Controls on sediment production in two U.S. deserts
Jayne Belnap, Beau J. Walker, Seth M. Munson, Richard A. Gill
2014, Aeolian Research (14) 15-24
Much of the world’s airborne sediment originates from dryland regions. Soil surface disturbances in these regions are ever-increasing due to human activities such as energy and mineral exploration and development, recreation, suburbanization, livestock grazing and cropping. Sediment production can have significant impacts to human health with particles potentially carrying viruses...
Geologic sources and concentrations of selenium in the West-Central Denver Basin, including the Toll Gate Creek watershed, Aurora, Colorado, 2003-2007
Suzanne S. Paschke, Katherine Walton-Day, Jennifer A. Beck, Ank Webbers, Jean A. Dupree
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5099
Toll Gate Creek, in the west-central part of the Denver Basin, is a perennial stream in which concentrations of dissolved selenium have consistently exceeded the Colorado aquatic-life standard of 4.6 micrograms per liter. Recent studies of selenium in Toll Gate Creek identified the Denver lignite zone of the non-marine Cretaceous...
Mercury exposure associated with altered plasma thyroid hormones in the declining western pond turtle (Emys marmorata) from California mountain streams
Erik Meyer, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Donald Sparling, Steve Blumenshine
2014, Environmental Science & Technology (48) 2989-2996
Mercury (Hg) is a global threat to wildlife health that can impair many physiological processes. Mercury has well-documented endocrine activity; however, little work on the effects of Hg on the thyroid hormones triiodothyronine (T3) and thyroxine (T4) in aquatic wildlife exists despite the fact that it is a sensitive endpoint...
Noble gas isotopes in mineral springs within the Cascadia Forearc, Washington and Oregon
Patricia A. McCrory, James E. Constantz, Andrew G. Hunt
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1064
This U.S. Geological Survey report presents laboratory analyses along with field notes for a pilot study to document the relative abundance of noble gases in mineral springs within the Cascadia forearc of Washington and Oregon. Estimates of the depth to the underlying Juan de Fuca oceanic plate beneath the sample...
Little late Holocene strain accumulation and release on the Aleutian megathrust below the Shumagin Islands, Alaska
Robert C. Witter, Richard W. Briggs, Simon E. Engelhart, Guy R. Gelfenbaum, Richard D. Koehler, William D. Barnhart
2014, Geophysical Research Letters (41) 2359-2367
Can a predominantly creeping segment of a subduction zone generate a great (M > 8) earthquake? Despite Russian accounts of strong shaking and high tsunamis in 1788, geodetic observations above the Aleutian megathrust indicate creeping subduction across the Shumagin Islands segment, a well-known seismic gap. Seeking evidence for prehistoric great earthquakes, we...
Controls on methane released through ebullition in peatlands affected by permafrost degradation
Sara J. Klapstein, Merritt R. Turetsky, A. David McGuire, Jennifer W. Harden, C.I. Czimczik, Xiaomei Xu, J. P. Chanton, James Michael Waddington
2014, Journal of Geophysical Research: Biogeosciences (119) 418-431
Permafrost thaw in peat plateaus leads to the flooding of surface soils and the formation of collapse scar bogs, which have the potential to be large emitters of methane (CH4) from surface peat as well as deeper, previously frozen, permafrost carbon (C). We used a network of bubble traps, permanently...
Characterization of the Marcellus Shale based on computer-assisted correlation of wireline logs in Virginia and West Virginia
Catherine B. Enomoto, Ricardo A. Olea, James L. Coleman Jr.
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2013-5131
The Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale in the Appalachian basin extends from central Ohio on the west to eastern New York on the east, and from north-central New York on the north to northern Tennessee on the south. Its thickness ranges from 0 feet (ft) where it pinches out to the...
The chemistry of hydrothermal magnetite: a review
Patrick Nadoll, Thomas Angerer, Jeffrey L. Mauk, David French, John Walshe
2014, Ore Geology Reviews (61) 1-32
Magnetite (Fe3O4) is a well-recognized petrogenetic indicator and is a common accessory mineral in many ore deposits and their host rocks. Recent years have seen an increased interest in the use of hydrothermal magnetite for provenance studies and as a pathfinder for mineral exploration. A number of studies have investigated...
