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Minerals

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Minerals are a valuable natural resource. Those found in coastal environments include sand and gravel, while minerals such as phosphorites, iron-manganese crusts, and sulfides are found in deeper waters. CMG research aims to understand their distribution and the processes that control the composition, origin, and availability of such minerals.

Other related USGS websites:
Mineral Resources Program

Project Information

Educational Materials

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Items below are listed from most recently updated to least recently updated.

These are results 1 through 25 of 43 matches.

Research Project
USGS Northern Gulf of Mexico (NGOM)

Description: The goal of the USGS Northern Gulf of Mexico project is to understand the evolution of coastal ecosystems on the Northern Gulf Coast, the impact of human activities on these ecosystems, and the vulnerability of ecosystems and human communities to more frequent and more intense hurricanes in the future.
updated: 2009-05-28 pages include:

Publication
USGS Open-File Report 2004-1358

Description: The northern Gulf of Mexico contains many documented gas hydrate deposits near the sea floor. Although gas hydrate often is present in shallow subbottom sediment, the extent of hydrate occurrence deeper than 10 meters below sea floor in basins away from vents and other surface expressions is unknown. We obtained giant piston cores, box cores, and gravity cores and performed heat-flow analyses to study these shallow gas hydrate deposits aboard the RV Marion Dufresne in July 2002. This report presents measurements and interpretations from that cruise. Our results confirm the presence of gas hydrate in vent-related sediments near the sea bed. The presence of gas hydrate near the vents is governed by the complex interaction of regional and local factors, including heat flow, fluid flow, faults, pore-water salinity, gas concentrations, and sediment properties. However, conditions appropriate for extensive gas hydrate formation were not found away from the vents.
updated: 2008-11-17 pages include:

Publication
EAARL Topography-Thomas Stone National

Description: Digital map atlas of lidar-derived topography maps for Thomas Stone National Historic Site
updated: 2008-04-28 pages include:

Publication
USGS Professional Paper 1751: Systematic Mapping of Bedrock and Habitats along the Florida Reef Tract--Central Key Largo to Halfmoon Shoal

Description: Systematic Mapping of Bedrock and Habitats along the Florida Reef Tract: Central Key Largo to Halfmoon Shoal (Gulf of Mexico) details the bio/geologic record in the Florida Keys from 325,000 years ago to the present.
updated: 2008-01-23 pages include:

Publication
Habitat and Hydrology: Assessing Biological Resources of the Suwannee River Estuarine System Open-File Report 2007-1382

Description: Habitat and Hydrology: Assessing Biological Resources of the Suwannee River Estuarine System, Open File Report 2007-1382
updated: 2008-01-18 pages include:

Educational Materials
USGS Monterey Bay Science

Description: USGS Monterey Bay Science - USGS research in the Monterey Bay National Marine Sanctuary and coastal watersheds of central California
updated: 2008-01-01 pages include:

Educational Materials
Coastal and Marine Knowledge Bank

Description: An initiative to develop and present a national-scale, interdisciplinary scientific framework for marine environments, the coastal zone, and coastal watersheds
updated: 2007-11-28 pages include:

Publication
Bulletin 2209-H: Stratiform Barite Deposits in the Roberts Mountains Allochthon, Nevada: A Review of Potential Analogs in Modern Sea-Floor Environment

Description: The United States is a net importer of barite, a critical mineral for the oil and gas industry; more than 80 percent of current domestic consumption of barite is imported from China. Nearly all of the domestic production of barite comes from stratiform deposits in Nevada. The "modern analogs" approach adopted in this review can contribute to improving deposit models and the long-term resource picture in the United States.
updated: 2007-03-19 pages include:

Research Project
Coasts of Colombia

Description: Due to the complex geologic history of the northwestern part of South America, the Colombian coasts include a variety of coastline types, ranging from high-relief, steep-plunging cliffs typical of igneous and metamorphic massifs, to low, sandy barrier islands and extensive mangrove swamps characteristic of deltaic areas of both coasts.
updated: 2006-06-14 pages include:

Publication
Microbial Ecology in Reef Sediments of Biscayne National Park

Description: 'Microbial Ecology in Reef Sediments of Biscayne National Park' is a 4-page discussion of bacterial communities as a critical component of the coral reef ecosystem.
updated: 2006-05-02 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 2006-1036: Quantitative X-ray Diffraction Mineralogy of Los Angeles Basin Core Samples

Description: This report contains X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis of mineralogy for 81 sediment samples from cores taken from three drill holes in the Los Angeles Basin in 2000-2001. We analyzed 26 samples from Pier F core, 29 from Pier C core, and 26 from the Webster core. These three sites provide an offshore-onshore record across the Southern California coastal zone. This report is designed to be a data repository; these data will be used in further studies, including geochemical modeling as part of the CABRILLO project. Summary tables quantify the major mineral groups, whereas detailed mineralogy is presented in three appendices. The rationale, methodology, and techniques are described in the following paper.
updated: 2006-02-23 pages include:

Research Project
Research Projects - Pacific EEZ Minerals

Description: Description of research project.
updated: 2005-10-03 pages include:

Research Project
Hydrates From Ice (HyFI)

Description: The HyFI facility is designed for making physical property measurements on a variety of hydrates. The term "Hydrates From Ice" refers to one formation technique in which hydrate is formed by slowly warming granular ice in a pressurized atmosphere of the hydrate former (methane, for instance). This methodology was developed at the USGS, in the Menlo Park laboratory lead by Dr. Stephen Kirby and Laura Stern.
updated: 2004-06-28 pages include:

