Publications
Here you will find publications, reports and articles produced by Energy and Mineral scientists. For a comprehensive listing of all USGS publications please click the button below.
Filter Total Items: 1168
Aeromagnetic survey map of Sacramento Valley, California
Three aeromagnetic surveys were flown to improve understanding of the geology and structure in the Sacramento Valley. The resulting data serve as a basis for geophysical interpretations, and support geological mapping, water and mineral resource investigations, and other topical studies. Local spatial variations in the Earth's magnetic field (evident as anomalies on aeromagnetic maps) reflect the
Authors
Victoria E. Langenheim
Differentiating induced and natural seismicity using space-time-magnitude statistics applied to the Coso Geothermal field
A remarkable characteristic of earthquakes is their clustering in time and space, displaying their self-similarity. It remains to be tested if natural and induced earthquakes share the same behavior. We study natural and induced earthquakes comparatively in the same tectonic setting at the Coso Geothermal Field. Covering the preproduction and coproduction periods from 1981 to 2013, we analyze inte
Authors
Martin Schoenball, Nicholas C. Davatzes, Jonathan M. G. Glen
Two Holocene paleofire records from Peten, Guatemala: Implications for natural fire regime and prehispanic Maya land use
Although fire was arguably the primary tool used by the Maya to alter the landscape and extract resources, little attention has been paid to biomass burning in paleoenvironmental reconstructions from the Maya lowlands. Here we report two new well-dated, high-resolution records of biomass burning based on analysis of macroscopic fossil charcoal recovered from lacustrine sediment cores. The records
Authors
Lysanna Anderson, David B. Wahl
Geology of Joshua Tree National Park geodatabase
The database in this Open-File Report describes the geology of Joshua Tree National Park and was completed in support of the National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) and in cooperation with the National Park Service (NPS). The geologic observations and interpretations represented in the database are relevant to both the ongoing scientific interests of the
Authors
Robert E. Powell, Jonathan C. Matti, Pamela M. Cossette
Crustal-scale tilting of the central Salton block, southern California
The southern San Andreas fault system (California, USA) provides an excellent natural laboratory for studying the controls on vertical crustal motions related to strike-slip deformation. Here we present geologic, geomorphic, and gravity data that provide evidence for active northeastward tilting of the Santa Rosa Mountains and southern Coachella Valley about a horizontal axis oriented parallel to
Authors
Rebecca Dorsey, Victoria E. Langenheim
Plugs or flood-makers? the unstable landslide dams of eastern Oregon
Landslides into valley bottoms can affect longitudinal profiles of rivers, thereby influencing landscape evolution through base-level changes. Large landslides can hinder river incision by temporarily damming rivers, but catastrophic failure of landslide dams may generate large floods that could promote incision. Dam stability therefore strongly modulates the effects of landslide dams and might be
Authors
Elizabeth B. Safran, Jim E. O'Connor, Lisa L. Ely, Kyle House, Gordon E. Grant, Kelsey Harrity, Kelsey Croall, Emily Jones
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Landslide Hazards Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Volcano Hazards Program, Volcano Science Center, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Indium: bringing liquid-crystal displays into focus
Introduction
Indium is rare in the Earth’s crust. The continental crust contains an average of about 50 parts per billion of indium, whereas the oceanic crust contains about 72 parts per billion, which is similar to meteoritic abundances and comparable to the crustal abundance of silver. Indium minerals are rare in nature and only 12 indium minerals are known. In its elemental form, indium is a so
Authors
Celestine N. Mercer
Assessment of existing and potential landslide hazards resulting from the April 25, 2015 Gorkha, Nepal earthquake sequence
Introduction
On April 25, 2015, a large (M7.8) earthquake shook much of central Nepal and was followed by a series of M>6 aftershocks, including a M7.3 event on May 12, 2015. This earthquake and aftershocks, referred to as the “Gorkha earthquake sequence,” caused thousands of fatalities, damaged and destroyed entire villages, and displaced millions of residents. The earthquakes also triggered thou
Authors
Brian D. Collins, Randall W. Jibson
By
Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Natural Hazards Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Landslide Hazards Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geologic Hazards Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Geologic framework of the Alaska Peninsula, southwest Alaska, and the Alaska Peninsula terrane
The Alaska Peninsula is composed of the late Paleozoic to Quaternary sedimentary, igneous, and minor metamorphic rocks that record the history of a number of magmatic arcs. These magmatic arcs include an unnamed Late Triassic(?) and Early Jurassic island arc, the early Cenozoic Meshik arc, and the late Cenozoic Aleutian arc. Also found on the Alaska Peninsula is one of the most complete nonmetamor
Authors
Frederic H. Wilson, Robert L. Detterman, Gregory D. DuBois
Phosphate occurrence and potential in the region of Afghanistan, including parts of China, Iran, Pakistan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, and Uzbekistan
As part of a larger study, the U.S. Geological Survey undertook a study to identify the potential for phosphate deposits in Afghanistan. As part of this study, a geographic information system was constructed containing a database of phosphate occurrences in Afghanistan and adjacent countries, and a database of potential host lithologies compiled from 1:1,000,000 scale maps. Within Afghanistan, a h
Authors
Greta J. Orris, Pamela Dunlap, John Wallis, Jeff Wynn
Early Holocene Great Salt Lake
Shorelines and surficial deposits (including buried forest-floor mats and organic-rich wetland sediments) show that Great Salt Lake did not rise higher than modern lake levels during the earliest Holocene (11.5–10.2 cal ka BP; 10–9 14C ka BP). During that period, finely laminated, organic-rich muds (sapropel) containing brine-shrimp cysts and pellets and interbedded sodium-sulfate salts were depos
Authors
Charles G. Oviatt, David B. Madsen, David M. Miller, Robert S. Thompson, John P. McGeehin
Paleodischarge of the Mojave River, southwestern U.S.A, investigated with single-pebble measurements of 10Be
The paleohydrology of ephemeral stream systems is an important constraint on paleoclimatic conditions in arid environments, but remains difficult to constrain quantitatively. For example, sedimentary records of the size and extent of pluvial lakes in the Mojave Desert have been used as a proxy for Quaternary climate variability. Although the delivery mechanisms of this additional water are still b
Authors
Andrew J. Cyr, David M. Miller, Shannon A. Mahan