Arsenic and uranium in private wells in Connecticut, 2013-15
Sarah M. Flanagan, Craig J. Brown
2017, Open-File Report 2017-1046
The occurrence of arsenic and uranium in groundwater at concentrations that exceed drinking-water standards is a concern because of the potential adverse effects on human health. Some early studies of arsenic occurrence in groundwater considered anthropogenic causes, but more recent studies have focused on sources of naturally occurring arsenic to...
Cascadia subduction tremor muted by crustal faults
Ray E. Wells, Richard J. Blakely, Aaron G. Wech, Patricia A. McCrory, Andrew Michael
2017, Geology (45) 515-518
Deep, episodic slow slip on the Cascadia subduction megathrust of western North America is accompanied by low-frequency tremor in a zone of high fluid pressure between 30 and 40 km depth. Tremor density (tremor epicenters per square kilometer) varies along strike, and lower tremor density statistically correlates with upper plate...
Instrumentation development for In Situ 40Ar/39Ar planetary geochronology
Leah E. Morgan, Madicken Munk, Brett Davidheiser-Kroll, Nicholas H. Warner, Sanjeev Gupta, Rachel Slaybaugh, Patrick Harkness, Darren Mark
2017, Geostandards and Geoanalytical Research (41) 381-396
The chronology of the Solar System, particularly the timing of formation of extra-terrestrial bodies and their features, is an outstanding problem in planetary science. Although various chronological methods for in situ geochronology have been proposed (e.g., Rb-Sr, K-Ar), and even applied (K-Ar), the reliability, accuracy, and applicability of the 40Ar/39Ar method...
Final data report for factors controlling DDE dechlorination rates on the Palos Verdes Shelf: A field and laboratory investigation
Robert P. Eganhouse, James Pontolillo, William H. Orem, Daniel M. Webster, Paul C. Hackley, Brian D. Edwards, Kurt J. Rosenberger, Patrick Dickhudt, Christopher R. Sherwood, Martin Reinhard, Sujie Qin, Jennifer Dougherty, Gary Hopkins, Ian Marshall, Alfred Spormann
2017, Report
This data report provides a compilation of information developed over the last 6+ years by a multi-disciplinary, multi-institutional research team. The overall goal of this work has been to identify the biological, chemical, and physical factors that control rates of reductive dechlorination of DDE and DDMU in sediments of the Palos Verdes Shelf...
Voluminous arc dacites as amphibole reaction-boundary liquids
Dawnika L. Blatter, Thomas W. Sisson, William B. Hankins
2017, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (172) 1-37
Dacites dominate the large-volume, explosive eruptions in magmatic arcs, and compositionally similar granodiorites and tonalites constitute the bulk of convergent margin batholiths. Shallow, pre-eruptive storage conditions are well known for many dacitic arc magmas through melt inclusions, Fe–Ti oxides, and experiments, but their potential origins deeper in the crust are...
USGS Spectral Library Version 7
Raymond F. Kokaly, Roger N. Clark, Gregg A. Swayze, K. Eric Livo, Todd M. Hoefen, Neil C. Pearson, Richard A. Wise, William Benzel, Heather A. Lowers, Rhonda L. Driscoll, Anna J. Klein
2017, Data Series 1035
We have assembled a library of spectra measured with laboratory, field, and airborne spectrometers. The instruments used cover wavelengths from the ultraviolet to the far infrared (0.2 to 200 microns [μm]). Laboratory samples of specific minerals, plants, chemical compounds, and manmade materials were measured. In many cases, samples were purified,...
Brackish groundwater in the United States
Jennifer S. Stanton, David W. Anning, Craig J. Brown, Richard B. Moore, Virginia L. McGuire, Sharon L. Qi, Alta C. Harris, Kevin F. Dennehy, Peter B. McMahon, James R. Degnan, John Karl Bohlke
2017, Professional Paper 1833
For some parts of the Nation, large-scale development of groundwater has caused decreases in the amount of groundwater that is present in aquifer storage and that discharges to surface-water bodies. Water supply in some areas, particularly in arid and semiarid regions, is not adequate to meet demand, and...
Geologic map of the Providence Mountains in parts of the Fountain Peak and adjacent 7.5' quadrangles, San Bernardino County, California
Paul Stone, David M. Miller, Calvin H. Stevens, Jose J. Rosario, Jorge A. Vazquez, Elmira Wan, Susan S. Priest, Zenon C. Valin
2017, Scientific Investigations Map 3376
IntroductionThe Providence Mountains are in the eastern Mojave Desert about 60 km southeast of Baker, San Bernardino County, California. This range, which is noted for its prominent cliffs of Paleozoic limestone, is part of a northeast-trending belt of mountainous terrain more than 100 km long that also includes the Granite...
