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USGS2014

Characterization of very-long-period seismicity accompanying summit activity at Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i: 2007-2013

Eruptive activity returned to the summit region of Kīlauea Volcano, Hawai'i with the formation of the “Overlook crater” within the Halema'uma'u Crater in March 2008. The new crater continued to grow through episodic collapse of the crater walls and as of late 2013 had grown into an approximately elliptical opening with dimensions of ~ 160 × 215 m extending to a depth of ~ 200 m. Occasional weak explosive events and a persistent gas plume continued to occur through 2013. Lava was first observed in the new crater in September 2008, and through 2009 the lava level remained deep in the crater and was only occasionally observed. Since early 2010 a lava lake with fluctuating level within the Overlook crater has been nearly continuously present, and has reached to within 22 m of the Overlook crater rim. Volcanic activity at Kīlauea Volcano is episodic at all time scales and the characterization of very-long-period seismicity in the band 2–100 s for the years 2007–2013 illuminates a portion of this broad spectrum of volcanic behavior. Three types of very-long-period events have been observed over this time and each is associated with distinct processes. Type 1 events are associated with vigorous degassing and occurred primarily between 2007 and 2009. Type 2 events are associated with rockfalls onto the lava lake and occurred primarily after early 2010. Both of these event types are induced by pressure and momentum changes at the top of the magma column that are transmitted downward to a source centroid ~ 1 km below the northeast corner of the Halema'uma'u Crater where the energy couples to the solid Earth at a geometrical discontinuity in the underlying dike system. Type 3 events are not related to surficial phenomena but are associated with transients in mass transfer that occur within the dike system. Very-long-period tremor has also accompanied the return of eruptive activity, with increasing amplitude associated with hours- to months-long changes in gas emission rates and summit deformation.

Hawaii↗

USGS1991

Fractal patterns of fractures in granites

Fractal measurements using the Cantor's dust method in a linear one-dimensional analysis mode were made on the fracture patterns revealed on two-dimensional, planar surfaces in four granites. This method allows one to conclude that: (1)|The fracture systems seen on two-dimensional surfaces in granites are consistent with the part of fractal theory that predicts a repetition of patterns on different scales of observation, self similarity. Fractal analysis gives essentially the same values of D on the scale of kilometres, metres and centimetres (five orders of magnitude) using mapped, surface fracture patterns in a Sierra Nevada granite batholith (Mt. Abbot quadrangle, Calif.). (2)|Fractures show the same fractal values at different depths in a given batholith. Mapped fractures (main stage ore veins) at three mining levels (over a 700 m depth interval) of the Boulder batholith, Butte, Mont. show the same fractal values although the fracture disposition appears to be different at different levels. (3)|Different sets of fracture planes in a granite batholith, Central France, and in experimental deformation can have different fractal values. In these examples shear and tension modes have the same fractal values while compressional fractures follow a different fractal mode of failure. The composite fracture patterns are also fractal but with a different, median, fractal value compared to the individual values for the fracture plane sets. These observations indicate that the fractal method can possibly be used to distinguish fractures of different origins in a complex system. It is concluded that granites fracture in a fractal manner which can be followed at many scales. It appears that fracture planes of different origins can be characterized using linear fractal analysis.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters↗

