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Publications

Results from our Program’s research and minerals information activities are published in USGS publications series as well as in outside journals.  To follow Minerals Information Periodicals, subscribe to the Mineral Periodicals RSS feed.

Filter Total Items: 2294

Reconnaissance study of the Taylor Mountains pluton, southwestern Alaska

The Taylor Mountains pluton is a Late Cretaceous to early Tertiary (median age 65 + or ? 2 Ma) epizonal, composite biotite granite stock located about 235 km (145 mi) northeast of Dillingham in southwestern Alaska. This 30 km2 (12 mi2) pluton has sharp and discordant contacts with hornfels that developed in Upper Cretaceous clastic sedimentary rocks of the Kuskokwim Group. The three intrusive phas
Authors
Travis L. Hudson, Marti L. Miller, Edward P. Klimasauskas, Paul W. Layer

Studies by the U.S. Geological Survey in Alaska, 2008-2009

The collection of papers that follow continues the series of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) investigative reports in Alaska under the broad umbrella of the geologic sciences. This series represents new and sometimes-preliminary findings that are of interest to Earth scientists in academia, government, and industry; to land and resource managers; and to the general public. The reports presented in S
Authors
Julie A. Dumoulin, John Galloway

A method for quantitative mapping of thick oil spills using imaging spectroscopy

In response to the Deepwater Horizon oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico, a method of near-infrared imaging spectroscopic analysis was developed to map the locations of thick oil floating on water. Specifically, this method can be used to derive, in each image pixel, the oil-to-water ratio in oil emulsions, the sub-pixel areal fraction, and its thicknesses and volume within the limits of light penetra
Authors
Roger N. Clark, Gregg A. Swayze, Ira Leifer, K. Eric Livo, Raymond F. Kokaly, Todd Hoefen, Sarah Lundeen, Michael Eastwood, Robert O. Green, Neil Pearson, Charles Sarture, Ian McCubbin, Dar Roberts, Eliza Bradley, Denis Steele, Thomas Ryan, Roseanne Dominguez

A geologic and anthropogenic journey from the Precambrian to the new energy economy through the San Juan volcanic field

The San Juan volcanic field comprises 25,000 km2 of intermediate composition mid-Tertiary volcanic rocks and dacitic to rhyolitic calderas including the San Juan–Uncompahgre and La Garita caldera-forming super-volcanoes. The region is famous for the geological, ecological, hydrological, archeological, and climatological diversity. These characteristics supported ancestral Puebloan populations. Th
Authors
Douglas B. Yager, Burchell, Raymond H. Johnson

Lead isotope database of unpublished results from sulfide mineral occurrences — California, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington

The Pb isotope database for sulfide deposits and occurrences in the Western United States was funded by the Mineral Resources Program, U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). Reports on Pb isotope data from Alaska were published in Church and others (1987a) and Gaccetta and Church (1989). The primary objectives of the project were three-fold: * To utilize Pb isotope signatures, in conjunction with the r
Authors
S. E. Church

A deposit model for Mississippi Valley-Type lead-zinc ores

This report is a descriptive model of Mississippi Valley-Type (MVT) lead-zinc deposits that presents their geological, mineralogical and geochemical attributes and is part of an effort by the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program to update existing models and develop new models that will be used for an upcoming national mineral resource assessment. This deposit modeling effort by the US
Authors
David L. Leach, Ryan D. Taylor, David L. Fey, Sharon F. Diehl, Richard W. Saltus

Spatial Databases of Geological, Geophysical, and Mineral Resource Data Relevant to Sandstone-Hosted Copper Deposits in Central Kazakhstan

Central Kazakhstan is host to one of the world's giant sandstone-hosted copper deposits, the Dzhezkazgan deposit, and several similar, smaller deposits. The United Stated Geological Survey (USGS) is assessing the potential for other, undiscovered deposits of this type in the surrounding region of central Kazakhstan. As part of this effort, Syusyura compiled and partially translated an array of mos
Authors
Boris Syusyura, Stephen E. Box, John C. Wallis

A rapid method for creating qualitative images indicative of thick oil emulsion on the ocean's surface from imaging spectrometer data

This report describes a method to create color-composite images indicative of thick oil:water emulsions on the surface of clear, deep ocean water by using normalized difference ratios derived from remotely sensed data collected by an imaging spectrometer. The spectral bands used in the normalized difference ratios are located in wavelength regions where the spectra of thick oil:water emulsions on
Authors
Raymond F. Kokaly, Todd M. Hoefen, K. Eric Livo, Gregg A. Swayze, Ira Leifer, Ian B. McCubbin, Michael L. Eastwood, Robert O. Green, Sarah R. Lundeen, Charles M. Sarture, Denis Steele, Thomas Ryan, Eliza S. Bradley, Dar A. Roberts

A Review of Aeromagnetic Anomalies in the Sawatch Range, Central Colorado

This report contains digital data and image files of aeromagnetic anomalies in the Sawatch Range of central Colorado. The primary product is a data layer of polygons with linked data records that summarize previous interpretations of aeromagnetic anomalies in this region. None of these data files and images are new; rather, they are presented in updated formats that are intended to be used as inpu
Authors
Viki Bankey

Historical Zinc Smelting in New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Virginia, West Virginia, and Washington, D.C., with Estimates of Atmospheric Zinc Emissions and Other Materials

The metallurgical industry can be broadly divided into metal production from feedstock consisting of primary and secondary sources. Primary production refers to the extraction of metal derived from ores and concentrates. Secondary production refers to the recovery of metal from materials such as alloys, electric arc furnace dust, ingots, and scrap. The foci of this study are the histories of selec
Authors
Donald I. Bleiwas, Carl DiFrancesco

Clockwise rotation and implications for northward drift of the western Transverse Ranges from paleomagnetism of the Piuma Member, Sespe Formation, near Malibu, California

New paleomagnetic results from mid-Tertiary sedimentary beds in the Santa Monica Mountains reinforce the evidence for large-scale rotation of the western Transverse Ranges, and anisotropy measurements indicate that compaction-induced inclination flattening may resolve a long-standing controversy regarding the original paleolatitude of the rotated block. Previously published paleomagnetic data indi
Authors
John W. Hillhouse

Estimated minimum discharge rates of the Deepwater Horizon spill— Interim report to the flow rate technical group from the Mass Balance Team

All of the calculations and results in this report are preliminary and intended for the purpose, and only for the purpose, of aiding the incident team in assessing the extent of the spilled oil for ongoing response efforts. Other applications of this report are not authorized and are not considered valid. Because of time constraints and limitations of data available to the experts, many of their e
Authors
Victor F. Labson, Roger N. Clark, Gregg A. Swayze, Todd M. Hoefen, Raymond F. Kokaly, K. Eric Livo, Michael H. Powers, Geoffrey S. Plumlee, Gregory P. Meeker