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At least 307 records · Page 17Linked to original sources
USGS2021

Electrical conductivity of the lithosphere-asthenosphere system

Electromagnetic geophysical methods image the electrical conductivity of the subsurface. Electrical conductivity is an intrinsic material property that is sensitive to temperature, composition, porosity, volatile and/or melt content, and other physical properties relevant to the solid Earth. Therefore, imaging the electrical structure of the crust and mantle yields valuable information on the physical and chemical state of the lithosphere-asthenosphere system. Here we explore the viability of the passive magnetotelluric (MT) method for constraining upper mantle properties. We approach this problem in four successive steps: 1) review the electrical conductivity behavior of relevant materials; 2) predict the bulk electrical conductivity structure of oceanic and continental lithosphere for a suite of representative physical states; 3) generate synthetic MT data from the conductivity predictions; 4) compare and discuss the conductivity predictions and the synthetic data with select case studies from oceanic and continental settings. Our aim is to clarify the uncertainties associated with drawing inferences from electrical conductivity observations and ultimately to provide a basis for assigning confidence levels to interpretations.

Physics of the Earth and Planetary Interiors↗
USGS2025

Using subducting plate motion to constrain Cascadia slab geometry and interface strength

Subduction zones are home to multiple geohazards driven by the evolution of the regional tectonics, including earthquakes, volcanic eruptions and landslides. Past evolution builds the present-day structure of the margin, while the present-day configuration of the system determines the state-of-stress in which individual hazardous events manifest. Regional simulations of subduction zones provide a tool to synthesize the tectonic history of a region and investigate how geologic features lead to variations in the state of stress across the subduction system. However, it is challenging to design regional models that provide a force-balance that is consistent with the large-scale motion of surrounding tectonic plates while also not over-constraining the solution. Here, we present new models for the Cascadia subduction zone that meet these criteria and demonstrate how the motion of the subducting Juan de Fuca plate can be used to determine the along-strike variations in the viscous (long-term) coupling across the plate boundary. All successful models require lower viscous coupling in the northern section of the trench compared to the central and southern sections. However, due to uncertainties in the geometry of the Cascadia slab, we find that there is a trade-off between along-strike variation in viscous coupling and slab shape. Better constraints on the slab shape, and/or use of other observations are needed to resolve this trade-off. The approach presented here provides a framework for further exploring how geologic features in the overriding plate and the properties of the plate boundary region affect the state-of-stress across this and other subduction zones.

Cascadia subduction zone↗
USGS2001

Implications for the formation of the Hollywood Basin from gravity interpretations of the northern Los Angeles Basin, California

Gravity data provide insights on the complex tectonic history and structural development of the northern Los Angeles Basin region. The Hollywood basin appears to be a long (> 12 km), narrow (up to 2 km wide) trough lying between the Santa Monica Mountains and the Wilshire arch. In the deepest parts of the Hollywood basin, the modeled average thickness ranges from roughly 250 m if filled with only Quaternary sediments to approximately 600 m if Pliocene sediments are also present. Interpretations of conflicting drill hole data force us to consider both these scenarios. Because of the marked density contrast between the dense Santa Monica Mountains and the low-density sediments in the Los Angeles Basin, the gravity method is particularly useful in mapping the maximum displacement along the Santa Monica-Hollywood-Raymond fault zone. The gravity-defined Santa Monica–Hollywood fault zone deviates, in places, from the mapped active fault and fold scarps located with boreholes and trenching and by geomorphological mapping by Dolan and others (1997). Our models suggest that the Santa Monica–Hollywood fault zone dips northward approximately 63°. Three structural models are considered for the origin of the Hollywood basin: pull-apart basin, flexural basin, and a basin related to a back limb of a major fold. Although our preferred structural model involves flexure, the available geologic and geophysical data do not preclude contributions to the deepening of the basin from one or both of the other two models. Of particular interest is that the distribution of red-tagged buildings and structures damaged by the Northridge earthquake has a strong spatial correlation with the axis of the Hollywood basin defined by the gravity data. Several explanations for this correlation are explored, but two preferred geologic factors for the amplification of ground motion besides local site effects are (1) focussing of energy by a fault along the axis of the Hollywood basin and (2) focussing effects related to differential refraction of seismic rays across the basin.

California↗
USGS2007

Archive of digital and digitized analog boomer seismic reflection data collected during USGS cruise 96CCT02 in Copano, Corpus Christi, and Nueces Bays and Corpus Christi Bayou, Texas, July 1996

In June of 1996, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted geophysical surveys from Nueces to Copano Bays, Texas. This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital boomer seismic reflection data, trackline maps, navigation files, GIS information, cruise log, and formal FGDC metadata. Filtered and gained digital images of the seismic profiles and high resolution scanned TIFF images of the original paper printouts are also provided. The archived trace data are in standard Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) SEG-Y format (Barry and others, 1975) and may be downloaded and processed with commercial or public domain software such as Seismic Unix (SU). Example SU processing scripts and USGS software for viewing the SEG-Y files (Zihlman, 1992) are also provided.

