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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS2007

U.S. Geological Survey Scientific Activities in the Exploration of Antarctica: Introduction to Antarctica (Including USGS Field Personnel: 1946-59)

INTRODUCTION Antarctica is the planet's fifth largest continent [13.2 million km2 (5.1 million mi2)]; it contains the Earth's largest (of two) remaining ice sheets; it is considered to be one of the most important scientific laboratories on Earth. This report is the introduction to a series that covers 60 years of U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) scientific activity in Antarctica. It will concentrate primarily on three major topics: 1) a brief chronological record of the historical search, discovery, and exploration of the southern continent by humans; 2) early USGS scientific activities in Antarctica, listing expeditions, projects, people and resulting professional publications for Operation Highjump, 1946-47; Operation Windmill, 1947-48; USS Atka Reconnaissance Cruise, 1954-55; and Operation Deep Freeze I, II, III, and IV, 1955-59, including IGY; 3) significant changes that have occurred in Antarctic exploration and research since World War II will be discussed at the end of this report. Subsequent Open-File Reports will provide a year-by-year documentation of USGS scientific activities and accomplishments in Antarctica beginning with the post-IGY, 1959-60 research team. One Open-File Report is planned to be written for each field-based season. For an example of the series format, see Open-File Reports 2006-1113 (Meunier, 2007a) and 2006-1114 (Meunier, 2007b). This report is a companion document to Open-File Report 2006-1116 (Meunier, 2007c). The USGS mapping and science programs in Antarctica are among the longest continuously funded projects in the United States Antarctic Program (USAP). The 2005-06 field season is the 56th consecutive U.S. expedition in which USGS scientists have been participants, starting in 1946. USGS and the National Science Foundation (NSF) cooperation began with the establishment by NSF of the U.S. Antarctic (Research) Program [USA(R)P] in 1958-59 under Operation Deep Freeze IV (DF IV) and was given the responsibility for the principal coordination and management of all U.S. scientific activities in Antarctica in Deep Freeze 60 (DF 60) (1959-60). Financial support from NSF, mostly in the form of Memorandum of Understandings (MOUs) and Cooperative Agreements, extends back to this period and can be attributed to the need for accurate geologic, geophysical, and topographic base maps of specific field areas or regions where NSF-funded science projects were planned. The epoch of Antarctic exploration during the IGY was driven by science and, in a spirit of peaceful cooperation, the international scientific community wanted to limit military activities on the continent to logistical support (Meunier, 1979 [2007], p. 38). The USGS, a Federal civilian science agency in the Department of the Interior, has, since its founding in 1879, carried out numerous field-based national (and some international) programs in biology, geology, geophysics, hydrology, and mapping. Therefore, the USGS was the obvious choice for these tasks, because it already had a professional staff of experienced mapmakers, scientists, and program managers with the foresight, dedication, and understanding of the need for accurate maps to support the science programs in Antarctica when asked to do so by the U.S. National Academy of Sciences. Public Laws 85-743 and 87-626, signed in August 1958, and in September 1962, respectively, authorized the Secretary, U.S. Department of the Interior, through the USGS, to support mapping and scientific work in Antarctica (Meunier, 1979 [2007], appendix A). Open-File Report 2006-1116 includes scanned facsimiles of postal cachets. It has become an international practice to create postal cachets to commemorate special events and projects in Antarctica. A cachet is defined as a seal or commemorative design printed or stamped on an envelope to mark a philatelic or special event. The inked impression illustrates to the scientist, historian, stamp collector, and general public the multidisciplinary science projects staffed by USGS and collaborating scientists during the field season. Since 1960, philatelic cachets have been created by team members for each USGS field season and, in most cases, these cachets depict the specific geographic areas and field season program objectives. The cachets become a convenient documentation of the people, projects, and geographic places of interest for that year. Because the cachets are representative of USGS activities, each year's cachet is included as a digital facsimile in that year's Open-File Report. In the 1980s, multiple USGS cachets were prepared each year, one for use by the winter team at Amundsen-Scott South Pole Station and the other for the project work areas of the austral summer field season programs.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2012

