Mission Areas
Energy and Minerals
The Energy and Minerals Mission Area conducts research and assessments that focus on the location, quantity, and quality of mineral and energy resources, including the economic and environmental effects of resource extraction and use.
Energy Resources Program
Conducts basic and applied research on geologic energy resources and on the environmental, economic, and human health impacts of their production and use.The program is also involved in studying the impacts of wind and solar energy development.
Learn MoreMineral Resources Program
Provides scientific information for objective resource assessments and unbiased research results on mineral potential, production, consumption, and environmental effects. The MRP is the sole Federal source for this information.
Learn MoreNews
Helicopter Making Low-Level Flights over North-Central Idaho
Residents and visitors should not be alarmed to see a low-flying helicopter over Lemhi and Custer Counties west of Salmon, Idaho from September 6 to October 18, 2021.
Media Alert: Flights Above the Mississippi Alluvial Plain and Adjacent Areas to Continue Aquifer Mapping
Editor: In the public interest and in accordance with Federal Aviation Administration regulations, the U.S. Geological Survey is announcing this low-level airborne project. Your assistance informing the local communities is appreciated.
The Unexpected Activity of Frozen Soils: New USGS Research Discovers Permafrost and Frozen Winter Soils May Be More Alive than Previously Thought
Newly published research indicates permafrost, or seasonally frozen, soils may be an overlooked source of greenhouse gases (GHG) prior to complete thaw, which could have implications for how thawing of this thick subsurface layer of soil will impact the global carbon budget and how future climate conditions are studied.
Publications
Methodology and technical input for the 2021 review and revision of the U.S. Critical Minerals List
Pursuant to Section 7002 (“Mineral Security”) of Title VII (“Critical Minerals”) of the Energy Act of 2020 (Public Law 116–260, December 27, 2020, 116th Cong.), the Secretary of the Interior, acting through the Director of the U.S. Geological Survey, is tasked with reviewing and revising the methodology used to evaluate mineral criticality and the...
Nassar, Nedal T.; Fortier, Steven M.
Assessment of undiscovered gas resources in Upper Devonian to Lower Cretaceous strata of the western North Slope, Alaska, 2021
Using a geology-based assessment methodology, the U.S. Geological Survey estimated a mean of 1,407 billion (1.4 trillion) cubic feet of gas in conventional accumulations in Upper Devonian to Lower Cretaceous strata of the western North Slope, Alaska.
Houseknecht, David W.; Mercier, Tracey J.; Schenk, Christopher J.; Moore, Thomas E.; Rouse, William A.; Dumoulin, Julie A.; Craddock, William H.; Lease, Richard O.; Botterell, Palma J.; Sanders, Margaret M.; Smith, Rebecca A.; Connors, Christopher D.; Garrity, Christopher P.; Whidden, Katherine J.; Gooley, Jared T.; Counts, John W.; Long, Joshua H.; DeVera, Christina A.
Coking coal of the United States—Modern and historical coking coal mining locations and chemical, rheological, petrographic, and other data from modern samples
Coking coal, or metallurgical coal, has been produced in the United States for nearly 200 years. Coking coal is primarily used in the production of coke for use in the steel industry, and for other uses (for example, foundries, blacksmithing, heating buildings, and brewing). Currently, U.S. coking coal is produced in Alabama, Arkansas,...
Trippi, Michael H.; Ruppert, Leslie F.; Eble, Cortland F.; Hower, James C.