Events affecting gold exploration in Venezuela since 1999
David R. Wilburn
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1068
The structure of the gold mining industry in Venezuela has changed significantly since 1999 as a result of Government policy changes and industry response to these changes. This report documents the policy decisions that have affected the mining industry, discusses the response of the industry on a site by site...
The shallow stratigraphy and sand resources offshore from Cat Island, Mississippi
Jack L. Kindinger, Jennifer L. Miselis, Noreen A. Buster
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1070
In collaboration with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, scientists from the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center collected over 487 line kilometers (> 300 miles) of high-resolution geophysical data around Cat Island, Mississippi, to improve understanding of the island's geologic evolution and identify potential...
Weekly resolution particulate flux from a sediment trap in the northern Gulf of Mexico, 2008-2012
Julie N. Richey, Caitlin E. Reynolds, Eric Tappa, Robert Thunell
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1035
The U.S. Geological Survey anchored a sediment trap in the northern Gulf of Mexico to collect time-series data on sediment flux from 2008 to 2012. There are continuous measurements of total mass flux and organic carbon flux (ogC) at 7–14 day resolution from 2008 to 2012. The flux of calcium...
Comparison of three DNA extraction kits to establish maximum yield and quality of coral-associated microbial DNA
Erin J. Baker, Christina A. Kellogg
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1066
Coral microbiology is an expanding field, yet there is no standard DNA extraction protocol. Although many researchers depend on commercial extraction kits, no specific kit has been optimized for use with coral samples. Both soil and plant DNA extraction kits from MO BIO Laboratories, Inc., have been used by many...
Technical implementation plan for the ShakeAlert production system: an Earthquake Early Warning system for the West Coast of the United States
Douglas D. Given, Elizabeth S. Cochran, Thomas Heaton, Egill Hauksson, Richard Allen, Peggy Hellweg, John Vidale, Paul Bodin
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1097
Earthquake Early Warning (EEW) systems can provide as much as tens of seconds of warning to people and automated systems before strong shaking arrives. The United States Geological Survey (USGS) and its partners are developing such an EEW system, called ShakeAlert, for the West Coast of the United States. This...
State-and-transition prototype model of riparian vegetation downstream of Glen Canyon Dam, Arizona
Barbara E. Ralston, Anthony M. Starfield, Ronald S. Black, Robert A. Van Lonkhuyzen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1095
Facing an altered riparian plant community dominated by nonnative species, resource managers are increasingly interested in understanding how to manage and promote healthy riparian habitats in which native species dominate. For regulated rivers, managing flows is one tool resource managers consider to achieve these goals. Among many factors that can...
Nutrient budgets, marsh inundation under sea-level rise scenarios, and sediment chronologies for the Bass Harbor Marsh estuary at Acadia National Park
Thomas G. Huntington, Charles W. Culbertson, Christopher C. Fuller, Patricia Glibert, Luke Sturtevant
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1031
Eutrophication in the Bass Harbor Marsh estuary on Mount Desert Island, Maine, is an ongoing problem manifested by recurring annual blooms of green macroalgae species, principally Enteromorpha prolifera and Enteromorpha flexuosa, blooms that appear in the spring and summer. These blooms are unsightly and impair the otherwise natural beauty of...
Sediment-hosted gold deposits of the world: Database and grade and tonnage models
Vladimir I. Berger, Dan L. Mosier, James D. Bliss, Barry C. Moring
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1074
All sediment-hosted gold deposits (as a single population) share one characteristic—they all have disseminated micron-sized invisible gold in sedimentary rocks. Sediment-hosted gold deposits are recognized in the Great Basin province of the western United States and in China along with a few recognized deposits in Indonesia, Iran, and Malaysia. Three...
Characterization of potential transport pathways and implications for groundwater management near an anticline in the Central Basin area, Los Angeles County, California
Daniel J. Ponti, Brian J. Wagner, Michael Land, Matthew K. Landon
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1087
The Central Groundwater Basin (Central Basin) of southern Los Angeles County includes ~280 mi2 of the Los Angeles Coastal Plain and serves as the primary source of water for more than two million residents. In the Santa Fe Springs–Whittier–Norwalk area, located in the northeastern part of the basin, several sources...
