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: 1826
Mapping potentialy asbestos-bearing rocks using imaging spectroscopy
Rock and soil that may contain naturally occurring asbestos (NOA), a known human carcinogen, were mapped in the Sierra Nevada, California, using the Airborne Visible/Infrared Imaging Spectrometer (AVIRIS) to determine if these materials could be uniquely identified with spectroscopy. Such information can be used to prepare or refine maps of areas that may contain minerals that can be asbestiform,
Authors
G.A. Swayze, R.F. Kokaly, C.T. Higgins, J.P. Clinkenbeard, R. N. Clark, H.A. Lowers, S. J. Sutley
Geomorphic controls on mercury accumulation in soils from a historically mined watershed, Central California Coast Range, USA
Historic Hg mining in the Cache Creek watershed in the Central California Coast Range has contributed to the downstream transport of Hg to the San Francisco Bay-Delta. Different aspects of Hg mobilization in soils, including pedogenesis, fluvial redistribution of sediment, volatilization and eolian transport were considered. The greatest soil concentrations (>30 mg Hg kg-1) in Cache Creek are asso
Authors
J.M. Holloway, M. B. Goldhaber, J.M. Morrison
Modern U-Pb chronometry of meteorites: advancing to higher time resolution reveals new problems
In this paper, we evaluate the factors that influence the accuracy of lead (Pb)-isotopic ages of meteorites, and may possibly be responsible for inconsistencies between Pb-isotopic and extinct nuclide timescales of the early Solar System: instrumental mass fractionation and other possible analytical sources of error, presence of more than one component of non-radiogenic Pb, migration of ancient ra
Authors
Y. Amelin, J. Connelly, R. E. Zartman, J.-H. Chen, C. Gopel, L.A. Neymark
Characterizing canopy biochemistry from imaging spectroscopy and its application to ecosystem studies
For two decades, remotely sensed data from imaging spectrometers have been used to estimate non-pigment biochemical constituents of vegetation, including water, nitrogen, cellulose, and lignin. This interest has been motivated by the important role that these substances play in physiological processes such as photosynthesis, their relationships with ecosystem processes such as litter decomposition
Authors
R.F. Kokaly, Gregory P. Asner, S.V. Ollinger, M.E. Martin, C.A. Wessman
Application of iron and zinc isotopes to track the sources and mechanisms of metal loading in a mountain watershed
Here the hydrogeochemical constraints of a tracer dilution study are combined with Fe and Zn isotopic measurements to pinpoint metal loading sources and attenuation mechanisms in an alpine watershed impacted by acid mine drainage. In the tested mountain catchment, δ56Fe and δ66Zn isotopic signatures of filtered stream water samples varied by ∼3.5‰ and 0.4‰, respectively. The inherent differences i
Authors
D.M. Borrok, R. B. Wanty, Ridley W. Ian, P. J. Lamothe, B. A. Kimball, P. L. Verplanck, R.L. Runkel
Storm clouds on Saturn: Lightning-induced chemistry and associated materials consistent with Cassini/VIMS spectra
Thunderstorm activity on Saturn is associated with optically detectable clouds that are atypically dark throughout the near-infrared. As observed by Cassini/VIMS, these clouds are ~20% less reflective than typical neighboring clouds throughout the spectral range from 0.8 ??m to at least 4.1 ??m. We propose that active thunderstorms originating in the 10-20 bar water-condensation region vertically
Authors
K. H. Baines, M.L. Delitsky, T.W. Momary, R. H. Brown, B. J. Buratti, R. N. Clark, P. D. Nicholson
A preliminary study of older hot spring alteration in Sevenmile Hole, Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, Yellowstone Caldera, Wyoming
Erosion in the Grand Canyon of the Yellowstone River, Yellowstone Caldera (640 ka), Wyoming, has exposed a cross section of older hydrothermal alteration in the canyon walls. The altered outcrops of the post-collapse tuff of Sulphur Creek (480 ka) extend from the canyon rim to more than 300 m beneath it. The hydrothermal minerals are zoned, with an advanced argillic alteration consisting of an ass
