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B. B. Williams

Publications and source records attributed to B. B. Williams.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

Mineral resources of the Citico Creek Wilderness Study Area, Monroe County, Tennessee

The proposed Citico Creek Wilderness comprises about 5,670 hectares (56.7 km2) in the Cherokee National Forest south of the Little Tennessee River in easternmost Monroe County, Tennessee. Principal drainages are Citico Creek and Doublecamp Creek. Rocks of the study area include greenschist-facies arkosic metasandstone, metagraywacke, slate, and metaconglomerate of the Great Smoky Group of late Precambrian age. Minor deposits of unconsolidated Quaternary alluvium locally mantle the bedrock. Deformation is shown by asymmetric and overturned folds and by several major faults. More than 500 sample s of soil, rock, and stream sediment were collected and analyzed for 31 major, minor, and trace elements by semiquantitative spectrographic, atomic absorption, and fire assay methods No significant metal anomalies were detected. Concentrations of Cu, Co, As, Pb, and Zn slightly higher than background are found within sulfidic parts of a distinctive stratigraphic unit composed of graphitic slate and metagraywacke. Pyrite and pyrrhotite are the chief sulfide minerals, with traces o f accessory sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena, and arsenopyrite occurring as microscopic intergrowths. A reconnaissance ground radiometric survey and subsequent neutron activation analyses of selected radioactive rock samples show that the sulfidic parts of the graphitic slate unit have a relatively high content of Th and U, but are not potentially economic. No metallic mineral resources appear to exist within the Citico Creek Wilderness Study Area. Resources of slate, silica, and stone are present, but they display no special qualities to differentiate them from other such material throughout the region. Ceramic evaluation tests on selected samples of slate indicate that the slate would have only marginal use for structural clay products such as brick and tile. Minor sand and gravel deposits occur along a few streams but are present in larger quantities and are more easily recovered in other areas.

Tennessee↗

Mineral resources of the Craggy Mountain Wilderness Study Area, Buncombe County, North Carolina

The Craggy Mountain Wilderness Study Area covers about 550 hectares of the Pisgah National Forest in the Blue Ridge Mountains of western North Carolina (fig. 1). The area is 21 km northeast of Asheville, Buncombe County, N.C., and 11 km southwest of Mount Mitchell, the highest point in eastern North America. The study area is bounded on the southeast by the Blue Ridge Parkway, on the northeast by Bullhead Ridge, and on the southwest and west by Big Fork Ridge (Plate 1b). It includes all of the Craggy Mountain scenic area established by the Forest Service in 1961 and some additional land west of Bearwallow Branch and along the middle part of Carter Creek for a short distance beyond the mouth of Peach Orchard Creek.

North Carolina↗