States Geological Survey Research Articles

Development of Titanium Production in Ukraine: Evolving Prospects Based on National R&D

Introduction. The development of Ukraine’s resource potential in the field of mining and advanced processing of titanium raw materials is one of the important components of countering military threats and the national economy recovering based on new technologies.Problem Statement. The realities of wartime reinforce the importance of domestic resource involvement to resumption of the titanium products complete production cycle in Ukraine, which can facilitate integration into global value chains.Purpose. To determine the directions of titanium production development in Ukraine based on the available resource and production potential, foreign and domestic R&D.Materials and Methods. The authors have used data of statistical observations of the State Statistics Service in Ukraine, the U.S. State Geological Survey, the World Intellectual Property Organization; methods of systematic approach, economic and statistical, calculation and design, graph analytical methods, statistical comparisons and grouping, systematic and comparative analysis.Results. The possibilities of realizing resource, production, and R&D potential for deep processing of titanium metal in Ukraine have been substantiated. The directions of the Ukrainian titanium industry development have been offered. The construction of new and/or modernization of production facilities for processing Ukrainian titanium raw materials based on domestic scientific developments has been substantiated.Conclusions. Ukraine has a strategic potential to create a full cycle of titanium products production. Providing favorable conditions for attracting investment and access to capital and financial and economic instruments facilitates technological modernization. This, in turn, will help open “a window of opportunities” for Ukraine for manufacturing titanium products with high added value for the needs of the military industrial complex and other high-tech industries.

The Late Cretaceous marine basin of platform Ukraine (morphometry, stages of development, lithology and stratigraphy of sedimentary formations)

Formulation of the problem. The relevance of the research is related to the formation of a holistic view of the Late Cretaceous Sea basin of the study area: its boundaries, area, the existence of probable land areas, conditions of sediment accumulation and historical development. The purpose of the article. Based on the results of exploratory, structural-exploratory and parametric drilling conducted during the State Geological Survey on scales of 1:50,000, 1:100,000 and 1:200,000 and own field research, we supplemented the information on the geohistorical chronicle of the Late Cretaceous of the southwestern part of the SEE. Methods. The material for writing the article was the results of drilling more than 10,000 exploration, structural and parametric drilling wells conducted during the State Geological Survey at scales of 1:50,000, 1:100,000 and 1:200,000, which are stored in the State Information Geological Fund of Ukraine. Also, the results of own field research of 47 most complete open sections of the Upper Cretaceous of Platform Ukraine were taken into account and a significant literature on the geological structure of the studied area was processed. Research methods: facies and formation analysis, lithological, petrographic, paleontological, litho-biostratigraphic, geophysical, etc. At the final stage of the mapping of the Upper Cretaceous sediments of Platform Ukraine, the methodology of sedimentary basin monitoring and modeling of formation units was used with the help of the domestic software package "Geomapping" with further conversion to the ArcView grid format. Results. To find out the spatio-temporal distribution of the Upper Cretaceous deposits of the study area, their composition, stratigraphic position and parameters of the Late Cretaceous sea basin, we analyzed the materials of mapping, structural search, exploratory and parametric drilling over the past 50 years were analyzed, our own studies of open sections of the Upper Cretaceous were taken into account, and significant stock material on the geological structure of the studied area was also processed. The most informative wells were selected as reference wells. Their number varied from 1179 for Early-Middle Cenomanian deposits to 1103 for Turonian deposits. The maximum density of the studied sections of support wells was recorded for the territory of Volyn-Podillia and individual blocks of the Ukrainian Shield (USH) and is 23.1 wells per 1000 km2, the minimum - in the water areas of the Ukrainian part of the Black and Azov Seas - about eight per 1000 km2. The absence of Upper Cretaceous deposits on a significant territory of platform Ukraine was established. Early-Middle Cenomanian and Turonian deposits have the largest distribution area, and Maastrichtian deposits have the smallest. In our opinion, areas with continental conditions of existence in certain ages or during the entire Late Cretaceous period have been identified. This made it possible to calculate the areas of land areas and areas covered by the sea with the help of software, with a certain percentage of error (up to 10%). The area of the sea basin was up to 80% of the territory of platform Ukraine. In the historical development of the Late Cretaceous Sea basin of the study area, two stages are distinguished: early-Middle Cenomanian and late Cenomanian-Maastrichtian, which differed significantly from each other in terms of hydrological, hydrochemical, temperature regimes and the nature of sedimentation. The lithological characteristics of the deposits according to the modern stratigraphic division of the Upper Cretaceous rock complex are given.

