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Search indexed USGS publications on groundwater, aquifers, geologic maps, mineral resources and earthquakes. Explore source records by subject and place.

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At least 73 records · Page 4Linked to original sources
USGS1974

Antiferromagnetic inclusions in lunar glass

The magnetic susceptibility of 11 glass spherules from the Apollo 15, 16, and 17 fines and two specimens of a relatively large glass spherical shell were studied as a function of temperature from room temperature to liquid helium temperatures. All but one specimen showed the presence of antiferromagnetic inclusions. Closely spaced temperature measurements of the magnetic susceptibility below 77 K on five of the specimens showed antiferromagnetic temperature transitions (Néel transitions). With the exception of ilmenite in one specimen, these transitions did not correspond to any transitions in known antiferromagnetic compounds.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters↗
USGS1996

Velocity structure of a bottom simulating reflector offshore Peru: Results from full waveform inversion

Much of our knowledge of the worldwide distribution of submarine gas hydrates comes from seismic observations of Bottom Simulating Reflectors (BSRs). Full waveform inversion has proven to be a reliable technique for studying the fine structure of BSRs using the compressional wave velocity. We applied a non-linear full waveform inversion technique to a BSR at a location offshore Peru. We first determined the large-scale features of seismic velocity variations using a statistical inversion technique to maximise coherent energy along travel-time curves. These velocities were used for a starting velocity model for the full waveform inversion, which yielded a detailed velocity/depth model in the vicinity of the BSR. We found that the data are best fit by a model in which the BSR consists of a thin, low-velocity layer. The compressional wave velocity drops from 2.15 km/s down to an average of 1.70 km/s in an 18m thick interval, with a minimum velocity of 1.62 km/s in a 6 m interval. The resulting compressional wave velocity was used to estimate gas content in the sediments. Our results suggest that the low velocity layer is a 6-18 m thick zone containing a few percent of free gas in the pore space. The presence of the BSR coincides with a region of vertical uplift. Therefore, we suggest that gas at this BSR is formed by a dissociation of hydrates at the base of the hydrate stability zone due to uplift and subsequently a decrease in pressure.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters↗
USGS2018

Planetary dune workshop expands to include subaqueous processes

Dune-like structures appear in the depths of Earth’s oceans, across its landscapes, and in the extremities of the solar system beyond. Dunes rise up under the thick dense atmosphere of Venus, and they have been found under the almost unimaginably ephemeral atmosphere of a comet.

Eos, Earth and Space Science News↗
USGS2017

The U.S. Geological Survey Astrogeology Science Center

In 1960, Eugene Shoemaker and a small team of other scientists founded the field of astrogeology to develop tools and methods for astronauts studying the geology of the Moon and other planetary bodies. Subsequently, in 1962, the U.S. Geological Survey Branch of Astrogeology was established in Menlo Park, California. In 1963, the Branch moved to Flagstaff, Arizona, to be closer to the young lava flows of the San Francisco Volcanic Field and Meteor Crater, the best preserved impact crater in the world. These geologic features of northern Arizona were considered good analogs for the Moon and other planetary bodies and valuable for geologic studies and astronaut field training. From its Flagstaff campus, the USGS has supported the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA) space program with scientific and cartographic expertise for more than 50 years.

Fact Sheet↗
USGS2016

Planetary caves’ role in astronaut bases and the search for life

Planetary caves are practically everywhere. Scientists have identified more than 200 lunar and more than 2000 Martian cave-related features. They’ve also found vents and fissures associated with water ice plumes on Saturnian, Jovian, and Neptunian moons. Recently, primary vents of two possible cryovolcanoes were identified on Pluto.

Eos, Earth and Space Science News↗
USGS2020

Mars orbiter for resources, ices, and environments (MORIE)

The MORIE mission concept study examined the science and technical trade space to address high priority questions related to ice reservoirs and environmental transitions. The study team converged on a medium-class SEP-enabled orbiter with seven instruments to unlock the extent and volume of subsurface ice and geologic sequence stratigraphy through time. Observations would include the first radar imaging from orbit, the first radar sounding directly over the poles, and surface mineral mapping at unprecedented spatial scales.