USGS2012

A robust method to forecast volcanic ash clouds

Ash clouds emanating from volcanic eruption columns often form trails of ash extending thousands of kilometers through the Earth's atmosphere, disrupting air traffic and posing a significant hazard to air travel. To mitigate such hazards, the community charged with reducing flight risk must accurately assess risk of ash ingestion for any flight path and provide robust forecasts of volcanic ash dispersal. In response to this need, a number of different transport models have been developed for this purpose and applied to recent eruptions, providing a means to assess uncertainty in forecasts. Here we provide a framework for optimal forecasts and their uncertainties given any model and any observational data. This involves random sampling of the probability distributions of input (source) parameters to a transport model and iteratively running the model with different inputs, each time assessing the predictions that the model makes about ash dispersal by direct comparison with satellite data. The results of these comparisons are embodied in a likelihood function whose maximum corresponds to the minimum misfit between model output and observations. Bayes theorem is then used to determine a normalized posterior probability distribution and from that a forecast of future uncertainty in ash dispersal. The nature of ash clouds in heterogeneous wind fields creates a strong maximum likelihood estimate in which most of the probability is localized to narrow ranges of model source parameters. This property is used here to accelerate probability assessment, producing a method to rapidly generate a prediction of future ash concentrations and their distribution based upon assimilation of satellite data as well as model and data uncertainties. Applying this method to the recent eruption of Eyjafjallajökull in Iceland, we show that the 3 and 6 h forecasts of ash cloud location probability encompassed the location of observed satellite-determined ash cloud loads, providing an efficient means to assess all of the hazards associated with these ash clouds.

Journal of Geophysical Research D: Atmospheres↗

USGS2021

Geometry of the décollement below eastern Bangladesh and implications for seismic hazard

Eastern Bangladesh sits on the seismically active Chittagong-Myanmar fold and thrust belt (CMFB), a north-trending accretionary wedge on the eastern side of the India-Eurasia collision. Earthquakes on the basal décollement and associated thrusts within the CMFB present a hazard to this densely populated region. In this study, we interpret 28 seismic reflection profiles from both published and unpublished sources to constrain the depth of the basal décollement. To convert profiles from the time domain to the depth domain, we integrate sonic log and seismic stacking velocity data to generate time-velocity relationships for different parts of the CMFB. Our analysis reveals that the décollement is ∼9 km deep in northeast and southeast Bangladesh, but shallows to ∼5 km in east-central Bangladesh. The décollement has an area of 7.25 × 10 4 km 2 (∼150 × 450 km), making it capable of an Mw 8.5 earthquake. However, the warped geometry of this fault might act as a rupture barrier were a large earthquake to occur on the décollement. Our combined velocity and fault model lay the groundwork for future studies to address seismic segmentation, ground shaking, and rupture modeling in the CMFB. Finally, we use our compiled data set to analyze the evolution of fold kinematics in the CMFB. We observe that folding style and failure mode varies, from mainly ductile deformation in the foreland to mainly brittle in the hinterland. The dual-failure modes within the CMFB support the hypothesis that a region with ductile deformation may still be capable of seismic behavior.

Journal of Geophysical Research: Solid Earth↗

USGS2012

Seismic constraints on the nature of lower crustal reflectors beneath the extending Southern Transition Zone of the Colorado Plateau, Arizona

We determine the reflection polarity and exploit variations in P and S wave reflectivity and P wave amplitude versus offset (AVO) to constrain the origin of lower crustal reflectivity observed on new three-component seismic data recorded across the structural transition of the Colorado Plateau. The near vertical incidence reflection data were collected by Stanford University in 1989 as part of the U.S. Geological Survey Pacific to Arizona Crustal Experiment that traversed the Arizona Transition Zone of the Colorado Plateau. The results of independent waveform modeling methods are consistent with much of the lower crustal reflectivity resulting from thin, high-impedance layers. The reflection polarity of the cleanest lower crustal events is positive, which implies that these reflections result from high-velocity contrasts, and the waveform character indicates that the reflectors are probably layers less than or approximately equal to 200 m thick. The lower crustal events are generally less reflective to incident S waves than to P waves, which agrees with the predicted behavior of high-velocity mafic layering. Analysis of the P wave AVO character of lower crustal reflections demonstrates that the events maintain a constant amplitude with offset, which is most consistent with a mafic-layering model. One exception is a high-amplitude (10 dB above background) event near the base of lower crustal reflectivity which abruptly decreases in amplitude at increasing offsets. The event has a pronounced S wave response, which along with its negative AVO trend is a possible indication of the presence of fluids in the lower crust. The Arizona Transition Zone is an active but weakly extended province, which causes us to discard models of lower crustal layering resulting from shearing because of the high degree of strain required to create such layers. Instead, we favor horizontal basaltic intrusions as the primary origin of high-impedance reflectors based on (1) The fact that most xenoliths in eruptive basalts of the Transition Zone are of mafic igneous composition, (2) indications that a pulse of magmatic activity crossed the Transition Zone in the late Tertiary period, and (3) the high regional heat flow observed in the Transition Zone. The apparent presence of fluids near the base of the reflective zone may indicate a partially molten intrusion. We present a mechanism by which magma can be trapped and be induced to intrude horizontally at rheologic contrasts in extending crust.

