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Philip J. Brown

Publications and source records attributed to Philip J. Brown.

12 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2025

Synergy between geology and geophysics in graphite mineral resource assessment

Graphite is designated as a critical mineral by the U.S. Government due to its essential role in modern technology and its vulnerability to supply chain disruption. To evaluate domestic graphite resources, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) conducted two airborne electromagnetic (AEM) surveys as part of the Earth Mapping Resources Initiative (Earth MRI) over prospective areas in the southern Appalachians of Alabama and the Seward Peninsula of Alaska. These surveys aimed to refine areas of interest by revealing subsurface electrical resistivity patterns indicative of graphite-bearing rocks. The results of the AEM surveys were integrated with existing geological knowledge and supplemented by field observations to assess the likelihood of undiscovered resources in these regions. This multidisciplinary approach combined geophysical techniques with traditional geological methods, enhancing the understanding of graphite potential in areas that may have been previously overlooked. The findings from this initiative are expected to contribute significantly to the ongoing efforts to secure a reliable domestic supply of graphite, thereby reducing import reliance and supporting national interests in mineral resource management.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2023

Tungsten resources of the northern Rocky Mountains, Montana and Idaho— A synthesis and quantitative assessment of skarn-hosted resources

Mineral resource assessments performed by the U.S. Geological Survey provide a synthesis of available information about the location of known and suspected mineral deposits. This study focuses on skarn-hosted tungsten resources in the northern Rocky Mountain region of east-central Idaho and western Montana which have seen moderate tungsten trioxide production in the past from a variety of mineralization styles including skarn, vein and replacement, and wolframite-quartz veins. The area’s geology is dominated by large Cretaceous and Tertiary plutons that are emplaced into a belt of Mesoproterozoic to Permian sedimentary rock and affected by tectonism related to the Sevier and later Laramide orogenies. Known tungsten skarn mineral sites are associated with contacts between Cretaceous plutons and calcareous and argillaceous sedimentary or metasedimentary rocks, including two skarn deposits in Montana (Calvert and Browns Lake) that are consistent with an updated grade and tonnage model. This study (1) delineates permissive tracts where undiscovered tungsten skarn deposits may occur within 1 kilometer of the surface; (2) presents a tungsten mineral site dataset from a variety of public sources; (3) evaluates currently available geochemical, geophysical, and radiometric age data in support of tract delineation; (4) provides probabilistic estimates of the amount of tungsten and tungsten-mineralized rock that could be contained in undiscovered deposits within one major tract; (5) estimates the value of total undiscovered deposits using economic filter analysis; and (6) provides a synthesis of metallogenic controls on regional tungsten skarn and granitoid-related mineral deposits. Two permissive tracts were delineated: the Great Falls tectonic zone (GFTZ)-Cretaceous tract, for which a quantitative assessment was performed, and the Bitterroot tract, which was assessed in a qualitative manner. The quantitative three-part assessment, conducted in August 2019, indicates that undiscovered tungsten resources might exist in skarn-type deposits within the study area. Using a negative binomial function, a mean of 4 undiscovered deposits was calculated from panel estimates. Simulation results that combine an updated grade and tonnage model with estimates of undiscovered deposits include the amounts of ore and contained tungsten trioxide at different levels of uncertainty. A mean of 250,000 metric tons and median of 200,000 metric tons contained tungsten trioxide was calculated for the undiscovered deposits within the GFTZ-Cretaceous tract. The value of undiscovered deposits was estimated using a new economic filter that considers factors such as mine type, deposit depth, deposit geometry, metallurgical recovery rate, cutoff grade, and tract area. A review of the regional Archean to Paleogene geology suggests that ore metal (copper, molybdenum, and tungsten) variations in intrusion-related deposits of Montana and Idaho may be controlled by a number of factors including the age and composition of underlying basement terranes, depth of emplacement, pluton chemistry and degree of fractionation, redox conditions, and aqueous fluid-melt partition coefficients.

Idaho, Montana↗
USGS2022

Tungsten skarn potential of the Yukon-Tanana Upland, eastern Alaska, USA—A mineral resource assessment

