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Eric D. Anderson

Publications and source records attributed to Eric D. Anderson.

50 records · Page 3Linked to original sources

Book review: Economic geology: Principles and practice: Metals, minerals, coal and hydrocarbons—Introduction to formation and sustainable exploitation of mineral deposits

This volume, available in both hardcover and paperback, is an English translation of the fifth edition of the German language text Mineralische und Energie-Rohstoffe. The book provides an extensive overview of natural resources and societal issues associated with extracting raw materials. The comprehensive list of raw materials discussed includes metals, industrial minerals, coal, and hydrocarbons. The book is divided into four parts: (1) “Metalliferous ore deposits,” (2) “Nonmetallic minerals and rocks,” (3) “Practice of economic geology,” and (4) “Fossil energy raw materials—coal, oil, and gas.” These sections are bound by a brief introduction and an extensive list of up-to-date references as well as an index. Each chapter begins with a concise synopsis and concludes with a summary that contains useful suggestions for additional reading. All figures are grayscale images and line drawings; however, several have been grouped together and reproduced as color plates. Also included is a companion website ( www.wiley.com/go/pohl/geology ) that contains additional resources, such as digital copies of figures, tables, and an expanded index, all available for download in easy-to-use formats. Economic Geology: Principles and Practice: Metals, Minerals, Coal and Hydrocarbons—Introduction to Formation and Sustainable Exploitation of Mineral Deposits. Walter l. Pohl. 2011. Wiley-Blackwell. Pp. 663. ISBN 978-1-4443-3663-4 (paperback).

Economic Geology↗

Tectonic setting of the pebble and other copper-gold-molybdenum porphyry deposits within the evolving middle cretaceous continental margin of Northwestern North America

The Pebble Cu-Au-Mo deposit in southwestern Alaska, containing the largest gold resource of any known porphyry in the world, developed in a tectonic setting significantly different from that of the present-day. It is one of a series of metalliferous middle Cretaceous porphyritic granodiorite, quartz monzonite, and diorite bodies, evolved from lower crust and metasomatized lithospheric mantle melts, which formed along much of the length of the North American craton suture with the Peninsular-Alexander-Wrangellia arc. The porphyry deposits were emplaced within the northernmost two of a series of ca. 130 to 80 Ma flysch basins that define the suture, as well as into arc rocks immediately seaward of the two basins. Deposits include the ca. 100 to 90 Ma Pebble, Neacola, and other porphyry prospects along the Kahiltna basin-Peninsula terrane boundary, and the ca. 115 to 105 Ma Baultoff, Carl Creek, Horsfeld, Orange Hill, Bond Creek, and Chisna porphyries along the Nutzotin basin-Wrangellia terrane boundary. The porphyry deposits probably formed along the craton margin more than 1,000 km to the south of their present latitude. Palinspastic reconstructions of plate kinematics from this period are particularly difficult because magmatism overlaps the 119 to 83 Ma Cretaceous Normal Superchron, a period when sea-floor magnetic data are lacking. Our favored scenario is that ore formation broadly overlaps the cessation of sedimentation and contraction and the transition to a transpressional continental margin regime, such that the remnant ocean basins were converted to strike-slip basins. The basins and outboard Peninsular-Alexander-Wrangellia composite superterrane, which are all located seaward of the deep crustal Denali-Farewell fault system, were subjected to northerly dextral transpression for as long as perhaps 50 m.y., beginning at ca. 95 ± 10 Ma. The onset of this transpression was marked by development of the mineralized bodies along fault segments on the seaward side of the basins. Geochemical and radiogenic isotopic data for igneous rocks associated with the Pebble porphyry deposit suggest continuous melt derivation from enriched lithosphere of a recently metasomatized mantle. These geochemical characteristics, coupled with the arc-continent-related collisional setting, suggest that lithospheric thickening and postcollisional lithospheric melting are the most likely cause of the ore-related magmatism. Subsequent to translation of the Alaskan margin terranes and early Tertiary oroclinal bending of Alaska, the northernmost Kahiltna basin and the Pebble deposit, as well as the other porphyry systems, reached their present-day locations along southern Alaska.