Global prediction of continuous hydrocarbon accumulations in self-sourced reservoirs

This report was first presented as an abstract in poster format at the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG) 2012 Annual Convention and Exhibition, April 22-25, Long Beach, Calif., as Search and Discovery Article no. 90142. Shale resource plays occur in predictable tectonic settings within similar orders of magnitude of eustatic events. A conceptual model for predicting the presence of resource-quality shales is essential for evaluating components of continuous petroleum systems. Basin geometry often distinguishes self-sourced resource plays from conventional plays. Intracratonic or intrashelf foreland basins at active margins are the predominant depositional settings among those explored for the development of self-sourced continuous accumulations, whereas source rocks associated with conventional accumulations typically were deposited in rifted passive margin settings (or other cratonic environments). Generally, the former are associated with the assembly of supercontinents, and the latter often resulted during or subsequent to the breakup of landmasses. Spreading rates, climate, and eustasy are influenced by these global tectonic events, such that deposition of self-sourced reservoirs occurred during periods characterized by rapid plate reconfiguration, predominantly greenhouse climate conditions, and in areas adjacent to extensive carbonate sedimentation. Combined tectonic histories, eustatic curves, and paleogeographic reconstructions may be useful in global predictions of organic-rich shale accumulations suitable for continuous resource development. Accumulation of marine organic material is attributed to upwellings that enhance productivity and oxygen-minimum bottom waters that prevent destruction of organic matter. The accumulation of potential self-sourced resources can be attributed to slow sedimentation rates in rapidly subsiding (incipient, flexural) foreland basins, while flooding of adjacent carbonate platforms and other cratonic highs occurred. In contrast, deposition of this resource type on rifted passive margins was likely the result of reactivation of long-lived cratonic features or salt tectonic regimes that created semi-confined basins. Commonly, loading by thick sections of clastic material, following thermal relaxation after plate collision or rift phases, advances kerogen maturation. With few exceptions, North American self-sourced reservoirs appear to be associated with calcitic seas and predominantly greenhouse or transitional ("warm" to "cool") global climatic conditions. Significant changes to the global carbon budget may also be a contributing factor in the stratigraphic distribution of continuous resource plays, requiring additional evaluation.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2007

Global polar geospatial information service retrieval based on search engine and ontology reasoning

In order to improve the access precision of polar geospatial information service on web, a new methodology for retrieving global spatial information services based on geospatial service search and ontology reasoning is proposed, the geospatial service search is implemented to find the coarse service from web, the ontology reasoning is designed to find the refined service from the coarse service. The proposed framework includes standardized distributed geospatial web services, a geospatial service search engine, an extended UDDI registry, and a multi-protocol geospatial information service client. Some key technologies addressed include service discovery based on search engine and service ontology modeling and reasoning in the Antarctic geospatial context. Finally, an Antarctica multi protocol OWS portal prototype based on the proposed methodology is introduced.

Open-File Report↗
USGS2023

What evidence exists on the ecological and physical effects of built structures in shallow, tropical coral reefs? A systematic map protocol

Background Shallow, tropical coral reefs face compounding threats from habitat degradation due to coastal development and pollution, impacts from storms and sea-level rise, and pulse disturbances like blast fishing, mining, dredging, and ship groundings that reduce coral reefs’ height and variability. One approach toward restoring coral reef structure from these threats is deploying built structures. Built structures range from engineered modules and repurposed materials to underwater sculptures and intentionally placed natural rocks. Restoration practitioners and coastal managers increasingly consider incorporating built structures, including nature-based solutions, into coral reef-related applications. Yet, synthesized evidence on the ecological and physical performance of built structure interventions across a variety of contexts (e.g., restoration, coastal protection, mitigation, tourism) is not readily available to guide decisions. To help inform management decisions, here we aim to document the global evidence base on the ecological and physical performance of built structures in shallow (≤ 30 m) tropical (35° N to 35° S latitude) coral ecosystems. The collated evidence base on use cases and associated ecological and physical outcomes of built structure interventions can help inform future consideration of built structures in reef restoration design, siting, and implementation. Method To discover evidence on the performance of built structures in coral reef-related applications, such as restoration, mitigation, and coastal protection, primary literature will be searched across indexing platforms, bibliographic databases, open discovery citation indexes, a web-based search engine, a novel literature discovery tool, and organizational websites. The geographic scope of the search is global, and there is no limitation to temporal scope. Primary literature will be screened first at the level of title and abstract and then at the full text level against defined eligibility criteria for the population, intervention, study type, and outcomes of interest. Metadata will be extracted from studies that pass both screening levels. The resulting data will be analyzed to determine the distribution and abundance of evidence. Results will be made publicly available and reported in a systematic map that includes a narrative description, identifies evidence clusters and gaps, and outlines future research directions on the use of built structures in coral reef-related applications.