Tungsten (W) is used in a variety of industrial and technological applications and has been identified as a critical mineral for the United States, India, the European Union, and other countries. These countries rely on W imports mostly from China, which leaves them vulnerable to supply disruption. Consequently, the U.S. government has a current initiative to understand domestic resource potential. The eastern Alaska portion of the Yukon-Tanana Upland (YTU), is prospective for W skarn deposits, the major source of global W supply. The regional geology consists of juxtaposed Paleozoic lithotectonic packages that were reaccreted to North America in the Mesozoic . Multiple subsequent episodes of arc-related magmatism intruded the lithotectonic packages, accompanied by W skarn formation mostly associated with 100–90 Ma intrusions; major W skarn deposits in Canada are part of the same metallogenic event (e.g., Mactung, Cantung). In this paper, we present an assessment for undiscovered W skarn resources for parts of the lesser-explored western (Alaskan) portion of the YTU. We used GIS proximity analysis to map the intersection of pluton and carbonate-bearing rocks to define three permissive tracts for W skarn deposits. The permissive tracts were qualitatively assessed by mineral potential mapping using region-wide sediment geochemistry and mineral concentrate datasets. This analysis showed that much of the western YTU has high potential for undiscovered W skarn deposits, whereas the eastern and southern YTU had only isolated areas of medium to high potential. Historical production and the quality of the geochemistry data of the western YTU tract (ca. 9200 km 2 ) permitted a quantitative assessment of undiscovered W resources. Probabilistic estimates by a panel of 20 experts predicted a 70% chance of one to three undiscovered W skarn deposits in the western YTU tract. The rationale for favorability employed by the expert panel included favorable lithology, previous production, clustering of previously mined deposits, W placers in the area, lack of recent exploration, pan concentrates containing W minerals, and W geochemical anomalies. Estimates were combined with a global grade and tonnage model for W skarns in a Monte Carlo simulation and provided a median estimate of undiscovered resources of 94 kt WO 3 . If the undiscovered W skarn deposits are located close to infrastructure (e.g., near Fairbanks, or close to roads and/or power grid), application of an economic filter indicates that the median total economically recoverable WO 3 is 63 kt with a net present value (NPV) of $330 million USD (2008 dollars). Whereas if deposits are far from infrastructure, median recoverable WO 3 is only 30 kt and the NPV is $44 million. Our models for contained WO 3 resources and NPV estimates for the western YTU tract are considerably lower than the known resources in skarns in adjacent areas in Canada. Estimates for the western YTU are also lower than preliminary estimates for undiscovered W skarn deposits in areas of the western conterminous United States. We speculate that lower permeability and continuity of favorable carbonate rock horizons in the relatively higher-grade metamorphic country rocks in the Alaska portion of the YTU may explain some of the differences in prospectivity. More detailed geologic mapping, modern geochemistry, and geophysical surveys are needed to refine the resource potential of the whole YTU. Regardless, quantitative mineral resource assessment provides a useful tool for making first-order regional estimates of undiscovered resources, identifying target areas for new data acquisition, and guiding research on the fundamental controls of district-scale metallogenic endowments.

Alaska↗
USGS2011

A first look at the petroleum geology of the Lomonosov Ridge microcontinent, Arctic Ocean

The Lomonosov microcontinent is an elongated continental fragment that transects the Arctic Ocean between North America and Siberia via the North Pole. Although it lies beneath polar pack ice, the geological framework of the microcontinent is inferred from sparse seismic reflection data, a few cores, potential field data and the geology of its conjugate margin in the Barents–Kara Shelf. Petroleum systems inferred to be potentially active are comparable to those sourced by condensed Triassic and Jurassic marine shale of the Barents Platform and by condensed Jurassic and (or) Cretaceous shale probably present in the adjacent Amerasia Basin. Cenozoic deposits are known to contain rich petroleum source rocks but are too thermally immature to have generated petroleum. For the 2008 USGS Circum Arctic Resource Appraisal (CARA), the microcontinent was divided into shelf and slope assessment units (AUs) at the tectonic hinge line along the Amerasia Basin margin. A low to moderate probability of accumulation in the slope AU yielded fully risked mean estimates of 123 MMBO oil and 740 BCF gas. For the shelf AU, no quantitative assessment was made because the probability of petroleum accumulations of the 50 MMBOE minimum size was estimated to be less than 10% owing to rift-related uplift, erosion and faulting.

Geological Society Memoir↗
USGS2008

2006 Compilation of Alaska gravity data and historical reports

Gravity anomalies provide fundamental geophysical information about Earth structure and dynamics. To increase geologic and geodynamic understanding of Alaska, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) has collected and processed Alaska gravity data for the past 50 years. This report introduces and describes an integrated, State-wide gravity database and provides accompanying gravity calculation tools to assist in its application. Additional information includes gravity base station descriptions and digital scans of historical USGS reports. The gravity calculation tools enable the user to reduce new gravity data in a consistent manner for combination with the existing database. This database has sufficient resolution to define the regional gravity anomalies of Alaska. Interpretation of regional gravity anomalies in parts of the State are hampered by the lack of local isostatic compensation in both southern and northern Alaska. However, when filtered appropriately, the Alaska gravity data show regional features having geologic significance. These features include gravity lows caused by low-density rocks of Cenozoic basins, flysch belts, and felsic intrusions, as well as many gravity highs associated with high-density mafic and ultramafic complexes.

