Skip to main content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Publications

Filter Total Items: 2686

Regional implications of new chronostratigraphic and paleogeographic data from the Early Permian Darwin Basin, east-central California

The Darwin Basin developed in response to episodic subsidence of the western margin of the Cordilleran continental shelf from Late Pennsylvanian (Gzhelian) to Early Permian (late Artinskian) time. Subsidence of the basin was initiated in response to continental truncation farther to the west and was later augmented by thrust emplacement of the Last Chance allochthon. This deep-water basin was fill
Authors
Calvin H. Stevens, Paul Stone, Robert T. Magginetti

Assessment of undiscovered sandstone-hosted uranium resources in the Texas Coastal Plain, 2015

The U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 220 million pounds of recoverable uranium oxide (U3O8 ) remaining as potential undiscovered resources in southern Texas. This estimate used a geology-based assessment method for Tertiary sandstone-hosted uranium deposits in the Texas Coastal Plain sedimentary strata (fig.1).
Authors
Mark J. Mihalasky, Susan M. Hall, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Kathleen R. Tureck, Mark T. Hannon, George N. Breit, Robert A. Zielinski, Brent Elliott

Petrology and reservoir quality of the Gaikema Sandstone: Initial impressions

The Division of Geological & Geophysical Surveys (DGGS) and Division of Oil & Gas (DOG) are currently conducting a study of the hydrocarbon potential of Cook Inlet basin (LePain and others, 2011). The Tertiary stratigraphic section of the basin includes coal-bearing units that are prolific gas reservoirs, particularly the Neogene sandstones. The Paleogene sandstones are locally prolific oil reserv
Authors
Kenneth P. Helmold, Richard G. Stanley

Probabilistic 3-D time-lapse inversion of magnetotelluric data: Application to an enhanced geothermal system

Surface-based monitoring of mass transfer caused by injections and extractions in deep boreholes is crucial to maximize oil, gas and geothermal production. Inductive electromagnetic methods, such as magnetotellurics, are appealing for these applications due to their large penetration depths and sensitivity to changes in fluid conductivity and fracture connectivity. In this work, we propose a 3-D M
Authors
Marina Rosas-Carbajal, Nicolas Linde, Jared R. Peacock, F. I. Zyserman, Thomas Kalscheuer, Stephan Thiel

A practical guide to the use of major elements, trace elements, and isotopes in compositional data analysis: Applications for deep formation brine geochemistry

In the geosciences, isotopic ratios and trace element concentrations are often used along with major element concentrations to help determine sources of and processes affecting geochemical variation. Compositional Data Analysis (CoDA) is a set of tools, generally attuned to major element data, concerned with the proper statistical treatment and removal of spurious correlations from compositional d
Authors
Madalyn S. Blondes, Mark A. Engle, Nicholas Geboy

Unconventional energy resources: 2015 review. Shale gas and liquids

Introduction As the source rocks from which petroleum is generated, organic-rich shales have always been considered an important component of petroleum systems. Over the last few years, it has been realized that in some mudrocks, sufficient hydrocarbons remain in place to allow for commercial development, although advanced drilling and completion technology is typically required to access hydro
Authors
Neil S. Fishman, Kent Bowker, Harris Cander, Brian Cardott, Marc Charette, Kenneth Chew, Thomas Chidsey, Russell F. Dubiel, Sven O. Egenhoff, Catherine B. Enomoto, Ursula Hammes, William Harrison, Shu Jiang, Julie A. LeFever, Jock McCracken, Stephen Nordeng, Richard Nyahay, Stephen Sonnenberg, Michael Vanden Berg

Persistent U(IV) and U(VI) following in-situ recovery (ISR) mining of a sandstone uranium deposit, Wyoming, USA

Drill-core samples from a sandstone-hosted uranium (U) deposit in Wyoming were characterized to determine the abundance and distribution of uranium following in-situ recovery (ISR) mining with oxygen- and carbon dioxide-enriched water. Concentrations of uranium, collected from ten depth intervals, ranged from 5 to 1920 ppm. A composite sample contained 750 ppm uranium with an average oxidation st
Authors
Tanya J. Gallegos, Kate M. Campbell, Robert A. Zielinski, P.W. Reimus, J.T. Clay, N. Janot, J. J. Bargar, William Benzel

Factors controlling Li concentration and isotopic composition in formation waters and host rocks of Marcellus Shale, Appalachian Basin

In this study, water and whole rock samples from hydraulically fractured wells in the Marcellus Shale (Middle Devonian), and water from conventional wells producing from Upper Devonian sandstones were analyzed for lithium concentrations and isotope ratios (δ7Li). The distribution of lithium concentrations in different mineral groups was determined using sequential extraction. Structurally bound Li
Authors
Thai T. Phan, Rosemary C Capo, Brian W. Stewart, Gwen Macpherson, Elisabeth L. Rowan, Richard W. Hammack

Porphyry copper assessment of the Tethys region of western and southern Asia: Chapter V in Global mineral resource assessment

A probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in the Tethys region of western and southern Asia was carried out as part of a global mineral resource assessment led by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The purpose of the study was to delineate geographic areas as permissive tracts for the occurrence of porphyry copper deposits at a scale of 1:1,0
Authors
Lukas Zürcher, Arthur A. Bookstrom, Jane M. Hammarstrom, John C. Mars, Stephen Ludington, Michael L. Zientek, Pamela Dunlap, John C. Wallis, Lawrence J. Drew, David M. Sutphin, Byron R. Berger, Richard J. Herrington, Mario Billa, Ilkay Kuşcu, Charles J. Moon, Jeremy P. Richards

Assessment of shale-oil resources of the Central Sumatra Basin, Indonesia, 2015

Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated means of 459 million barrels of shale oil, 275 billion cubic feet of associated gas, and 23 million barrels of natural gas liquids in the Central Sumatra Basin, Indonesia.
Authors
Christopher J. Schenk, Ronald R. Charpentier, Timothy R. Klett, Marilyn E. Tennyson, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield, Janet K. Pitman, Stephanie B. Gaswirth, Heidi M. Leathers-Miller

Holocene environmental changes inferred from biological and sedimentological proxies in a high elevation Great Basin lake in the northern Ruby Mountains, Nevada, USA

Multi-proxy analyses were conducted on a sediment core from Favre Lake, a high elevation cirque lake in the northern Ruby Mountains, Nevada, and provide a ca. 7600 year record of local and regional environmental change. Data indicate that lake levels were lower from 7600-5750 cal yr BP, when local climate was warmer and/or drier than today. Effective moisture increased after 5750 cal yr BP and rem
Authors
David B. Wahl, Scott W. Starratt, Lysanna Anderson, Jennifer E. Kusler, Christopher C. Fuller, Jason A. Addison, Elmira Wan

Limiting age for the Provo shoreline of Lake Bonneville

Pluvial Lake Bonneville features a prominent shoreline at the Provo level, which has been interpreted as having formed during a period of threshold-stabilized overflow. The timing of Provo shoreline development is important for paleoclimate interpretations and for inferences on geomorphic process rates. Estimates for the timing of the shoreline formation, based on radiocarbon measurements from gas
Authors
David M. Miller, David B. Wahl, John McGeehin, Jose J. Rosario, Charles G. Oviatt, Lysanna Anderson, Liubov S. Presnetsova