The Chilean nitrate deposits.
G. E. Ericksen
1983, American Scientist (71) 366-374
The nitrate deposits in the arid Atacama desert of northern Chile consist of saline-cemented surficial material, apparently formed in and near a playa lake that formerly covered the area. Many features of their distribution and chemical composition are unique. The author believes the principal sources of the saline constituents were...
SPONTANEOUS COAL COMBUSTION; MECHANISMS AND PREDICTION.
James R. Herring, Fredrick J. Rich
1983, Conference Paper
Spontaneous ignition and combustion of coal is a major problem to the coal mining, shipping, and use industries; unintentional combustion causes loss of the resource as well as jeopardy to life and property. The hazard to life is especially acute in the case of underground coal mine fires that start...
The granite problem as exposed in the southern Snake Range, Nevada
D. E. Lee, E. H. Christiansen
1983, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (83) 99-116
A geochemically and mineralogically diverse group of granitoids is present within an area of 900 km2 in the southern Snake Range of eastern Nevada. The granitoids exposed range in age from Jurassic through Cretaceous to Oligocene and include two calcic intrusions, two different types of two-mica granites, and aplites. The...
Crane reproductive physiology and conservation
G.F. Gee
1983, Zoo Biology (2) 199-213
Some unique features of crane reproduction, management, and conservation are described. Because cranes are sexually monomorphic, sexing is difficult and must be accomplished using behavior, laparoscopy, cloacal examination, genetic techniques, or fecal steroid analysis. Although husbandry techniques for cranes are similar to those used with other nondomestic birds, a number...
U-Th-Pb systematics of zircon inclusions in rock-forming minerals: A study of armoring against isotopic loss using the Sherman Granite of Colorado-Wyoming, USA
J. N. Aleinikoff
1983, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (83) 259-269
Zircon inclusions were separated from the five major rock-forming minerals of the Sherman Granite of southern Wyoming, in order to evaluate the degree of discordance as a possible function of host minerals. U-Th-Pb isotopic ratios were determined for two size fractions of zircon inclusions from each mineral, plus five size...
Ground water: a review.
J.D. Bredehoeft
1983, Reviews of Geophysics and Space Physics (21) 760-765
There is growing documentation that a significant portion of the Nation's fresh ground water in the densely populated areas of the USA is contaminated. Because of the slow rates of ground-water movement, ground water once contaminated will remain so for decades, often longer. Cleanup of contaminated ground water is almost...
ROLES OF REMOTE SENSING AND CARTOGRAPHY IN THE USGS NATIONAL MAPPING DIVISION.
Rupert B. Southard, John W. Salisbury
1983, Conference Paper, Technical Papers of the American Congress of Surveying and Mapping
The inseparable roles of remote sensing and photogrammetry have been recognized to be consistent with the aims and interests of the American Society of Photogrammetry. In particular, spatial data storage, data merging and manipulation methods and other techniques originally developed for remote sensing applications also have applications for digital cartography....
Geological setting of oil shales in the Permian phosphoria formation and some of the geochemistry of these rocks
E. K. Maughan
1983, Conference Paper, Preprints Symposia
Recent studies of the Meade Peak and the Retort Phosphatic Shale Members of the Phosphoria Formation have investigated the organic carbon content and some aspects of hydrocarbon generation from these rocks. Phosphorite has been mined from the Retort and Meade Peak members in southeastern Idaho, northern Utah, western Wyoming and...
SOME NEW PROCESSING TECHNIQUES FOR THE IMPERIAL VALLEY 1979 AFTERSHOCKS.
A. Gerald Brady
Chung Riley M.Lew H.S.Kovacs William D., editor(s)
1983, Conference Paper, National Bureau of Standards, Special Publication
This paper describes some of the features of the latest processing improvements that the U. S. Geological Survey (USGS) is currently applying to strong-motion accelerograms from the national network of permanent stations. At the same time it introduces the application of this processing to the set of Imperial Valley aftershocks...
Rehabilitation materials from surface- coal mines in western USA. I. Chemical characteristics of spoil and replaced cover-soil.
R. C. Severson, L. P. Gough
1983, Reclamation and Revegetation Research (2) 83-102
A range of at least one order of magnitude was observed for DTPA-extractable Cd, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, Pb and Zn and organic matter content of samples of spoil and cover-soil from eleven western USA surface-coal mines. The observed pH of these samples ranged from 3.9 to 8.9; however, most...
Helium isotopic variations in volcanic rocks from Loihi Seamount and the Island of Hawaii
M.D. Kurz, W.J. Jenkins, S.R. Hart, David Clague
1983, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (66) 388-406
Helium isotopic ratios ranging from 20 to 32 times the atmospheric 3He 4He(RA) have been observed in a suite of 15 basaltic glasses from the Loihi Seamount. These ratios, which are up to four times higher than those of MORB glasses and more than twice those of nearby Kilauea,...
Mineral discrimination using a portable ratio-determining radiometer
G. Whitney, M. J. Abrams, Alexander F.H. Goetz
1983, Economic Geology (78) 688-698
The instrument has ten bands in the visible and near-infrared portion of the spectrum (0.5-2.4 mu m). Measurements and statistical analyses were performed on 66 samples, which were characterized by microscopic and X-ray diffraction analyses. On the ability to discriminate between 16 mineralogical groups, 91 percent classification accuracy was achieved....
Mineral resource potential map of the Carson-Iceberg Roadless Areas, central Sierra Nevada, California
William J. Keith, Maurice A. Chaffee, Donald Plouff, Michael S. Miller
1983, Miscellaneous Field Studies Map 1416-B
No abstract available....
