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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

Volcanogenic massive sulfide occurrence model

Volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits, also known as volcanic-hosted massive sulfide, volcanic-associated massive sulfide, or seafloor massive sulfide deposits, are important sources of copper, zinc, lead, gold, and silver (Cu, Zn, Pb, Au, and Ag). These deposits form at or near the seafloor where circulating hydrothermal fluids driven by magmatic heat are quenched through mixing with bottom water
Authors
W.C. Pat Shanks, Randolph A. Koski, Dan L. Mosier, Klaus J. Schulz, Lisa A. Morgan, John F. Slack, W. Ian Ridley, Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, Robert R. Seal, Nadine M. Piatak

Assessment of the geoavailability of trace elements from minerals in mine wastes: analytical techniques and assessment of selected copper minerals

In this study, four randomly selected copper-bearing minerals were examined—azurite, malachite, bornite, and chalcopyrite. The objectives were to examine and enumerate the crystalline and chemical properties of each of the minerals, to determine which, if any, of the Cu-bearing minerals might adversely affect systems biota, and to provide a multi-procedure reference. Laboratory work included use o
Authors
Rhonda Driscoll, Phillip L. Hageman, William Benzel, Sharon F. Diehl, David T. Adams, Suzette Morman, LaDonna M. Choate

Evolution of the Rodgers Creek–Maacama right-lateral fault system and associated basins east of the northward-migrating Mendocino Triple Junction, northern California

The Rodgers Creek–Maacama fault system in the northern California Coast Ranges (United States) takes up substantial right-lateral motion within the wide transform boundary between the Pacific and North American plates, over a slab window that has opened northward beneath the Coast Ranges. The fault system evolved in several right steps and splays preceded and accompanied by extension, volcanism, a
Authors
Robert J. McLaughlin, Andrei M. Sarna-Wojcicki, David L. Wagner, Robert J. Fleck, Victoria E. Langenheim, Robert C. Jachens, Kevin Clahan, James R. Allen

Preparation and characterization of "Libby Amphibole" toxicological testing material

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA) began work in Libby, Mont. in 1999 when an Emergency Response Team was sent to investigate local concern and media reports regarding asbestos-contaminated vermiculite. Since that time, the site has been granted Superfund status and site remediation to a safe level of asbestos has been ongoing. The amphibole asbestos from the Vermiculite Mountain ver
Authors
Heather Lowers, Stephen A. Wilson, Todd M. Hoefen, William Benzel, Gregory P. Meeker

Magmatic ore deposits in layered intrusions - Descriptive model for reef-type PGE and contact-type Cu-Ni-PGE deposits

Layered, ultramafic to mafic intrusions are uncommon in the geologic record, but host magmatic ore deposits containing most of the world's economic concentrations of platinum-group elements (PGE) (figs. 1 and 2). These deposits are mined primarily for their platinum, palladium, and rhodium contents (table 1). Magmatic ore deposits are derived from accumulations of crystals of metallic oxides, or i
Authors
Michael L. Zientek

Spatial distribution of landslides triggered from the 2007 Niigata Chuetsu–Oki Japan Earthquake

Understanding the spatial distribution of earthquake-induced landslides from specific earthquakes provides an opportunity to recognize what to expect from future events. The July 16, 2007 Mw 6.6 (MJMA 6.8) Niigata Chuetsu–Oki Japan earthquake triggered hundreds of landslides in the area surrounding the coastal city of Kashiwazaki and provides one such opportunity to evaluate the impacts of an offs
Authors
Brian D. Collins, Robert E. Kayen, Yasuo Tanaka

Miocene magmatism in the Bodie Hills volcanic field, California and Nevada: A long-lived eruptive center in the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades arc

The Middle to Late Miocene Bodie Hills volcanic field is a >700 km2, long-lived (∼9 Ma) but episodic eruptive center in the southern segment of the ancestral Cascades arc north of Mono Lake (California, U.S.). It consists of ∼20 major eruptive units, including 4 trachyandesite stratovolcanoes emplaced along the margins of the field, and numerous, more centrally located silicic trachyandesite to rh
Authors
David John, Edward A. du Bray, Richard J. Blakely, Robert J. Fleck, Peter G. Vikre, Stephen E. Box, Barry C. Moring

Mineral Commodity Summaries 2012

Each chapter of the 2012 edition of the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) Mineral Commodity Summaries (MCS) includes information on events, trends, and issues for each mineral commodity as well as discussions and tabular presentations on domestic industry structure, Government programs, tariffs, 5-year salient statistics, and world production and resources. The MCS is the earliest comprehensive source

Lithium use in batteries

Lithium has a number of uses but one of the most valuable is as a component of high energy-density rechargeable lithium-ion batteries. Because of concerns over carbon dioxide footprint and increasing hydrocarbon fuel cost (reduced supply), lithium may become even more important in large batteries for powering all-electric and hybrid vehicles. It would take 1.4 to 3.0 kilograms of lithium equivalen
Authors
Thomas G. Goonan

Mapping argillic and advanced argillic alteration in volcanic rocks, quartzites, and quartz arenites in the western Richfield 1° x 2 ° quadrangle, southwestern Utah, using ASTER satellite data

The Richfield quadrangle in southwestern Utah is known to contain a variety of porphyry Mo, skarn, polymetallic replacement and vein, alunite, and kaolin resources associated with 27-32 Ma calc-alkaline or 12-23 Ma bimodal volcano-plutonic centers in Neoproterozoic to Mesozoic carbonate and siliciclastic rocks. Four scenes of visible to shortwave-infrared image data acquired by the Advanced Spaceb
Authors
Barnaby W. Rockwell, Albert H. Hofstra

Active transtensional intracontinental basins: Walker Lane in the western Great Basin

The geometry and dimensions of sedimentary basins within the Walker Lane are a result of Plio-Pleistocene transtensive deformation and partial detachment of the Sierra Nevada crustal block from the North American plate. Distinct morpho-tectonic domains lie within this active transtensive zone. The northeast end of the Walker Lane is partly buried by active volcanism of the southern Cascades, and a
Authors
Angela S. Jayko, Marcus Bursik