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Publications

Publications from the staff of the Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center

Filter Total Items: 2358

Ibex Hollow Tuff from ca. 12 Ma supereruption, southern Idaho, identified across North America, eastern Pacific Ocean, and Gulf of Mexico

The Ibex Hollow Tuff, 12.08 ± 0.03 Ma (40Ar/39Ar), is a widespread tephra layer erupted from the Bruneau-Jarbidge volcanic field of southern Idaho. Tephra from this eruption was deposited across much of western and central North America and adjacent ocean areas. We identified the Ibex Hollow Tuff at Trapper Creek, Idaho, near its eruption site, and at 15 distal sites, from the Pacific Ocean to the
Authors
Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, Jeffrey R. Knott, John A. Westgate, James R. Budahn, John A. Barron, Colin J. Bray, Greg A. Ludvigson, Charles E. Meyer, David M. Miller, Rick E. Otto, Nicholas J.G. Pearce, Charles C. Smith, Laura Walkup, Elmira Wan, James Yount

Postfire hydrologic response along the central California (USA) coast: Insights for the emergency assessment of postfire debris-flow hazards

The steep, tectonically active terrain along the Central California (USA) coast is well known to produce deadly and destructive debris flows. However, the extent to which fire affects debris-flow susceptibility in this region is an open question. We documented the occurrence of postfire debris floods and flows following the landfall of a storm that delivered intense rainfall across multiple burn a
Authors
Matthew A. Thomas, Jason W. Kean, Scott W. McCoy, Donald N. Lindsay, Jaime Kostelnik, David B. Cavagnaro, Francis K. Rengers, Amy E. East, Jonathan Schwartz, Douglas P. Smith, Brian D. Collins

Structural discontinuities and their control on hydrothermal systems in the Great Basin, USA

Faults are important controls on hydrothermal circulation worldwide. More specifically, structural discontinuities, i.e. locations where faults interact and intersect, host many hydrothermal systems. In the Great Basin, western USA, an extensive characterization effort demonstrated that hydrothermal systems are controlled by one (or more) of eight types of structural discontinuities. Presumably, s
Authors
Drew L. Siler

Aquatic insect accumulation of uranium at spring outflows in the Grand Canyon region as influenced by aqueous and sediment geochemistry and biological factors: Implications for monitoring

Potential adverse ecological effects of expanded uranium (U) mining within the Grand Canyon region motivated studies to better understand U exposure and risk to endemic species. This study documents U exposures and analyzes geochemical and biological factors affecting U bioaccumulation at spring-fed systems within the Grand Canyon region. The principal objective was to determine if aqueous U was b
Authors
Daniel J. Cain, Marie Noële Croteau, Christopher C. Fuller, David Barasch, Kimberly R. Beisner, Kate M. Campbell, Deborah Stoliker, Edward J. Schenk

Geochronology and mapping constraints on the time-space evolution of the igneous and hydrothermal systems in the Taurus Cu-Mo district, eastern Alaska

The Taurus porphyry Cu-Mo district contains four mineralized porphyry centers in the eastern interior of Alaska. All four centers were emplaced during a magmatic episode that spanned from ca. 72 to 67 Ma, with seven distinct igneous suites. Each igneous suite resulted in hydrothermal alteration and mineralization, with younger pulses overprinting older pulses. Each magmatic-hydrothermal system is
Authors
Douglas C. Kreiner, Christopher Holm-Denoma, Laura Pianowski, Zachary Flood, David J. Stevenson, Garth E. Graham, Jorge A. Vazquez, Robert A Creaser

Water quality at Chaco Culture National Historical Park and the potential effects of hydrocarbon extraction

Study regionChaco Culture National Historical Park (CCNHP) is in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico, U.S.A. Its only water supply is in Gallup Sandstone aquifer, stratigraphically surrounded by layers long targeted for oil and natural gas extraction.Study focusTo assess groundwater flow direction, age, mixing between aquifers, and whether hydrocarbons extraction may affect water quality
Authors
Benjamin S. Linhoff, Kimberly R. Beisner, Andrew Hunt, Zachary M. Shephard