Geology and mining history of the Southeast Missouri Barite District and the Valles Mines, Washington, Jefferson, and St. Francois Counties, Missouri
Douglas N. Mugel
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5173
The Southeast Missouri Barite District and the Valles Mines are located in Washington, Jefferson, and St. Francois Counties, Missouri, where barite and lead ore are present together in surficial and near-surface deposits. Lead mining in the area began in the early 1700’s and extended into the early 1900’s. Hand mining...
Groundwater quality for 75 domestic wells in Lycoming County, Pennsylvania, 2014
Eliza L. Gross, Charles A. Cravotta
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5143
Groundwater is a major source of drinking water in Lycoming County and adjacent counties in north-central and northeastern Pennsylvania, which are largely forested and rural and are currently undergoing development for hydrocarbon gases. Water-quality data are needed for assessing the natural characteristics of the groundwater resource and the potential effects...
Pyrogenic carbon distribution in mineral topsoils of the northeastern United States
Verena Jauss, Patrick J. Sullivan, Jonathan Sanderman, David B. Smith, Johannes Lehmann
2017, Geoderma (296) 69-78
Due to its slow turnover rates in soil, pyrogenic carbon (PyC) is considered an important C pool and relevant to climate change processes. Therefore, the amounts of soil PyC were compared to environmental covariates over an area of 327,757 km2 in the northeastern United States in order to understand the controls...
Geochemistry and hydrology of perched groundwater springs: assessing elevated uranium concentrations at Pigeon Spring relative to nearby Pigeon Mine, Arizona (USA)
Kimberly R. Beisner, Nicholas V. Paretti, Fred D. Tillman, David L. Naftz, Donald J. Bills, Katherine Walton-Day, Tanya J. Gallegos
2017, Hydrogeology Journal (25) 539-556
The processes that affect water chemistry as the water flows from recharge areas through breccia-pipe uranium deposits in the Grand Canyon region of the southwestern United States are not well understood. Pigeon Spring had elevated uranium in 1982 (44 μg/L), compared to other perched springs (2.7–18 μg/L), prior to mining...
Hydrogeologic and geochemical characterization and evaluation of two arroyos for managed aquifer recharge by surface infiltration in the Pojoaque River Basin, Santa Fe County, New Mexico, 2014–15
Andrew J. Robertson, Jeffrey Cordova, Andrew Teeple, Jason Payne, Rob Carruth
2017, Scientific Investigations Report 2017-5007
In order to provide long-term storage of diverted surface water from the Rio Grande as part of the Aamodt water rights settlement, managed aquifer recharge by surface infiltration in Pojoaque River Basin arroyos was proposed as an option. The initial hydrogeologic and geochemical characterization of two arroyos located within the...
Controls on pore types and pore-size distribution in the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation, Ordos Basin, China: Implications for pore-evolution models of lacustrine mudrocks
Lucy T. Ko, R. R. Loucks, Kitty L. Milliken, Quansheng Liang, Tongwei Zhang, Xun Sun, Paul C. Hackley, Stephen C. Ruppel, Sheng Peng
2017, Interpretation (5) SF127-SF148
Our main objectives are to (1) learn if pore-evolution models developed from marine mudrocks can be directly applied to lacustrine mudrocks, (2) investigate what controls the different pore types and sizes of Chang 7 organic matter (OM)-rich argillaceous mudstones of the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation, and (3) describe the texture, fabric, mineralogy, and...
Oxygen isotope geochemistry of mafic phenocrysts in primitive mafic lavas from the southernmost Cascade Range, California
Sandra J. Underwood, Michael A. Clynne
2017, American Mineralogist (102) 251-261
Previously reported whole-rock δ18O values (5.6–7.8‰) for primitive quaternary mafic lavas from the southernmost Cascades (SMC) are often elevated (up to 1‰) relative to δ18O values expected for mafic magmas in equilibrium with mantle peridotite. Olivine, clinopyroxene, and plagioclase crystals were separated from 29 geochemically well-characterized mafic lavas for δ18O...
Building the vegetation drought response index for Canada (VegDRI-Canada) to monitor agricultural drought: first results
Tsegaye Tadesse, Catherine Champagne, Brian D. Wardlow, Trevor A. Hadwen, Jesslyn F. Brown, Getachew B. Demisse, Yared A. Bayissa, Andrew M. Davidson
2017, GIScience and Remote Sensing (54) 230-257
Drought is a natural climatic phenomenon that occurs throughout the world and impacts many sectors of society. To help decision-makers reduce the impacts of drought, it is important to improve monitoring tools that provide relevant and timely information in support of drought mitigation decisions. Given that drought is a complex...