Arizona↗

USGS2012

Morphometric variability within the axial zone of the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge: Interpretation from Sea MARC II, Sea MARC I, and deep-sea photography

The morphometric characteristics of the axial regions of oceanic spreading centers are determined by (1) the type of volcanic flows, (2) the relation between primary volcanic relief (on a scale of a few meters to tens of meters) and degree of sediment cover, and (3) the extent of surficial expression and timing of tectonic disruption of the young oceanic crust. Even within a single, continuous, linear spreading-ridge segment with relatively uniform axial valley dimensions over a distance of 50 or more kilometers, such as along the southern Juan de Fuca Ridge, the changes in morphometric characteristics along axis within the youngest crust indicate distinct variation in tectonic and volcanic activity over short distances within short time periods. An integrated analysis of Sea MARC I, Sea MARC II, and photographic data for the southernmost continuous segment of the Juan de Fuca Ridge shows that generalizations about tectonic and volcanic processes at spreading ridges must consider both the temporal scale of processes as well as the physical scales of observations if predictive models are to be successful. Comparison of the morphometric expression within the major hydrothermal vent area and the rest of the southernmost ridge segment suggests that the mapped distribution of hydrothermal vents may reflect the extent of survey effort rather than uniqueness of geologic setting.

Journal of Geophysical Research B: Solid Earth↗

USGS2014

Fluctuations of water‐surface in observation‐wells and at stream gaging‐stations in the Mokelumne Area, California, during the earthquake of December 20, 1932

On December 20, 1932, much of the western United States felt a pronounced earthquake‐shock which caused noticeable fluctuations of the water‐surface in several observation‐wells and at two stream gaging‐stations in the Mokelumne Area, central California. These effects of the earthquake are reported briefly in this paper. According to Dr. Byerly (personal communication, February 9, 1933), in charge of the seismograph‐station of the University of California at Berkeley, the earthquake‐ vibrations at that place began at 10 h 11 m 00 s p.m., Pacific Standard Time, December 20, 1932, and continued three hours on the records of his most sensitive instruments. He reports further that the maximum double amplitude of the Earth‐motion at Berkeley was of the order of two mm and that the north‐south and east‐west components of the amplitude were approximately equal. In the Mokelumne Area, which centers about the City of Lodi, 57 miles north 70° east from the seismograph‐station at Berkeley, the pronounced initial Earth‐shock caused chandeliers to sway, upset some bric‐a‐brac, and in at least one building opened a few cracks in the interior plastering. At Stockton, 15 miles south of Lodi, the glass of at least one display‐window in a shop was cracked.

California↗

USGS2008

Investigation and hazard assessment of the 2003 and 2007 Staircase Falls rock falls, Yosemite National Park, California, USA

