Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

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

Links between climate change, water-table depth, and water chemistry in a mineralized mountain watershed

Recent studies suggest that climate change is causing rising solute concentrations in mountain lakes and streams. These changes may be more pronounced in mineralized watersheds due to the sensitivity of sulfide weathering to changes in subsurface oxygen transport. Specific causal mechanisms linking climate change and accelerated weathering rates have been proposed, but in general remain entirely h
Authors
Andrew H. Manning, Philip L. Verplanck, Jonathan S. Caine, Andrew S. Todd

Mercury isotope fractionation during ore retorting in the Almadén mining district, Spain

Almadén, Spain, is the world's largest mercury (Hg) mining district, which has produced over 250,000 metric tons of Hg representing about 30% of the historical Hg produced worldwide. The objective of this study was to measure Hg isotopic compositions of cinnabar ore, mine waste calcine (retorted ore), elemental Hg (Hg0(L)), and elemental Hg gas (Hg0(g)), to evaluate potential Hg isotopic fractiona
Authors
John E. Gray, Michael J. Pribil, Pablo L. Higueras

Overview of the magnetic signatures of the Palaeoproterozoic Rustenburg Layered Suite, Bushveld Complex, South Africa

Aeromagnetic data clearly delineate the mafic rocks of the economically significant Bushveld Igneous Complex. This is mainly due to the abundance of magnetite in the Upper Zone of the Rustenburg Layered Suite of the Bushveld, but strongly remanently magnetised rocks in the Main Zone also contribute significantly in places. In addition to delineating the extent of the magnetic rocks in the complex,
Authors
Janine Cole, Carol A. Finn, Susan J. Webb

A GIS and statistical approach to identify variables that control water quality in hydrothermally altered and mineralized watersheds, Silverton, Colorado, USA

Hydrothermally altered bedrock in the Silverton mining area, southwest Colorado, USA, contains sulfide minerals that weather to produce acidic and metal-rich leachate that is toxic to aquatic life. This study utilized a geographic information system (GIS) and statistical approach to identify watershed-scale geologic variables in the Silverton area that influence water quality. GIS analysis of mine
Authors
Douglas B. Yager, Raymond H. Johnson, Barnaby W. Rockwell, Jonathan S. Caine, Kathleen S. Smith

Nature's refineries — Metals and metalloids in arc volcanoes

Chemical data for fumaroles and for atmospheric gas and ash plumes from active arc volcanoes provide glimpses of the rates of release of metal and metalloids, such as Tl and Cd, from shallow and mid-crust magmas. Data from copper deposits formed in ancient volcanoes at depths of up to about 1500 m in the fractures below paleo-fumaroles, and at around 2000–4000 m in association with sub-volcanic in
Authors
R.W. Henley, Byron R. Berger

Characterizing regional soil mineral composition using spectroscopyand geostatistics

This work aims at improving the mapping of major mineral variability at regional scale using scale-dependent spatial variability observed in remote sensing data. Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) data and statistical methods were combined with laboratory-based mineral characterization of field samples to create maps of the distributions of clay, mica and carbon
Authors
V.L. Mulder, S. de Bruin, J. Weyermann, Raymond F. Kokaly, M.E. Schaepman

Nickel-cobalt laterites: a deposit model

Nickel-cobalt (Ni-Co) laterite deposits are supergene enrichments of Ni±Co that form from intense chemical and mechanical weathering of ultramafic parent rocks. These regolith deposits typically form within 26 degrees of the equator, although there are a few exceptions. They form in active continental margins and stable cratonic settings. It takes as little as one million years for a laterite prof
Authors
Erin E. Marsh, Eric D. Anderson, Floyd Gray

Surface mineral maps of Afghanistan derived from HyMap imaging spectrometer data, version 2

This report presents a new version of surface mineral maps derived from HyMap imaging spectrometer data collected over Afghanistan in the fall of 2007. This report also describes the processing steps applied to the imaging spectrometer data. The 218 individual flight lines composing the Afghanistan dataset, covering more than 438,000 square kilometers, were georeferenced to a mosaic of orthorectif
Authors
Raymond F. Kokaly, Trude V.V. King, Todd M. Hoefen

Mines, mountains and hot springs: IMWA 2013 post-conference tour to Silverton, CO, August 10-13, 2013

An itinerary, maps, and details about the IMWA 2013 post-conference tour from Golden, Colorado to Silverton, Colorado on August 10-13, 2013, are provided.
Authors
Raymond H. Johnson

IMWA 2013 mid-conference tour to Leadville, Colorado, August 7th, 2013

An itinerary, maps, and details about the IMWA 2013 mid-conference tour from Golden, Colorado to Leadville, Colorado on August 7, 2013, are provided.
Authors
Raymond H. Johnson

Low salinity hydrocarbon water disposal through deep subsurface drip irrigation: leaching of native selenium

A subsurface drip irrigation system is being used in Wyoming’s Powder River Basin that treats high sodium, low salinity, coal bed methane (CBM) produced water with sulfuric acid and injects it into cropped fields at a depth of 0.92 m. Dissolution of native gypsum releases calcium that combats soil degradation that would otherwise result from high sodium water. Native selenium is leached from soil
Authors
Carleton R. Bern, Mark A. Engle, Adam R. Boehlke, John W. Zupancic

Integrated geophysical imaging of a concealed mineral deposit: a case study of the world-class Pebble porphyry deposit in southwestern Alaska

We combined aeromagnetic, induced polarization, magnetotelluric, and gravity surveys as well as drillhole geologic, alteration, magnetic susceptibility, and density data for exploration and characterization of the Cu-Au-Mo Pebble porphyry deposit. This undeveloped deposit is almost completely concealed by postmineralization sedimentary and volcanic rocks, presenting an exploration challenge. Indiv
Authors
Anjana K. Shah, Paul A. Bedrosian, Eric D. Anderson, Karen D. Kelley, James Lang