Seismic profile analysis of sediment deposits in Brownlee and Hells Canyon Reservoirs near Cambridge, Idaho
James Flocks, Kyle Kelso, Ryan Fosness, Chris Welcker
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1019
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) St. Petersburg Coastal and Marine Science Center, in cooperation with the USGS Idaho Water Science Center and the Idaho Power Company, collected high-resolution seismic reflection data in the Brownlee and Hells Canyon Reservoirs, in March of 2013.These reservoirs are located along the Snake River, and...
Geodesy- and geology-based slip-rate models for the Western United States (excluding California) national seismic hazard maps
Mark D. Petersen, Yuehua Zeng, Kathleen M. Haller, Robert McCaffrey, William C. Hammond, Peter Bird, Morgan Moschetti, Zhengkang Shen, Jayne Bormann, Wayne Thatcher
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1293
The 2014 National Seismic Hazard Maps for the conterminous United States incorporate additional uncertainty in fault slip-rate parameter that controls the earthquake-activity rates than was applied in previous versions of the hazard maps. This additional uncertainty is accounted for by new geodesy- and geology-based slip-rate models for the Western United...
1964 Great Alaska Earthquake: a photographic tour of Anchorage, Alaska
Evan E. Thoms, Peter J. Haeussler, Rebecca Anderson, Robert G. McGimsey
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1086
On March 27, 1964, at 5:36 p.m., a magnitude 9.2 earthquake, the largest recorded earthquake in U.S. history, struck southcentral Alaska (fig. 1). The Great Alaska Earthquake (also known as the Good Friday Earthquake) occurred at a pivotal time in the history of earth science, and helped lead to the...
An evaluation of remote sensing technologies for the detection of fugitive contamination at selected Superfund hazardous waste sites in Pennsylvania
E. Terrence Slonecker, Gary B. Fisher
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1081
This evaluation was conducted to assess the potential for using both traditional remote sensing, such as aerial imagery, and emerging remote sensing technology, such as hyperspectral imaging, as tools for postclosure monitoring of selected hazardous waste sites. Sixteen deleted Superfund (SF) National Priorities List (NPL) sites in Pennsylvania were imaged...
Multi-elemental analysis of aqueous geological samples by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry
Todor I. Todorov, Ruth E. Wolf, Monique Adams
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1067
Typically, 27 major, minor, and trace elements are determined in natural waters, acid mine drainage, extraction fluids, and leachates of geological and environmental samples by inductively coupled plasma-optical emission spectrometry (ICP-OES). At the discretion of the analyst, additional elements may be determined after suitable method modifications and performance data are...
Groundwater and surface-water resources in the Bureau of Land Management Moab Master Leasing Plan area and adjacent areas, Grand and San Juan Counties, Utah, and Mesa and Montrose Counties, Colorado
Melissa D. Masbruch, Christopher L. Shope
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1062
The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) Canyon Country District Office is preparing a leasing plan known as the Moab Master Leasing Plan (Moab MLP) for oil, gas, and potash mineral rights in an area encompassing 946,469 acres in southeastern Utah. The BLM has identified water resources as being potentially affected...
Use of satellite imagery to identify vegetation cover changes following the Waldo Canyon Fire event, Colorado, 2012-2013
Christopher J. Cole, Beverly A. Friesen, Earl M. Wilson
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1078
The Waldo Canyon Fire of 2012 was one of the most destructive wildfire events in Colorado history. The fire burned a total of 18,247 acres, claimed 2 lives, and destroyed 347 homes. The Waldo Canyon Fire continues to pose challenges to nearby communities. In a preliminary emergency assessment conducted in...
Groundwater-surface water relations in the Fox River watershed: insights from exploratory studies in Illinois and Wisconsin
P.C. Mills
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1055
Exploratory studies were conducted at sites bordering the Fox River in Waukesha, Wisconsin, during 2010 and McHenry, Illinois, during 2011–13. The objectives of the studies were to assess strategies for the study of and insights into the potential for directly connected groundwater and surface-water systems with natural groundwater discharge to...