Since 1857 more than 600 rock falls, rock slides, debris slides, and debris flows have been documented in Yosemite National Park, with rock falls in Yosemite Valley representing the majority of the events. On 26 December 2003, a rock fall originating from west of Glacier Point sent approximately 200 m 3 of rock debris down a series of joint-controlled ledges to the floor of Yosemite Valley. The debris impacted talus near the base of Staircase Falls, producing fragments of flying rock that struck occupied cabins in Curry Village. Several years later on 9 June 2007, and again on 26 July 2007, smaller rock falls originated from the same source area. The 26 December 2003 event coincided with a severe winter storm and was likely triggered by precipitation and/or frost wedging, but the 9 June and 26 July 2007 events lack recognizable triggering mechanisms. We investigated the geologic and hydrologic factors contributing to the Staircase Falls rock falls, including bedrock lithology, weathering, joint spacing and orientations, and hydrologic processes affecting slope stability. We improved upon previous geomorphic assessment of rock-fall hazards, based on a shadow angle approach, by using STONE, a three-dimensional rock-fall simulation computer program. STONE produced simulated rock-fall runout patterns similar to the mapped extent of the 2003 and 2007 events, allowing us to simulate potential future rock falls from the Staircase Falls detachment area. Observations of recent rock falls, mapping of rock debris, and simulations of rock fall runouts beneath the Staircase Falls detachment area suggest that rock-fall hazard zones extend farther downslope than the extent previously defined by mapped surface talus deposits.

Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences↗

USGS2020

Ancient Martian aeolian sand dune deposits recorded in the stratigraphy of Valles Marineris and implications for past climates

Aeolian sediment transport, deposition, and erosion have been ongoing throughout Mars's history. This record of widespread aeolian processes is preserved in landforms and geologic units that retain important clues about past environmental conditions including wind patterns. In this study we describe landforms within Melas Chasma, Valles Marineris, that occur in distinct groups with linear to crescentic shapes, arranged with a characteristic wavelength; some possess slope profiles analogous to modern sand dunes yet show evidence for lithification. Based on the features' dimensions, asymmetry, and spatial patterns relative to modern equivalents, we interpret these landforms to be two classes of aeolian bedforms: decameter‐scale megaripples and sand dunes. The presence of superposed erosional features and depositional units indicates that these landforms were cemented and likely ancient. Melas paleodunes are found atop Hesperian‐aged layered deposits, but we estimate them to be younger, likely lithified in the Amazonian period. Although a range of degradation was observed, some paleodunes are >10 m tall and maintain steep lee sides (>25°), an uncommon scenario for terrestrial examples as other geologic processes lead to dune obliteration. The preserved paleobedform geometries are largely consistent with those of modern aeolian indicators, suggesting no major shifts in wind regime or contributing boundary conditions. Finally, we propose that their appearance and context require sequential periods of dune migration, stabilization following catastrophic burial, cementation, differential erosion, exposure, and burial. The presence of wholly preserved duneforms appears to be more common on Mars compared to the Earth and may signal something important about Martian landscape evolution.

Journal of Geophysical Research: Planets↗

USGS2022

Orbital and in-situ investigation of periodic bedrock ridges in Glen Torridon, Gale Crater, Mars

Wind has been the dominant agent of landscape modification on Mars for the past ~3 billion years. Among the diversity of features formed by aeolian abrasion on the surface of Mars are periodic bedrock ridges (PBRs), a relatively recently recognized class of erosional bedforms on Mars for which Earth analogues are rare. Gale crater, the field site for NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover since it landed there in 2012, contains a diverse and extensive record of aeolian deposition and erosion. This study focuses on a series of periodic, linear bedrock ridges that occur within the Fe/Mg-smectite clay-bearing Glen Torridon region of Aeolis Mons (informally Mount Sharp). During Curiosity’s exploration of the Glen Torridon region between sols ~2300-3080, the rover drove through this field of ridges, providing the first opportunity for the in situ observation of these enigmatic erosional features. This study characterizes the Glen Torridon ridges using orbiter and rover data to determine their morphology, spatial distribution, compositional and material properties, and association with other aeolian features in the area. Based on these observations, the Glen Torridon ridges are interpreted to be consistent with an origin as wind-eroded periodic bedrock ridges carved during the most recent exhumation of Mount Sharp into the present-day mound. Although there is evidence for multidirectional winds in the Glen Torridon region based on the orientation of modern ripples, megaripples, TARs and other bedrock indicators, the consistent orientation of the Glen Torridon ridges, coupled with morphologic asymmetries within the ridges, support formation and elongation of the Glen Torridon PBRs forms parallel to a net regional northerly wind direction in and around Gale crater.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗

