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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

Geometallurgy of ironsand from the Waikato North Head deposit, New Zealand

The Waikato North Head deposit produces a magnetic mineral concentrate from Quaternary sands that formed in a coastal setting in the North Island of New Zealand. Detailed examination of the magnetic mineral fraction of the different stratigraphic horizons mined at Waikato North Head shows that the youngest units yield concentrates with significant concentrations of gangue minerals that are include
Authors
Jeffrey L. Mauk, Helen A Cocker, Harold Rogers, Jamie Ogiliev, Alex B Padya

Toxicants in folk remedies: Implications of elevated blood lead in an American-born infant due to imported diaper powder

Though most childhood lead exposure in the USA results from ingestion of lead-based paint dust, non-paint sources are increasingly implicated. We present interdisciplinary findings from and policy implications of a case of elevated blood lead (13–18 mcg/dL, reference level <5 mcg/dL) in a 9-month-old infant, linked to a non-commercial Malaysian folk diaper powder. Analyses showed the powder contai
Authors
Mateusz P. Karwowski, Suzette A. Morman, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Terence Law, Mark Kellogg, Alan D. Woolf

Soil formation: Chapter 6

Soil formation reflects the complex interaction of many factors, among the most important of which are (i) the nature of the soil parent material, (ii) regional climate, (iii) organisms, including humans, (iv) topography and (v) time. These processes operate in Earth's critical zone; the thin veneer of our planet where rock meets life. Understanding the operation of these soil-forming factors requ
Authors
Martin B. Goldhaber, Steven A. Banwart

Extreme variation of sulfur isotopic compositions in pyrite from the Qiuling sediment-hosted gold deposit, West Qinling orogen, central China: An in situ SIMS study with implications for the source of sulfur

High spatial resolution textural (scanning electron microscope (SEM)), chemical (electron microprobe (EMP)) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spec- trometry (LA-ICP-MS)), and sulfur isotopic (secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS)) analyses of pyrite from the Qiuling sediment-hosted gold deposit (232±4 Ma) in the West Qinling orogen, central China were conducted to distinguish pyr
Authors
Lei Chen, Xian-hua Li, Jian-wei Li, Albert H. Hofstra, Yu Liu, Alan E. Koenig

Alamo impact olistoliths in Antler orogenic foreland, Warm Springs–Milk Spring area, Hot Creek Range, central Nevada

The 45 km2 map area is situated at the south end of the Hot Creek Range in central Nevada, ~16 km east of the buried leading edge of the Mississippian Roberts Mountains thrust. Three eastward-trending left-slip faults divide the area into four structural blocks. The southernmost block is occupied solely by upper Oligocene volcanic rocks. The narrow northernmost block, now occupied surficially by v
Authors
Forrest G. Poole, Charles Sandberg

Regional tectonic setting for the Trinidad earthquake swarms (2000-2012) from gravity and magnetic data

Earthquakes in the Raton basin near Trinidad, Colorado, (Figure 1) are located (Rubenstein et. al., 2014) near a major gravity and magnetic boundary. These earthquakes also occur in an area of hydrocarbon production that includes several high-capacity produced water injection wells. This presentation gives a very basic outline of the relation between the earthquakes, the potential field data, and
Authors
Carol A. Finn, Mason A. Kass, Bruce D. Smith

Construction ages of the Upton Stone Chamber: Preliminary findings and suggestions for future luminescence research

The Upton Chamber in Massachusetts, an earth-covered stone structure 3.4 meters (m) in diameter, with a corbelled stone dome, and a 4.3 m long entrance passageway, is studied with the aim of determining whether optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating methods can be used to establish the approximate construction date of the entranceway. Three samples, taken from soil behind the lowest stones
Authors
Shannon A. Mahan, Frederick Martin, Cathy Taylor

Isotopic insights into biological regulation of zinc in contaminated systems

Aquatic organisms use a variety of biogeochemical reactions to regulate essential and non-essential trace metals. Many of these mechanisms can lead to isotopic fractionation, thus measurement of metal isotopes may yield insights into the processes by which organisms respond to metal exposure. We illustrate these concepts with two case studies, one involving an intra- and the other an extra-cellula
Authors
Richard B. Wanty, Laurie S. Balistrieri, Jeff S. Wesner, David Walters, Travis S. Schmidt, Francesca Podda, G. De Giudici, Craig A. Stricker, Johanna M. Kraus, Pierfranco Lattanzi, Ruth E. Wolf, R. Cidu

Second Projet de Renforcement Institutionnel du Secteur Minier de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II) Phase V

In 1996, at the request of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists produced a strategic plan for the acquisition, improvement and modernization of multidisciplinary sets of data to support the growth of the Mauritanian minerals sector and to highlight the geological and mineral exploration potential of the country. In 1999, the Minis

Oil slick morphology derived from AVIRIS measurements of the Deepwater Horizon oil spill: Implications for spatial resolution requirements of remote sensors

Using fine spatial resolution (~ 7.6 m) hyperspectral AVIRIS data collected over the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, we statistically estimated slick lengths, widths and length/width ratios to characterize oil slick morphology for different thickness classes. For all AVIRIS-detected oil slicks (N = 52,100 continuous features) binned into four thickness classes (≤ 50 μm but thick
Authors
Shaojie Sun, Chuanmin Hu, Lian Feng, Gregg A. Swayze, Jamie Holmes, George Graettinger, Ian R. MacDonald, Oscar Garcia, Ira Leifer

Contrasting distributions of groundwater arsenic and uranium in the western Hetao basin, Inner Mongolia: Implication for origins and fate controls

Although As concentrations have been investigated in shallow groundwater from the Hetao basin, China, less is known about U and As distributions in deep groundwater, which would help to better understand their origins and fate controls. Two hundred and ninety-nine groundwater samples, 122 sediment samples, and 14 rock samples were taken from the northwest portion of the Hetao basin, and analyzed f
Authors
Huaming Guo, Yongfeng Jia, Richard B. Wanty, Yuxiao Jiang, Weiguang Zhao, Wei Xiu, Jiaxing Shen, Yuan Li, Yongsheng Cao, Yang Wu, Di Zhang, Chao Wei, Yilong Zhang, Wengeng Cao, Andrea L. Foster