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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

Water and rock geochemistry, geologic cross sections, geochemical modeling, and groundwater flow modeling for identifying the source of groundwater to Montezuma Well, a natural spring in central Arizona

The National Park Service (NPS) seeks additional information to better understand the source(s) of groundwater and associated groundwater flow paths to Montezuma Well in Montezuma Castle National Monument, central Arizona. The source of water to Montezuma Well, a flowing sinkhole in a desert setting, is poorly understood. Water emerges from the middle limestone facies of the lacustrine Verde Forma
Authors
Raymond H. Johnson, Ed DeWitt, Laurie Wirt, L. Rick Arnold, John D. Horton

Review and interpretation of previous work and new data on the hydrogeology of the Schwartzwalder Uranium Mine and vicinity, Jefferson County, Colorado

The Schwartzwalder deposit is the largest known vein type uranium deposit in the United States. Located about eight miles northwest of Golden, Colorado it occurs in Proterozoic metamorphic rocks and was formed by hydrothermal fluid flow, mineralization, and deformation during the Laramide Orogeny. A complex brittle fault zone hosts the deposit comprising locally brecciated carbonate, oxide, and su
Authors
Jonathan S. Caine, Raymond H. Johnson, Emily C. Wild

Review of samples of tailings, soils, and stream sediments adjacent to and downstream from the Ruth Mine, Inyo County, California

The Ruth Mine and mill are located in the western Mojave Desert in Inyo County, California (fig. 1). The mill processed gold-silver (Au-Ag) ores mined from the Ruth Au-Ag deposit, which is adjacent to the mill site. The Ruth Au-Ag deposit is hosted in Mesozoic intrusive rocks and is similar to other Au-Ag deposits in the western Mojave Desert that are associated with Miocene volcanic centers that
Authors
James J. Rytuba, Christopher S. Kim, Daniel N. Goldstein

Review of samples of sediments, tailings, and waters adjacent to the Cactus Queen Gold Mine, Kern County, California

The Cactus Queen Mine is located in the western Mojave Desert in Kern County, California. The Cactus Queen gold-silver (Au-Ag) deposit is similar to other Au-Ag deposits hosted in Miocene volcanic rocks that consist of silicic domes and associated flows, pyroclastic rocks, and subvolcanic intrusions. The volcanic rocks were emplaced onto a basement of Mesozoic silicic intrusive rocks. A part of th
Authors
James J. Rytuba, Christopher S. Kim, Daniel N. Goldstein

Sources and physical processes responsible for OH/H2O in the lunarsoil as revealed by the Moon Mineralogy Mapper (M3)

Analysis of two absorption features near 3 μm in the lunar reflectance spectrum, observed by the orbiting M3 spectrometer and interpreted as being due to OH and H2O, is presented, and the results are used to discuss the processes producing these molecules. This analysis focuses on the dependence of the absorptions on lunar physical properties, including composition, illumination, latitude, and tem
Authors
T. B. McCord, L.A. Taylor, J. -P. Combe, G. Kramer, C.M. Pieters, J.M. Sunshine, R. N. Clark

A national-scale geochemical and mineralogical survey of soils of the conterminous United States

In 2007, the US Geological Survey initiated a low-density (1 site per 1600 km2, c. 4800 sites) geochemical and mineralogical survey of soils of the conterminous USA. The ideal sampling protocol at each site includes a sample from 0–5 cm depth, a composite of the soil A horizon, and a sample from the soil C horizon. The <2-mm fraction of each sample is analyzed for Al, Ca, Fe, K, Mg, Na, S, Ti, Ag,
Authors
David B. Smith, William F. Cannon, Laurel G. Woodruff

Geophysical investigation of Red Devil mine using direct-current resistivity and electromagnetic induction, Red Devil, Alaska, August 2010

Red Devil Mine, located in southwestern Alaska near the Village of Red Devil, was the state's largest producer of mercury and operated from 1933 to 1971. Throughout the lifespan of the mine, various generations of mills and retort buildings existed on both sides of Red Devil Creek, and the tailings and waste rock were deposited across the site. The mine was located on public Bureau of Land Managem
Authors
Bethany L. Burton, Lyndsay B. Ball

Classifying the water table at regional to continental scales

Water tables at regional to continental scales can be classified into two distinct types: recharge-controlled water tables that are largely disconnected from topography and topography-controlled water tables that are closely tied to topography. We use geomatic synthesis of hydrologic, geologic and topographic data sets to quantify and map water-table type over the contiguous United States using a
Authors
Tom Gleeson, Lars Marklund, Leslie Smith, Andrew H. Manning

Shoreline surveys of oil-impacted marsh in southern Louisiana, July to August 2010

This report describes shoreline surveys conducted in the marshes of Louisiana in areas impacted by oil spilled from the Deepwater Horizon offshore oil drilling platform in the Gulf of Mexico. Three field expeditions were conducted on July 7-10, August 12-14, and August 24-26, 2010, in central Barataria Bay and the Bird's Foot area at the terminus of the Mississippi River delta. This preliminary re
Authors
Raymond F. Kokaly, David Heckman, JoAnn Holloway, Sarai C. Piazza, Brady R. Couvillion, Gregory D. Steyer, Christopher T. Mills, Todd M. Hoefen

Self-potential investigations of a gravel bar in a restored river corridor

 Self-potentials (SP) are sensitive to water fluxes and concentration gradients in both saturated and unsaturated geological media, but quantitative interpretations of SP field data may often be hindered by the superposition of different source contributions and time-varying electrode potentials. Self-potential mapping and close to two months of SP monitoring on a gravel bar were performed to inve
Authors
N. Linde, J. Doetsch, D. Jougnot, O. Genoni, Y. Durst, Burke J. Minsley, T. Vogt, N. Pasquale, J. Luster

Hydrogeophysical methods for analyzing aquifer storage and recovery systems

Hydrogeophysical methods are presented that support the siting and monitoring of aquifer storage and recovery (ASR) systems. These methods are presented as numerical simulations in the context of a proposed ASR experiment in Kuwait, although the techniques are applicable to numerous ASR projects. Bulk geophysical properties are calculated directly from ASR flow and solute transport simulations usi
Authors
Burke J. Minsley, Jonathan B. Ajo-Franklin, A. Mukhopadhyay, Frank Dale Morgan

Helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic geophysical survey data, Swedeburg and Sprague study areas, eastern Nebraska, May 2009

This report is a release of digital data from a helicopter electromagnetic and magnetic survey conducted by Fugro Airborne Surveys in areas of eastern Nebraska as part of a joint hydrologic study by the Lower Platte North and Lower Platte South Natural Resources Districts, and the U.S. Geological Survey. The survey flight lines covered 1,418.6 line km (882 line mile). The survey was flown from Apr
Authors
B. D. Smith, J.D. Abraham, J. C. Cannia, B. J. Minsley, L.B. Ball, G. V. Steele, M. Deszcz-Pan