Publications
These publications showcase the significant science conducted in our Science Centers.
Filter Total Items: 16785
Gemstones
Part of the 2006 industrial minerals review. During 2006, total U.S. gemstone trade with all countries and territories exceeded $28.3 billion. Estimates indicate that U.S. gemstone markets accounted for over 35 percent of world gemstone demand in 2006. Natural gemstone production from U.S. deposits during 2006 was worth an estimated $13.3 million, a slight decrease from 2005, and included agates,
Authors
D.W. Olson
Ball clay
The article offers information on ball clay. Among the companies that mine ball clay in the U.S. are H.C. Spinks Clay, Kentucky-Tennessee Clay and Old Hickory Clay. In 2006, an estimated 1.2 million tons of the mineral was sold or used domestically and exported. Forty-percent of the total sales is accounted for ceramic floor and wall tile followed by sanitaryware and miscellaneous ceramics. Its av
Authors
R.L. Virta
Industrial garnet
World production of industrial garnet was about 326 kt in 2006, with the U.S. producing about 11 percent of this total. U.S. consumption, imports, and exports were estimated at 74.3 kt, 52.3 kt, and 13.2 kt, respectively. The most important exporters are Australia, China, and India. Although demand is expected to rise over the next 5 years, prices are expected to remain low in the short term.
Authors
D.W. Olson
Kaolin
Part of the 2006 industrial minerals review. U.S. kaolin production was an estimated 7.74 Mt in 2006, with 7.1 Mt produced by Georgia. Imports increased from 262 kt in 2005 to about 303 kt in 2006, whereas exports decreased from 3.58 Mt in 2005 to 3.54 Mt in 2006. Inexpensive Brazilian imports and a lackluster domestic paper market are expected to cause a slight reduction in kaolin sales to the U.
Authors
R.L. Virta
Fluorspar
Apart from some fluorspar by-product, there was no U.S. production of fluorspar in 2006. Imports were 553 kt, nearly 14 percent less than in 2005, and China was by far the largest supplier. China's changing export policy and high ocean freight rates indicate that delivered prices for fluorspar may increase in 2007 and countries such as Mexico, Mongolia, and South Africa are gaining market share.
Authors
M. Miller
Regional Fluid Flow and Basin Modeling in Northern Alaska
The foothills of the Brooks Range contain an enormous accumulation of zinc (Zn) in the form of zinc sulfide and barium (Ba) in the form of barite in Carboniferous shale, chert, and mudstone. Most of the resources and reserves of Zn occur in the Red Dog deposit and others in the Red Dog district; these resources and reserves surpass those of most deposits worldwide in terms of size and grade. In ad
Authors
Robert A. Ayuso, Robert Burruss, Julie A. Dumoulin, Garth E. Graham, Anita G. Harris, Craig A. Johnson, Karen D. Kelley, David L. Leach, Paul G. Lillis, Erin E. Marsh, Thomas E. Moore, Christopher J. Potter, John F. Slack
By
Ecosystems Mission Area, Energy Resources Program, Mineral Resources Program, National Laboratories Program, Science and Decisions Center, Geology, Energy & Minerals Science Center, Alaska Science Center, Geology, Geophysics, and Geochemistry Science Center, Geology, Minerals, Energy, and Geophysics Science Center, Central Energy Resources Science Center
Submarine slides north of Puerto Rico and their tsunami potential
New multibeam bathymetry of the entire Puerto Rico trench reveals numerous retrograde slope failures at various scales at the edge of the carbonate platform north of Puerto Rico and the Virgin Islands. The slumped material comprises carbonate blocks, which fail, at least in initial stages, as a coherent rock mass. This, combined with the fact that the edge of the carbonate platform is steeper than
Authors
Uri S. ten Brink, Eric L. Geist, Patrick J. Lynett, Brian D. Andrews
Using optical proxies for biogeochemical properties to study land coverage and terrestrial inputs of organic carbon into coastal waters from the Penobscot Watershed to the Gulf of Maine
Coastal waters are physically, biogeochemically, and therefore optically complex as a result of the commingling of waters arising from terrestrial, freshwater and marine ecosystems. Separating the influences of these three ecosystems on the optical properties of the resulting mixture is challenging, particularly given the variability within each. The longterm goals of this project are twofold: (1)
Authors
C. S. Roesler, A. H. Barnard, G. Aiken, Thomas G. Huntington, W. B. Balch, H. Xue
Radon-222 occurrence in ground water in New Jersey, with emphasis on the Highlands Province
No abstract available.
Authors
Zoltan Szabo, Vincent T. DePaul
Economic geology of natural gas hydrate
No abstract available.
Authors
Michael D. Max, Arthur H. Johnson, William P. Dillon
Seafloor character and sedimentary processes in eastern Long Island Sound and western Block Island Sound
Multibeam bathymetric data and seismic-reflection profiles collected in eastern Long Island Sound and western Block Island Sound reveal previously unrecognized glacial features and modern bedforms. Glacial features include an ice-sculptured bedrock surface, a newly identified recessional moraine, exposed glaciolacustrine sediments, and remnants of stagnant-ice-contact deposits. Modern bedforms inc
Authors
Lawrence J. Poppe, M. L. Cohen-DiGiacomo, S. M. Smith, H.F. Stewart, N.A. Forfinski
Physical properties of pressurized sediment from hydrate ridge
As part of an ongoing laboratory study, preliminary acoustic, triaxial strength, and electrical resistivity results are presented from a test performed on a clayey silt sediment sample recovered from Site 1249 at the summit of southern Hydrate Ridge during Ocean Drilling Program Leg 204. The test specimen was stored and transported in two different methane-charged pressure vessels until it was tes
Authors
William J. Winters, William F. Waite, David H. Mason, Lauren Gilbert