Environmental Evidence↗
USGS2003

Peleolakes and impact basins in southern Arabia Terra, including Meridiani Planum: Implications for the formation of hematite deposits on Mars

The hematite deposit in Meridiani Planum was selected for a Mars Exploration Rover (MER) landing site because water could be involved in the formation of hematite, and water is a key ingredient in the search for life. Our discovery of a chain of paleolake basins and channels along the southern margin of the hematite deposits in Meridiani Planum with the presence of the strongest hematite signature adjacent to a paleolake basin, supports the possible role of water in the formation of the hematite and the deposition of other layered materials in the region. The hematite may have formed by direct precipitation from lake water, as coatings precipitated from groundwater, or by oxidation of preexisting iron oxide minerals. The paleolake basins were fed by an extensive channel system, originating from an area larger than Texas and located south of the Schiaparelli impact basin. On the basis of stratigraphic relationships, the formation of channels in the region occurred over much of Mars' history, from before the layered materials in Meridiani Planum were deposited until recently. The location of the paleolake basins and channels is connected with the impact cratering history of the region. The earliest structure identified in this study is an ancient circular multiringed basin (800-1600 km diameter) that underlies the entire Meridiani Planum region. The MER landing site is located on the buried northern rim of a later 150 km diameter crater. This crater is partially filled with layered deposits that contained a paleolake in its southern portion. Copyright 2003 by the American Geophysical Union.

Journal of Geophysical Research E: Planets↗
USGS2012

Overpressure and hydrocarbon accumulations in Tertiary strata, Gulf Coast of Louisiana

Many oil and gas reservoirs in Tertiary strata of southern Louisiana are located close to the interface between a sand-rich, normally pressured sequence and an underlying sand-poor, overpressured sequence. This association, recognized for many years by Gulf Coast explorationists, is revisited here because of its relevance to an assessment of undiscovered oil and gas potential in the Gulf Coast of Louisiana. The transition from normally pressured to highly overpressured sediments is documented by converting mud weights to pressure, plotting all pressure data from an individual field as a function of depth, and selecting a top and base of the pressure transition zone. Vertical extents of pressure transition zones in 34 fields across southern onshore Louisiana range from 300 to 9000 ft and are greatest in younger strata and in the larger fields. Display of pressure transition zones on geologic cross sections illustrates the relative independence of the depth of the pressure transition zone and geologic age. Comparison of the depth distribution of pressure transition zones with production intervals confirms previous findings that production intervals generally overlap the pressure transition zone in depth and that the median production depth lies above the base of the pressure transition zone in most fields. However, in 11 of 55 fields with deep drilling, substantial amounts of oil and gas have been produced from depths deeper than 2000 ft below the base of the pressure transition zone. Mud-weight data in 7 fields show that "local" pressure gradients range from 0.91 to 1.26 psi/ft below the base of the pressure transition zone. Pressure gradients are higher and computed effective stress gradients are negative in younger strata in coastal areas, indicating that a greater potential for fluid and sediment movement exists there than in older Tertiary strata.