USGS2025

Advancing current understanding of Martian impact-generated hydrothermal systems through novel coupled modeling: Insights from Gale, Jezero, and other craters

Impact-generated hydrothermal systems are considered potentially habitable environments on Mars, Earth, and other planetary bodies for microbial life. However, there is an ongoing debate regarding what geological features on Mars provide definitive evidence for such systems. Although earlier studies have modeled hydrothermal processes in Martian craters, they often lacked integration with shock physics hydrocodes to constrain initial impact conditions. The importance of this two-code coupling was demonstrated by successfully replicating alteration signatures in the Earth's Haughton impact structure. In this study, we use a similar two-code approach, combining the iSALE hydrocode with the HYDROTHERM hydrothermal model to simulate the full evolution of impact-generated hydrothermal systems. We apply this method to craters the size of Jezero (∼50 km) and Gale (∼154 km) in diameter. Although Jezero's interior is largely buried, our results align with hypothesized hydrothermal vents and alteration minerals near central uplifts in similarly sized exposed craters, such as Toro and Auki. Furthermore, our models correspond to alteration patterns observed by the Curiosity in the lower layers of Mount Sharp, which may represent remnants of impact-driven hydrothermal activity. A key finding is that these systems may persist much longer than previously estimated. Our simulations suggest that a Jezero-sized system could remain habitable for thermophiles for approximately 720,000 years, whereas a Gale-sized system could persist for nearly 2 million years. Additionally, simulations under unsaturated crustal conditions reveal that air-dominated near-surface layers can suppress vertical fluid flow, enabling deep subsurface alteration without producing detectable mineral signatures at the surface.

Journal of Geophysical Research - Planets↗

USGS2012

Three-dimensional modeling of pull-apart basins: implications for the tectonics of the Dead Sea Basin

We model the three-dimensional (3-D) crustal deformation in a deep pull-apart basin as a result of relative plate motion along a transform system and compare the results to the tectonics of the Dead Sea Basin. The brittle upper crust is modeled by a boundary element technique as an elastic block, broken by two en echelon semi-infinite vertical faults. The deformation is caused by a horizontal displacement that is imposed everywhere at the bottom of the block except in a stress-free “shear zone” in the vicinity of the fault zone. The bottom displacement represents the regional relative plate motion. Results show that the basin deformation depends critically on the width of the shear zone and on the amount of overlap between basin-bounding faults. As the width of the shear zone increases, the depth of the basin decreases, the rotation around a vertical axis near the fault tips decreases, and the basin shape (the distribution of subsidence normalized by the maximum subsidence) becomes broader. In contrast, two-dimensional plane stress modeling predicts a basin shape that is independent of the width of the shear zone. Our models also predict full-graben profiles within the overlapped region between bounding faults and half-graben shapes elsewhere. Increasing overlap also decreases uplift near the fault tips and rotation of blocks within the basin. We suggest that the observed structure of the Dead Sea Basin can be described by a 3-D model having a large overlap (more than 30 km) that probably increased as the basin evolved as a result of a stable shear motion that was distributed laterally over 20 to 40 km.