Planetary Science Decadal Survey, Planetary Missio↗
USGS2017

The Mars Science Laboratory Curiosity rover Mastcam instruments: Preflight and in-flight calibration, validation, and data archiving

The NASA Curiosity rover Mast Camera (Mastcam) system is a pair of fixed-focal length, multispectral, color CCD imagers mounted ~2 m above the surface on the rover's remote sensing mast, along with associated electronics and an onboard calibration target. The left Mastcam (M-34) has a 34 mm focal length, an instantaneous field of view (IFOV) of 0.22 mrad, and a FOV of 20° × 15° over the full 1648 × 1200 pixel span of its Kodak KAI-2020 CCD. The right Mastcam (M-100) has a 100 mm focal length, an IFOV of 0.074 mrad, and a FOV of 6.8° × 5.1° using the same detector. The cameras are separated by 24.2 cm on the mast, allowing stereo images to be obtained at the resolution of the M-34 camera. Each camera has an eight-position filter wheel, enabling it to take Bayer pattern red, green, and blue (RGB) “true color” images, multispectral images in nine additional bands spanning ~400–1100 nm, and images of the Sun in two colors through neutral density-coated filters. An associated Digital Electronics Assembly provides command and data interfaces to the rover, 8 Gb of image storage per camera, 11 bit to 8 bit companding, JPEG compression, and acquisition of high-definition video. Here we describe the preflight and in-flight calibration of Mastcam images, the ways that they are being archived in the NASA Planetary Data System, and the ways that calibration refinements are being developed as the investigation progresses on Mars. We also provide some examples of data sets and analyses that help to validate the accuracy and precision of the calibration.

Earth and Space Science↗
USGS2018

A new Enceladus global control network, image mosaic, and updated pointing kernels from Cassini's thirteen-year mission

NASA's Cassini spacecraft spent 13 years exploring the Saturn system, including 23 targeted flybys of the small, geologically active moon Enceladus. These flybys provided a wealth of image data from Cassini's Imaging Science Subsystem. To improve the usability of the Enceladus data set, we created a new, global photogrammetric control network for Enceladus that enabled compilation of a versatile cartographic package to support geologic mapping and other investigations. The network used 586 images in four image filters with a pixel scale generally between 50 and 500 m per pixel and a phase angle less than 120° and consisted of 10,362 tie points and 173,704 individual image measures, averaging nearly 17 measures per tie point. Least squares bundle adjustment resulted in a root‐mean‐square residual of 0.45 pixel, corresponding to root‐mean‐square ground point uncertainties of 66, 51, and 46 m in latitude, longitude, and radius, respectively. Using our geodetic control network, we created new global image mosaics, coregistered flyby mosaics to support geologic mapping, and updated pointing kernels for every image used in the solution. These products, including the updated pointing kernels, are available to the community through NASA's Planetary Data System Imaging Annex. The bundle adjustment solution also yielded independently determined shape information, resulting in radii within the stated uncertainty of International Astronomical Union values. The challenges of the data set, and the technical methodology described here are applicable to bodies imaged during multiple flybys with variable viewing and illumination geometry, including other midsized satellites of Saturn, and the Europa Clipper mission.

Earth and Space Science↗
USGS2025

The anatomy and lethality of the Siberian Traps large igneous province

Emplacement of the Siberian Traps large igneous province (LIP) around 252 Ma coincided with the most profound environmental disruption of the past 500 million years. The enormous volume of the Siberian Traps, its ability to generate greenhouse gases and other volatiles, and a temporal coincidence with extinction all suggest a causal link. Patterns of marine and terrestrial extinction/recovery are consistent with environmental stresses potentially triggered by the Siberian Traps. However, the nature of causal links between the LIP and mass extinction remains enigmatic. Understanding the origins, anatomy, and forcing potential of the Siberian Traps LIP and the spatiotemporal patterns of resulting stresses represents a critical counterpart to high-resolution fossil and proxy records of Permian–Triassic environmental and biotic shifts. This review provides a summary of recent advances and key questions regarding the Siberian Traps in an effort to illuminate what combination of factors made the Siberian Traps a uniquely deadly LIP. Large igneous provinces such as the Siberian Traps are capable of triggering global environmental destabilization. Greenhouse gases generated by Siberian Traps magmatism played a major role in driving the climate changes that triggered the end-Permian mass extinction. The end-Permian extinction fundamentally altered the evolutionary trajectory of Earth's biosphere, creating ecological space for many of the organisms seen today. Determining the timing and patterns of end-Permian marine and terrestrial mortality and recovery and the timing and character of Siberian Traps magmatism is key in understanding the causal link between magmatism and extinction. Understanding the cause(s) of past extinction events informs hypotheses about current and future environmental destabilization.

