David Piper (Emeritus)

Contact: 

(650) 329-5187

fax (650) 329-5491

dzpiper@usgs.gov

Education

Experience

David Piper has been a member of the U.S. Geological Survey, as a research geologist, since 1975. Prior to his current activities, he served as project chief for the Ocean Floor Mineral Resources project. Research focused on the deep-ocean ferromanganese deposits in the area between the Clarion and Clipperton Fracture Zones in the Pacific Ocean, the area of strong interest to the mining community. Work included also serving on the Circum Pacific Map Project, supervising the mapping of mineral deposits, principally ferromanganese deposits, throughout the Pacific Ocean-their distribution, grade, and size. During the 1980’s and 1990’s, he was chief of the project-Petrology of World Phosphate Deposits. Major phosphate deposits examined included the Phosphoria, Monterey, and San Gregorio Formations. The distribution of minor elements in seawater and Neogene sediments led to the development of geochemical models that described the environment of deposition of the older deposits.

Prior to joining the Survey, he was an Assistant Professor at the University of Washington, in the Department of Oceanography.

Current Activities

Past chief of the Surveys and Analysis Project, Western Region. The project has the following tasks: (1) compilation of a lithologic map, (2) mapping of gravity and magnetic data, (3) updating of all significant mineral deposits, and (4) collection of soil and stream-sediment samples on a 17 mile grid, for analysis of some 40 major elements, trace elements and commonly-identified toxic trace elements. The project supports the work of several geologists within the Survey, plus geologists outside the Survey through cooperative agreements with several academic institutes and State Surveys in the western U.S. Work is being coordinated with that carried out by members of the Survey in the other three regions—Alaska, the Central Region, and the Eastern Region.