The past is the key to the future – considering Pleistocene subglacial erosion for the minimum depth of a radioactive waste repository

Abstract. Erosion during potential future glaciations, especially the incision of deep tunnel valleys, is a major challenge for the long-term safety of a radioactive waste repository. Tunnel valleys are a common feature of formerly glaciated sedimentary basins and were incised by pressurised subglacial meltwater. Besides glaciological conditions, tunnel-valley formation depends strongly on the erodibility and hydraulic conductivity of the substratum. In northern Germany, tunnel valleys formed during the Pleistocene glaciations are widespread and may attain depths of almost 600 m. The Pleistocene record may provide an indication for the potential regional distribution and maximum depth of future glaciogenic erosion. We present a new overview map of the maximum depth of Pleistocene erosion in northern Germany. Depth zones were extracted from the existing data and maps provided by the state geological surveys. Based on the mapped depth zones, the potential for future tunnel-valley formation can be assessed. The map may serve as a base to define a spatially variable additional depth that should be added to the minimum depth of a repository required by legislation.

The National Geologic Map Database: An Accessible Archive of the Nation's Standardized Geoscience Information

Ready access to published geologic maps and reports can be critical to professionals who need information about, for example, geohazards that could threaten the success of a site's planned development, or a roadway or pipeline routing. The National Geologic Map Database, or NGMDB, provides rapid access to well-documented and standardized geoscience information that can be used to support understanding and decisions on a wide range of societal issues. [The NGMDB's origins as a mandated partnership between state geological surveys and the U.S. Geological Survey are found in the National Geologic Mapping Act of 1992. This and other background information can be found at ngmdb.usgs.gov/Info/reports.]

Metallogenic models as the key to successful exploration — a review and trends

Metallogeny is the science of ore and mineral deposit formation in geological space and time. Metallogeny is interdisciplinary by nature, comprising elements of natural science disciplines such as planetology to solid state physics and chemistry, and volcanology. It is the experimental forefront of research and bold thinking, based on an ever-growing foundation of solid knowledge. Therefore, metallogeny is not a closed system of knowledge but a fast-growing assemblage of structured and unstructured information in perpetual flux. This paper intends to review its current state and trends. The latter may introduce speculation and fuzziness. Metallogeny has existed for over 100 years as a branch of Earth Science. From the discovery of plate tectonics (ca. 1950) to the end of the last century, metallogeny passed through a worldwide phase of formally published ‘metallogenetic’ maps. In the last decades, a rapidly growing number of scientists, digitization and splendid new tools fundamentally boosted research. More innovations may be expected by the growing use of an evolving systematic ‘Geodata Science’ for metallogenic research by an increasingly global human talent pool. Future requirements for metallic and mineral raw materials, especially the critical natural elements and compounds that are needed for the nascent carbon-free economy, already drive activities on stock markets and in the resource industry. State geological surveys, academia and private companies embrace the challenges. The new age requires intensified metallogenic backing. In this paper, principles of metallogeny are recalled concerning concepts and terms. A metallogenic classification of ore and mineral deposits is proposed, and the intimate relations of metallogenesis with geodynamics are sketched (ancient lid tectonics and modern plate tectonics). Metallogenic models assemble a great diversity of data that allow an ever better understanding of ore formation, foremost by illuminating the geological source-to-trap migration of ore metals, the petrogenetic and geodynamic–tectonic setting, the spatial architecture of ore deposits and the nature and precise timing of involved processes. Applied metallogeny allows companies to choose strategy and tactics for exploration investment and for planning the work. Based on comprehensive metallogenic knowledge, mineral system analysis (MSA) selects those elements of complex metallogenic models, which are detectable and can guide exploration in order to support applications such as mineral prospectivity mapping, mineral potential evaluation and targeting of detailed investigations. MSA founded on metallogenic models can be applied across whole continents, or at the scale of regional greenfield search, or in brownfields at district to camp scale. By delivering the fundamental keys for MSA, supported by unceasing innovative research, the stream of new metallogenic insights is essential for improving endowment estimates and for successful exploration.