Siberia↗
USGS2021

A geologic field guide to S P Mountain and its lava flow, San Francisco Volcanic Field, Arizona

Introduction We created this guide to introduce the user to the San Francisco Volcanic Field as a terrestrial analog site for planetary volcanic processes. For decades, the San Francisco Volcanic Field has been used to teach scientists to recognize the products of common types of volcanic eruptions and associated volcanic features. The volcanic processes and products observed in this volcanic field are like those observed on lunar and Martian surfaces. As a result, this region has been a favored location for training National Aeronautics and Space Administration astronauts and engineers since the Apollo missions. Though the San Francisco Volcanic Field has more than 600 volcanic vents and flows, this guide will focus on S P Mountain (known locally as S P Crater, located ~30 miles north of Flagstaff, Arizona), one of the best preserved and most accessible of the volcanic cones and lava flows. S P Mountain presents both major types of basaltic eruptions—explosive and effusive—as well as some commonly associated tectonic landforms. We assume that the user has a basic understanding of geologic concepts and terminology. For more specialized terminology, we include tables showing the classification scheme for lava compositions, styles of eruptions, and tephra sizes (tables 1, 2, and 3). If a further introduction or refresher in volcanological terminology is desired, we suggest reviewing such terms on the U.S. Geological Survey Volcano Science Center’s online glossary ( https://volcanoes.usgs.gov/vsc/glossary/ ). One term requires clarification at the start of this guide—the term cinder. The terms cinder and cinder cone are widely used to describe the material and edifice produced by lava fountains. However, the term comes from the mining and construction industries and has no clear or formal definition. The international committees in geology and volcanology have chosen the term tephra to be the general term to describe pyroclasts (material ejected through a volcanic explosion or from a volcanic vent). Therefore, in this guide, we use the term tephra rather than cinder. This guide is outlined as follows: A brief tour of volcanism across the solar system A brief geologic history of the Colorado Plateau and San Francisco Volcanic Field Background on distributed volcanism and S P Mountain Driving directions and field stops Questions for discussion Each field stop includes a brief description, learning goals, tasks, and a summary of key points. At the end of the field guide are discussion points and questions that will ask the user to consider what they have observed and learned and how such knowledge can be used to better our understanding of geologic processes on other planetary bodies. Upon the completion of this field guide, we expect the user to: Have a basic understanding of the volcanic processes relevant to S P Mountain and its lava flow. Be able to identify different volcanic textures that are associated with tephra cones. Be aware of the different observations one can make at different scales (for example, observing lava flow morphology from aerial or satellite imagery versus tephra characteristics in the field).

Arizona↗
USGS1971

Thermoluminescence of Apollo 12 lunar samples

Thermoluminescence (TL) glow curve and decay characteristics of Apollo 12 fines and soil samples are similar to those from Apollo 11. Interpretation of the results from the core sample is difficult because of inadequate sample, spacing, but it appears that the part of the core below about 8 cm has been undisturbed for about 10 4 years whereas the part of the core above 10 cm may have been disturbed by recent surface activity. TL in the Apollo 12 samples is about twice that in the Apollo 11 samples, suggesting a lower mean daytime surface temperature of a few degrees at the Apollo 12 site.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters↗
USGS2021

Evaluating stereo digital terrain model quality at Mars Rover Landing Sites with HRSC, CTX, and HiRISE Images

