To produce materials from mine to market it is necessary to overcome obstacles that include the force of gravity, the strength of molecular bonds, and technological inefficiencies. These challenges are met by the application of energy to accomplish the work that includes the direct use of electricity, fossil fuel, and manual labor. The tables and analyses presented in this study contain estimates of electricity consumption for the mining and processing of ores, concentrates, intermediate products, and industrial and refined metallic commodities on a kilowatt-hour (kWh) per unit basis,...

The population of the San Luis Basin region of northern New Mexico is growing. Water shortfalls in this low rainfall region could have serious consequences. Decisions for future growth and land management in the region depend on an accurate assessment and protection of the region's groundwater resources. An important aspect of managing the groundwater resources is a better understanding of the hydrogeology of the Santa Fe Group and the nature of the sedimentary deposits that fill the Rio Grande Rift, which contain the principal groundwater aquifers. The shallow unconfined aquifer and the...

The U.S. Geological Survey mapped the landscape of the Natchez Trace Parkway, which is managed by the National Park Service, from September 2004 to August 2010.

Plague is an acute and often fatal zoonotic disease caused by the bacterium Yersinia pestis. Y. pestis mainly cycles between small mammals and their fleas; however, it has the potential to infect humans and frequently causes fatalities if left untreated. It is often considered a disease of the past; however, since the late 1800s, plague's geographic range has expanded greatly, posing new threats in previously unaffected regions of the world, including the Western United States.

Layered, ultramafic to mafic intrusions are uncommon in the geologic record, but host magmatic ore deposits containing most of the world's economic concentrations of platinum-group elements (PGE) (figs. 1 and 2). These deposits are mined primarily for their platinum, palladium, and rhodium contents (table 1). Magmatic ore deposits are derived from accumulations of crystals of metallic oxides, or immiscible sulfide, or oxide liquids that formed during the cooling and crystallization of magma, typically with mafic to ultramafic compositions.

The National Wildlife Refuge System Improvement Act of 1997 requires all units of the National Wildlife Refuge System to be managed under a Comprehensive Conservation Plan (CCP). The CCP must describe the desired future conditions of a refuge and provide long-range guidance and management direction to achieve refuge purposes. Charles M. Russell (CMR) National Wildlife Refuge, located in north-central Montana, is in the process of developing a range of management goals, objectives, and strategies for the CCP. The CCP for the Refuge must contain an analysis of expected effects associated with...

In this report we present new probabilistic seismic hazard maps for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (fig. 1). These two United States territories, together composing the Mariana Islands group, lie in the western North Pacific Ocean along the Mariana arc about three quarters of the distance from Hawaii to the Philippines and halfway between Japan and New Guinea.

Social Values for Ecosystem Services, Version 2.0 (SolVES 2.0) is a geographic information system (GIS) application for incorporating quantified and spatially explicit social values information into ecosystem services assessments. The initial version of SolVES (Sherrouse and others, 2010) was developed by the U.S. Geological Survey's (USGS) Rocky Mountain Geographic Science Center (RMGSC), in collaboration with Dr. Jessica Clement at Colorado State University (CSU), to address the need to account for differing values, attitudes, and preferences among diverse stakeholders in the analysis of...

The Powder River Basin occupies a broad swath of the northeastern Rocky Mountain region and exhibits significant potential for carbon dioxide (CO2) sequestration. The basin study area extends over approximately 100-150 mi from east to west and approximately 200 mi from north to south, and it covers portions of northeastern Wyoming, southeastern Montana, western South Dakota, and northwestern Nebraska (fig.1).

A one-dimensional petroleum system modeling study of Paleogene source rocks in Louisiana was undertaken in order to characterize their thermal history and to establish the timing and extent of petroleum generation. The focus of the modeling study was the Paleocene and Eocene Wilcox Formation, which contains the youngest source rock interval in the Gulf Coast Province. Stratigraphic input to the models included thicknesses and ages of deposition, lithologies, amounts and ages of erosion, and ages for periods of nondeposition. Oil-generation potential of the Wilcox Formation was modeled using...