Denver Microbeam Laboratory

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The USGS Denver Microbeam Laboratory provides critical analytical and characterization support for a wide variety of internal USGS projects and external collaborators. In addition, the lab continually works to develop new methods or improve existing methods to analyze a variety of sample matrices. 

 

News

Date published: November 10, 2017

Investigating Lung Disease in Military Veterans

Six years ago, veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan had trouble breathing normally. The list of potential causes that soldiers were exposed to seemed endless: smoke from burn pits used for trash disposal, desert dust, diesel generator exhaust, humidity and temperature extremes, explosives, and city trash and sewage.

Date published: October 1, 2017

New Uranium Mineral Named for USGS Scientist

Everyone’s seen the news–scientists discover a new species of fly and name it for Beyonce; scientists discover a new species of monkey and auction its name off; etc. Hundreds of new species of animals, plants, and other organisms are discovered and named every year. But did you know that dozens of minerals are discovered every year too?

Publications

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Year Published: 2019

The complexity of mudstone diagenesis - some insight from the Tøyen Formation, Lower to Middle Ordovician, southern Sweden

The Lower to Middle Ordovician Tøyen Shale in southern Sweden, a biostratigraphically well-dated siliciclastic mudstone unit, shows 18 distinct authigenic cements that include sulfides, carbonates, silicates, clays, and phosphates. Marcasite, sphalerite, galena, and six texturally distinct types of pyrite characterize the sulfides whereas only one...

Egenhoff, Sven; Fishman, Neil; Lowers, Heather A.; Ahlberg, Per

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Year Published: 2019

Geochemistry of hematite veins in IOA-IOCG deposits of SE Missouri, USA: Relation to felsic magmatism and caldera lakes

The paragenesis, textures, and chemical compositions of secondary hematite in regional potassic altered rhyolites, four IOA deposits, the sedimentary iron deposit at Pilot Knob and the Boss IOCG deposit in SE Missouri were determined and compared to primary magnetite from the IOA and IOCG deposits. Magnetite is composed of elements characteristics...

Meighan, Corey J.; Hofstra, Albert H.; Marsh, Erin E.; Lowers, Heather A.; Koenig, Alan

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Year Published: 2019

Absence of magnetite microlites, geochemistry of magnetite veins and replacements in IOA deposits, SE Missouri, USA: Relations to intermediate intrusions

The paragenesis, textures, and chemical compositions of magnetite in two mafic to intermediate intrusions and four IOA deposits in SE Missouri were studied to discriminate between igneous and hydrothermal sources. In this study, we found that replacement magnetite with mineral inclusion-rich cores yields erroneously high Ti, Al, Si, Mg, and Mn...

Meighan, Corey J.; Hofstra, Albert H.; Adams, David; Marsh, Erin E.; Lowers, Heather A.; Koenig, Alan