Quantifying the in‐channel contribution to suspended‐sediment concentration, a concept for sediment yield apportionment using limited data

Recently, the focus on sediment source assessment has increased because of the importance it has in prioritizing management strategies to limit soil loss, water quality deterioration, and aquatic ecosystems degradation. In this work, a rapid integration technique is proposed to separate the sediment yield portion detached from the stream channel by water erosion and the portion supplied from the watershed or stored within the channel. The concept of the lower bound curve was established based on hysteresis analysis fundamentals. On this basis, a straightforward calculation technique was designed. The lower bound curve simplifies the estimation of sediment sources' contributions using continuous concentration-discharge measurements. The method was tested using flood events from six United States Geological Survey stations. According to hysteresis analysis fundamentals, the method was validated relying on successive and multipeak events and sediment depletion as an indicator. The analysis of successive floods showed consistent sediment depletion criteria, indicating that the lower bound curve corresponds to the stream contribution. Consequently, the method can successfully separate and quantify the contribution of the stream channel to suspended sediment yield. Minor events were found to be unable to reach sediment depletion. However, proceeding with multi-peak events solved this issue, which improved the sediment yield estimations compared to single-peak processing.

Median bed-material sediment particle size across rivers in the contiguous US

Abstract. Bed-material sediment particle size data, particularly the median sediment particle size (D50), are critical for understanding and modeling riverine sediment transport. However, sediment particle size observations are primarily available at individual sites. Large-scale modeling and assessment of riverine sediment transport are limited by the lack of continuous regional maps of bed-material sediment particle size. We hence present a map of D50 over the contiguous US in a vector format that corresponds to approximately 2.7 million river segments (i.e., flowlines) in the National Hydrography Dataset Plus (NHDPlus) dataset. We develop the map in four steps: (1) collect and process the observed D50 data from 2577 U.S. Geological Survey stations or U.S. Army Corps of Engineers sampling locations; (2) collocate these data with the NHDPlus flowlines based on their geographic locations, resulting in 1691 flowlines with collocated D50 values; (3) develop a predictive model using the eXtreme Gradient Boosting (XGBoost) machine learning method based on the observed D50 data and the corresponding climate, hydrology, geology, and other attributes retrieved from the NHDPlus dataset; and (4) estimate the D50 values for flowlines without observations using the XGBoost predictive model. We expect this map to be useful for various purposes, such as research in large-scale river sediment transport using model- and data-driven approaches, teaching environmental and earth system sciences, planning and managing floodplain zones, etc. The map is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4921987 (Li et al., 2021a).

The geology of the Capiru Group, Curitiba Terrane, Southern Ribeira Belt (Brazil)

ABSTRACT The Capiru Group is a Neoproterozoic metasedimentary unit that crops out in the Curitiba terrane, Southern Ribeira Belt, Brazil. A detailed geological mapping of this unit was performed during 2016 to 2020. Original interpretations and the new geological map were compiled and integrated with the past field data of the state (MINEROPAR) and national (CPRM) geological surveys, and to unpublished and recent published studies. This compilation represents the most updated synthesis of the Capiru Group, and provides the basis for recognition and individualization of lithostratigraphic units. The lithostratigraphic units reflect depositional/tectonic events, which involved: a) passive continental margin deposition on the Curitiba microplate, b) compressional episodes during the Brasiliano - Pan African Orogeny (Late Neoproterozoic), c) extensional processes that followed the collision stage (Cambrian), and finally, the d) extensional tectonics related to the Gondwana break-up during the Lower Cretaceous, that culminated to the Proto-Atlantic Ocean opening.

Data managers' perspectives on OAIS designated communities and the FAIR principles: mediation, tools and conceptual models

PurposeThis paper presents results of a study on data managers' perspectives on the evolution of Designated Communities and the FAIR Principles using an example of a geological repository.Design/methodology/approachThe study employed 10 semi-structured interviews with data managers at a state geological survey and qualitative analysis of the interview transcripts.FindingsThe Designated Community for a collection in this data repository has evolved from petroleum industry users to include academic researchers and the public. This change was accompanied by significant user interaction changes from in-person, reference interview-style conversations to anonymous digital, automated interactions. The main factors driving these changes were developments in technology which allowed the data managers to shift data discovery and access into the online environment. The online data portal has seen increasing non-expert use, driving the data team to develop additional services for these new communities. Repository data team participants varied in their familiarity with the FAIR Principles and their perceptions of the FAIRness of the data in the repository.Research limitations/implicationsThe study was limited to one organization in the United States. However, the results are applicable to other data environments working through the tensions between high-level global frameworks such as FAIR, and continuing to serve the day-to-day needs of their designated communities. Continued work on how to assess success in this complex space is needed.Originality/valueThis paper lies at the nexus of two digital preservation frameworks and contributes to a limited extant literature providing guidance on implementing the concept of a Designated Community in practice.

