water-quality patterns for the New England crystalline rock aquifers (NECRA). A systematic approach to facilitate regional evaluation is needed for several reasons. First, the NECRA are vulnerable to anthropogenic and natural contaminants such as methyl tert-butyl ether (MTBE), arsenic, and radon gas. Second, the physical characteristics of the aquifers
Authors
Philip T. Harte, Gilpin R. Robinson, Joseph D. Ayotte, Sarah M. Flanagan
The formation conditions of chondrules and chondrites
Chondrules, which are roughly millimeter-sized silicate-rich spherules, dominate the most primitive meteorites, the chondrites. They formed as molten droplets and, judging from their abundances in chondrites, are the products of one of the most energetic processes that operated in the early inner solar system. The conditions and mechanism of chondrule formation remain poorly understood. Here we sh
Authors
C. M. O'D. Alexander, Jeffrey N. Grossman, D.S. Ebel, F.J. Ciesla
Natural bitumen and extra-heavy oil
Since 2005, oil price increases have greatly increased investment in the production of extra- heavy oil and natural bitumen (tar sands or oil sands) to supplement conventional oil supplies. These oils are characterised by their high viscosity, high density (low API gravity), and high concentrations of nitrogen, oxygen, sulphur, and heavy metals. Extra-heavy oil and natural bitumen are the remnants
Authors
Emil D. Attanasi, R. F. Meyer
Investigating atmospheric mercury with the U.S. Geological Survey Mobile Mercury Laboratory
Atmospheric mercury is thought to be an important source of mercury present in fish, resulting in numerous local, statewide, tribal, and province-wide fish consumption advisories in the United States and Canada (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, 2007a). To understand how mercury occurs in the atmosphere and its potential to be transferred from the atmosphere to the biosphere, the U.S. Geologic
Authors
Allan Kolker
Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources in Tertiary strata of the Gulf Coast, 2007
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 113.7 trillion cubic feet of undiscovered natural gas, a mean of 690 million barrels of undiscovered oil, and a mean of 3.7 billion barrels of undiscovered natural gas liquids in onshore lands and State waters of the Gulf Coast.
Authors
Russell F. Dubiel, Janet K. Pitman, Ofori N. Pearson, Peter D. Warwick, Alexander W. Karlsen, James L. Coleman, Paul C. Hackley, Daniel O. Hayba, Sharon M. Swanson, Ronald R. Charpentier, Troy A Cook, Timothy R. Klett, Richard M. Pollastro, Christopher J. Schenk