Delineation of contributing areas to selected wells in Ingham County, Michigan
Carol L. Luukkonen
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1054
A groundwater-flow model that was constructed in 2009 was updated to reflect recent (2011–12) pumping conditions in the Tri-County region, which consists of Clinton, Eaton, and Ingham Counties, Michigan. As part of local wellhead protection area programs, areas contributing water to local production wells must be periodically updated, because groundwater-flow...
Geologic field notes and geochemical analyses of outcrop and drill core from Mesoproterozoic rocks and iron-oxide deposits and prospects of southeast Missouri
Warren C. Day, Matthew Granitto
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1053
The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Missouri Department of Natural Resources/Missouri Geological Survey, undertook a study from 1988 to 1994 on the iron-oxide deposits and their host Mesoproterozoic igneous rocks in southeastern Missouri. The project resulted in an improvement of our understanding of the geologic setting, mode of...
Precipitation and streamflow data from the Fort Carson Military Reservation and precipitation, streamflow, and suspended-sediment data from the Piñon Canyon Maneuver Site, Southeastern Colorado, 2008-2012
Christopher R. Brown
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1039
In 2013, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), in cooperation with the U. S. Department of the Army, compiled available precipitation and streamflow data for the years of 2008–2012 from the Fort Carson Military Reservation (Fort Carson) near Colorado Springs, Colo., and precipitation, streamflow, and suspended-sediment loads from the Piñon Canyon...
The presence and distribution of polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons and inorganic elements in water and lakebed materials and the potential for bioconcentration in biota at established sampling sites on Lake Powell, Utah and Arizona
Kurt T. Schonauer, Robert J. Hart, Ronald C. Antweiler
2014, Open-File Report 2013-1299
The National Park Service is responsible for monitoring the effects of visitor use on the quality of water, lakebed material (bottom sediments), and biota, in Lake Powell, Utah and Arizona. A sampling program was begun in 2010 to assess the presence, distribution, and concentrations of organic and inorganic compounds in...
A geochemical perspective of Red Mountain: an unmined volcanogenic massive sulfide deposit in the Alaska Range
Stuart A. Giles, Robert G. Eppinger
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1037
The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has investigated the environmental geochemistry of a group of unmined volcanogenic massive sulfide (VMS) deposits in the Bonnifield mining district, Alaska Range, east-central Alaska. The spectacularly colored Red Mountain deposit is the best exposed of these and provides excellent baseline geochemical data for natural environmental...
The Pacific Islands Climate Science Center five-year science agenda, 2014-2018
David Helweg, Sarah A.B. Nash, Dan A. Polhemus
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1075
From the heights of Mauna Kea on Hawaiʻi Island to the depths of the Mariana Trench, from densely populated cities to sparse rural indigenous communities and uninhabited sandy atolls, the Pacific region encompasses diverse associations of peoples and places that are directly affected by changes to the atmosphere, ocean, and...
Geologic framework for the national assessment of carbon dioxide storage resources: U.S. Gulf Coast
Tina L. Roberts-Ashby, Sean T. Brennan, Marc L. Buursink, Jacob A. Covault, William H. Craddock, Ronald M. Drake II, Matthew D. Merrill, Ernie R. Slucher, Peter D. Warwick, Madalyn S. Blondes, Mayur A. Gosai, P.A. Freeman, Steven M. Cahan, Christina A. DeVera, Celeste D. Lohr
Peter D. Warwick, M.D. Corum, editor(s)
2014, Open-File Report 2012-1024-H
This report presents 27 storage assessment units (SAUs) within the United States (U.S.) Gulf Coast. The U.S. Gulf Coast contains a regionally extensive, thick succession of clastics, carbonates, salts, and other evaporites that were deposited in a highly cyclic depositional environment that was subjected to a fluctuating siliciclastic sediment supply...
Spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Green River Formation using Fischer Assay, Piceance Basin, northwestern Colorado
Ronald C. Johnson, Tracey J. Mercier, Michael E. Brownfield
2014, Open-File Report 2014-1059
The spatial and stratigraphic distribution of water in oil shale of the Eocene Green River Formation in the Piceance Basin of northwestern Colorado was studied in detail using some 321,000 Fischer assay analyses in the U.S. Geological Survey oil-shale database. The oil-shale section was subdivided into 17 roughly time-stratigraphic intervals,...
