Tracking the timing of subduction and exhumation using 40Ar/39Ar phengite ages in blueschist- and eclogite-facies rocks (Sivrihisar, Turkey)
Katherine F. Fornash, Michael A. Cosca, Donna L. Whitney
2016, Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology (171) 1-37
Geochronologic studies of high-pressure/low-temperature rocks can be used to determine the timing and rates of burial and exhumation in subduction zones by dating different stages of the pressure–temperature history. In this study, we present new in situ UV laser ablation 40Ar/39Ar phengite ages from a suite of lawsonite blueschist- and...
Discovery of alunite in Cross crater, Terra Sirenum, Mars: Evidence for acidic, sulfurous waters
Bethany L. Ehlmann, Gregg A. Swayze, Ralph E. Milliken, John F. Mustard, Roger N. Clark, Scott L. Murchie, George N. Breit, James J. Wray, Brigitte Gondet, Francois Poulet, John Carter, Wendy M. Calvin, William Benzel, Kimberly D. Seelos
2016, American Mineralogist (101) 1527-1542
Cross crater is a 65 km impact crater, located in the Noachian highlands of the Terra Sirenum region of Mars (30°S, 158°W), which hosts aluminum phyllosilicate deposits first detected by the Observatoire pour la Minéralogie, L’Eau, les Glaces et l’Activitié (OMEGA) imaging spectrometer on Mars Express. Using high-resolution data from...
Contemporary deformation in the Yakima fold and thrust belt estimated with GPS
Robert McCaffrey, Robert W. King, Ray E. Wells, Matthew Lancaster, M. Meghan Miller
2016, Geophysical Journal International (207) 1-11
Geodetic, geologic and palaeomagnetic data reveal that Oregon (western USA) rotates clockwise at 0.3 to 1.0° Ma−1 (relative to North America) about an axis near the Idaho–Oregon–Washington border, while northeast Washington is relatively fixed. This rotation has been going on for at least 15 Ma. The Yakima fold and thrust...
Isotopically constrained lead sources in fugitive dust from unsurfaced roads in the southeast Missouri mining district
Emitt C. Witt III, Michael Pribil, John P. Hogan, David Wronkiewicz
2016, Environmental Pollution (216) 450-459
The isotopic composition of lead (Pb) in fugitive dust suspended by a vehicle from 13 unsurfaced roads in Missouri was measured to identify the source of Pb within an established long-term mining area. A three end-member model using 207Pb/206Pb and concentration as tracers resulted in fugitive dust samples plotting in the...
Ground motions at the outermost limits of seismically triggered landslides
Randall W. Jibson, Edwin L. Harp
2016, Bulletin of the Seismological Society of America (106) 708-719
Over the last few decades, we and our colleagues have conducted field investigations in which we mapped the outermost limits of triggered landslides in four earthquakes: 1987 Whittier Narrows, California (M 5.9), 1987 Superstition Hills, California (M 6.5), 1994 Northridge, California (M 6.7), and 2011 Mineral, Virginia (M 5.8). In an additional two earthquakes,...
High concentrations of manganese and sulfur in deposits on Murray Ridge, Endeavour Crater, Mars
Raymond E. Arvidson, Steven W. Squyres, Richard V. Morris, Andrew H. Knoll, Ralf Gellert, Benton C. Clark, Jeffrey G. Catalano, Bradley L. Jolliff, Scott M. McLennan, Kenneth E. Herkenhoff, Scott VanBommel, David W. Mittelfehldt, John P. Grotzinger, Edward A. Guinness, Jeffrey R. Johnson, James F. Bell III, William H. Farrand, Nathan Stein, Valerie K. Fox, Matthew P. Golombek, Margaret A. G. Hinkle, Wendy M. Calvin, Paulo A. de Souza Jr.
2016, American Mineralogist (101) 1389-1405
Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter HiRISE images and Opportunity rover observations of the ~22 km wide Noachian age Endeavour Crater on Mars show that the rim and surrounding terrains were densely fractured during the impact crater-forming event. Fractures have also propagated upward into the overlying Burns formation sandstones. Opportunity’s observations show that...
Mercury risk to avian piscivores across western United States and Canada
Allyson K. Jackson, David C. Evers, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Joshua T. Ackerman, James J. Willacker, John E. Elliott, Jesse M. Lepak, Stacy S. Vander Pol, Colleen E. Bryan
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 685-696
The widespread distribution of mercury (Hg) threatens wildlife health, particularly piscivorous birds. Western North America is a diverse region that provides critical habitat to many piscivorous bird species, and also has a well-documented history of mercury contamination from legacy mining and atmospheric deposition. The diversity of landscapes in the west...
Effects of salt pond restoration on benthic flux: Sediment as a source of nutrients to the water column
Brent R. Topping, James S. Kuwabara, James L. Carter, Krista K. Garrettt, Eric Mruz, Sarah Piotter, John Y. Takekawa
2016, Journal of Environmental Protection (7) 1064-1071
Understanding nutrient flux between the benthos and the overlying water (benthic flux) is critical to restoration of water quality and biological resources because it can represent a major source of nutrients to the water column. Extensive water management commenced in the San Francisco Bay, Beginning around 1850, San Francisco Bay...
