Distribution, abundance, and genomic diversity of the endangered antioch dunes evening primrose (Oenothera deltoides subsp. howellii) surveyed in 2019
Karen M. Thorne, Amy G. Vandergast, editor(s)
2021, Open-File Report 2021-1017
Sand dune ecosystems are highly dynamic landforms found along coastlines and riverine deltas where a supply of sand-sized material is available to be delivered by aquatic and wind environments. These unique ecosystems provide habitat for a variety of endemic and rare plant and animal species. Sand dunes have been affected...
Assessing gas leakage potential into coal mines from shale gas well failures: Inference from field determination of strata permeability responses to longwall-induced deformations
Eric Watkins, C. Ozgen Karacan, Vasu Gangrade, Steven Schatzel
2021, Natural Resources Research (30) 2347-2360
This paper summarizes the changes in permeability at three boreholes located above an abutment pillar at a longwall coal mine in southwestern Pennsylvania. The motivation of this study was to better characterize the potential interaction between shale gas wells and the mine environment, through measurement of permeability changes in the...
Paragenesis of an orogenic gold deposit: New insights on mineralizing processes at the Grass Valley District, California
Ryan D. Taylor, Thomas Monecke, T. James Reynolds, Jochen Monecke
2021, Economic Geology (116) 323-356
The Grass Valley orogenic gold district in the Sierra Nevada foothills province, central California, is the largest historical gold producer of the North American Cordillera. Gold mineralization is associated with shallowly dipping north-south veins hosted by the 160 Ma Grass Valley granodiorite to the southwest of the Grass Valley fault...
Unmixing multiple metamorphic muscovite age populations with powder X-ray diffraction and 40Ar/39Ar analysis
Ryan J. McAleer, David Bish, Michael J. Kunk, Peter M. Valley, Gregory J. Walsh, Robert Wintsch
2021, American Journal of Science (321) 332-364
A combination of modal estimates from powder X-ray diffraction (XRD) experiments and argon isotopic data shows that muscovite 40Ar/39Ar total gas age correlates with muscovite composition near the retrograde Bald Mountain shear zone (BMSZ) in Claremont, New Hampshire, and that the shear zone was active at ∼245...
Mineral commodity summaries 2021
U.S. Geological Survey
2021, Report
IntroductionEach mineral commodity chapter of the 2021 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...
Petrology and geochronology of 1.48 to 1.45 Ga igneous rocks in the St. Francois Mountains terrane, southeast Missouri
Edward A. du Bray, John N. Aleinikoff, Warren C. Day, Leonid A. Neymark, Seth D. Burgess
2021, Professional Paper 1866
The igneous geology of the St. Francois Mountains terrane in southeast Missouri is dominated by the products of 1.48 to 1.45 billion year old volcanic and plutonic magmatism but also includes volumetrically minor, compositionally bimodal contributions added during plutonism between 1.34 and 1.27 billion years ago. The 1.48 to 1.45...
National-scale reservoir thermal energy storage pre-assessment for the United States
Jeff D. Pepin, Erick R. Burns, Jesse E. Dickinson, Leslie L. Duncan, Eve L. Kuniansky, Howard W. Reeves
2021, Conference Paper, Proceedings, 46th workshop on geothermal reservoir engineering
The U.S. Geological Survey is performing a pre-assessment of the cooling potential for reservoir thermal energy storage (RTES) in five generalized geologic regions (Basin and Range, Coastal Plains, Illinois Basin, Michigan Basin, Pacific Northwest) across the United States. Reservoir models are developed for the metropolitan areas of eight cities (Albuquerque,...
Subsurface characterization and machine learning predictions at Brady Hot Springs
Koenraad F. Beckers, Dmitry Duplyakin, Michael J. Martin, Henry E. Johnston, Drew L. Siler
2021, Conference Paper, Proceedings 46th Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering
Subsurface data analysis, reservoir modeling, and machine learning (ML) techniques have been applied to the Brady Hot Springs (BHS) geothermal field in Nevada, USA to further characterize the subsurface and assist with optimizing reservoir management. Hundreds of reservoir simulations have been conducted in TETRAD-G and CMG STARS to explore different...