Dead Sea Basin↗

USGS2014

Temperature data acquired from the DOI/GTN-P Deep Borehole Array on the Arctic Slope of Alaska, 1973-2013

A homogeneous set of temperature measurements obtained from the DOI/GTN-P Deep Borehole Array between 1973 and 2013 is presented; DOI/GTN-P is the US Department of the Interior contribution to the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost (GTN-P). The 23-element array is located on the Arctic Slope of Alaska, a region of cold continuous permafrost. Most of the monitoring wells are situated on the Arctic coastal plain between the Brooks Range and the Arctic Ocean, while others are in the foothills to the south. The data represent the true temperatures in the wellbores and surrounding rocks at the time of the measurements; they have not been corrected to remove the thermal disturbance caused by drilling the wells. With a few exceptions, the drilling disturbance is estimated to have been on the order of 0.1 K or less by 1989. Thus, most of the temperature measurements acquired during the last 25 yr are little affected by the drilling disturbance. The data contribute to ongoing efforts to monitor changes in the thermal state of permafrost in both hemispheres by the Global Terrestrial Network for Permafrost, one of the primary subnetworks of the Global Terrestrial Observing System (GTOS). The data will also be useful for refining our basic understanding of the physical conditions in permafrost in Arctic Alaska, as well as providing important information for validating predictive models used for climate impact assessments. The processed data are available from the Advanced Cooperative Arctic Data and Information Service (ACADIS) repository at doi:10.5065/D6N014HK.

Alaska↗

USGS2021

A Bayesian nonparametric approach to unmixing detrital geochronologic data

Sedimentary deposits constitute the primary record of changing environmental conditions that have acted on Earth’s surface over geologic time. Clastic material is eroded from source locations (parents) in sediment routing systems and deposited at sink locations (children). Both parents and children have characteristics that vary across many different dimensions, including grain size, chemical composition, and the geochronologic age of constituent detrital minerals. During transport, sediment from different parents is mixed together to form a child, which in turn may serve as the parent for other sediment farther down-system or later in time when buried sediment is exhumed. The distribution of detrital mineral ages observed in parent and child sediments allows for investigation of the proportion of each parent in the child sediment, which reflects the properties of the sediment routing system. To model the proportion of dates in a child sample that comes from each of the parent distributions, we use a Bayesian mixture of Dirichlet processes. This model enables us to estimate the mixing proportions with associated uncertainty while making minimal assumptions. We also present an extension to the model whereby we reconstruct unobserved parent distributions from multiple observed child distributions using mixtures of Dirichlet processes. The model accounts for uncertainty in both the number of mineral formation events that constitute each parent distribution and the mixing proportions of each parent distribution that constitutes a child distribution. To demonstrate the model, we perform analyses using simulated data where the true age distribution is known as well as using a real-world case study from the coast of central California, USA.

Mathematical Geosciences↗

USGS2016

Oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and carbon isotopes in the Pea Ridge magnetite-apatite deposit, southeast Missouri, and sulfur isotope comparisons to other iron deposits in the region

Oxygen, hydrogen, sulfur, and carbon isotopes have been analyzed in the Pea Ridge magnetite-apatite deposit, the largest historic producer among the known iron deposits in the southeast Missouri portion of the 1.5 to 1.3 Ga eastern granite-rhyolite province. The data were collected to investigate the sources of ore fluids, conditions of ore formation, and provenance of sulfur, and to improve the general understanding of the copper, gold, and rare earth element potential of iron deposits regionally. The δ 18 O values of Pea Ridge magnetite are 1.9 to 4.0‰, consistent with a model in which some magnetite crystallized from a melt and other magnetite—perhaps the majority—precipitated from an aqueous fluid of magmatic origin. The δ 18 O values of quartz, apatite, actinolite, K-feldspar, sulfates, and calcite are significantly higher, enough so as to indicate growth or equilibration under cooler conditions than magnetite and/or in the presence of a fluid that was not entirely magmatic. A variety of observations, including stable isotope observations, implicate a second fluid that may ultimately have been meteoric in origin and may have been modified by isotopic exchange with rocks or by evaporation during storage in lakes. Sulfur isotope analyses of sulfides from Pea Ridge and seven other mineral deposits in the region reveal two distinct populations that average 3 and 13‰. Two sulfur sources are implied. One was probably igneous melts or rocks belonging to the mafic- to intermediate-composition volcanic suite that is present at or near most of the iron deposits; the other was either melts or volcanic rocks that had degassed very extensively, or else volcanic lakes that had trapped rising magmatic gases. The higher δ 34 S values correspond to deposits or prospects where copper is noteworthy—the Central Dome portion of the Boss deposit, the Bourbon deposit, and the Vilander prospective area. The correspondence suggests that (1) sulfur either limited the deposition of copper or was cotransported with copper, and (2) sulfur isotope analysis may be useful in evaluating southeast Missouri iron deposits for copper and possibly for gold.