Louisiana↗
USGS2012

Definition of Greater Gulf Basin Lower Cretaceous and Upper Cretaceous lower Cenomanian Shale Gas Assessment Unit, United States Gulf of Mexico basin onshore and state waters

An assessment unit (AU) for undiscovered continuous “shale” gas in Lower Cretaceous (Aptian and Albian) and basal Upper Cretaceous (lower Cenomanian) rocks in the USA onshore Gulf of Mexico coastal plain recently was defined by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The AU is part of the Upper Jurassic-Cretaceous-Tertiary Composite Total Petroleum System (TPS) of the Gulf of Mexico Basin. Definition of the AU was conducted as part of the 2010 USGS assessment of undiscovered hydrocarbon resources in Gulf Coast Mesozoic stratigraphic intervals. The purpose of defining the Greater Gulf Basin Lower Cretaceous Shale Gas AU was to propose a hypothetical AU in the Cretaceous part of the Gulf Coast TPS in which there might be continuous “shale” gas, but the AU was not quantitatively assessed by the USGS in 2010.

Search and Discovery↗
USGS1989

Premigrational movements and behavior of young mallards and wood ducks in north-central Minnesota

Movements and behavior of 89 young mallards (Anas platyrhynchos) and 48 young wood ducks (Aix sponsa) were monitored on a 932-km2 study area in north-central Minnesota in late summer and fall, 1972-74, with telemetry, visual observation, and aerial surveys. Initial flights of both species were confined to the natal (brood) marsh; first flights away from the natal marsh occurred in the third week after fledging in both species. First flights of young mallards and wood ducks away from their natal marshes were not significantly different between the sexes (mallard, mean = 4.95 km for females and 5.83 km for males; wood ducks, mean = 2.31 km for females and 2.64 km for males). However, flights away from the brood marshes by wood ducks were significantly shorter than for mallards.As young mallards and wood ducks grew, their daytime use of the natal marshes decreased in an irregular pattern as both species began daily flights between day- and night-use areas. Locally reared mallards made longer daily flights between use areas than did wood ducks, but wood ducks changed use areas with greater frequency before 1 October. Despite often extensive movements, most locally reared mallards and wood ducks remained in the vicinity of their brood marshes throughout fall until migration.Movement of young birds to new habitat was not the result of random searching and thus fortuitous discovery of nearby areas. Instead, birds seemed to learn of new habitat and develop movement patterns by associating with other birds; locally reared young always moved in the company of flocks of conspecifics that included adults and older immatures.Differences in movement patterns between the sexes of young birds and between young and adult birds cause them to be differentially distributed by age and sex on and near the breeding grounds. These differences are ultimately reflected in the distribution of the hunter harvest. We have interpreted generalizations about such phenomena, developed from analysis of continent-wide mallard banding data, using our data obtained from individually marked birds. We document (a) greater distances moved by early than by late-hatched young in the postbreeding period before migration, (b) differential movement of age and sex cohorts that explains greater hunting mortality of young than adults and of females than males near natal marshes, (c) differences in length and timing of postbreeding movements of adult male mallards and the postfledging movements of immature male mallards that help explain the northerly continental recovery distribution of young males, and (d) differential timing and rate of movement by birds through harvest areas (early departure of males and some return of females to natal marshes after the beginning of hunting) that explain differences in the timing of hunting season recoveries. Behavioral differences between the age and sex cohorts in the fall waterfowl population on and near their breeding grounds in north-central Minnesota can explain observed differences in survival and recovery rates of adult and young birds.The behaviors observed suggest to us that restrictive harvest regulations such as small-area closure may have little or no local benefits at the breeding grounds because premigratory assemblages of birds make extensive movements. In particular, protection of postbreeding adult females and locally reared young might only occur by closing large areas or scheduling extreme delays in the season opening, neither of which may be compatible with equitably apportioning waterfowl harvest at higher latitudes. Additional research on the local effects of restrictive regulations, and on age- and sex-specific differences in the timing, rate, and direction of fall movements of postbreeding waterfowl is needed.