The role of hydrates, competing chemical constituents, and surface composition on CLNO2 formation
Haley M. Royer, Dhruv Mitroo, Sarah M. Hayes, Savannah Haas, Kerri A Pratt, Patricia Blackwelder, Thomas E. Gill, Cassandra J. Gaston
2021, Environmental Science Technology (55) 2869-2877
Atomic chlorine (Cl•) affects air quality and atmospheric oxidizing capacity. Nitryl chloride (ClNO2) – a common Cl• source–forms when chloride-containing aerosols react with dinitrogen pentoxide (N2O5). A recent study showed that saline lakebed (playa) dust is an inland source of particulate chloride (Cl–)...
Months-long spike in aqueous Arsenic following domestic well installation and disinfection: Short- and long-term drinking water quality implications
Melinda L. Erickson, Elizabeth D. Swanner, Brady A. Ziegler, Jeffrey R. Havig
2021, Journal of Hazardous Materials (414)
Exposure to high concentration geogenic arsenic via groundwater is a worldwide health concern. Well installation introduces oxic drilling fluids and hypochlorite (a strong oxidant) for disinfection, thus inducing geochemical disequilibrium. Well installation causes changes in geochemistry lasting 12 + months, as illustrated in a recent study of 250 new...
Machine-learning predictions of redox conditions in groundwater in the Mississippi River Valley alluvial and Claiborne aquifers, south-central United States
Katherine J. Knierim, James A. Kingsbury, Connor J. Haugh
2021, Scientific Investigations Map 3468
Machine-learning models developed by the U.S. Geological Survey were used to predict iron concentrations and the probability of dissolved oxygen (DO) concentrations exceeding a threshold of 1 milligram per liter (mg/L) in groundwater in aquifers of the Mississippi embayment physiographic region. DO and iron concentrations are driven by and reflect...
Geological Surveys unite to improve critical mineral security
Poul Emsbo, Christopher Lawley, Karol Czarnota
2021, Eos Science News
The global economy is unprepared to meet the exploding demand for critical minerals. These materials, many of which were of little economic interest until recently, are required to fuel a proliferation of technologies and industries that have become vital for social and economic well-being the world over. But supplies of...
Groundwater flow conceptualization of the Pahute Mesa–Oasis Valley Groundwater Basin, Nevada—A synthesis of geologic, hydrologic, hydraulic-property, and tritium data
Tracie R. Jackson, Joseph M. Fenelon, Randall L. Paylor
2021, Scientific Investigations Report 2020-5134
This report provides a groundwater-flow conceptualization that integrates geologic, hydrologic, hydraulic-property, and radionuclide data in the Pahute Mesa–Oasis Valley (PMOV) groundwater basin, southern Nevada. Groundwater flow in the PMOV basin is of interest because 82 underground nuclear tests were detonated, most near or below the water table. A potentiometric...
The history of surface-elevation paradigms in mangrove biogeomorphology
Daniel A. Friess, Karen L. McKee
2021, Book chapter, Dynamic sedimentary environments of mangrove coasts
Positioned in the intertidal zone, mangrove forests are a key model ecosystem with which to observe and test biogeomorphological concepts. Understanding how mangroves interact with their intertidal environment, particularly tidal inundation, is important if we are to assess their vulnerability or resilience to accelerated sea-level rise. While various biogeomorphological processes...
The case for a long-lived and robust Yellowstone hotspot
Victor E. Camp, Ray Wells
2021, GSA Today (31) 4-10
The Yellowstone hotspot is recognized as a whole-mantle plume with a history that extends to at least 56 Ma, as recorded by offshore volcanism on the Siletzia oceanic plateau. Siletzia accreted onto the North American plate at 51–49 Ma, followed by repositioning of the Farallon trench west of Siletzia from...
River terrace evidence of tectonic processes in the eastern North American plate interior, South Anna River, Virginia
Frank J. Pazzaglia, Helen F. Malenda, Matthew L. McGavick, Cody Raup, Mark W. Carter, Claudio Berti, Shannon A. Mahan, Michelle S. Nelson, Tammy M. Rittenour, Ron Counts, Jane K Willenbring, Dru Germanoski, Stephen C. Peters, William D. Holt
2021, Journal of Geology (129) 595-624
We show that long-recognized seismicity in the central Virginia seismic zone of the eastern North American intraplate setting arises primarily from tectonic processes predicted by new, fully coupled plate tectonic geodynamic models. The study leverages much new geophysical and geologic data following the 2011 Mineral, Virginia, earthquake that ruptured a...
