As the importance and dependence of specific mineral commodities increase, so does concern about their supply. The United States is currently 100 percent reliant on foreign sources for 20 mineral commodities and imports the majority of its supply of more than 50 mineral commodities. Mineral commodities that have important uses and face potential supply disruption are critical to American economic and national security. However, a mineral commodity's importance and the nature of its supply chain can change with time; a mineral commodity that may not have been considered critical 25 years ago may be critical today, and one considered critical today may not be so in the future. The U.S. Geological Survey has produced this volume to describe a select group of mineral commodities currently critical to our economy and security. For each mineral commodity covered, the authors provide a comprehensive look at (1) the commodity's use; (2) the geology and global distribution of the mineral deposit types that account for the present and possible future supply of the commodity; (3) the current status of production, reserves, and resources in the United States and globally; and (4) environmental considerations related to the commodity's production from different types of mineral deposits. The volume describes U.S. critical mineral resources in a global context, for no country can be self-sufficient for all its mineral commodity needs, and the United States will always rely on global mineral commodity supply chains. This volume provides the scientific understanding of critical mineral resources required for informed decisionmaking by those responsible for ensuring that the United States has a secure and sustainable supply of mineral commodities.

This volume brings together 17 comprehensive, data-rich analyses to provide an updated perspective on the Mexican Gulf of Mexico, Florida and northern Caribbean. The papers span a broad range of scales and disciplines from plate tectonic evolution to sub-basin scale analysis. Papers are broadly categorised into three themes: 1) geological evolution of the basins of the southern Gulf of Mexico in Mexico, Bahamas and Florida and their hydrocarbon potential; 2) evolution of the region’s Late Cretaceous to Neogene orogens and subsequent denudation history; and 3) geological evolution of the basins and crustal elements of the northern Caribbean. This book and its extensive data sets are essential for all academic and exploration geoscientists working in this area. Two large wall maps are included as fold-outs.