Fish and Wildlife Research↗
USGS1953

Search for uranium in western United States

The search for uranium in the United States is one of the most intensive ever made for any metal during our history. The number of prospectors and miners involved is difficult to estimate but some measure of the size of the effort is indicated by the fact that about 500 geologists are employed by government and industry in the work--more than the total number of geologists engaged in the study of all other minerals together except oil. The largest part of the effort has been concentrated in the western states. No single deposit of major importance by world standards has been discovered but the search has led to the discovery of important minable deposits of carnotite and related minerals on the Colorado Plateau; of large, low grade deposits of uranium in phosphates in the northwestern states and in lignites in the Dakotas, Wyoming, Idaho and New Mexico; and of many new and some promising occurrences of uranium in carnotite-like deposits and in vein deposits. Despite the fact that a large number of the districts considered favorable for the occurrence of uranium have already been examined, the outlook for future discoveries is bright, particularly for uranium in vein and in carnotite-like deposits in the Rocky Mountain States.

Trace Elements Investigations↗
USGS1982

Variability in nest survival rates and implications to nesting studies

We used four reasonably large samples (83-213) of Mallard ( Anas platyrhynchos ) and Blue-winged Teal ( A. discors ) nests on an interstate highway right-of-way in southcentral North Dakota to evaluate potential biases in hatch-rate estimates. Twelve consecutive, weekly searches for nests were conducted with a cable-chain drag in 1976 and 1977. Nests were revisited at weekly intervals. Four methods were used to estimate hatch rates for the four data sets: the Traditional Method, the Mayfield Method, and two modifications of the Mayfield Method that are sometimes appropriate when daily mortality rates of nests are not constant. Hatch rates and the average age of nests at discovery declined as the interval between searches decreased, suggesting that mortality rates were not constant in our samples. An analysis of variance indicated that daily mortality rates varied with the age of nests in all four samples. Mortality was generally highest during the early laying period, moderately high during the late laying period, and lowest during incubation. We speculate that this relationship of mortality to nest age might be due to the presence of hens at nests or to differences in the vulnerability of nest sites to predation. A modification of the Mayfield Method that accounts for age-related variation in nest mortality was most appropriate for our samples. We suggest methods for conducting nesting studies and estimating nest success for species possessing similar nesting habits.

The Auk↗
USGS1980

Computational methods for a three-dimensional model of the petroleum-discovery process

A discovery-process model devised by Drew, Schuenemeyer, and Root can be used to predict the amount of petroleum to be discovered in a basin from some future level of exploratory effort: the predictions are based on historical drilling and discovery data. Because marginal costs of discovery and production are a function of field size, the model can be used to make estimates of future discoveries within deposit size classes. The modeling approach is a geometric one in which the area searched is a function of the size and shape of the targets being sought. A high correlation is assumed between the surface-projection area of the fields and the volume of petroleum. To predict how much oil remains to be found, the area searched must be computed, and the basin size and discovery efficiency must be estimated. The basin is assumed to be explored randomly rather than by pattern drilling. The model may be used to compute independent estimates of future oil at different depth intervals for a play involving multiple producing horizons. We have written FORTRAN computer programs that are used with Drew, Schuenemeyer, and Root's model to merge the discovery and drilling information and perform the necessary computations to estimate undiscovered petroleum. These program may be modified easily for the estimation of remaining quantities of commodities other than petroleum. ?? 1980.

Computers & Geosciences↗
USGS1987

Statistics of petroleum exploration in the non-Communist world outside the United States and Canada

The search for petroleum has expanded to include most countries in the world. From January 1, 1950, through 1980, about 160,000 crew months were spent in geologic and geophysical exploration in a study area that includes all nonCommunist countries outside the United States and Canada. By the end of 1982, almost 27,000 wildcat wells had been drilled in this study area; these and other pre-1983 wells delineated a prospective area of 1.56 million square miles in which about 836 billion barrels of ultimately recoverable crude oil has been found, 62 percent of it since 1950. The delineated prospective area is still expanding at a rate of 56,000 square miles per year (60 square miles per wildcat well) for the study area, and it is increasing in nearly every country in the study area. Maps of the delineated prospective area in each country show that in most countries, only a small part of the national territory has been explored. In spite of the expansion of the searched area, however, the rate of discovery has declined significantly from 22 million barrels per exploratory well in the 1950's to 8 million barrels per exploratory well in the 1970's.