We have used high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) of two rover landing sites based on mosaicked images from the High-Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (HiRISE) camera as a reference to evaluate DTMs based on High-Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC) and Context Camera (CTX) images. The Next-Generation Automatic Terrain Extraction (NGATE) matcher in the SOCET SET and GXP® commercial photogrammetric systems produces DTMs with good (small) horizontal resolution but large vertical error. Somewhat surprisingly, results for NGATE are terrain dependent, with poorer resolution and smaller errors on smoother surfaces. Multiple approaches to smoothing the NGATE DTMs give similar tradeoffs between resolution and error; a 5 × 5 lowpass filter is near optimal in terms of both combined resolution-error performance and local slope estimation. Smoothing with an area-based matcher, the standard processing for U.S. Geological Survey planetary DTMs, yields similar errors to the 5 × 5 filter at slightly worse resolution. DTMs from the HRSC team processing pipeline fall within this same trade space but are less sensitive to terrain roughness. DTMs produced with the Ames Stereo Pipeline also fall in this space at resolutions intermediate between NGATE and the team pipeline. Considered individually, resolution and error each varied by approximately a factor of 2. Matching errors were 0.2–0.5 pixels but most results fell in the 0.2–0.3 pixel range that has been stated as a rule of thumb in multiple prior studies. Horizontal resolutions of 10–20 image pixels were found, consistently greater than the 3–5 pixel spacing generally used for stereo DTM production. Resolution and precision were inversely correlated; their product varied by ≤20% (4–5 pixels squared). Refinement of the stereo DTM by photoclinometry can yield quantitative improvement in resolution (more than a factor of 2), provided that albedo variations over distances smaller than the stereo DTM resolution are not too severe. We offer specific guidance for both producers and users of planetary stereo DTMs, based on our results.

Remote Sensing↗
USGS2010

Meteorite and meteoroid: New comprehensive definitions

Meteorites have traditionally been defined as solid objects that have fallen to Earth from space. This definition, however, is no longer adequate. In recent decades, man-made objects have fallen to Earth from space, meteorites have been identified on the Moon and Mars, and small interplanetary objects have impacted orbiting spacecraft. Taking these facts and other potential complications into consideration, we offer new comprehensive definitions of the terms "meteorite,""meteoroid," and their smaller counterparts: A meteoroid is a 10-??m to 1-m-size natural solid object moving in interplanetary space. A micrometeoroid is a meteoroid 10 ??m to 2 mm in size. A meteorite is a natural, solid object larger than 10 ??m in size, derived from a celestial body, that was transported by natural means from the body on which it formed to a region outside the dominant gravitational influence of that body and that later collided with a natural or artificial body larger than itself (even if it is the same body from which it was launched). Weathering and other secondary processes do not affect an object's status as a meteorite as long as something recognizable remains of its original minerals or structure. An object loses its status as a meteorite if it is incorporated into a larger rock that becomes a meteorite itself. A micrometeorite is a meteorite between 10 ??m and 2 mm in size. Meteorite- "a solid substance or body falling from the high regions of the atmosphere" (Craig 1849); "[a] mass of stone and iron that ha[s] been directly observed to have fallen down to the Earth's surface" (translated from Cohen 1894); "[a] solid bod[y] which came to the earth from space" (Farrington 1915); "A mass of solid matter, too small to be considered an asteroid; either traveling through space as an unattached unit, or having landed on the earth and still retaining its identity" (Nininger 1933); "[a meteoroid] which has reached the surface of the Earth without being vaporized" (1958 International Astronomical Union (IAU) definition, quoted by Millman 1961); "a solid body which has arrived on the Earth from outer space" (Mason 1962); "[a] solid bod[y] which reach[es] the Earth (or the Moon, Mars, etc.) from interplanetary space and [is] large enough to survive passage through the Earth's (or Mars', etc.) atmosphere" (Gomes and Keil 1980); "[a meteoroid] that survive[s] passage through the atmosphere and fall[s] to earth" (Burke 1986); "a recovered fragment of a meteoroid that has survived transit through the earth's atmosphere" (McSween 1987); "[a] solid bod[y] of extraterrestrial material that penetrate[s] the atmosphere and reach[es] the Earth's surface" (Krot et al. 2003). ?? The Meteoritical Society, 2010.