Alaska, Yukon↗

Geological analysis of aeromagnetic data from southwestern Alaska: Implications for exploration in the area of the Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit

Aeromagnetic data are used to better understand the geology and mineral resources near the Late Cretaceous Pebble porphyry Cu-Au-Mo deposit in southwestern Alaska. The reduced-to-pole (RTP) transformation of regional-scale aeromagnetic data shows that the Pebble deposit is within a cluster of magnetic anomaly highs. Similar to Pebble, the Iliamna, Kijik, and Neacola porphyry copper occurrences are in magnetic highs that trend northeast along the crustal-scale Lake Clark fault. A high-amplitude, short- to moderate-wavelength anomaly is centered over the Kemuk occurrence, an Alaska-type ultramafic complex. Similar anomalies are found west and north of Kemuk. A moderate-amplitude, moderate-wavelength magnetic low surrounded by a moderate-amplitude, short-wavelength magnetic high is associated with the gold-bearing Shotgun intrusive complex. The RTP transformation of the district-scale aeromagnetic data acquired over Pebble permits differentiation of a variety of Jurassic to Tertiary magmatic rock suites. Jurassic-Cretaceous basalt and gabbro units and Late Cretaceous biotite pyroxenite and granodiorite rocks produce magnetic highs. Tertiary basalt units also produce magnetic highs, but appear to be volumetrically minor. Eocene monzonite units have associated magnetic lows. The RTP data do not suggest a magnetite-rich hydrothermal system at the Pebble deposit. The 10-km upward continuation transformation of the regional-scale data shows a linear northeast trend of magnetic anomaly highs. These anomalies are spatially correlated with Late Cretaceous igneous rocks and in the Pebble district are centered over the granodiorite rocks genetically related to porphyry copper systems. The spacing of these anomalies is similar to patterns shown by the numerous porphyry copper deposits in northern Chile. These anomalies are interpreted to reflect a Late Cretaceous magmatic arc that is favorable for additional discoveries of Late Cretaceous porphyry copper systems in southwestern Alaska.

Alaska↗

Integrated geophysical imaging of a concealed mineral deposit: a case study of the world-class Pebble porphyry deposit in southwestern Alaska

We combined aeromagnetic, induced polarization, magnetotelluric, and gravity surveys as well as drillhole geologic, alteration, magnetic susceptibility, and density data for exploration and characterization of the Cu-Au-Mo Pebble porphyry deposit. This undeveloped deposit is almost completely concealed by postmineralization sedimentary and volcanic rocks, presenting an exploration challenge. Individual geophysical methods primarily assist regional characterization. Positive chargeability and conductivity anomalies are observed over a broad region surrounding the deposit, likely representing sulfide minerals that accumulated during multiple stages of hydrothermal alteration. The mineralized area occupies only a small part of the chargeability anomaly because sulfide precipitation was not unique to the deposit, and mafic rocks also exhibit strong chargeability. Conductivity anomalies similarly reflect widespread sulfides as well as water-saturated glacial sediments. Mineralogical and magnetic susceptibility data indicate magnetite destruction primarily within the Cu-Au-Mo mineralized area. The magnetic field does not show a corresponding anomaly low but the analytic signal does in areas where the deposit is not covered by postmineralization igneous rocks. The analytic signal shows similar lows over sedimentary rocks outside of the mineralized area, however, and cannot uniquely distinguish the deposit. We find that the intersection of positive chargeability anomalies with analytic signal lows, indicating elevated sulfide concentrations but low magnetite at shallow depths, roughly delineates the deposit where it is covered only by glacial sediments. Neither chargeability highs nor analytic signal lows are present where the deposit is covered by several hundred meters of sedimentary and volcanic rocks, but a 3D resistivity model derived from magnetotelluric data shows a corresponding zone of higher conductivity. Gravity data highlight geologic features within the deposit, including shallow diorite sills that locally contain higher-grade mineralization. The results thus show ways in which an integrated survey approach might be used to distinguish zones of potentially economic mineralization.