Geology and geologic history of the Moscow-Pullman basin, Idaho and Washington, from late Grande Ronde to late Saddle Mountains time
John H Bush, Dean L Garwood, Pamela Dunlap
2016, GSA Field Guides (41) 151-174
The Moscow-Pullman basin, located on the eastern margin of the Columbia River flood basalt province, consists of a subsurface mosaic of interlayered Miocene sediments and lava flows of the Imnaha, Grande Ronde, Wanapum, and Saddle Mountains Basalts of the Columbia River Basalt Group. This sequence is ~1800 ft (550 m)...
New perspectives on a 140-year legacy of mining and abandoned mine cleanup in the San Juan Mountains, Colorado
Douglas B. Yager, David L. Fey, Thomas Chapin, Raymond H. Johnson
2016, Field Guides (44) 377-419
The Gold King mine water release that occurred on 5 August 2015 near the historical mining community of Silverton, Colorado, highlights the environmental legacy that abandoned mines have on the environment. During reclamation efforts, a breach of collapsed workings at the Gold King mine sent 3 million gallons of acidic...
Reevaluation of the Crooked Ridge River- Early Pleistocene (ca. 2 Ma) age and origin of the White Mesa Alluvium, northeastern Arizona
Richard Hereford, Sue Beard, William R. Dickinson, Karl E. Karlstrom, Matthew T. Heizler, Laura J. Crossey, Lee Amoroso, Kyle House, Mark Pecha
2016, Geosphere (12) 768-789
Essential features of the previously named and described Miocene Crooked Ridge River in northeastern Arizona (USA) are reexamined using new geologic and geochronologic data. Previously it was proposed that Cenozoic alluvium at Crooked Ridge and southern White Mesa was pre–early Miocene, the product of a large, vigorous late Paleogene river...
Book review: New concepts and discoveries: the Geological Society of Nevada 2015 Symposium Proceedings
Warren C. Day
2016, Economic Geology (111) 543-546
The Nevada Geological Society has a long history of convening meetings and workshops focused on the geology and metallogeny of the western United States relevant to the mineral exploration and mining community across the Great Basin. One outgrowth of the Geological Society of Nevada’s 2015 Symposium is a two-volume set,...
Hydrologic analyses in support of the Navajo Generating Station–Kayenta Mine Complex environmental impact statement
Stanley A. Leake, Jamie P. Macy, Margot Truini
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1088
IntroductionThe U.S. Department of Interior’s Bureau of Reclamation, Lower Colorado Region (Reclamation) is preparing an environmental impact statement (EIS) for the Navajo Generating Station-Kayenta Mine Complex Project (NGS-KMC Project). The proposed project involves various Federal approvals that would facilitate continued operation of the Navajo Generating Station (NGS) from December...
Late Holocene volcanism at Medicine Lake Volcano, northern California Cascades
Julie M. Donnelly-Nolan, Duane E. Champion, Timothy L. Grove
2016, Professional Paper 1822
Late Holocene volcanism at Medicine Lake volcano in the southern Cascades arc exhibited widespread and compositionally diverse magmatism ranging from basalt to rhyolite. Nine well-characterized eruptions have taken place at this very large rear-arc volcano since 5,200 years ago, an eruptive frequency greater than nearly all other Cascade volcanoes....
Hydrothermal vents and methane seeps: Rethinking the sphere of influence
Lisa A. Levin, Amy Baco, David Bowden, Ana Colaco, Erik E. Cordes, Marina Cunha, Amanda W.J. Demopoulos, Judith Gobin, Ben Grupe, Jennifer Le, Anna Metaxas, Amanda Netburn, Greg Rouse, Andrew Thurber, Verena Tunnicliffe, Cindy L. Van Dover, Ann Vanreusel, Les Watling
2016, Frontiers in Marine Science (3)
Although initially viewed as oases within a barren deep ocean, hydrothermal vent and methane seep communities are now recognized to interact with surrounding ecosystems on the sea floor and in the water column, and to affect global geochemical cycles. The importance of understanding these interactions is growing as the potential...
The Chahnaly low sulfidation epithermal gold deposit, western Makran volcanic arc, southeastern Iran
Ali Sholeh, Ebrahim Rastad, David L. Huston, J. Bruce Gemmell, Ryan D. Taylor
2016, Economic Geology (111) 619-639
The Chahnaly low-sulfidation epithermal Au deposit and nearby Au prospects are located northwest of the intermittently active Bazman stratovolcano on the western end of the Makran volcanic arc, which formed as the result of subduction of the remnant Neo-Tethyan oceanic crust beneath the Lut block. The arc hosts the...