Missouri↗

USGS2017

Mineral-deposit model for lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites

Lithium-cesium-tantalum (LCT) pegmatites comprise a compositionally defined subset of granitic pegmatites. The major minerals are quartz, potassium feldspar, albite, and muscovite; typical accessory minerals include biotite, garnet, tourmaline, and apatite. The principal lithium ore minerals are spodumene, petalite, and lepidolite; cesium mostly comes from pollucite; and tantalum mostly comes from columbite-tantalite. Tin ore as cassiterite and beryllium ore as beryl also occur in LCT pegmatites, as do a number of gemstones and high-value museum specimens of rare minerals. Individual crystals in LCT pegmatites can be enormous: the largest spodumene was 14 meters long, the largest beryl was 18 meters long, and the largest potassium feldspar was 49 meters long. Lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites account for about one-fourth of the world’s lithium production, most of the tantalum production, and all of the cesium production. Giant deposits include Tanco in Canada, Greenbushes in Australia, and Bikita in Zimbabwe. The largest lithium pegmatite in the United States, at King’s Mountain, North Carolina, is no longer being mined although large reserves of lithium remain. Depending on size and attitude of the pegmatite, a variety of mining techniques are used, including artisanal surface mining, open-pit surface mining, small underground workings, and large underground operations using room-and-pillar design. In favorable circumstances, what would otherwise be gangue minerals (quartz, potassium feldspar, albite, and muscovite) can be mined along with lithium and (or) tantalum as coproducts. Most LCT pegmatites are hosted in metamorphosed supracrustal rocks in the upper greenschist to lower amphibolite facies. Lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite intrusions generally are emplaced late during orogeny, with emplacement being controlled by pre-existing structures. Typically, they crop out near evolved, peraluminous granites and leucogranites from which they are inferred to be derived by fractional crystallization. In cases where a parental granite pluton is not exposed, one is inferred to lie at depth. Lithium-cesium-tantalum LCT pegmatite melts are enriched in fluxing components including H2O, F, P, and B, which depress the solidus temperature, lower the density, and increase rates of ionic diffusion. This, in turn, enables pegmatites to form thin dikes and massive crystals despite having a felsic composition and temperatures that are significantly lower than ordinary granitic melts. Lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites crystallized at remarkably low temperatures (about 350–550 °C) in a remarkably short time (days to years). Lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites form in orogenic hinterlands as products of plate convergence. Most formed during collisional orogeny (for example, Kings Mountain district, North Carolina). Specific causes of LCT pegmatite-related magmatism could include: ordinary arc processes; over thickening of continental crust during collision or subduction; slab breakoff during or after collision; slab delamination before, during, or after collision; and late collisional extensional collapse and consequent decompression melting. Lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatite deposits are present in all continents including Antarctica and in rocks spanning 3 billion years of Earth history. The global age distribution of LCT pegmatites is similar to those of common pegmatites, orogenic granites, and detrital zircons. Peak times of LCT pegmatite genesis at about 2640, 1800, 960, 485, and 310 Ma (million years before present) correspond to times of collisional orogeny and supercontinent assembly. Between these pulses were long intervals when few or no LCT pegmatites formed. These minima overlap with supercontinent tenures at ca. 2450–2225, 1625–1000, 875–725, and 250–200 Ma. Exploration and assessment for LCT pegmatites are guided by a number of observations. In frontier areas where exploration has been minimal at best, the key first-order criteria are an orogenic hinterland setting, appropriate regional metamorphic grades, and the presence of evolved granites and common granitic pegmatites. New LCT pegmatites are most likely to be found near known deposits. Pegmatites tend to show a regional mineralogical and geochemical zoning pattern with respect to the inferred parental granite, with the greatest enrichment in the more distal pegmatites. Mineral-chemical trends in common pegmatites that can point toward an evolved LCT pegmatite include: increasing rubidium in potassium feldspar, increasing lithium in white mica, increasing manganese in garnet, and increasing tantalum and manganese in columbite-tantalite. Most LCT pegmatite bodies show a distinctive internal zonation featuring four zones: border, wall, intermediate (where lithium, cesium, and tantalum are generally concentrated), and core. This zonation is expressed both in cross section and map view; thus, what may appear to be a common pegmatite may instead be the edge of a mineralized body. Neither lithium-cesium-tantalum pegmatites nor their parental granites are likely to cause serious environmental concerns. Soils and country rock surrounding a LCT pegmatite, as well as waste from mining operations, may be enriched in characteristic elements relative to global average soil and bedrock values. These elements may include lithium, cesium, tantalum, beryllium, boron, fluorine, phosphorus, manganese, gallium, rubidium, niobium, tin, and hafnium. Among this suite of elements, however, the only ones that might present a concern for environmental health are beryllium and fluorine, which are included in the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency drinking-water regulations with maximum contaminant levels of 4 micrograms per liter and 4 milligrams per liter, respectively.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