Circular↗
USGS1980

A three-dimensional model to predict future oil discoveries in spatially connected multiple plays

A discovery-process model that had been devised previously to estimate the size distribution of oil and gas fields remaining to be discovered in a single producing horizon was adapted to a basin containing spatially connected multiple plays and producing horizons. This model used the concept of the area of influence of wells to estimate search effort. Other variables estimated from the historical drilling and discovery data are the effective basin size and the exploration-drilling efficiency. Data from the Midland Basin are used to illustrate how the model works. ?? 1980 Plenum Publishing Corporation.

Journal of the International Association for Mathe↗
USGS1981

The potential for diamond-bearing kimberlite in northern Michigan and Wisconsin

Between 1876 and 1913, diamonds were found in at least seven localities in southern and central Wisconsin. All were found in Pleistocene glacial deposits or Holocene river gravel. The bedrock kimberlite source for the diamonds is unknown but has been presumed to be in northern Canada, the only area north of Wisconsin previously known to contain kimberlites. Recently, a kimberlite pipe, here named the Lake Ellen kimberlite, has been found in Iron County, Michigan. That find suggests the possibility that drift diamonds in Wisconsin have come from a more local source--kimberlites in northern Michigan and Wisconsin. The Lake Ellen kimberlite is very poorly exposed, but a strong positive magnetic anomaly indicates that it is roughly circular in plan and about 200 m in diameter. Although the kimberlite is entirely surrounded by Precambrian rocks, it contains abundant inclusions of fossiliferous dolomite, probably from the Ordovician Black River Group that overlay the area when the kimberlite was intruded. The post-Ordovician age of the kimberlite leads us to suspect that other possible cryptovolcanic structures in Paleozoic rocks in the region were formed over kimberlite pipes that are not yet exposed by erosion. Such structures include Limestone Mountain and Sherman Hill, in Houghton and Baraga Counties, Michigan; Glover Bluff, in Marquette County, Wisconsin; and possibly an area along the Brule River south of Iron River, Michigan. No diamonds are known in the Lake Ellen kimberlite, but it has not been adequately sampled. The cryptovolcanic structures could not be the source of the drift diamonds in Wisconsin because even if the structures are caused by kimberlites, those kimberlites have not yet been exposed by erosion. Elsewhere in the world, kimberlite is seldom found as a single isolated body; clusters of bodies are more common, and the presence of one kimberlite implies that others may exist nearby. The discovery of additional kimberlites may be very difficult because of the extensive cover of glacial drift and the typical small size of kimberlite bodies. If all are magnetic, they might be found by detailed aeromagnetic surveys. However, the magnetism of the Lake Ellen kimberlite appears to be caused by secondary magnetite formed during serpentinization of olivine, so an unserpentinized kimberlite may not be strongly magnetic. We suggest that one or more diamond-bearing kimberlites may exist in northern Michigan or Wisconsin, but the discovery of such bodies is unlikely unless a very thorough search is undertaken.

Circular↗
USGS1976

Populations of the planet-crossing asteroids

The population of Apollo, Amor and Mars crossing asteroids is studied. With the 18-inch Schmidt camera of the Hale Observatories at Mt. Palomar, four new planet crossing asteroids were discovered. A formal theory relating the probability of discovery of asteroid of a given orbital class to condition of search has been developed. From the estimated populations the flux of the Apollo objects to magnitude 18 near the Earth is of the order of (0.4 ± 0.2) 10 -14 km -2 yr -1 . During 3.3 b.y. this flux produces an estimated 60 ± 20 craters of 10 km in diameter and larger per 10 6 km 2 on the Moon. This number seems to be consistent with the observed crater densities on 3. 3 b.y. old mare surfaces in the eastern Oceanus Procellarum and Mare lmbrium.