Authors
Peter B. Larson, Allison Phillips, David John, Michael A. Cosca, Chad Pritchard, Allen K. Andersen, Jennifer Manion
Method development for analysis of urban dust using scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive x-ray spectrometry to detect the possible presence of world trade center dust constituents
The collapse of the World Trade Center Towers on September 11, 2001, sent dust and debris across much of Manhattan and in the surrounding areas. Indoor and outdoor dust samples were collected and characterized by U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists using scanning electron microscopy with energy-dispersive spectrometry (SEM/EDS). From this characterization, the U.S. Environmental Protection Ag
Authors
A.M. Bern, H.A. Lowers, G.P. Meeker, J.A. Rosati
Discovery of lake-effect clouds on Titan
Images from instruments on Cassini as well as from telescopes on the ground reveal the presence of sporadic small-scale cloud activity in the cold late-winter north polar region of Saturn's large moon Titan. These clouds lie underneath the previously discovered uniform polar cloud attributed to a quiescent ethane cloud at ???40 km and appear confined to the same latitudes as those of the largest k
Authors
M.E. Brown, E.L. Schaller, H.G. Roe, C. Chen, J. Roberts, R. H. Brown, K. H. Baines, R. N. Clark
Accelerated weathering of limestone for CO2 mitigation: Opportunities for the stone and cement industries
Large amounts of limestone fines co-produced during the processing of crushed limestone may be useful in the sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). Accelerated weathering of limestone (AWL) is proposed as a low-tech method to capture and sequester CO2 from fossil fuel-fired power plants and other point sources such as cement manufacturing. AWL reactants are readily available, inexpensive and envir
Authors
William H. Langer, Juan A. San, Greg H. Rau, Ken Caldeira
VIMS spectral mapping observations of Titan during the Cassini prime mission
This is a data paper designed to facilitate the use of and comparisons to Cassini/visual and infrared mapping spectrometer (VIMS) spectral mapping data of Saturn's moon Titan. We present thumbnail orthographic projections of flyby mosaics from each Titan encounter during the Cassini prime mission, 2004 July 1 through 2008 June 30. For each flyby we also describe the encounter geometry, and we disc
Authors
J. W. Barnes, J.M. Soderblom, R. H. Brown, B. J. Buratti, Christophe Sotin, K. H. Baines, R. N. Clark, R. Jaumann, T. B. McCord, R. Nelson, S. Le Mouelic, S. Rodriguez, C. Griffith, P. Penteado, F. Tosi, K.M. Pitman, L. Soderblom, K. Stephan, P. Hayne, G. Vixie, J.-P. Bibring, G. Bellucci, F. Capaccioni, P. Cerroni, A. Coradini, D. P. Cruikshank, P. Drossart, V. Formisano, Y. Langevin, D. L. Matson, P. D. Nicholson, B. Sicardy
Photometric changes on Saturn's Titan: Evidence for active cryovolcanism
We report infrared spectrophotometric variability on the surface of Saturn's moon Titan detected in images returned by the Visual and Infrared Mapping Spectrometer (VIMS) onboard the Cassini Saturn Orbiter. The changes were observed at 7°S, 138°W and occurred between October 27, 2005 and January 15, 2006. After that date the surface was unchanged until the most recent observation, March 18, 2006.
Authors
Robert M. Nelson, Lucas W. Kamp, Rosaly M.C. Lopes, Dennis L. Matson, Randolph L. Kirk, Bruce W. Hapke, Stephen D. Wall, Mark D. Boryta, Frank E. Leader, William D. Smythe, Karl L. Mitchell, Kevin H. Baines, Ralf Jaumann, Christophe Sotin, Roger N. Clark, Dale P. Cruikshank, Pierre Drossart, Jonathan I. Lunine, Michel Combes, Giancarlo Bellucci, Jean-Pierre Bibring, Fabrizio Capaccioni, Pricilla Cerroni, Angioletta Coradini, Vittorio Formisano, Gianrico Filacchione, Yves Langevin, Thomas B. McCord, Vito Mennella, Philip D. Nicholson, Bruno Sicardy, Patrick G.J. Irwin, John C. Pearl