Electromagnetic and magnetic imaging of the Stillwater Complex, Montana, USA

Modelling and analysis of helicopter electromagnetic data result in resistivity and susceptibility models and derivatives of magnetic data that characterise shallow parts of the Stillwater Complex, critical for aiding exploration and expansion of globally scarce critical and battery mineral resources that include platinum group elements, nickel, copper and chromium. The magnetic susceptibly models
Authors
Carol A. Finn, Michael L. Zientek, Benjamin r. Bloss, Heather L. Parks, Justin Modroo

Tungsten resources of the northern Rocky Mountains, Montana and Idaho— A synthesis and quantitative assessment of skarn-hosted resources

Mineral resource assessments performed by the U.S. Geological Survey provide a synthesis of available information about the location of known and suspected mineral deposits. This study focuses on skarn-hosted tungsten resources in the northern Rocky Mountain region of east-central Idaho and western Montana which have seen moderate tungsten trioxide production in the past from a variety of minerali
Authors
Allen K. Andersen, Margaret A. Goldman, Mitchell M. Bennett, Connie L. Dicken, Philip J. Brown, Heather L. Parks

Natural and anthropogenic hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), in groundwater near a mapped plume, Hinkley, California

The Pacific Gas and Electric Company (PG&E) Hinkley compressor station, in the Mojave Desert, 80 miles northeast of Los Angeles, California, is used to compress natural gas as it is transported through a pipeline from Texas to California. Between 1952 and 1964, cooling water was treated with a compound containing hexavalent chromium, Cr(VI), to prevent corrosion of machinery within the compressor
Authors
John A. Izbicki, Krishangi D. Groover, Whitney A. Seymour, David M. Miller, John G. Warden, Laurence G. Miller

Permafrost microbial communities and functional genes are structured by latitudinal and soil geochemical gradients

Permafrost underlies approximately one quarter of Northern Hemisphere terrestrial surfaces and contains 25–50% of the global soil carbon (C) pool. Permafrost soils and the C stocks within are vulnerable to ongoing and future projected climate warming. The biogeography of microbial communities inhabiting permafrost has not been examined beyond a small number of sites focused on local-scale variatio
Authors
Mark Waldrop, Chris Chabot, Susanne Liebner, Sheila Holmes, Marcia Snyder, Martin L. Dillon, S Dudgeon, Thomas A. Douglas, Mary-Catherine Leewis, Katie M Walter- Anthony, Jack McFarland, Christopher D. Arp, Allen C. Bondurant, Neslihan Taş, Rachel Mackelprang

Assessment of lunar resource exploration in 2022

The idea of mining the Moon, once purely science-fiction, is now on the verge of becoming reality. Taking advantage of the resources on the Moon is part of the plans of many nations and some enterprising commercial entities; demonstrating in-situ (in place) resource utilization near the lunar south pole is an explicit goal of the United States’ Artemis program. Economic extraction and sustainable
Authors
Laszlo P. Keszthelyi, Joshua A. Coyan, Kristen A. Bennett, Lillian R. Ostrach, Lisa R. Gaddis, Travis S. J. Gabriel, Justin Hagerty

Geology along the Yuba Pass and Highway 70 corridors: A complex history of tectonics and magmatism in the northern Sierra Nevada

This field trip traverses a cross section of northern Sierra Nevada geology and landscape along two major corridors, Highway 49 (Yuba Pass) and Highway 70. These highways, and adjacent roadways, offer roadcuts, outcrops, and overviews through diverse pre-Cenozoic metamorphic rocks along the Laurentian margin, Mesozoic batholithic rocks, and Miocene volcanic rocks. Observing this array of rocks on
Authors
Michelle Roberts, Victoria Langenheim, Richard A. Schweickert, Richard E. Hanson
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