Simulation of groundwater storage changes in the eastern Pasco Basin, Washington
Charles E. Heywood, Sue C. Kahle, Theresa D. Olsen, James D. Patterson, Erick Burns
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2016-5026
The Miocene Columbia River Basalt Group and younger sedimentary deposits of lacustrine, fluvial, eolian, and cataclysmic-flood origins compose the aquifer system of the Pasco Basin in eastern Washington. Irrigation return flow and canal leakage from the Columbia Basin Project have caused groundwater levels to rise substantially in some areas,...
Geology and undiscovered resource assessment of the potash-bearing Central Asia Salt Basin, Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan: Chapter AA in Global mineral resource assessment
Jeff Wynn, Greta J. Orris, Pamela Dunlap, Mark D. Cocker, James D. Bliss
2016, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-AA
Undiscovered potash resources in the Central Asia Salt Basin (CASB) of Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, and Afghanistan were assessed as part of a global mineral resource assessment led by the U.S. Geological Survey. The term “potash” refers to potassium-bearing, water-soluble salts derived from evaporite basins, where seawater dried up and precipitated...
Hydrologic indicators of hot spots and hot moments of mercury methylation potential along river corridors
Michael B. Singer, Lee R. Harrison, Patrick M. Donovan, Joel D. Blum, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale
2016, Science of the Total Environment (568) 697-711
The biogeochemical cycling of metals and other contaminants in river-floodplain corridors is controlled by microbial activity responding to dynamic redox conditions. Riverine flooding thus has the potential to affect speciation of redox-sensitive metals such as mercury (Hg). Therefore, inundation history over a period of decades potentially holds information on past...
Geologic map of the Sauvie Island quadrangle, Multnomah and Columbia Counties, Oregon, and Clark County, Washington
Russell C. Evarts, Jim O’Connor, Charles M. Cannon
2016, Scientific Investigations Map 3349
Introduction The Sauvie Island 7.5' quadrangle is situated in the Puget-Willamette Lowland northwest of downtown Portland, Oreg. This lowland, which extends from Puget Sound to west-central Oregon, is a complex structural and topographic trough between the Coast Range and the Cascade Range. Since late Eocene time, the Cascade Range has been...
High-resolution gravity and seismic-refraction surveys of the Smoke Tree Wash area, Joshua Tree National Park, California
Victoria E. Langenheim, Michael J. Rymer, Rufus D. Catchings, Mark R. Goldman, Janet Watt, Robert E. Powell, Jonathan C. Matti
2016, Open-File Report 2016-1027
We describe high-resolution gravity and seismic refraction surveys acquired to determine the thickness of valley-fill deposits and to delineate geologic structures that might influence groundwater flow beneath the Smoke Tree Wash area in Joshua Tree National Park. These surveys identified a sedimentary basin that is fault-controlled. A profile across the...
Physical, chemical, and biological characteristics of selected headwater streams along the Allegheny Front, Blair County, Pennsylvania, July 2011–September 2013
Dennis J. Low, Robin A. Brightbill, Heather L. Eggleston, Jeffrey J. Chaplin
2016, Open-File Report 2015-1173
The Altoona Water Authority (AWA) obtains all of its water supply from headwater streams that drain western Blair County, an area underlain in part by black shale of the Marcellus Formation. Development of the shale-gas reservoirs will require new access roads, stream crossing, drill-pad construction, and pipeline installation, activities that...
Controls on ferromanganese crust composition and reconnaissance resource potential, Ninetyeast Ridge, Indian Ocean
James R. Hein, Tracey A. Conrad, Kira Mizell, Virupaxa K. Banakar, Frederick A. Frey, William W. Sager
2016, Deep-Sea Research Part I: Oceanographic Research Papers (110) 1-19
A reconnaissance survey of Fe-Mn crusts from the 5000 km long (~31°S to 10°N) Ninetyeast Ridge (NER) in the Indian Ocean shows their widespread occurrence along the ridge as well as with water depth on the ridge flanks. The crusts are hydrogenetic based in growth rates and discrimination plots. Twenty...
Are the Columbia River Basalts, Columbia Plateau, Idaho, Oregon, and Washington, USA, a viable geothermal target? A preliminary analysis
Erick R. Burns, Colin F. Williams, Terry Tolan, Joern Ole Kaven
2016, Conference Paper, Proceedings, 41st Workshop on Geothermal Reservoir Engineering
The successful development of a geothermal electric power generation facility relies on (1) the identification of sufficiently high temperatures at an economically viable depth and (2) the existence of or potential to create and maintain a permeable zone (permeability >10-14 m2) of sufficient size to allow efficient long-term extraction of...
Structured heterogeneity in a marine terrace chronosequence: Upland mottling
Marjorie S. Schulz, David A. Stonestrom, Corey R. Lawrence, Thomas D. Bullen, John Fitzpatrick, Emily Kyker-Snowman, Jane Manning, Meagan Mnich
2016, Vadose Zone Journal (15)
Soil mottles generally are interpreted as a product of reducing conditions during periods of water saturation. The upland soils of the Santa Cruz, CA, marine terrace chronosequence display an evolving sequence of reticulate mottling from the youngest soil (65 ka) without mottles to the oldest soil (225 ka) with well-developed...