Alaska↗

Nickel-cobalt laterites: A deposit model

Nickel-cobalt (Ni-Co) laterite deposits are supergene enrichments of Ni±Co that form from intense chemical and mechanical weathering of ultramafic parent rocks. These regolith deposits typically form within 26 degrees of the equator, although there are a few exceptions. They form in active continental margins and stable cratonic settings. It takes as little as one million years for a laterite profile to develop. Three subtypes of Ni-Co laterite deposits are classified according to the dominant Ni-bearing mineralogy, which include hydrous magnesium (Mg)-silicate, smectite, and oxide. These minerals form in weathering horizons that begin with the unweathered protolith at the base, saprolite next, a smectite transition zone only in profiles where drainage is very poor, followed by limonite, and then capped with ferricrete at the top. The saprolite contains Ni-rich hydrous Mg-silicates, the Ni-rich clays occur in the transition horizon, and Ni-rich goethite occurs in the limonite. Although these subtypes of deposits are the more widely used terms for classification of Ni-Co laterite deposits, most deposits have economic concentrations of Ni in more than one horizon. Because of their complex mineralogy and heterogeneous concentrations, mining of these metallurgically complex deposits can be challenging. Deposits range in size from 2.5 to about 400 million tonnes, with Ni and Co grades of 0.66–2.4 percent (median 1.3) and 0.01–0.15 percent (median 0.08), respectively. Modern techniques of ore delineation and mineralogical identification are being developed to aid in streamlining the Ni-Co laterite mining process, and low-temperature and low-pressure ore processing techniques are being tested that will treat the entire weathered profile. There is evidence that the production of Ni and Co from laterites is more energy intensive than that of sulfide ores, reflecting the environmental impact of producing a Ni-Co laterite deposit. Tailings may include high levels of magnesium, sulfate, and manganese and have the potential to be physically unstable.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

Reported industrial minerals occurrences and permissive areas for other occurrences in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania (phase V deliverable 88): Chapter R1 in Second projet de renforcement institutionnel du secteur minier de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II)

In 1996, at the request of the Government of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, a team of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientists produced a strategic plan for the acquisition, improvement and modernization of multidisciplinary sets of data to support the growth of the Mauritanian minerals sector and to highlight the geological and mineral exploration potential of the country. In 1999, the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania implemented a program for the acquisition of the recommended basic geoscientific information, termed the first Projet de Renforcement Institutionnel du Secteur Minier (Project for Institutional Capacity Building in the Mining Sector, PRISM-I). As a result of the PRISM-I efforts, a great deal of new geological, geophysical, geochemical, remote sensing, and hydrological data became available for evaluation and synthesis. However, the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines recognized that additional work was required to extract the full benefit of the data before it could be of greatest use to the international community and of benefit to the Mauritanian minerals and development sector. To achieve this benefit, the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines implemented a second Projet de Renforcement Institutionnel du Secteur Minier (PRISM-II) in 2006 to consolidate, synthesize, and interpret all of the existing data, create a new 1:1,000,000 scale geologic map, and define the mineral resource potential of the country. A consortium in which the USGS was the lead scientific agency carried out the majority of the PRISM-II work. In 2008, the USGS Mauritania Minerals Project was interrupted due to political changes in Mauritania. PRISM-II work resumed in 2011, and was completed in 2013 with the delivery of over 40 separate written reports and plates, an access file containing the Mauritanian National Mineral Deposits Database, and an interactive GIS containing all of the multi-disciplinary data and interpretive areas of mineral resource potential in Mauritania. This report contains the USGS results of the PRISM-II Mauritania Minerals Project and is presented in cooperation with the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines of the Islamic Republic of Mauritania. The Report is composed of separate chapters consisting of multidisciplinary interpretive reports with accompanying plates on the geology, structure, geochronology, geophysics, hydrogeology, geochemistry, remote sensing (Landsat TM and ASTER), and SRTM and ASTER digital elevation models of Mauritania. The syntheses of these multidisciplinary data formed the basis for additional chapters containing interpretive reports on 12 different commodities and deposit types known to occur in Mauritania, accompanied by countrywide mineral resource potential maps of each commodity/deposit type. The commodities and deposit types represented include: (1) Ni, Cu, PGE, and Cr deposits hosted in ultramafic rocks; (2) orogenic, Carlin-like, and epithermal gold deposits; (3) polymetallic Pb-Zn-Cu vein deposits; (4) sediment-hosted Pb-Zn-Ag deposits of the SEDEX and Mississippi Valley-type; (5) sediment-hosted copper deposits; ( 6) volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits; (7) iron oxide copper-gold deposits; (8) uranium deposits; (9) Algoma-, Superior-, and oolitic-type iron deposits; (10) shoreline Ti-Zr placer deposits; (11) incompatible element deposits hosted in pegmatites, alkaline rocks, and carbonatites, and; (12) industrial mineral deposits. Additional chapters include the Mauritanian National Mineral Deposits Database are accompanied by an explanatory text and the Mauritania Minerals Project GIS that contains all of the interpretive layers created by USGS scientists. Raw data not in the public domain may be obtained from the Ministry of Petroleum, Energy, and Mines in Nouakchott, Mauritania.