Research Project
Marine Aggregate Resources and Processes

Description: The Marine Aggregates (Sand and Gravel Assessment) Project has developed and is implementing a scientifically rigorous series of regional studies mapping the seafloor sedimentary character and assessing marine sand and gravel resources around the United States. Results of the regional assessments will ultimately comprise a national assessment of marine sand and gravel. This study is responding to increasing demand for web-accessible GIS-type data and interpreted geologic map information on the sedimentary character of the seafloor and aggregate resources suitable for beach nourishment and coastal restoration, as well as seafloor sediment texture information for benthic habitat mapping and sediment transport studies.
updated: 2004-05-07 pages include:

Publication
The Escanaba Trough of Gorda Ridge: A Laboratory for Mineral-forming Processes - USGS Fact Sheet

Description: The Gorda Ridge is a unique geological system in the Exclusive Economic Zone of the United States. This tectonically and volcanically active plate boundary has an unusual morphology for spreading centers in the Pacific Ocean: a deep, wide axial valley flanked by high ridges. Because of its location near the continental margin, part of the axial valley known as the Escanaba Trough is covered by sediment. The Escanaba Trough provides opportunities for scientists to learn details about tectonics, volcanism, mineral formation, and biological activity that are not normally observed at mid-ocean ridges. It is a geological laboratory of grand proportions.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
Evolution and History of Incised Valleys: The Mobile Bay Model - USGS Fact Sheet

Description: Incised valleys along the Gulf coast commonly result from rivers eroding rapidly in response to a fall in sea level. As sea level rises, sediments fill incised valleys and form nearshore elongated sandbodies such as barrier islands. These sandbodies can be potential sites for hard-mineral accumulations and are modern analogues to buried sands in the ancient rock record with high potential of being oil and gas reservoirs. Processes that formed residual sediment accumulations may also help to predict the outcome of man's erosion mitigation and wetland nourishment efforts. Today, the geologic imprint of incised valleys across the continental shelf provides evidence of sea-level change over the past 18,000 years.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
Lake Baikal - A Touchstone for Global Change and Rift Studies - USGS Fact Sheet

Description: The Lake Baikal rift system is a modern analogue for formation of ancient Atlantic-type continental margins. It tells us the first chapter in the story of how continents separate and ultimately develop into ocean basins like the Atlantic Ocean.
updated: 2004-03-02 pages include:

Publication
USGS Open-File Report 03-300, A Bibliography of Selected References to U.S. Marine Sand and Gravel Mineral Resources, title page

Description: A bibliography of selected references to U.S. marine sand and gravel mineral resources
updated: 2003-12-02 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 03-002, Texture, Carbonate Content, and Preliminary Maps of Surficial Sediments of the Flower Garden Banks Area, Northwestern Gulf of Mexico Outer Shelf, Title Page

Description: The purpose of this report is to release texture and carbonate content data from 107 seafloor sediments collected within and near the East and West Flower Garden Banks areas of the Flower Garden Banks National Marine Sanctuary and to show relationships between these data and existing bathymetric data.
updated: 2003-10-22 pages include:

Publication
An Overview of Coastal Land Loss: With Emphasis on the Southeastern United States

Description: In states bordering the Gulf of Mexico and the Atlantic Ocean, vast areas of coastal land have been destroyed since the mid 1800s as a result of natural processes and human activities. The physical factors that have the greatest influence on coastal land loss are reductions in sediment supply, relative sea level rise, and frequent storms, whereas the most important human activities are sediment excavation, river modification, and coastal construction. As a result of these agents and activities, coastal land loss is manifested most commonly as beach/bluff erosion and coastal submergence.
updated: 2003-08-20 pages include:

Publication
U.S. Geological Survey Open-File Report 03-001, Title Page

Description: This report contains surficial sediment data from previously unpublished data sources or from gray literature. These data have been compiled as part of the National Benthic Habitats and Marine Aggregate Resources and Processes Projects to update the existent maps on surficial sediment distribution available for the Gulf of Maine region. Sediment data in this report are GIS ready and are broken into data layers by their original source project. The data layers are provided as single-point vector datasets with sample identifiers, navigation, textural attribute information, and FGDC compliant metadata.
updated: 2003-08-14 pages include:

Publication
Open-File Report 01-077: Clay Mineral Content of Continental Shelf and River Sediments, Southern California

Description: This report presents the clay mineral contents of the less than 2 micron size fraction of surface sediments from the continental shelf off Southern California, core samples from Santa Monica Bay, and bottom and suspended sediment samples from adjacent rivers draining Southern California. Clay minerals were determined using X-ray diffraction and the semiquantitative contents of smectite, illite, and chlorite plus kaolinite were calculated.
updated: 2003-03-18 pages include:

Publication
USGS Open-File Report 02-403, Contaminated Sediments Database for the Gulf of Maine, Title Page

Description: Contaminated sediment database for the Gulf of Maine
updated: 2003-02-06 pages include:

Publication
West-Central Florida Coastal Transect #1: Anclote Key - USGS Open File Report 99-505

Description: This is the first of nine transect areas extending from the mainland of west-central Florida out to a depth of 26m. Data collected and presented includes sediment core data and side-scan sonar mapping of portions of the seafloor.
updated: 2002-12-17 pages include:

Publication
West-Central Florida Coastal Transect #2: Caladesi Island - Clearwater Beach Island - USGS Open File Report 99-506

Description: This is the second of nine transect areas extending from the mainland of west-central Florida out to a depth of 26m. Data collected and presented includes sediment core data and side-scan sonar mapping of portions of the seafloor.
updated: 2002-12-17 pages include:

These are results 1 through 25 of 43 matches.

Coastal and Marine Geology Program > Online Science Resource Locator > Minerals