Evaluation of hydrologic impact of an irrigation curtailment program using Landsat satellite data

AbstractUpper Klamath Lake (UKL) is the source of the Klamath River that flows through southern Oregon and northern California. The UKL Basin provides water for 81,000+ ha (200,000+ acres) of irrigation on the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation Klamath Project located downstream of the UKL Basin. Irrigated agriculture also occurs along the tributaries to UKL. During 2013–2016, water rights calls resulted in various levels of curtailment of irrigation diversions from the tributaries to UKL. However, information on the extent of curtailment, how much irrigation water was saved, and its impact on the UKL is unknown. In this study, we combined Landsat‐based actual evapotranspiration (ETa) data obtained from the Operational Simplified Surface Energy Balance model with gridded precipitation and U.S. Geological Survey station discharge data to evaluate the hydrologic impact of the curtailment program. Analysis was performed for 2004, 2006, 2008–2010 (base years), and 2013–2016 (target years) over irrigated areas above UKL. Our results indicate that the savings from the curtailment program over the June to September time period were highest during 2013 and declined in each of the following years. The total on‐field water savings was approximately 60 hm3 in 2013 and 2014, 44 hm3 in 2015, and 32 hm3 in 2016 (1 hm3 = 10,000 m3 or 810.7 ac‐ft). The instream water flow changes or extra water available were 92, 68, 45, and 26 hm3, respectively, for 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016. Highest water savings came from pasture and wetlands. Alfalfa showed the most decline in water use among grain crops. The resulting extra water available from the curtailment contributed to a maximum of 19% of the lake inflows and 50% of the lake volume. The Landsat‐based ETa and other remote sensing datasets used in this study can be used to monitor crop water use at the irrigation district scale and to quantify water savings as a result of land‐water management changes.

Development of a MODIS Data–Based Algorithm for Retrieving Gage Height in Nearshore Waters along the Louisiana Gulf Coast

ABSTRACT Wang, J. and Deng, Z., 2018. Development of a MODIS data–based algorithm for retrieving gage height in nearshore waters along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. Gage height is one of most important physical parameters commonly used for the description of daily sea levels and generally monitored at sparsely scattered tidal stations. This paper presents a novel remote sensing algorithm for the retrieval of spatially distributed gage height data in coastal waters with emphasis on nearshore waters using the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellite data. The algorithm was trained using the Artificial Neural Networks toolbox in the MATLAB program and over 4 years (2007–11) of cloud-free MODIS Aqua data for water-leaving reflectance as well as ground truth measurements collected daily from U.S. Geological Survey stations along the Louisiana Gulf Coast. The algorithm was validated using 3 additional years of independent data sets, which were not used in the algorithm training and collected ...

Landslide Risk Reduction in the United States—Signs of Progress

Scientific literature is replete with papers describing advances in applying new technologies to the study of landslides and advances in our understanding of factors affecting landslide occurrence, distribution, and movement. Far fewer papers look at how this knowledge is implemented to achieve landslide risk reduction. State and local governments exercise the greatest control on how landslide risk reduction is accomplished. Data generated from a questionnaire to state geological surveys, review of their agency Web sites, and two case studies demonstrate that progress has been made during the last 20 years in implementing actionable policy changes and programs to achieve a reduction is landslide risk in the United States. Progress is evident from the pivotal role played by state and local government in the areas of: (1) developing guidelines and training, (2) increasing public awareness and education, (3) implementing loss reduction measures, and (4) conducting emergency preparedness, response, and recovery. The number of states requiring registration for practicing geologists has nearly doubled during the last 20 years. This increase was accompanied by a shift from individual state tests as part of determining competency to a uniform national test. During this period, state geological surveys established Web sites as a primary means for promoting public awareness and education about landslide hazards. Measures reducing the impact of landslides have included providing information specific to residents and landowners, as well as supporting land-use planning efforts by local governments. Many state geological surveys are involved with emergency management of landslide hazards.