Open-File Report↗

Ni-Co laterite deposits

Nickel-cobalt (Ni-Co) laterite deposits are an important source of nickel (Ni). Currently, there is a decline in magmatic Ni-bearing sulfide lode deposit resources. New efforts to develop an alternative source of Ni, particularly with improved metallurgy processes, make the Ni-Co laterites an important exploration target in anticipation of the future demand for Ni. This deposit model provides a general description of the geology and mineralogy of Ni-Co laterite deposits, and contains discussion of the influences of climate, geomorphology (relief), drainage, tectonism, structure, and protolith on the development of favorable weathering profiles. This model of Ni-Co laterite deposits represents part of the U.S. Geological Survey Mineral Resources Program's effort to update the existing models to be used for an upcoming national mineral resource assessment.

Open-File Report↗

Geologic map of Big Bend National Park, Texas

The purpose of this map is to provide the National Park Service and the public with an updated digital geologic map of Big Bend National Park (BBNP). The geologic map report of Maxwell and others (1967) provides a fully comprehensive account of the important volcanic, structural, geomorphological, and paleontological features that define BBNP. However, the map is on a geographically distorted planimetric base and lacks topography, which has caused difficulty in conducting GIS-based data analyses and georeferencing the many geologic features investigated and depicted on the map. In addition, the map is outdated, excluding significant data from numerous studies that have been carried out since its publication more than 40 years ago. This report includes a modern digital geologic map that can be utilized with standard GIS applications to aid BBNP researchers in geologic data analysis, natural resource and ecosystem management, monitoring, assessment, inventory activities, and educational and recreational uses. The digital map incorporates new data, many revisions, and greater detail than the original map. Although some geologic issues remain unresolved for BBNP, the updated map serves as a foundation for addressing those issues. Funding for the Big Bend National Park geologic map was provided by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) National Cooperative Geologic Mapping Program and the National Park Service. The Big Bend mapping project was administered by staff in the USGS Geology and Environmental Change Science Center, Denver, Colo. Members of the USGS Mineral and Environmental Resources Science Center completed investigations in parallel with the geologic mapping project. Results of these investigations addressed some significant current issues in BBNP and the U.S.-Mexico border region, including contaminants and human health, ecosystems, and water resources. Funding for the high-resolution aeromagnetic survey in BBNP, and associated data analyses and interpretation, was from the USGS Crustal Geophysics and Geochemistry Science Center. Mapping contributed from university professors and students was mostly funded by independent sources, including academic institutions, private industry, and other agencies.

Texas↗

Precambrian basement structure map of the continental United States - An interpretation of geologic and aeromagnetic data

The Precambrian basement rocks of the continental United States are largely covered by younger sedimentary and volcanic rocks, and the availability of updated aeromagnetic data (NAMAG, 2002) provides a means to infer major regional basement structures and tie together the scattered, but locally abundant, geologic information. Precambrian basement structures in the continental United States have strongly influenced later Proterozoic and Phanerozoic tectonism within the continent, and there is a growing awareness of the utility of these structures in deciphering major younger tectonic and related episodes. Interest in the role of basement structures in the evolution of continents has been recently stimulated, particularly by publications of the Geological Society of London (Holdsworth and others, 1998; Holdsworth and others, 2001). These publications, as well as others, stress the importance of reactivation of basement structures in guiding the subsequent evolution of continents. Knowledge of basement structures is an important key to understanding the geology of continental interiors.

Scientific Investigations Map↗

Protective immunity and lack of histopathological damage two years after DNA vaccination against infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus in trout

The DNA vaccine pIHNw-G encodes the glycoprotein of the fish rhabdovirus infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV). Vaccine performance in rainbow trout was measured 3, 6, 13, 24, and 25 months after vaccination. At three months all fish vaccinated with 0.1 μg pIHNw-G had detectable neutralizing antibody (NAb) and they were completely protected from lethal IHNV challenge with a relative percent survival (RPS) of 100% compared to control fish. Viral challenges at 6, 13, 24, and 25 months post-vaccination showed protection with RPS values of 47–69%, while NAb seroprevalence declined to undetectable levels. Passive transfer experiments with sera from fish after two years post-vaccination were inconsistent but significant protection was observed in some cases. The long-term duration of protection observed here defined a third temporal phase in the immune response to IHNV DNA vaccination, characterized by reduced but significant levels of protection, and decline or absence of detectable NAb titers. Examination of multiple tissues showed an absence of detectable long-term histopathological damage due to DNA vaccination.