USGS2012

Exploring the Earth's crust: History and results of controlled-source seismology

This volume contains a comprehensive, worldwide history of seismological studies of the Earth’s crust using controlled sources from 1850 to 2005. Essentially all major seismic projects on land and the most important oceanic projects are covered. The time period 1850 to 1939 is presented as a general synthesis, and from 1940 onward the history and results are presented in separate chapters for each decade, with the material organized by geographical region. Each chapter highlights the major advances achieved during that decade in terms of data acquisition, processing technology, and interpretation methods. For all major seismic projects, the authors provide specific details on field observations, interpreted crustal cross sections, and key references. They conclude with global and continental-scale maps of all field measurements and interpreted Moho contours. An accompanying DVD contains important out-of-print publications and an extensive collection of controlled-source data, location maps, and crustal cross sections.

GSA Memoir↗

USGS2018

Seismicity induced by wastewater injection in Washington County, Ohio: Influence of preexisting structure, regional stress regime, and well operations

Recent seismicity in Washington County, Ohio, has been suggested to be induced by wastewater disposal operations despite injection ~2 km above the Precambrian basement. We investigated the relationships between disposal well locations and operational histories, spatiotemporal patterns of seismicity enhanced by waveform correlation, and mapped subsurface structures. We also analyzed proxies for in situ stress conditions to evaluate existing principal stress orientations and magnitudes. Double‐difference relocations of small ( M L ≤ 2.1) seismicity revealed linear clusters defining a NE‐SW orientation that parallels the trend of small‐amplitude folds in Upper Paleozoic rocks within 1–2 km of the injection well. Hypocenter depths of ~3.1 to 4.3 km indicate seismicity occurred along faults below the Silurian injection interval in lower Paleozoic strata and Precambrian crystalline basement. Similar folds/faults imaged in nearby seismic reflection lines were associated with basement‐involved fault systems that cut the injection interval targeted by the injection well, providing permeability pathways for fluid pressure increases that initiated slip. Interpreted faults were also optimally oriented in the regional stress field for reactivation due to injection‐related decreases in effective stress. Well completion records suggest that during the recorded seismicity, the Long Run‐1 well was injecting disposal fluids close to or above the fracture pressure of the targeted Silurian injection interval. A comparison of observed seismicity rates and monthly injection records from the disposal well also indicate a close correspondence between earthquake frequency and injection rate. Taken together, these results provide a physical framework for understanding why wastewater disposal operations induced the Washington County seismic sequence.

Ohio↗