Historical highlights in American soil science — Prehistory to the 1970s

Interest in understanding America's soils goes back to prehistory with the Native Americans. Following European settlement, notable individuals such as Thomas Jefferson and Lewis and Clark made observations of the soil resource. Moving into the 1800s, state geological surveys became involved in soil work and E.W. Hilgard started to formulate ideas similar to those that would eventually lead to V.V. Dokuchaev being recognized as the father of modern soil science. However, Hilgard's advanced ideas on soil genesis were not accepted by the wider American soil science community at the time. Moving into the 1900s, the National Cooperative Soil Survey, the first nationally organized detailed soil survey in the world, was founded under the direction of M. Whitney. Initial soil classification ideas were heavily based in geology, but over time Russian ideas of soil genesis and classification moved into the American soil science community, mainly due to the influence of C.F. Marbut. Early American efforts at the scientific study of soil erosion and soil fertility were also begun in the 1910s and university programs to educate soil scientists started. Soil erosion studies took on high priority in the 1930s as the USA was impacted by the Dust Bowl. Soil Taxonomy, one of the most widely utilized soil classification systems in the world, was developed from the 1950s through the 1970s under the guidance of G.D. Smith and with the administrative support of C.E. Kellogg. American soil scientists, such as H. Jenny, R.W. Simonson, D.L. Johnson, and D. Watson-Stegner, developed influential models of soil genesis during the 20th Century, and the use of soil information moved beyond agriculture to include issues such as land-use planning, soil geomorphology, and the interactions between soils and human health.

Preservation challenges for geological data at state geological surveys

State geological surveys are home to legacy geological data that holds value in the present. Early legislation of geological surveys often included requirements that state surveys have a museum or cabinet to house their physical collections. These collections currently include data such as cores, cuttings, thin sections and fossils. State geological surveys maintain these collections to support scientific research that has value to those in government, industry, academia and the public. Survey collections and other similar science data collections, are in danger of being lost due to various risks such as poor curation, few access points, lack of funding, and space considerations. Efforts to preserve these collections have increased, beginning with a National Research Council report in 2002 highlighting this plight, and the founding of the National Geological and Geophysical Data Preservation Program by the United States Geological Survey (USGS) in 2005. Currently, programs like EarthCube address this problem by focusing on cyberinfrastructure needs that will ease discovery and access to specimen datasets. Even with these efforts, there is still much work to be done.Increasing preservation and ease of access requires training in data curation and preservation as well as a better understanding of the users of geological data. This paper will introduce geological collections, provide examples of preservation challenges surrounding these types of collections, and suggest future research directions. This includes collaborations with library and information scientists, archivists, museums curators, as well as cross training of domain scientists. Future management systems for these collections should provide increased discovery and access to geological data.

Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment at global level

In the framework of the UNISDR׳s Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2013, for the first time, a fully probabilistic seismic hazard assessment was conducted at global level, using the same methodology for the whole Globe, from which a set of stochastic scenarios for different intensities (spectral accelerations, 5% damping) was obtained and then used in a fully probabilistic risk analysis. First, the Globe was divided into a set of seismogenetic areas to which a maximum magnitude and a predominant tectonic environment type were assigned. A Gutenberg–Richter magnitude–frequency distribution was assumed for each region, with a and b-values computed using a smoothed-seismicity procedure based on the NEIC11National Earthquake Information Center.-USGS22United States Geological Survey. seismic catalog. This catalog was first subjected to a declustering process and completeness verification for several threshold magnitudes. Based on the tectonic environment assigned to each source, a ground motion prediction model was assigned accordingly. Probabilistic hazard computations were performed with program CRISIS 2012, which generated conventional hazard curves for different intensities and maps for various return periods, as well as a set of stochastic scenarios compatible with the CAPRA33Comprehensive Approach to Probabilistic Risk Assessment. platform. These scenarios, in turn, were used to perform coarse-grain probabilistic risk computations.

A Geographic Information Systems (GIS)-Based Approach to Derivative Map Production and Visualizing Bedrock Topography within the Town of Rutland, Vermont, USA

Many state and national geological surveys produce map products from surficial and bedrock geologic maps as a value-added deliverable for a variety of stakeholders. Improvements in powerful geostatistical exploratory tools and robust three-dimensional capabilities within geographic information systems (GIS) can facilitate the production of derivative products. In addition to providing access to geostatistical functions, many software packages are also capable of rendering three-dimensional visualizations using spatially distributed point data. A GIS-based approach using ESRI’s® Geostatistical Analyst® was used to create derivative maps depicting surficial overburden, bedrock topography, and potentiometric surface using well data and bedrock exposures. This methodology describes the importance and relevance of creating three-dimensional visualizations in tandem with traditional two-dimensional map products. These 3D products are especially useful for town managers and planners—often unfamiliar with interpreting two-dimensional geologic map products—so they can better visualize and understand the relationships between surficial overburden and potential groundwater resources.