Vaccine↗

Surface geophysical investigation of the areal and vertical extent of metallic waste at the former Tyson Valley Powder Farm near Eureka, Missouri, Spring 2004

The former Tyson Valley Powder Farm near Eureka, Missouri, was used primarily as a storage facility for the production of small arms ammunition during 1941?47 and 1951?61. A secondary use of the site was for munitions testing and disposal. Surface exposures of small arms waste, characterized by brass shell casings and fragments, as well as other miscellaneous scrap metal are remnants of disposal practices that took place during U.S. Army operation and can be found throughout the site. Little historical information exists describing disposal practices, and more debris is believed to be buried in the subsurface. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has identified several areas of concern throughout the former Tyson Valley Powder Farm. A surface-geophysical investigation was performed by the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, to evaluate the areal and vertical extent of metallic debris in the subsurface within three of these areas of concern. Electromagnetic and magnetic methods were used to locate anomalies indicating relatively large concentrations of buried metallic debris within the selected areas of concern. Maps were created identifying twelve anomalous zones in the three areas of concern, and three of these zones were selected for further investigation. The extent and depth of the anomalies within these zones were explored using two-dimensional direct-current resistivity methods. Resistivity and time-domain induced polarization data were compared to the anomalous locations of the electromagnetic and magnetic surveys. The geophysical methods selected for this study were useful in determining the areal and vertical extent of metallic waste within the former Tyson Valley Powder Farm. However, electromagnetic and magnetic methods were not able to differentiate magnetic scrap metal from non-magnetic metallic small arms waste, most likely due to the small size and scattered distribution of the small arms waste, in addition to the mixing of both types of debris in the subsurface. Electromagnetic and magnetic data showed some zones of concentrated anomalies, while there was a general scattering of small anomalies throughout the site. Inverted resistivity sections, as well as induced polarization sections, showed the debris to have a maximum depth of approximately 1 to 2 meters below the surface.

Scientific Investigations Report↗

Phylogeography of infectious haematopoietic necrosis virus in North America

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) is a rhabdoviral pathogen that infects wild and cultured salmonid fish throughout the Pacific Northwest of North America. IHNV causes severe epidemics in young fish and can cause disease or occur asymptomatically in adults. In a broad survey of 323 IHNV field isolates, sequence analysis of a 303 nucleotide variable region within the glycoprotein gene revealed a maximum nucleotide diversity of 8·6 %, indicating low genetic diversity overall for this virus. Phylogenetic analysis revealed three major virus genogroups, designated U, M and L, which varied in topography and geographical range. Intragenogroup genetic diversity measures indicated that the M genogroup had three- to fourfold more diversity than the other genogroups and suggested relatively rapid evolution of the M genogroup and stasis within the U genogroup. We speculate that factors influencing IHNV evolution may have included ocean migration ranges of their salmonid host populations and anthropogenic effects associated with fish culture.

Journal of General Virology↗

Molecular epidemiology reveals emergence of a virulent infectious hematopoietic necrosis (IHN) virus strain in wild salmon and its transmission to hatchery fish

Infectious hematopoietic necrosis virus (IHNV) has been known to be a significant salmonid pathogen in the Pacific Northwest of North America for decades. The goal of this study was to characterize the IHNV genetic heterogeneity and viral traffic over time at a study site in the Deschutes River watershed in Oregon, with an emphasis on the epidemiology of IHNV types causing epidemics in wild kokanee Oncorhynchus nerka between 1991 and 1995. The study site included kokanee spawning grounds in the Metolius River and Lake Billy Chinook downstream, in which the IHNV epidemics occurred in 2- and 3-year-old kokanee, and the Round Butte Fish Hatchery at the outflow of the lake. Forty-two IHNV isolates collected from this area between 1975 and 1995 were characterized on a genetic basis by ribonuclease (RNase) protection fingerprint analyses of the virus nucleocapsid, glycoprotein, and nonvirion genes. Analysis of the 16 identified composite haplotypes suggested that both virus evolution and introduction of new IHNV strains contributed to the genetic diversity observed. The results indicated that the 1991–1995 epidemics in kokanee from Lake Billy Chinook were due to a newly introduced IHNV type that was first detected in spawning adult kokanee in 1988 and that this virus type was transmitted from the wild kokanee to hatchery fish downstream in 1991. Twelve IHNV haplotypes were found at Round Butte Fish Hatchery, indicating a series of virus displacement events during the 20-year period examined. This work shows that IHNV traffic can be much more complex than was previously recognized, and the results have implications for fisheries management at the hatchery and throughout the watershed.

Oregon↗