Geology topics

P. Berendsen

Publications and source records attributed to P. Berendsen.

8 recordsLinked to original sources

USGS2008

(U-Th)/He dating of kimberlites-A case study from north-eastern Kansas

Dating kimberlite intrusive rocks by radiogenic isotope geochronology often is a difficult task, complicated by both the lack of dateable minerals within kimberlite as well as significant sample alteration that can degrade samples and alter parent-daughter ratios. This study presents a new geochronologic tool for timing the emplacement of kimberlites using the (U-Th)/He system to date the cooling of common kimberlite phenocrystic and xenocrystic minerals. To demonstrate the use of this technique, new apatite, titanite, zircon, magnetite and garnet (U-Th)/He ages constrain the timing of emplacement for the Stockdale, Tuttle, Baldwin Creek, Bala, and Leonardville kimberlite pipes, located in Riley County, Kansas. Zircon from the Tuttle pipe and titanite from the Stockdale pipe yield (U-Th)/He ages of 108.6 ?? 9.6??Ma and 106.4 ?? 3.1??Ma, respectively. These data are consistent with new Tuttle kimberlite Rb-Sr analyses of phlogopite megacrysts that give a five point isochron age of 106.6 ?? 1.0??Ma. Similarly, an apatite (U-Th)/He age of 85.3 ?? 2.3??Ma from the Baldwin Creek kimberlite is in agreement with a Rb-Sr phlogopite age of 88.4 ?? 2.7??Ma. These dates demonstrate that (U-Th)/He thermochronometry provides reliable timing constraints on the cooling of common kimberlite xenocrystic phases, thereby timing kimberlite emplacement. In addition to the use of more commonly used apatite and zircon (U-Th)/He thermochronometers, we produced reliable emplacement ages of 103.0 ?? 7.5??Ma for the Bala kimberlite using (U-Th)/He dating of phenocrystic magnetite and an age of 98.8 ?? 8.9??Ma for the Tuttle kimberlite using (U-Th)/He dating of megacrystic garnet. In contrast, kimberlitic apatite (U-Th)/He ages from the Stockdale, Bala, Tuttle, and Leonardville kimberlites yield ages ranging from 67.3 ?? 4.4??Ma to 64.3 ?? 5.6??Ma, suggesting a local, possibly hydrothermal reheating event resulting in resetting of the apatite (U-Th)/He clock in latest Cretaceous to earliest Tertiary time. Additional (U-Th)/He analyses of apatite from nearby sandstone and basement rocks suggest regional cooling below ~ 70????C at ~ 165??Ma. These (U-Th)/He and Rb-Sr age data imply that the kimberlites were emplaced over a period of time from ~ 85-110??Ma with several pipes subjected to local reheating at ~ 65??Ma. ?? 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Earth and Planetary Science Letters↗

USGS2005

Kinematics, mechanics, and potential earthquake hazards for faults in Pottawatomie County, Kansas, USA

Many stable continental regions have subregions with poorly defined earthquake hazards. Analysis of minor structures (folds and faults) in these subregions can improve our understanding of the tectonics and earthquake hazards. Detailed structural mapping in Pottawatomie County has revealed a suite consisting of two uplifted blocks aligned along a northeast trend and surrounded by faults. The first uplift is located southwest of the second. The northwest and southeast sides of these uplifts are bounded by northeast-trending right-lateral faults. To the east, both uplifts are bounded by north-trending reverse faults, and the first uplift is bounded by a north-trending high-angle fault to the west. The structural suite occurs above a basement fault that is part of a series of north-northeast-trending faults that delineate the Humboldt Fault Zone of eastern Kansas, an integral part of the Midcontinent Rift System. The favored kinematic model is a contractional stepover (push-up) between echelon strike-slip faults. Mechanical modeling using the boundary element method supports the interpretation of the uplifts as contractional stepovers and indicates that an approximately east-northeast maximum compressive stress trajectory is responsible for the formation of the structural suite. This stress trajectory suggests potential activity during the Laramide Orogeny, which agrees with the age of kimberlite emplacement in adjacent Riley County. The current stress field in Kansas has a N85??W maximum compressive stress trajectory that could potentially produce earthquakes along the basement faults. Several epicenters of seismic events (<M2.0) are located within 10 km of the structural suite. One epicenter is coincident with the northwest boundary of the uplift. This structural suite, a contractional stepover between echelon northeast-trending right-lateral faults, is similar to that mapped in the New Madrid Seismic Zone, and both areas currently feature roughly east-west maximum compressive stress trajectory. Based on these similarities, the faults in Pottawatomie County have the potential for seismicity. The results demonstrate that mechanical analysis of minor structural features can improve our knowledge of local earthquake hazards. ?? 2004 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Tectonophysics↗

USGS1998

The provenance and chemical variation of sandstones associated with the Mid-continent Rift System, U.S.A.