How mangrove forests adjust to rising sea level
Ken W. Krauss, Karen L. McKee, Catherine E. Lovelock, Donald R. Cahoon, Neil Saintilan, Ruth Reef, Luzhen Chen
2014, New Phytologist (202) 19-34
Mangroves are among the most well described and widely studied wetland communities in the world. The greatest threats to mangrove persistence are deforestation and other anthropogenic disturbances that can compromise habitat stability and resilience to sea-level rise. To persist, mangrove ecosystems must adjust to rising sea level by building vertically...
Geologic map of the Kechumstuk fault zone in the Mount Veta area, Fortymile mining district, east-central Alaska
Warren C. Day, J. Michael O’Neill, Cynthia Dusel-Bacon, John N. Aleinikoff, Christopher R. Siron
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3291
This map was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program to depict the fundamental geologic features for the western part of the Fortymile mining district of east-central Alaska, and to delineate the location of known bedrock mineral prospects and their relationship to rock types and structural features.This geospatial...
Geophysical logging of bedrock wells for geothermal gradient characterization in New Hampshire, 2013
James R. Degnan, Gregory Barker, Neil Olson, Leland Wilder
2014, Data Series 823
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the New Hampshire Geological Survey, measured the fluid temperature of groundwater and other geophysical properties in 10 bedrock wells in the State of New Hampshire in order to characterize geothermal gradients in bedrock. The wells selected for the study were deep (five ranging...
A deposit model for carbonatite and peralkaline intrusion-related rare earth element deposits
Philip L. Verplanck, Bradley S. Van Gosen, Robert R. Seal II, Anne E. McCafferty
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5070-J
Carbonatite and alkaline intrusive complexes, as well as their weathering products, are the primary sources of rare earth elements. A wide variety of other commodities have been exploited from carbonatites and alkaline igneous rocks including niobium, phosphate, titanium, vermiculite, barite, fluorite, copper, calcite, and zirconium. Other elements enriched in these...
Wildland fire ash: Production, composition and eco-hydro-geomorphic effects
Merche B. Bodi, Deborah A. Martin, Victoria N. Balfour, Cristina Santin, Stefan H. Doerr, Paulo Pereira, Artemi Cerda, Jorge Mataix-Solera
2014, Earth-Science Reviews (130) 103-127
Fire transforms fuels (i.e. biomass, necromass, soil organic matter) into materials with different chemical and physical properties. One of these materials is ash, which is the particulate residue remaining or deposited on the ground that consists of mineral materials and charred organic components. The quantity and characteristics of ash...
Soil criteria to protect terrestrial wildlife and open-range livestock from metal toxicity at mining sites
Karl L Ford, W. Nelson Beyer
2014, Environmental Monitoring and Assessment (186) 1899-1905
Thousands of hard rock mines exist in the western USA and in other parts of the world as a result of historic and current gold, silver, lead, and mercury mining. Many of these sites in the USA are on public lands. Typical mine waste associated with these sites are tailings...
Porphyry copper assessment of Central America and the Caribbean Basin
Floyd Gray, Jane M. Hammarstrom, Stephen Ludington, Lukas Zürcher, Carl E. Nelson, Gilpin R. Robinson Jr., Robert J. Miller, Barry C. Moring
2014, Scientific Investigations Report 2010-5090-I
Mineral resource assessments provide a synthesis of available information about distributions of mineral deposits in the Earth’s crust. The U.S. Geological Survey prepared a probabilistic mineral resource assessment of undiscovered resources in porphyry copper deposits in Central America and the Caribbean Basin in collaboration with geoscientists from academia and the...
Geologic and geophysical maps of the eastern three-fourths of the Cambria 30' x 60' quadrangle, central California Coast Ranges
R. W. Graymer, V.E. Langenheim, M. A. Roberts, Kristin McDougall
2014, Scientific Investigations Map 3287
The Cambria 30´ x 60´ quadrangle comprises southwestern Monterey County and northwestern San Luis Obispo County. The land area includes rugged mountains of the Santa Lucia Range extending from the northwest to the southeast part of the map; the southern part of the Big Sur coast in the northwest; broad...
Mercury cycling in agricultural and managed wetlands: a synthesis of methylmercury production, hydrologic export, and bioaccumulation from an integrated field study
Lisamarie Windham-Myers, Jacob A. Fleck, Joshua T. Ackerman, Mark C. Marvin-DiPasquale, Craig A. Stricker, Wesley A. Heim, Philip Bachand, Collin A. Eagles-Smith, Gary Gill, Mark Stephenson, Charles N. Alpers
2014, Science of the Total Environment (484) 221-231
With seasonal wetting and drying, and high biological productivity, agricultural wetlands (rice paddies) may enhance the conversion of inorganic mercury (Hg(II)) to methylmercury (MeHg), the more toxic, organic form that biomagnifies through food webs. Yet, the net balance of MeHg sources and sinks in seasonal wetland environments is poorly understood...