Texas↗
USGS2011

Workshop targets development of geodetic transient detection methods: 2009 SCEC Annual Meeting: Workshop on transient anomalous strain detection; Palm Springs, California, 12-13 September 2009

The Southern California Earthquake Center (SCEC) is a community of researchers at institutions worldwide working to improve understanding of earthquakes and mitigate earthquake risk. One of SCEC's priority objectives is to “develop a geodetic network processing system that will detect anomalous strain transients.” Given the growing number of continuously recording geodetic networks consisting of hundreds of stations, an automated means for systematically searching data for transient signals, especially in near real time, is critical for network operations, hazard monitoring, and event response. The SCEC Transient Detection Test Exercise began in 2008 to foster an active community of researchers working on this problem, explore promising methods, and combine effective approaches in novel ways. A workshop was held in California to assess what has been learned thus far and discuss areas of focus as the project moves forward.

Eos, Transactions, American Geophysical Union↗
USGS2007

Archive of digital chirp seismic reflection data collected during USGS cruise 05SCC01 offshore of Port Fourchon and Timbalier Bay, Louisiana, August 2005

In August of 2005, the U.S. Geological Survey conducted geophysical surveys offshore of Port Fourchon and Timbalier Bay, Louisiana, and in nearby waterbodies. This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital chirp seismic reflection data, trackline maps, navigation files, GIS information, Field Activity Collection System (FACS) logs, observer's logbook, and formal FGDC metadata. Filtered and gained digital images of the seismic profiles are also provided. The archived trace data are in standard Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) SEG-Y format (Barry and others, 1975) and may be downloaded and processed with commercial or public domain software such as Seismic Unix (SU). Example SU processing scripts and USGS software for viewing the SEG-Y files (Zihlman, 1992) are also provided.

Louisiana↗
USGS2004

Archive of digital Boomer seismic reflection data collected during USGS Cruises 94CCT01 and 95CCT01, eastern Texas and western Louisiana, 1994 and 1995

In June of 1994 and August and September of 1995, the U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the University of Texas Bureau of Economic Geology, conducted geophysical surveys of the Sabine and Calcasieu Lake areas and the Gulf of Mexico offshore eastern Texas and western Louisiana. This report serves as an archive of unprocessed digital boomer seismic reflection data, trackline maps, navigation files, observers' logbooks, GIS information, and formal FGDC metadata. In addition, a filtered and gained GIF image of each seismic profile is provided. The archived trace data are in standard Society of Exploration Geophysicists (SEG) SEG-Y format (Barry and others, 1975) and may be downloaded and processed with commercial or public domain software such as Seismic Unix (SU). Examples of SU processing scripts and in-house (USGS) software for viewing SEG-Y files (Zihlman, 1992) are also provided. Processed profile images, trackline maps, navigation files, and formal metadata may be viewed with a web browser. Scanned handwritten logbooks and Field Activity Collection System (FACS) logs may be viewed with Adobe Reader.

Data Series↗
USGS2015

Second Projet de Renforcement Institutionnel du Secteur Minier de la République Islamique de Mauritanie (PRISM-II) Phase V

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↗
USGS2015

Geologic map of Mauritania (phase V, deliverables 51a, 51b, and 51c)

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↗
USGS2015

Crystalline basement map of Mauritania derived from filtered aeromagnetic data (deliverable 54_1), Aeromagnetic and geological structure map of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 54_2), Maximum depth to basement map of Mauritania derived from Euler analysis of Aeromagnetic data (phase V, deliverable 54_3), and color composite image of radioelement data (added value)

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↗
USGS2012

Permissive tracts for nickel, copper, platinum group elements (PGE), and chromium deposits of Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 66): Chapter G1 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↗
USGS2012

Mineral potential tracts for orogenic, Carlin-like, and epithermal gold deposits in the Islamic Republic of Mauritania, (phase V, deliverable 68): Chapter H1 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↗
USGS2012

Permissive tracts for orogenic and epithermal gold deposits in Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 70): Chapter I1 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↗
USGS2012

Permissive tracts for sediment-hosted lead-zinc-silver deposits in Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 72): Chapter J1 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↗
USGS2012

Permissive tracts for sediment-hosted copper deposits in Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 74): Chapter K1 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↗
USGS2012

Permissive tracts for volcanogenic massive sulfide deposits in Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 76): Chapter L1 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↗
USGS2012

Permissive tracts for iron oxide copper-gold deposits in Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 78 ): Chapter M1 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↗
USGS2012

Permissive tracts for uranium deposits in Mauritania (phase V, deliverable 80): Chapter N1 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↗