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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: 1826

Testing the potential role of brine reflux in the formation of sedimentary exhalative (Sedex) ore deposits

Sedimentary exhalative (sedex) ore deposits are the world’s largest Zn-Pb deposits. While the geologic processes that formed these deposits are generally well understood, the fundamental hydrologic processes that drove these massive hydrothermal systems remain an area of debate. We use numerical modeling to test an emerging hypothesis, supported by recent ore genesis research and sedex basin analy
Authors
Andrew H. Manning, Poul Emsbo

Igneous and detrital zircon U-Pb and Lu-Hf geochronology of the late Meso- to Neoproterozoic northwest Botswana rift: Maximum depositional age and provenance of the Ghanzi Group, Kalahari Copperbelt, Botswana and Namibia

New igneous and detrital zircon laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) U-Pb geochronology and Lu-Hf isotopic data are presented for the Mesoproterozoic Kgwebe Formation and the unconformably overlying Ghanzi Group in northwestern Botswana. The Makgabana Hills porphyritic rhyolite flow from the Ghanzi area yielded a U-Pb concordia age of 1085.5 ± 4.5 Ma and provides
Authors
Wesley S Hall, Murray Hitzman, Yvette D. Kuiper, Andrew R C Kylander-Clark, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Richard J. Moscati, Piret Plink-Bjorklund, Stephen M Enders

Depth to basement and thickness of unconsolidated sediments for the western United States—Initial estimates for layers of the U.S. Geological Survey National Crustal Model

We present numeric grids containing estimates of the thickness of unconsolidated sediments and depth to the pre-Cenozoicbasement for the western United States. Values for these grids were combined and integrated from previous studies or deriveddirectly from gravity analyses. The grids are provided with 1-kilometer grid-node spacing in ScienceBase (https://www.sciencebase.gov).These layers may be u
Authors
Anjana K. Shah, Oliver S. Boyd

Interpretation of low‐temperature thermochronometer ages from tilted normal fault blocks

Low‐temperature thermochronometry is widely used to measure the timing and rate of slip on normal faults. Rates are often derived from suites of footwall thermochronometer samples, but regression of age vs. structural depth fails to account for the trajectories of samples during fault slip. We demonstrate that in rotating fault blocks, regression of age‐depth data is susceptible to significant err
Authors
Samuel Johnstone, Joseph Colgan

Controls on submarine channel-modifying processes identified through morphometric scaling relationships

Submarine channels share morphological similarities with rivers, but observations from modern and ancient systems indicate they are formed under processes and controls unique to submarine settings. Morphologic characteristics of channels—e.g., width, depth, slope, and the relationships among them—can constrain interpretations of channel-forming processes. This work uses morphometric scaling relati
Authors
Lauren E. Shumaker, Zane R. Jobe, Samuel Johnstone, Luke A. Pettinga, Dingxin Cai, Jeremiah D. Moody

Crustal inheritance and a top-down control on arc magmatism at Mount St Helens

In a subduction zone, the volcanic arc marks the location where magma, generated via flux melting in the mantle wedge, migrates through the crust and erupts. While the location of deep magma broadly defines the arc position, here we argue that crustal structures, identified in geophysical data from the Washington Cascades magmatic arc, are equally important in controlling magma ascent and defining
Authors
Paul A. Bedrosian, Jared R. Peacock, Esteban Bowles-Martinez, Adam Schultz, Graham Hill

Rapid late Miocene surface uplift of the Central Anatolian Plateau margin

The Central Anatolian Plateau (CAP), Turkey, is bordered to its south by a steep mountain belt that emerged ∼8–7 Ma ago from the Mediterranean Sea. Knowledge of the onset, duration and rate of surface uplift and orographic barrier formation along the plateau margin is crucial for understanding the geodynamic drivers of plateau uplift. We present a new comprehensive data set that includes 12 40Ar/3
Authors
Maud J.M. Meijers, Gilles Y. Brocard, Michael A. Cosca, Tina Lüdecke, Christian Teyssier, Donna L. Whitney, Andreas Mulch

Mineralogy of uranium and thorium (R.J. Lauf)

As stated by the author in this 352-page book’s preface, the intention is to present “a systematic guide to uranium and thorium minerals and their occurrences for the serious student or mineral collector seeking to better understand the specimens in his or her collection.” A secondary purpose is to provide an up-to-date reference to the mineralogy of radioactive raw materials for the exploration g
Authors
Cliff D. Taylor

Quartz solubility in the H2O-NaCl system: A framework for understanding vein formation in porphyry copper deposits

Porphyry copper deposits consist of low-grade stockwork and disseminated sulfide zones that contain characteristic vein generations formed during the evolution of the magmatic-hydrothermal systems. The present contribution proposes an interpretive framework for the formation of porphyry veins that is based on quartz solubility calculations in the H2O-NaCl system at temperatures of 100° to 1,000°C
Authors
Thomas Monecke, Jochen Monecke, T James Reynolds, Subaru Tsuruoka, Mitchell M. Bennett, Wiley B Skewes, Richard M. Palin

Spatial spectroscopic models for remote exploration

Ancient hydrothermal systems are a high-priority target for a future Mars sample return mission because they contain energy sources for microbes and can preserve organic materials (Farmer, 2000; MEPAG Next Decade Science Analysis Group, 2008; McLennan et al.,2012; Michalski et al.,2017). Characterizing these large, heterogeneous systems with a remote explorer is difficult due to communications ban
Authors
David R. Thompson, Alberto Candela, David Wettergreen, E. Noe Dobrea, Gregg A. Swayze, Roger N Clark, Rebecca Greenberger

Sulfur isotopes of host strata for Howards Pass (Yukon–Northwest Territories) Zn-Pb deposits implicate anaerobic oxidation of methane, not basin stagnation

A new sulfur isotope stratigraphic profile has been developed for Ordovician-Silurian mudstones that host the Howards Pass Zn-Pb deposits (Canada) in an attempt to reconcile the traditional model of a stagnant euxinic basin setting with new contradictory findings. Our analyses of pyrite confirm the up-section 34S enrichment reported previously, but additional observations show parallel depletion o
Authors
Craig A. Johnson, John F. Slack, Julie A. Dumoulin, Karen Duttweiler Kelley, Hendrik Falck

Reverse weathering in marine sediments and the geochemical cycle of potassium in seawater: Insights from the K isotopic composition (41K/39K) of deep-sea pore-fluids

In situ Al-silicate formation, also known as “reverse weathering,” is an important sink of many of the major and minor cations in seawater (e.g. Mg, K, and Li). However, the importance of this sink in global geochemical cycles and isotopic budgets of these elements remains poorly constrained. Here, we report on the potassium isotopic composition (41K/39K) of deep-sea sediment pore-fluids from four
Authors
Danielle P. Santiago Ramos, Leah E. Morgan, Nicholas S. Lloyd, John A. Higgins