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N. King Huber

Publications and source records attributed to N. King Huber.

17 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1988

Age of native copper mineralization, Keweenaw Peninsula, Michigan

Amygdaloidal flood basalts and conglomerates are the host for substantial deposits of native copper within the Portage Lake Volcanics in the Keweenaw Peninsula of Michigan. A wide variety of gangue minerals are associated with the regional hydrothermal alteration-mineralization event. Application of the Rb-Sr method to amygdule-filling microcline, calcite, epidote, and chlorite suggests an age of mineralization between 1,060 and 1,047 m.y. (+ or - [asymp] 20 m.y.). These results are supported by a fission track age on epidote of 1,044 + or - 169 m.y. The age of native copper mineralization determined in this study is consistent with geologic evidence which suggests that mineralization postdated the deposition of most or all of the overlying Freda Sandstone. Variable initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios between the low Rb/Sr phases suggest mixing of isotopically distinct sources of Sr during the generation and equilibration of the hydrothermal solutions.

Michigan↗
USGS1987

The geologic story of Yosemite National Park

Within 150 years, Yosemite has moved from great obscurity to worldwide fame as one of the most visited of our national parks. As a remarkable place where people can enjoy unparalleled scenes of natural beauty and where many easily observed geologic features are concentrated, the park is rivaled by few other areas on the planet. The majesty and immense variety of these features have inspired artists and photographers, intrigued tourists, and stirred controversy among geologists. Field studies in the Yosemite area have contributed to the development of our ideas about geologic processes, including the different actions of streams and glaciers in the evolution of the landscape, and the formation of granite, the basic bedrock of much of the Earth's continents. The park's role as a natural laboratory for geologic research cannot be overemphasized, and its investigation has led to many landmark studies by U.S. Geological Survey geologists over the past 70 years. In 1913, the first detailed program of research on the geology of the park and the origin ofYosemite Valley was begun by Francois Matthes and Frank Calkins. Their work, along with that of later generations of Survey geologists, myself included, serves as the basis for our present understanding of the geologic history of Yosemite and of the processes that formed and continue to mold its landscape. This book, which makes available in one volume a comprehensive summary of the current geologic knowledge of Yosemite National Park, is an excellent example of the Survey's continuing effort to provide earth-science information in the public service.

California↗
USGS1979

Mineral resources of the Minarets Wilderness and adjacent areas, Madera and Mono counties, California

A mineral survey of the Minarets Wilderness area and adjacent areas in the central Sierra Nevada, Calif., was conducted during 1973 through 1975. The total area covers about 620 km 2 (237 sq mi) in the Sierra and Inyo National Forests, of which about 440 km 2 (170 sq mi) are within the officially designated Minarets Wilderness. The mineral resource potential was evaluated by geological, geochemical, and geophysical studies by the U.S. Geological Survey, and by examination of mineralized rocks, prospects, and mining claims by the U.S. Bureau of Mines. The results of the survey indicate that the study area has small to moderate submarginal to paramarginal resources of copper, silver, zinc, lead, iron, and tungsten and an unevaluated potential for molybdenum resources. Limestone is present, but not of commercial quantity or quality. No other industrial minerals have been recognized in quantity. Granitic rocks have potential use as decorative stone and sand and gravel could be produced from either alluvial deposits or glacial drift. However, these commodities are more accessible elsewhere at localities closer to markets. The study area has no potential for fossil fuels, and, because of the general geologic environment, the potential for nuclear fuel minerals is considered to be low. The study area has low geothermal potential, even though it is on the western edge of the Mono-Long Valley "Known Geothermal Resource Area" (KGRA). The area is underlain by metavolcanic and metasedimentary rocks that have been intruded by granitic rocks of the Sierra Nevada batholith. Pliocene volcanic rocks are present locally. With few exceptions, the known occurrences of mineralized rock are confined to the metamorphic rocks, and the exceptions appear to be confined to plutonic rocks that are older than the Late Cretaceous granitic rocks that make up the bulk of the batholithic rocks in the study area. Although no mineral production has been recorded from prospects within the study area, mines adjacent to it have produced significant amounts of gold and tungsten. Production figures are incomplete, but mines in the Mammoth mining district (fig. 1) may have produced as much as $1 million worth of gold, silver, and other metals at the then-existing prices. The Monte Cristo mine in the Mammoth district was in production during 1978.