Lithium in groundwater used for drinking-water supply in the United States
Bruce D. Lindsey, Kenneth Belitz, Charles A. Cravotta III, Patricia Toccalino, Neil M. Dubrovsky
2021, Science of the Total Environment (767)
Lithium concentrations in untreated groundwater from 1464 public-supply wells and 1676 domestic-supply wells distributed across 33 principal aquifers in the United States were evaluated for spatial variations and possible explanatory factors. Concentrations nationwide ranged from <1 to 396 μg/L (median of 8.1) for public supply...
The occurrence and distribution of strontium in U.S. groundwater
MaryLynn Musgrove
2021, Applied Geochemistry (126)
Groundwater samples from 32 principal aquifers across the United States (U.S.) provide a broad spatial scope of the occurrence and distribution of strontium (Sr) and are used to assess environments and factors that influence Sr concentration. Strontium is a common trace element in soils, rocks, and water and is ubiquitous...
Effect of organic matter concentration and characteristics on mercury mobilization and methylmercury production at an abandoned mine site
Chris S. Eckley, Todd P. Luxton, Brooks Stanfield, Austin K. Baldwin, JoAnn M. Holloway, John McKernan, Mark Johnson
2021, Environmental Pollution (271)
Thousands of abandoned mines throughout the western region of North America contain elevated total-mercury (THg) concentrations. Mercury is mobilized from these sites primarily due to erosion of particulate-bound Hg (THg-P). Organic matter-based soil amendments can promote vegetation growth on mine tailings, reducing erosion and...
Multi-geophysical parameter classification of the Montserrat geothermal system
Racine A. Basant, Graham A. Ryan, Jared R. Peacock, Antonio G. Camacho, Oshaine O. Blake, Stefanie Hautmann, Bridget Y. Lynne
2021, Geothermics (90)
Multi-geophysical parameter classification can help to reduce the uncertainties of interpretations that often rely on one geophysical technique. Integrating these varying datasets requires a more robust classification approach rather than traditional qualitative methods. In this study, we applied the Fuzzy c-means...
Basalt geochemistry and mantle flow during early backarc basin evolution: Havre Trough and Kermadec Arc, southwest Pacific
James B Gill, Kaj Hoernle, Erin Todd, Folkmar Hauff, Reinhard Werner, Christian Timm, Dieter Garbe-Schönberg, Marcus Gutjahr
2021, Geochemistry Geophysics Geosystems (22)
The Havre Trough (HT) backarc basin in the southwest Pacific is in the rifting stage of development. We distinguish five types of basalt there based on their amount and kind of slab component: backarc basalts (BAB) with little or no slab component, modified BAB with slight amounts,...
Comparison of machine learning approaches used to identify the drivers of Bakken oil well productivity
Emil D. Attanasi, Philip A. Freeman, Timothy Coburn
2021, Statistical Analysis and Data Mining (14) 536-555
Geologists and petroleum engineers have struggled to identify the mechanisms that drive productivity in horizontal hydraulically fractured oil wells. The machine learning algorithms of Random Forest (RF), gradient boosting trees (GBT) and extreme gradient boosting (XGBoost) were applied to a dataset containing 7311 horizontal hydraulically fractured...
Terrestrial ecological risk analysis via dietary exposure at uranium mine sites in the Grand Canyon watershed (Arizona, USA)
Jo Ellen Hinck, Danielle M. Cleveland, Bradley E. Sample
2021, Chemosphere (265)
The U.S. Department of the Interior recently included uranium (U) on a list of mineral commodities that are considered critical to economic and national security. The uses of U for commercial and residential energy production, defense applications, medical device technologies, and...
Hydrogeochemistry in the Yukon-Tanana Upland region of east-central Alaska: Possible exploration tool for porphyry-style deposits
Karen D. Kelley, Garth E. Graham
2021, Applied Geochemistry (124)
A hydrogeochemical study using high resolution ICP-MS was undertaken at the Taurus and other porphyry Cu-Mo(-Au) occurrences and Ag-Au-Cu (+/- Pb, Zn) occurrences with epithermal-style characteristics in the Yukon-Tanana upland region of eastern Alaska. Surface water samples were collected from 30...
Processes influencing marsh elevation change in low- and high-elevation zones of a temperate salt marsh
Linda K. Blum, Robert R. Christian, Donald Cahoon, Patricia L. Wiberg
2021, Estuaries and Coasts (44) 818-833
The movement of salt marshes into uplands and marsh submergence as sea level rises is well documented; however, predicting how coastal marshes will respond to rising sea levels is constrained by a lack of process-based understanding of how various marsh zones adjust to changes in sea level. To assess the...