Alaska↗
USGS2008

Assessment of undiscovered oil and gas resources of the West Greenland-East Canada Province, 2008

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) recently assessed the undiscovered oil and gas potential of the West Greenland-East Canada Province as part of the USGS Circum-Arctic Oil and Gas Resource Appraisal effort. The West Greenland-East Canada Province is essentially the offshore area between west Greenland and east Canada and includes Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, Lancaster Sound, and Nares Strait west of and including Kane Basin. The tectonic evolution of the West Greenland-East Canada Province led to the formation of several major structural domains that are the geologic basis for the five assessment units (AU) defined in this study. The five AUs encompass the entire province. Each AU was assessed in its entirety for undiscovered, technically recoverable (assuming absence of sea ice) oil and gas resources, but the assessment results reported here are only for those portions of each AU that are north of the Arctic Circle, as that latitude defines the area of the Circum-Arctic oil and gas assessment.

Baffin Bay, Davis Strait, Kane Basin, Lancaster So↗
USGS2006

Concepts and procedures required for successful reduction of tensor magnetic gradiometer data obtained from an unexploded ordnance detection demonstration at Yuma Proving Grounds, Arizona

On March 12, 2003, data were gathered at Yuma Proving Grounds, in Arizona, using a Tensor Magnetic Gradiometer System (TMGS). This report shows how these data were processed and explains concepts required for successful TMGS data reduction. Important concepts discussed include extreme attitudinal sensitivity of vector measurements, low attitudinal sensitivity of gradient measurements, leakage of the common-mode field into gradient measurements, consequences of thermal drift, and effects of field curvature. Spatial-data collection procedures and a spin-calibration method are addressed. Discussions of data-reduction procedures include tracking of axial data by mathematically matching transfer functions among the axes, derivation and application of calibration coefficients, calculation of sensor-pair gradients, thermal-drift corrections, and gradient collocation. For presentation, the magnetic tensor at each data station is converted to a scalar quantity, the I2 tensor invariant, which is easily found by calculating the determinant of the tensor. At important processing junctures, the determinants for all stations in the mapped area are shown in shaded relief map-view. Final processed results are compared to a mathematical model to show the validity of the assumptions made during processing and the reasonableness of the ultimate answer obtained.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2005

Calibrating a tensor magnetic gradiometer using spin data

Scalar magnetic data are often acquired to discern characteristics of geologic source materials and buried objects. It is evident that a great deal can be done with scalar data, but there are significant advantages to direct measurement of the magnetic gradient tensor in applications with nearby sources, such as unexploded ordnance (UXO). To explore these advantages, we adapted a prototype tensor magnetic gradiometer system (TMGS) and successfully implemented a data-reduction procedure. One of several critical reduction issues is the precise determination of a large group of calibration coefficients for the sensors and sensor array. To resolve these coefficients, we devised a spin calibration method, after similar methods of calibrating space-based magnetometers (Snare, 2001). The spin calibration procedure consists of three parts: (1) collecting data by slowly revolving the sensor array in the Earth?s magnetic field, (2) deriving a comprehensive set of coefficients from the spin data, and (3) applying the coefficients to the survey data. To show that the TMGS functions as a tensor gradiometer, we conducted an experimental survey that verified that the reduction procedure was effective (Bracken and Brown, in press). Therefore, because it was an integral part of the reduction, it can be concluded that the spin calibration was correctly formulated with acceptably small errors.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2005

Reducing tensor magnetic gradiometer data for unexploded ordnance detection

We performed a survey to demonstrate the effectiveness of a prototype tensor magnetic gradiometer system (TMGS) for detection of buried unexploded ordnance (UXO). In order to achieve a useful result, we designed a data-reduction procedure that resulted in a realistic magnetic gradient tensor and devised a simple way of viewing complicated tensor data, not only to assess the validity of the final resulting tensor, but also to preview the data at interim stages of processing. The final processed map of the surveyed area clearly shows a sharp anomaly that peaks almost directly over the target UXO. This map agrees well with a modeled map derived from dipolar sources near the known target locations. From this agreement, it can be deduced that the reduction process is valid, making the prototype TMGS a foundation for development of future systems and processes.

Scientific Investigations Report↗
USGS2002

Directional borehole radar tests of an oil injection experiment at the Colorado School of Mines, Golden, Colorado

In October 2001, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted borehole radar surveys of an oil injection experiment at the Colorado School of Mines (CSM), in Golden Colorado using the prototype U.S. Geological Survey (USGS)-developed directional borehole radar system (DBOR). A explanation of the system can be found in Wright and others (2001). The USGS was invited to the CSM to deploy the prototype directional borehole radar system during an oil injection experiment conducted to investigate the applicability of radar to monitoring formation invasion from a horizontal borehole. This work was conducted by a student at the CSM and is summarized in Moita (2001). The purpose of this report is to release the data and to summarize the experiments conducted with the DBOR system. This report contains, (1) a description of the system as deployed in the experiments, (2) a description of the data collected and data parameters used, (3) a simple display of some of the data collected, and (4) a description of the DBOR data files.

Colorado↗