Geologica Romana↗
USGS2019

Statistics of petroleum exploration in the world outside the United States and Canada through 2015

The world’s future oil and gas supplies depend on existing reserves and the additions to those reserves that may result, in part, from ongoing exploration and new discoveries. This Circular summarizes available oil and gas exploration data for the world outside the United States and Canada (the study area) through 2015. It updates U.S. Geological Survey Circulars 981, 1096, and 1288 (by D.H. Root, E.D. Attanasi, and R.L. Turner, 1987; E.D. Attanasi and D.H. Root, 1993; and E.D. Attanasi, P.A. Freeman, and J.A. Glovier, 2007). The exploration measures focus on the search for undiscovered conventional oil and gas accumulations. The goal of this compilation, presentation, and analysis of exploration and discovery data is to identify, at the reconnaissance level, the areas explored for oil and gas and to characterize their degree of exploration maturity. Maps and graphs provide a visual summary of the exploration maturity of an area. The maps include both land and offshore areas. The maps show delineated prospective areas, which are the industry-defined areas of interest in the search for undiscovered conventional oil and gas accumulations. The maps also show explored areas, which are areas where the density of exploration and development drilling rules out new discoveries of large conventional petroleum accumulations. Whereas the maps show the static state of oil and gas exploration, the dynamic measures of exploration progress are characterized graphically. The graphs show the growth in the delineated prospective and explored areas as a function of wildcat drilling. The relation between the expansion of the delineated prospective area and the rate of wildcat drilling is determined by the siting of the wildcat wells. Additional graphs show the magnitude of discoveries tied to specific delineated prospective areas. These graphs provide a way to evaluate the quality, in terms of discovered oil and gas, of areas identified by the dates when each area became prospective. From 2006 through 2015, the delineated prospective area within the study area expanded at a rate of about 48,100 square miles per year. This is slightly above the expansion rate of 46,200 square miles per year from 1996 through 2005. From 2006 through 2015, the explored area expanded at a rate of about 12,900 square miles per year, which is somewhat greater than the rate of 11,300 square miles per year for the period from 1996 through 2005. The delineated prospective area established by 1970 accounts for 35 percent of the delineated prospective area established through 2015 but contains 70 percent of the oil and 52 percent of the natural gas discovered through 2015. From 2006 through 2015, offshore discoveries accounted for 71 percent of the oil and 78 percent of the gas discovered in the study area and 40 percent of the offshore wildcat wells were drilled in deep offshore areas (deeper than 200 meters water depth). The delineated prospective area and explored area calculated with oil and gas wells and fields at depths of at least 10,000 feet are less than half of the respective areas calculated with all oil and gas wells and fields. The discovery histories of most regions indicate that average discovery sizes are generally larger in deeper geologic horizons. To correctly interpret the exploration maturity of a deep horizon, drilling and discovery data must be considered in the context of the geology of the area. Such analyses should be prepared at the level of the petroleum basin or subbasin.

Circular↗
USGS2014

Aquatic CAM photosynthesis: a brief history of its discovery

Aquatic CAM (Crassulacean Acid Metabolism) photosynthesis was discovered while investigating an unrelated biochemical pathway concerned with anaerobic metabolism. George Bowes was a significant contributor to this project early in its infancy. Not only did he provide me with some valuable perspectives on peer review rejections, but by working with his gas exchange system I was able to take our initial observations of diel fluctuations in malic acid to the next level, showing this aquatic plant exhibited dark CO2 uptake. CAM is universal in all aquatic species of the worldwide Lycophyta genus Isoetes and non-existent in terrestrial Isoetes. Outside of this genus aquatic CAM has a limited occurrence in three other families, including the Crassulaceae. This discovery led to fascinating adventures in the highlands of the Peruvian Andes in search of Stylites, a terrestrial relative of Isoetes. Stylites is a plant that is hermetically sealed from the atmosphere and obtains all of its carbon from terrestrial sources and recycles carbon through CAM. Considering the Mesozoic origin of Isoetes in shallow pools, coupled with the fact that aquatic Isoetes universally possess CAM, suggests the earliest evolution of CAM photosynthesis was most likely not in terrestrial plants.

Aquatic Botany↗
USGS1954

Records of wells drilled for oil and gas in New Mexico

Data concerning nearly 3,000 of the more than 13,000 wells drilled in New Mexico, before September 1, 1953, including unsuccessful wildcat and field extension wells and most of the discovery wells, have been compiled and are published in this circular. Although the search for oil and gas has extended to all parts of the State, most of the wells and all the oil and natural gas fields are located in the northwest and southeast quadrants of the State.

Circular↗