Meteoritics and Planetary Science↗
USGS1996

Distinguishing shocked from tectonically deformed quartz by the use of the SEM and chemical etching

Multiple sets of crystallographically-oriented planar deformation features (PDFs) are generated by high-strain-rate shock waves at pressures of > 12 GPa in naturally shocked quartz samples. On surfaces, PDFs appear as narrow (50-500 nm) lamellae filled with amorphosed quartz (diaplectic glass) which can be etched with hydrofluoric acid or with hydrothermal alkaline solutions. In contrast, slow-strain-rate tectonic deformation pressure produces wider, semi-linear and widely spaced arrays of dislocation loops that are not glass filled. Etching samples with HF before examination in a scanning electron microscope (SEM) allows for unambiguous visual distinction between glass-filled PDFs and glass-free tectonic deformation arrays in quartz. This etching also reveals the internal 'pillaring' often characteristic of shock-induced PDFs. This technique is useful for easily distinguishing between shock and tectonic deformation in quartz, but does not replace optical techniques for characterizing the shock features.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters↗
USGS2015

The effect of pressurized magma chamber growth on melt migration and pre-caldera vent locations through time at Mount Mazama, Crater Lake, Oregon

The pattern of eruptions at long-lived volcanic centers provides a window into the co-evolution of crustal magma transport, tectonic stresses, and unsteady magma generation at depth. Mount Mazama in the Oregon Cascades has seen variable activity over the last 400 ky, including the 50 km 3 climactic eruption at ca. 7.7 ka that produced Crater Lake caldera. The physical mechanisms responsible for the assembly of silicic magma reservoirs that are the precursors to caldera-forming eruptions are poorly understood. Here we argue that the spatial and temporal distribution of geographically clustered volcanic vents near Mazama reflects the development of a centralized magma chamber that fed the climactic eruption. Time-averaged eruption rates at Mount Mazama imply an order of magnitude increase in deep magma influx prior to the caldera-forming event, suggesting that unsteady mantle melting triggered a chamber growth episode that culminated in caldera formation. We model magma chamber–dike interactions over ∼50 ky preceding the climactic eruption to fit the observed distribution of surface eruptive vents in space and time, as well as petrologically estimated deep influx rates. Best fitting models predict an expanding zone of dike capture caused by a growing, oblate spheroidal magma chamber with 10–30 MPa of overpressure. This growing zone of chamber influence causes closest approaching regional mafic vent locations as well as more compositionally evolved Mazama eruptions to migrate away from the climactic eruptive center, returning as observed to the center after the chamber drains during the caldera-forming eruption.

Oregon↗
USGS2021

Further adventures in Mars DTM quality: Smoothing errors, sharpening details

We have used high-precision, high-resolution digital terrain models (DTMs) of the NASA Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) and Mars 2020 rover landing sites based on mosaicked images from the Mars Reconnaissance Orbiter High Resolution Imaging Science Experiment (MRO HiRISE) camera as a reference data set to evaluate DTMs based on Mars Express High Resolution Stereo Camera (MEX HRSC) images. The Next Generation Automatic Terrain Extraction (NGATE) matcher in the SOCET SET/GXP † commercial photogrammetric system produces DTMs with relatively good (small) horizontal resolution but high error, and results are terrain dependent, with poorer resolution and smaller errors on smoother surfaces. Multiple approaches to smoothing the NGATE DTMs give very similar tradeoffs between resolution and error. Smoothing the NGATE DTMs with a single pass of an area-based matcher, which has been the standard approach to generating planetary DTMs at the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) to date is probably near-optimal in terms of both combined resolution-error performance and local slope estimation, but smoothing with a 5x5 lowpass filter performs as well or better. DTMs from the HRSC team processing pipeline fall within this same trade space but are less sensitive to terrain roughness. DTMs produced with the Ames Stereo Pipeline also fall in this space at resolutions intermediate between NGATE and the team pipeline. Although DTM resolution and error each vary by a factor of two, their product is much more consistent, varying by <20% across multiple image sets and matching algorithms. Refinement of the stereo DTM by photoclinometry can yield significant quantitative improvement in resolution and some improvement in error (improving their product by as much as a factor of two), provided that albedo variations over distances smaller than the stereo DTM resolution are not too severe.