California↗
USGS1975

The geologic story of Isle Royale National Park

Isle Royale is an outstanding example of relatively undisturbed northwoods lake wilderness. But more than simple preservation of such an environment is involved in its inclusion in our National Park System. Its isolation from the mainland provides an almost untouched laboratory for research in the natural sciences, especially those studies whose very nature depends upon such isolation. One excellent example of such research is the intensive study of the predator-prey relationship of the timber wolf and moose, long sponsored by the National Park Service and Purdue University. In probably no other place in North America are the necessary ecological conditions for such a study so admirably fulfilled as on Isle Royale. The development of a natural laboratory with such conditions is ultimately dependent upon geologic processes and events that although not unique in themselves, produced in their interplay a unique result, the island archipelago as we know it today, with its hills and valleys, swamps and bogs the ecological framework of the plant and animal world. Even the most casual visitor can hardly fail to be struck by the fiordlike nature of many of the bays, the chains of fringing islands, the ridge-and-valley topography, and the linear nature of all these features. The distinctive topography of the archipelago is, of course, only the latest manifestation of geologic processes in operation since time immemorial. Fragments of geologic history going back over a billion years can be read from the rocks of the island, and with additional data from other parts of the Lake Superior region, we can fill in some of the story of Isle Royale. After more than a hundred years of study by man, the story is still incomplete. But then, geologic stories are seldom complete, and what we do know allows a deeper appreciation of one of our most naturally preserved parks and whets our curiosity about the missing fragments.

Michigan↗
USGS1973

Glacial and postglacial geologic history of Isle Royale National Park, Michigan

Isle Royale was overridden by glacial ice during each of the four major glaciations of the Pleistocene Epoch, and each successive glaciation essentially obliterated all direct evidence of preceding glaciations on the island. In the waning phase of the last major glaciation, the Wisconsin Glaciation, the frontal ice margin retreated northward from at least the greater part of the Lake Superior basin, then readvanced into the basin during Valders time, about 11,000 years ago. We can attribute to the Valders ice the final aspect of glaciation on Isle Royale, including both erosional and depositional features. It is impossible to estimate the quantity of glacial debris or other surficial materials that might have been present on Isle Royale prior to the Valders readvance, but the readvancing ice appears to have removed most of what might have been present, as judged by the thin surficial cover on the eastern two-thirds of the island today. During the Valders retreat, a series of lakes formed in the Lake Superior basin in front of the retreating ice margin. The retreating ice opened successively lower outlets, and thus the general trend of lake elevations is downward. Distinct lake stages reflect periods of relative stability during which well- defined shoreline features developed. The ice front forming the north margin of the earlier lakes probably remained south of Isle Royale until about the time of glacial Lake Beaver Bay, when it retreated to a position straddling Isle Royale west of Lake Desor. Abundant deposits of glacial debris were left upon the newly deglaciated west end of the island, and the ice front remained stable long enough to build a complex of ice-margin deposits across the island. Shorelines formed by the glacial lake associated with this ice front are found on the western part of the island about 200 feet above present Lake Superior. Subsequent renewed and complete retreat of the ice margin from Isle Royale was rapid enough that only a minor amount of glacial debris was deposited on the central and eastern parts of the island. When the ice margin reached the north edge of the Lake Superior basin, Lake Minong was formed, and the entire basin was filled for the first time since the Valders advance. Lake Minong marked a relatively stable episode in the history of the basin, and its beaches are among the best developed of the abandoned shoreline features on Isle Royale. Lake Minong beaches and later lower beaches are best developed on the southwest end of Isle Royale, where abundant glacial debris provided easily worked materials for beach construction.

Michigan↗
USGS1967

Cenozoic Volcanic Rocks of the Devils Postpile Quadrangle, Eastern Sierra Nevada, California

Cenozoic volcanic rocks of the Devils Postpile quadrangle are of late Pliocene to Recent age and are divided into 11 map units. The suite is alkalic-calcic and ranges in composition from basalt to rhyolite. It includes a rhyolitic welded ash-flow tuff which is probably correlative with the Bishop Tuff, although the two units are geographically isolated by the Sierra Nevada drainage divide. The Devils Postpile itself is a classic example of columnar jointing in the lower part of a lava flow.

Professional Paper↗