Charaterization of the Harmon Lignite for Underground Coal Gasification

The Harmon lignite bed of the Fort Union Formation (Tertiary Age) beneath western North Dakota presents opportunities for applying underground coal gasification (UCG) technology to recover the unmineable coal resources. However, some characteristics of the formation also present barriers. First, the local aquifers coincide with the lignite bed; second, the lithology of surrounding rocks changes greatly within a short distance. These factors set challenges in site screening, feasibility study and assessment of environmental risks. Although extensive investigation work about the Harmon lignite has been conducted, no work has been done for UCG application. In this paper, we review the site selection criteria of UCG, and apply the experience and tools of reservoir characterization in petroleum exploration to investigate the structure and properties of a target site in western North Dakota. Information and data from state and federal geological surveys, water resource commission and oil companies are collected. A 3-dimensional model is built to simulate the Harmon lignite bed, surrounding rocks and aquifers. This “coal reservoir characterization” work provides a clear view of the structure and composition of the lignite-bearing formation, as well as a better understanding of its in situ geology and hydrogeology. Results of this work greatly facilitate the UCG site selection process. Suitability of the potential site for UCG projects is discussed.

Geomorphosites of Poland – the role played by the Central Register of Geosites

Poland is a country of considerable geomorphological diversity and includes a range of physical landscapes, from high mountains through uplands, plains, glaciated lowlands, large river valleys, to coasts. Within them, numerous localities may be considered as geomorphosites, illustrating key stages in the geomorphic evolution of the territory, classic landforms and the recent operation of geomorphic processes. The only database that aims to cover all geosites in Poland, including sites of geomorphological interest, is the Polish Central Register of Geosites (PCRG), managed by the state geological survey - the Polish Geological Institute (PIG). Among more than 2200 geosites recorded about 30% can be considered as geomorphosites. Their spatial coverage is very uneven. Most are located in the upland belt of southern Poland (40%) and in northern part of the country, within the extent of the late Pleistocene ice sheet (29%), while the Carpathians are under-represented. Thematically, geosites illustrating various examples of denudational relief dominate (45%). Significantly less common are glacifluvial (13%), glacial (11%) and fluvial (10%) landforms. Tors and residual hills are most common among geomorphosites (205 sites), followed by moraines (52), dunes (49), gullies and their systems (45) and river valleys (34). Thus, PCRG does not yet adequately reflect the diversity of the geomorphological heritage of Poland.

Key features of new deep seismic reflection lines across frontier sedimentary basins in central Australia: the Arckaringa, Officer, Amadeus and Georgina Basins

The Onshore Energy Security Program, funded by the Australian Government and conducted by Geoscience Australia, in conjunction with State and Territory geological surveys, has acquired deep seismic reflection data across several frontier sedimentary basins to stimulate petroleum exploration in onshore Australia. Here, we present the key aspects of the stratigraphy and structural architecture identified using seismic data from the Arckaringa, Officer, Amadeus and Georgina basins on seismic lines 09GA-GA1 and 08GAOM1.

Estimating Pole-Zero Errors in GSN-IRIS/USGS Network Calibration Metadata

Abstract Mapping the digital record of a seismograph into true ground motion requires the correction of the data by some description of the instrument’s response. For the Global Seismographic Network (Butler et al. , 2004), as well as many other networks, this instrument response is represented as a Laplace domain pole–zero model and published in the Standard for the Exchange of Earthquake Data (SEED) format. This Laplace representation assumes that the seismometer behaves as a linear system, with any abrupt changes described adequately via multiple time‐invariant epochs. The SEED format allows for published instrument response errors as well, but these typically have not been estimated or provided to users. We present an iterative three‐step method to estimate the instrument response parameters (poles and zeros) and their associated errors using random calibration signals. First, we solve a coarse nonlinear inverse problem using a least‐squares grid search to yield a first approximation to the solution. This approach reduces the likelihood of poorly estimated parameters (a local‐minimum solution) caused by noise in the calibration records and enhances algorithm convergence. Second, we iteratively solve a nonlinear parameter estimation problem to obtain the least‐squares best‐fit Laplace pole–zero–gain model. Third, by applying the central limit theorem, we estimate the errors in this pole–zero model by solving the inverse problem at each frequency in a two‐thirds octave band centered at each best‐fit pole–zero frequency. This procedure yields error estimates of the 99% confidence interval. We demonstrate the method by applying it to a number of recent Incorporated Research Institutions in Seismology/United States Geological Survey (IRIS/USGS) network calibrations (network code IU). Online Material: MATLAB code for calibration analysis.