Mineral resource of the month: Iron and steel
Michael D. Fenton
2014, Earth
Iron is one of the most abundant elements on Earth, but it does not occur in nature in a useful metallic form. Although ancient people may have recovered some iron from meteorites, it wasn’t until smelting was invented that iron metal could be derived from iron oxides. After the beginning...
Breaking the oceanic lithosphere of a subducting slab: the 2013 Khash, Iran earthquake
William D. Barnhart, Gavin P. Hayes, S. Samsonov, E. Fielding, L. Seidman
2014, Geophysical Research Letters (41) 32-36
[1] Large intermediate depth, intraslab normal faulting earthquakes are a common, dangerous, but poorly understood phenomenon in subduction zones owing to a paucity of near field geophysical observations. Seismological and high quality geodetic observations of the 2013 Mw7.7 Khash, Iran earthquake reveal that at least half of the oceanic lithosphere,...
A radiogenic isotope tracer study of transatlantic dust transport from Africa to the Caribbean
A. Kumar, W. Abouchami, S.J.G. Galer, V.H. Garrison, E. Williams, M.O. Andreae
2014, Atmospheric Environment (82) 130-143
Many studies have suggested that long-range transport of African desert dusts across the Atlantic Ocean occurs, delivering key nutrients and contributing to fertilization of the Amazon rainforest. Here we utilize radiogenic isotope tracers – Sr, Nd and Pb – to derive the provenance, local or remote, and pathways of dust...
Rock-Eval pyrolysis and vitrinite reflectance results from the Sheep Creek 1 well, Susitna basin, south-central Alaska
Richard G. Stanley, Paul G. Lillis, Mark J. Pawlewicz, Peter J. Haeussler
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1307
We used Rock-Eval pyrolysis and vitrinite reflectance to examine the petroleum source potential of rock samples from the Sheep Creek 1 well in the Susitna basin of south-central Alaska. The results show that Miocene nonmarine coal, carbonaceous shale, and mudstone are potential sources of hydrocarbons and are thermally immature with...
A GIS-based vulnerability assessment of brine contamination to aquatic resources from oil and gas development in eastern Sheridan County, Montana
Todd M. Preston, Tara L. Chesley-Preston, Joanna N. Thamke
2014, Science of the Total Environment (472) 1152-1162
Water (brine) co-produced with oil in the Williston Basin is some of the most saline in the nation. The Prairie Pothole Region (PPR), characterized by glacial sediments and numerous wetlands, covers the northern and eastern portion of the Williston Basin. Sheridan County, Montana, lies within the PPR and has a...
Sustainability of water-supply at military installations, Kabul Basin, Afghanistan
Thomas J. Mack, Michael P. Chornack, Ingrid M. Verstraeten
Igor Linkov, editor(s)
2014, Book chapter, Sustainable cities and military installations
The Kabul Basin, including the city of Kabul, Afghanistan, is host to several military installations of Afghanistan, the United States, and other nations that depend on groundwater resources for water supply. These installations are within or close to the city of Kabul. Groundwater also is the potable supply for the...
Use of natural and applied tracers to guide targeted remediation efforts in an acid mine drainage system, Colorado Rockies, USA
Rory Cowie, Mark W. Williams, Mike Wireman, Robert L. Runkel
2014, Water (6) 745-777
Stream water quality in areas of the western United States continues to be degraded by acid mine drainage (AMD), a legacy of hard-rock mining. The Rico-Argentine Mine in southwestern Colorado consists of complex multiple-level mine workings connected to a drainage tunnel discharging AMD to passive treatment ponds that discharge to...
Inference of strata separation and gas emission paths in longwall overburden using continuous wavelet transform of well logs and geostatistical simulation
C. Ozgen Karacan, Ricardo A. Olea
2014, Journal of Applied Geophysics (105) 147-158
Prediction of potential methane emission pathways from various sources into active mine workings or sealed gobs from longwall overburden is important for controlling methane and for improving mining safety. The aim of this paper is to infer strata separation intervals and thus gas emission pathways from standard well log...