Noble gas isotopes in mineral springs and wells within the Cascadia forearc, Washington, Oregon, and California
Patricia A. McCrory, James E. Constantz, Andrew G. Hunt
2017, Open-File Report 2016-1203
IntroductionThis U.S. Geological Survey report presents laboratory analyses along with field notes for an exploratory study to document the relative abundance of noble gases in mineral springs and water wells within the Cascadia forearc of Washington, Oregon, and California (fig. 1). This report describes 14 samples collected in 2014 and...
Microbially mediated barite dissolution in anoxic brines
Bingjie Ouyang, Denise M. Akob, Darren S. Dunlap, Devon Renock
2017, Applied Geochemistry (76) 51-59
Fluids injected into shale formations during hydraulic fracturing of black shale return with extraordinarily high total-dissolved-solids (TDS) and high concentrations of barium (Ba) and radium (Ra). Barite, BaSO4, has been implicated as a possible source of Ba as well as a problematic mineral scale that forms on internal well surfaces,...
Acetylene fuels TCE reductive dechlorination by defined Dehalococcoides/Pelobacter consortia
Xinwei Mao, Ronald S. Oremland, Tong Liu, Abigail A Landers, Shaun Baesman, Lisa Alvarez-Cohen
2017, Environmental Science & Technology (51) 2366-2372
Acetylene (C2H2) can be generated in contaminated groundwater sites as a consequence of chemical degradation of trichloroethene (TCE) by in situ minerals, and C2H2 is known to inhibit bacterial dechlorination. In this study, we show that while high C2H2 (1.3 mM) concentrations reversibly inhibit reductive dechlorination of TCE by Dehalococcoides...
Long-term flow-through column experiments and their relevance to natural granitoid weathering rates
Arthur F. White, Marjorie S. Schulz, Corey R. Lawrence, Davison V. Vivit, David A. Stonestrom
2017, Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta (202) 190-214
Four pairs of fresh and partly-weathered granitoids, obtained from well-characterized watersheds—Merced River, CA, USA; Panola, GA, USA; Loch Vale, CO, USA, and Rio Icacos, Puerto Rico—were reacted in columns under ambient laboratory conditions for 13.8 yrs, the longest running experimental weathering study to date. Low total column mass losses...
Fitful and protracted magma assembly leading to a giant eruption, Youngest Toba Tuff, Indonesia
Mary R. Reid, Jorge A. Vazquez
2017, Geochemistry, Geophysics, Geosystems (18) 156-177
The paroxysmal eruption of the 74 ka Youngest Toba Tuff (YTT) of northern Sumatra produced an extraordinary 2800 km3 of non-welded to densely welded ignimbrite and co-ignimbrite ash-fall. We report insights into the duration of YTT magma assembly obtained from ion microprobe U-Th and U-Pb dates, including continuous age spectra...
Geochemical evidence for a complex origin for the Kelso dunes, Mojave National Preserve, California USA
Daniel R. Muhs, Nicholas Lancaster, Gary L. Skipp
2017, Geomorphology (276) 222-243
The Kelso Dune field in southern California is intriguing because although it is of limited areal extent (~ 100 km2), it has a wide variety of dune forms and contains many active dunes (~ 40 km2), which is unusual in the Mojave Desert. Studies over the past eight decades have concluded that the dunes...
Excursions in fluvial (dis)continuity
Gordon E. Grant, James E. O'Connor, Elizabeth Safran
2017, Geomorphology (277) 145-153
Lurking below the twin concepts of connectivity and disconnectivity are their first, and in some ways, richer cousins: continuity and discontinuity. In this paper we explore how continuity and discontinuity represent fundamental and complementary perspectives in fluvial geomorphology, and how these perspectives inform and underlie our conceptions of connectivity...
Origin and evolution of mineralizing fluids and exploration of the Cerro Quema Au-Cu deposit (Azuero Peninsula, Panama) from a fluid inclusion and stable isotope perspective
Isaac Corral, Esteve Cardellach, Merce Corbella, Angels Canals, Albert Griera, David Gomez-Gras, Craig A. Johnson
2017, Ore Geology Reviews (80) 947-960
Cerro Quema is a high sulfidation epithermal Au-Cu deposit with a measured, indicated and inferred resource of 35.98 Mt. @ 0.77 g/t Au containing 893,600 oz. Au (including 183,930 oz. Au equiv. of Cu ore). It is characterized by a large hydrothermal alteration zone which is interpreted to represent the lithocap of...
A comprehensive survey of faults, breccias, and fractures in and flanking the eastern Española Basin, Rio Grande rift, New Mexico
Jonathan S. Caine, Scott A. Minor, V. J. S. Grauch, James R. Budahn, Tucker T. Keren
2017, Geosphere (13) 1566-1609
A comprehensive survey of geologic structures formed in the Earth’s brittle regime in the eastern Española Basin and flank of the Rio Grande rift, New Mexico, reveals a complex and protracted record of multiple tectonic events. Data and analyses from this representative rift flank-basin pair include measurements from 53 individual...