Sandstones along the northern portion of the Precambrian Mid-continent Rift System (MRS) have been petrographically and chemically analyzed for major elements and a variety of trace elements, including the REE. After the initial extrusion of the abundant basalts along the MRS, dominantly volcaniclastic sandstones of the Oronto Group were deposited. These volcaniclastic sandstones are covered by quartzose and subarkosic sandstones of the Bayfield Group. Thus the sandstones of the Oronto Group were derived from previously extruded basalts, whereas, the sandstones of the Bayfield Group were derived from Precambrian granitic gneisses located on the rift flanks. The chemical variation of these sandstones closely reflects the changing detrital modes with time. The elemental composition of the sandstones confirms the source lithologies suggested by the mineralogy and clasts. The Oronto Group sandstones contain lower ratios of elements concentrated in silicic source rocks (La or Th) relative to elements concentrated in basic source rocks (Co, Cr, or Sc) than the Bayfield Group. Also, the average size of the negative Eu anomaly of the sandstones of the Oronto Group is significantly less (Eu/Eu* mean ?? standard deviation = 0.79 ?? 0.13) than that of the Bayfield Group (mean + standard deviation = 0.57 ?? 0.09), also suggesting a more basic source for the former than the latter. Mixing models of elemental ratios give added insight as to the evolution of the rift. These models suggest that the volcanistic sandstones of the lower portion of the Oronto Group are derived from about 80 to 90 percent basalt and 10 to 20 percent granitoids. The rest of the Oronto Group and the lower to middle portion of the Bayfield Group could have formed by mixing of about 30 to 60 percent basalt and 40 to 70 percent granitoids. The upper portion of the Bayfield Group is likely derived from 80 to 100 percent granitoids and zero to 20 percent basalt.

European Journal of Mineralogy↗

USGS1997

Use of high-resolution ground-penetrating radar in kimberlite delineation

High-resolution ground-penetrating radar (GPR) was used to image the near-surface extent of two exposed Late Cretaceous kimberlites intruded into lower Permian limestone and dolomite host rocks in northeast Kansas. Six parallel GPR profiles identify the margin of the Randolph 1 kimberlite by the up-bending and termination of limestone reflectors. Five radially-intersecting GPR profiles identify the elliptical margin of the Randolph 2 kimberlite by the termination of dolomite reflectors near or below the kimberlite's mushroom-shaped cap. These results suggest GPR may augment magnetic methods for the delineation of kimberlites or other forceful intrusions in a layered host rock where thick, conductive soil or shale is not present at the surface.

Mining Engineering↗

USGS1992

Distribution and characteristics of a Middle Ordovician oolitic ironstone in northeastern Kansas based on petrographic and petrophysical properties: A Laurasian ironstone case study

The margins of Gondwana are generally considered to be the major sites of oolitic ironstone production during the Ordovician, and appear to be linked with global eustatic sea-level rise. Occurrences of oolitic ironstones within the North American craton are less well documented, but provide important supplementary data. The low latitude of Laurasia contrasted with Gondwana allows useful comparisons of climatic and temporal patterns of Ordovician ironstone formation. Middle Ordovician ironstones occur in siliciclastic sequences in the American mid-continent and appear to become progressively younger as the epicontinental sea advanced from the southwest across a predominantly carbonate terrain. In northeastern Kansas, the regional distribution pattern of primary, syndiagenetic goethite iron oolites within the St. Peter Sandstone indicate deposition peripheral to a north-northeast-trending chain of islands underlain by predominantly granitic rocks, located along an ancestral Nemaha uplift. Detailed compositional mapping in the subsurface was made possible by the distinctive petrophysical properties of the goethite zone and the extensive regional control of wireline-logged exploration wells. Petrographic data from ironstone core- and drill-cuttings both validate log analysis and give insights on possible modes of genesis. We propose that eustatic changes in sea level were the primary factor governing the formation and observed distribution patterns of the oolite bed(s). The relationship of the observed occurrence patterns to major rift-related faults of the Central North American Rift system suggests that synsedimentary tectonism also influenced this process. The most likely source of iron appears to be by derivation from intensive, humid weathering of granite exposed extensively on the ancestral Nemaha uplift archipelago.