Analytical results of a geochemical survey utilizing heavy-mineral fractions and the less-than-180-micrometer fraction of stream sediments, Tushar Mountains and adjoining areas, Marysvale volcanic field, Utah
W. Roger Miller, J. M. Motooka
1983, Open-File Report 83-444
No abstract available....
Off-road vehicular destabilization of hill slopes: the major contributing factor to destructive debris flows in Ogden, Utah, 1979
John K. Nakata
Robert H. Webb, Howard G. Wilshire, editor(s)
1983, Book chapter, Environmental Effects of Off-Road Vehicles
The Wasatch Mountains in northern Utah are a north-south trending range with steep slopes caused by faulting less than 10,000 years ago. Through the natural processes of rain, frost-wedging, gravity, and earthquakes these slopes are slowly being eroded. A geologic history of instability is recorded at the base of the...
Incorporation of prior information on parameters into nonlinear regression groundwater flow models: 2. Applications
Richard L. Cooley
1983, Water Resources Research (19) 662-676
This paper investigates factors influencing the degree of improvement in estimates of parameters of a nonlinear regression groundwater flow model by incorporating prior information of unknown reliability. Consideration of expected behavior of the regression solutions and results of a hypothetical modeling problem lead to several general conclusions. First, if the...
Geochemistry of diverse basalt types from Loihi Seamount, Hawaii: Petrogenetic implications
F.A. Frey, D.A. Clague
1983, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (66) 337-355
The wide variety of basalt types, tholeiitic to basanite, dredged from Loihi Seamount have minor and trace element abundances that are characteristic of subaerial Hawaiian basalts, thereby confirming that Loihi Seamount is a manifestation of the Hawaiian “hot spot”. Within the Loihi sample suite there are well-defined positive correlations among...
Iron disulfide minerals and the genesis of roll-type uranium deposits
R. L. Reynolds, M. B. Goldhaber
1983, Economic Geology (78) 105-120
FeS 2 minerals in host rocks for deposits that contain fossil vegetal (organic) matter differ in abundance, distribution, texture, and sulfur isotopic ratios from FeS 2 minerals in host rocks for deposits that do not contain fossil vegetal matter. In three South Texas deposits lacking such organic matter, preore FeS 2 is dominantly euhedral pyrite which...
Rare-earth element geochemistry and the origin of andesites and basalts of the Taupo Volcanic Zone, New Zealand
J. W. Cole, K. V. Cashman, P.C. Rankin
1983, Chemical Geology (38) 255-274
Two types of basalt (a high-Al basalt associated with the rhyolitic centres north of Taupo and a "low-Al" basalt erupted from Red Crater, Tongariro Volcanic Centre) and five types of andesite (labradorite andesite, labradorite-pyroxene andesite, hornblende andesite, pyroxene low-Si andesite and olivine andesite/low-Si andesite) occur in the Taupo Volcanic Zone...
40Ar/39Ar and U-Th-Pb dating of separated clasts from the Abee E4 chondrite
D.D. Bogard, D.M. Unruh, M. Tatsumoto
1983, Earth and Planetary Science Letters (62) 132-146
Determinations of40Ar/39Ar and U-Th-Pb are reported for three clasts from the Abee (E4) enstatite chondrite, which has been the object of extensive consortium investigations. The clasts give40Ar/39Ar plateau ages and/or maximum ages of 4.5 Gy, whereas two of the clasts give...
Scoresum - A technique for displaying and evaluating multi-element geochemical information, with examples of its use in regional mineral assessment programs
M.A. Chaffee
1983, Journal of Geochemical Exploration (19) 361-381
A technique called SCORESUM was developed to display a maximum of multi-element geochemical information on a minimum number of maps for mineral assessment purposes. The technique can be done manually for a small analytical data set or can be done with a computer for a large data set. SCORESUM...
Seismicity at Fuego, Pacaya, Izalco, and San Cristobal Volcanoes, Central America, 1973-1974
S.R. McNutt, D.H. Harlow
1983, Bulletin Volcanologique (46) 283-297
Seismic data collected at four volcanoes in Central America during 1973 and 1974 indicate three sources of seismicity: regional earthquakes with hypocentral distances greater than 80 km, earthquakes within 40 km of each volcano, and seismic activity originating at the volcanoes due to eruptive processes. Regional earthquakes generated by the...
Orickite and coyoteite, two new sulfide minerals from Coyote Peak, Humboldt County, California.
Richard C. Erd, G.K. Czamanske
1983, American Mineralogist (68) 245-254
Minute quantities of orickite and coyoteite occur with rare alkali iron sulphides in a mafic alkalic diatreme near Orick, Humboldt County. Orickite, NaxKyCu0.95Fe1.06zH2O (x,y < 0.03, z < 0.5), is hexagonal, a 3.695, c 6.16 A, D 4.212 g/cm3, Z = 4. The strongest XRD reflections are 3.08(100), 3.20(90), 2.84(60),...
Quaternary geology of the Rhode Island inner shelf
S. W. Needell, C. J. O’Hara, H.J. Knebel
1983, Marine Geology (53) 41-53
Five sedimentary units and three erosional unconformities identified in high-resolution seismic-reflection profiles reveal the stratigraphic framework and Quaternary history of the inner continental shelf south of Narragansett Bay, Rhode Island. Late Tertiary to early Pleistocene rivers eroded the pre-Mesozoic bedrock and the Upper Cretaceous to lower Tertiary coastal plain and...
Refractive index determination using the central focal masking technique with dispersion colors.
R.E. Wilcox
1983, American Mineralogist (68) 1226-1236
The procedures, precision, advantages and limitations of central focal masking ("dispersion staining'), a technique for determining the refractive indices of microfragments by the immersion method and for distinguishing between minerals in an immersion mount, are described. -J.A.Z....