Conference Paper↗
USGS2007

The HRSC DTM test

The High Resolution Stereo Camera (HRSC, [1]) is part of the orbiter payload on the Mars Express (MEX) mission of the European Space Agency (ESA), orbiting the Red Planet in a highly elliptical orbit since January 2004. For the first time in planetary exploration, a camera system has especially been designed to meet the requirements of photogrammetry and cartography for mapping the complete surface of a planet [2]. For this purpose HRSC operates as a push broom scanning instrument with 9 CCD line detectors mounted in parallel in the focal plane of the camera. Data acquisition is achieved by five panchromatic channels under different observation angles and four colour channels. At periapsis the ground resolution of the nadir channel amounts to 12.5 m, the stereo channels are typically operated at a 2x coarser resolution with the two photometry and the four colour channels at 4x or 8x coarser resolution. The data provided by HRSC are well suited for the automatic generation of Digital Terrain Models (DTMs) and other 3D data products. Such products are of vital interest to planetary sciences. As the Mars Express mission has recently been extended the prospects for a complete topographic mapping of Mars by HRSC at very high resolution are very good, indeed. Image matching is well researched and has been documented in the literature. In general, it is agreed that in simple terrain and with adequate image acquisition geometry very good results can be achieved by totally automated approaches. Things start to be much more complicated if more complex situations are faced, such as steep terrain, height discontinuities, occlusions, poor texture, shadows, atmospheric dust, clouds, increased image noise, compression artefacts etc., some of which are commonplace in HRSC images. Nevertheless, automatic DTM generation from HRSC images by means of image matching has reached a very high level over the years. The systematic processing chain at DLR for producing preliminary DTMs with 200 m resolution [3] runs well and stable. In addition, several groups are able to produce DTMs using different approaches, or have developed alternative modules for parts of the DTM generation process [2]. Also, a few groups have been developing shape-from-shading techniques which have reached pre-operational efficiency. It is against this background that the desire was expressed to compare the individual approaches for deriving DTMs from HRSC images in order to assess their advantages and disadvantages. Based on carefully chosen test sites the test participants have produced DTMs which have been subsequently analysed in a quantitative and a qualitative manner. This paper reports on the results obtained in this test, more details can be found in [4].

Conference Paper↗
USGS2008

Methane hydrate formation in turbidite sediments of northern Cascadia, IODP Expedition 311

Expedition 311 of the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) to northern Cascadia recovered gas-hydrate bearing sediments along a SW-NE transect from the first ridge of the accretionary margin to the eastward limit of gas-hydrate stability. In this study we contrast the gas gas-hydrate distribution from two sites drilled ~ 8??km apart in different tectonic settings. At Site U1325, drilled on a depositional basin with nearly horizontal sedimentary sequences, the gas-hydrate distribution shows a trend of increasing saturation toward the base of gas-hydrate stability, consistent with several model simulations in the literature. Site U1326 was drilled on an uplifted ridge characterized by faulting, which has likely experienced some mass wasting events. Here the gas hydrate does not show a clear depth-distribution trend, the highest gas-hydrate saturation occurs well within the gas-hydrate stability zone at the shallow depth of ~ 49??mbsf. Sediments at both sites are characterized by abundant coarse-grained (sand) layers up to 23??cm in thickness, and are interspaced within fine-grained (clay and silty clay) detrital sediments. The gas-hydrate distribution is punctuated by localized depth intervals of high gas-hydrate saturation, which preferentially occur in the coarse-grained horizons and occupy up to 60% of the pore space at Site U1325 and > 80% at Site U1326. Detailed analyses of contiguous samples of different lithologies show that when enough methane is present, about 90% of the variance in gas-hydrate saturation can be explained by the sand (> 63????m) content of the sediments. The variability in gas-hydrate occupancy of sandy horizons at Site U1326 reflects an insufficient methane supply to the sediment section between 190 and 245??mbsf. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters↗