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
Mineral parageneses, regional architecture, and tectonic evolution of Franciscan metagraywackes, Cape Mendocino-Garberville-Covelo 30' x 60' quadrangles, northwest California
The Franciscan Complex is a classic subduction-zone assemblage. In northwest California, it comprises a stack of west vergent thrust sheets: westernmost Eastern Belt outliers; Central Belt mélange; Coastal Belt Yager terrane; Coastal Belt Coastal terrane; Coastal Belt King Range/False Cape terranes. We collected samples and determined P-T conditions of recrystallization for 88 medium-fine-grained
Authors
W. G. Ernst, Robert J. McLaughlin
Subducted seamounts and recent earthquakes beneath the central Cascadia forearc
Bathymetry and magnetic anomalies indicate that a seamount on the Juan de Fuca plate has been subducted beneath the central Cascadia accretionary complex and is now located ∼45 km landward of the deformation front. Passage of this seamount through the accretionary complex has resulted in a pattern of uplift followed by subsidence that has had a profound influence on slope morphology, gas hydrate s
Authors
Anne M. Tréhu, Richard J. Blakely, Mark C. Williams
The Quaternary thrust system of the northern Alaska Range
The framework of Quaternary faults in Alaska remains poorly constrained. Recent studies in the Alaska Range north of the Denali fault add significantly to the recognition of Quaternary deformation in this active orogen. Faults and folds active during the Quaternary occur over a length of ∼500 km along the northern flank of the Alaska Range, extending from Mount McKinley (Denali) eastward to the To
Authors
Sean P. Bemis, Gary A. Carver, Richard D. Koehler
Multifractal model of magnetic susceptibility distributions in some igneous rocks
Measurements of in-situ magnetic susceptibility were compiled from mainly Precambrian crystalline basement rocks beneath the Colorado Plateau and ranges in Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. The susceptibility meter used measures about 30 cm3 of rock and measures variations in the modal distribution of magnetic minerals that form a minor component volumetrically in these coarsely crystalline grani
Authors
Mark E. Gettings
Fluvial transport and surface enrichment of arsenic in semi-arid mining regions: examples from the Mojave Desert, California
As a result of extensive gold and silver mining in the Mojave Desert, southern California, mine wastes and tailings containing highly elevated arsenic (As) concentrations remain exposed at a number of former mining sites. Decades of weathering and erosion have contributed to the mobilization of As-enriched tailings, which now contaminate surrounding communities. Fluvial transport plays an intermit
Authors
Christopher S. Kim, David H. Slack, James J. Rytuba
Rock fall dynamics and deposition: an integrated analysis of the 2009 Ahwiyah Point rock fall, Yosemite National Park, USA.
We analyzed a combination of airborne and terrestrial LiDAR, high-resolution photography, seismic, and acoustic data in order to gain insights into the initiation, dynamics, and talus deposition of a complex rock fall. A large (46 700 m3) rock fall originated from near Ahwiyah Point in eastern Yosemite Valley and fell a total of 730 m to the valley floor on 28 March 2009. Analyses of remote sensin
Authors
Valerie L. Zimmer, Brian D. Collins, Greg M. Stock, Nicholas Sitar
Monitoring subsurface hydrologic response for precipitation-induced shallow landsliding in the San Francisco Bay area, California, USA
Intense winter storms in the San Francisco Bay area (SFBA) of California, USA often trigger shallow landslides. Some of these landslides mobilize into potentially hazardous debris flows. A growing body of research indicates that rainfall intensity-duration thresholds are insufficient for accurate prediction of landslide occurrence. In response, we have begun long-term monitoring of the hydrologic
Authors
Brian D. Collins, Jonathan D. Stock, Lisa C. Weber, K. Whitman, N. Knepprath
Using cluster analysis to organize and explore regional GPS velocities
Cluster analysis offers a simple visual exploratory tool for the initial investigation of regional Global Positioning System (GPS) velocity observations, which are providing increasingly precise mappings of actively deforming continental lithosphere. The deformation fields from dense regional GPS networks can often be concisely described in terms of relatively coherent blocks bounded by active fau
Authors
Robert W. Simpson, Wayne Thatcher, James C. Savage
By
Natural Hazards Mission Area, Energy and Minerals Mission Area, Earthquake Hazards Program, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Groundwater and Streamflow Information Program, Earthquake Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center
Value of a dual-polarized gap-filling radar in support of southern California post-fire debris-flow warnings
A portable truck-mounted C-band Doppler weather radar was deployed to observe rainfall over the Station Fire burn area near Los Angeles, California, during the winter of 2009/10 to assist with debris-flow warning decisions. The deployments were a component of a joint NOAA–U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) research effort to improve definition of the rainfall conditions that trigger debris flows from s
Authors
David P. Jorgensen, Maiana N. Hanshaw, Kevin M. Schmidt, Jayme L. Laber, Dennis M. Staley, Jason W. Kean, Pedro J. Restrepo
Proceedings of the third USGS modeling conference, June 7-11, 2010, Broomfield, Colorado-Understanding and predicting for a changing world
The Third USGS Modeling Conference was held June 7th-11, 2010, in Broomfield, Colorado. The conference focused on the development and application of analytical and theoretical models and data availability that support managing the Nation's resources and help protect lives and property. Participants at the conference included scientists and managers from Department of the Interior (DOI) Bureaus; na
Authors
Shailaja R. Brady
Deposit model for volcanogenic uranium deposits
Volcanism is a major contributor to the formation of important uranium deposits both close to centers of eruption and more distal as a result of deposition of ash with leachable uranium. Hydrothermal fluids that are driven by magmatic heat proximal to some volcanic centers directly form some deposits. These fluids leach uranium from U-bearing silicic volcanic rocks and concentrate it at sites of d
Authors
George N. Breit, Susan M. Hall
Cobalt: for strength and color
Cobalt is a shiny, gray, brittle metal that is best known for creating an intense blue color in glass and paints. It is frequently used in the manufacture of rechargeable batteries and to create alloys that maintain their strength at high temperatures. It is also one of the essential trace elements (or "micronutrients") that humans and many other living creatures require for good health. Cobalt is
Authors
Maeve A. Boland, S. J. Kropschot