Kansas↗

USGS1991

Ore microscopy of the Paoli silver-copper deposit, Oklahoma

The Paoli silver-copper deposit is located in south-central Oklahoma, 56 km south-southeast from Norman, Oklahoma. It was mined for high-grade silver-copper near the beginning of this century, and intensive exploratory drilling during the early 1970's delineated unmined portions of the deposit. A collaborative study between the U.S.G.S., the Kansas Geological Survey, and the University of Missouri-Rolla was undertaken to provide new information on the character of red bed copper deposits of the Midcontinent region. The Paoli deposit has been interpreted to occur as a roll-front type of deposit. The silver and copper mineralization occurs within paleochannels in the Permian Wellington Formation. The silver-copper interfaces appear to be controlled by oxidation-reduction interfaces that are marked by grey to red color changes in the host sandstone. Ore microscopic examinations of polished thin sections show that unoxidized ore consists of chalcocite, digenite, chalcopyrite, covellite and pyrite; and oxidized ores are characterized by covellite, bornite, hematite and goethite. In sandstone-hosted ores, chalcocite and digenite replace dolomite and border clastic quartz grains. In siltstone-hosted ores, the copper sulfide grains have varied shapes; most are irregular in shape and 5–25 μm across, others have euhedral shapes suggestive of pyrite crystal replacements, and some are crudely spherical and are 120–200 μm across. Chalcopyrite is the predominant copper sulfide at depth. Covellite and malachite replace chalcocite and digenite near the surface. Silver only occurs as native silver; most as irregularly shaped grains 40–80 μm across, but some as cruciform crystals that are up to 3.5 mm across. The native silver has been deposited after copper sulfides, and locally replaces chalcocite. Surficial nodules of pyrite, malachite and hematite locally are present in outcrops at the oxidation-reduction fronts. Polished sections of the nodules show that malachite forms a cement around quartz sand grains, and brecciated pyrite grains are surrounded by rims of hematite and goethite. Dolomite is the principal sandstone cement. Cathodoluminescence microscopic study of the mineral has shown that it was deposited during seven periods before the copper sulfide mineralization.

Oklahoma↗

USGS1989

Mineralization potential along the trend of the Keweenawan- age Central North American Rift System in Iowa, Nebraska, and Kansas

The tectonic and sedimentary environment of the Central North American Rift System (CNARS) provides an excellent setting for major mineral deposits. Major north-northeast-trending high-angle normal or reverse faults and northwest-trending transcurrent fault systems may exercise control over ore forming processes. Gabbro and basalt are the dominant igneous rock types. Carbonatite and kimberlite occur in Nebraska and Kansas. Concentrations of Cu, Ni, Co, Ti, Au, Ag and PG minerals are known to occur in this setting. Arkosic sandstone, siltstone, shale, and minor carbonate units occur on top of the rift basalts and in flanking basins where they may reach thicknesses of 10 km (6 miles). The potential for stratiform or unconformity-related metalliferous deposits should be considered. The rift as a whole remains largely unexplored.

Mining Engineering↗

USGS1985

Geochemistry and petrogenesis of lamproites, late cretaceous age, Woodson County, Kansas, U.S.A.

Lamproite sills and their associated sedimentary and contact metamorphic rocks from Woodson County, Kansas have been analyzed for major elements, selected trace elements, and strontium isotopic composition. These lamproites, like lamproites elsewhere, are alkalic (molecular K 2 O + Na 2 O Al 2 O 3 = 1.6–2.6 "> K 2 O + Na 2 OAl 2 O 3 = 1.6–2.6 ), are ultrapotassic ( K 2 O Na 2 O = 9.6–150) "> (K 2 ONa 2 O= 9.6–150) , are enriched in incompatible elements (LREE or light rare-earth elements, Ba, Th, Hf, Ta, Sr, Rb), and have moderate to high initial strontium isotopic compositions (0.7042 and 0.7102). The silica-saturated magma (olivine-hypersthene normative) of the Silver City lamproite could have formed by about 2 percent melting of a phlogopite-garnet lherzolite under high H 2 O CO 2 "> H 2 OCO 2 ratios in which the Iherzolite was enriched before melting in the incompatible elements by metasomatism. The Rose Dome lamproite probably formed in a similar fashion although the extreme alteration due to addition of carbonate presumably from the underlying limestone makes its origin less certain. Significant fractional crystallization of phases that occur as phenocrysts (diopside, olivine, K-richterite, and phlogopite) in the Silver City magma and that concentrate Co, Cr, and Sc are precluded as the magma moved from the source toward the surface due to the high abundances of Co, Cr, and Sc in the magma similar to that predicted by direct melting of the metasomatized Iherzolite. Ba and, to a lesser extent, K and Rb and have been transported from the intrusions at shallow depth into the surrounding contact metamorphic zone. The Silver City lamproite has vertical fractionation of some elements due either to volatile transport or to variations in the abundance of phenocrysts relative to groundmass most probably due to flow differentiation although multiple injection or fractional crystallization cannot be conclusively rejected.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