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At least 1,171 records · Page 65Linked to original sources

USGS2007

Landscape geochemistry near mineralized areas of eastern Alaska: Chapter H in Recent U.S. Geological Survey studies in the Tintina Gold Province, Alaska, United States, and Yukon, Canada--results of a 5-year project

The Pogo lode gold deposit was discovered in eastern Alaska in the early 1990s and provided the opportunity to study elemental distribution and mobility in the natural environment prior to mine development. Studying mineralized systems prior to mining allows us to compare the natural biogeochemical signature in mineralized versus nonmineralized areas. The resultant data and interpretation also provide a baseline for evaluating what, if any, changes in elemental distribution result from development. This report investigates the chemistry of stream water, streambed sediment, and soil in the context of regional bedrock geology. The major-ion chemistry of the waters reflects a rock-dominated aqueous system, and the waters are classified as Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ - HCO 3 - to Ca 2+ and Mg 2+ - SO 4 -2 waters. Creeks draining the gneissic lithologies tend to be more sulfate dominated than those draining the intrusive units. Sulfate also dominated creeks draining mineralized areas; however, the underlying paragneiss unit could be contributing substantially to the sulfate concentration, and the sulfate concentration in these creeks may reflect a complex baltholith-paragneiss boundary rather than mineralization. Arsenic concentrations in bed sediments were elevated in mineralized areas relative to nonmineralized areas. Elevated concentrations of nickel, chromium, iron, manganese, and cobalt appear to reflect the presence of ultramafic rocks in the drainage. In general, aqueous metal concentrations were below the State of Alaska’s Aquatic Life Criteria and Drinking Water Standards, with the exception of arsenic in stream water, which ranged in concentration from less than 1 to 14 micrograms per liter (μg/L) and exceeded the drinking water standard at one site. The arsenic and antimony concentration in the A, B, and C soil horizons ranged from 3 to 410 milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg), 6.1 to 440 mg/kg, and 2 to 300 mg/kg, respectively, for arsenic and 0.4 to 24 mg/kg, 0.6 to 25 mg/kg, and 0.2 to 16 mg/kg, respectively, for antimony. The arsenic and antimony concentrations in stream waters correlate well with the concentrations in soils. However, significantly less arsenic and antimony was extracted from C horizon soils in water leaching experiments, indicating that the arsenic and antimony in the C horizon is present in a less available form than in the A or B horizons. Arsenic and antimony uptake by grayleaf willow (Salix glauca L.) appears minimal, with arsenic concentrations ranging from less than 0.01 to 0.14 mg/kg and antimony concentrations ranging from less than 0.003 to 0.23 mg/kg in willow leaves. In general, the highest concentrations of both arsenic and antimony in water and soils were found near mineralized areas. Elevated arsenic concentrations were also found in bed sediments from mineralized areas. In these sample matrices, the presence of arsenic and (or) antimony was a good indicator of contact with mineralized rock units.

Alaska;Yukon↗

USGS1979

The importance of dissolved free oxygen during formation of sandstone-type uranium deposits

One factor which distinguishes t, he genesis of roll-type uranium deposits from the Uravan Mineral Belt and other sandstone-type uranium deposits may be the presence and concentration of dissolved free oxygen in the ore-forming. solutions. Although dissolved oxygen is a necessary prerequisite for the formation of roll-type deposits, it is proposed that a lack of dissolved oxygen is a prerequisite for the Uravan deposits. Solutions that formed both types of deposits probably had a supergene origin and originated as meteoric water in approximate equilibrium with atmospheric oxygen. Roll-type deposits were formed where the Eh dropped abruptly following consumption of the oxygen by iron sulfide minerals and creation of kinetically active sulfur species that could reduce uranium. The solutions that formed the Uravan deposits, on the other hand, probably first equilibrated with sulfide-free ferrous-ferric detrital minerals and fossil organic matter in the host rock. That is, the uraniferous solutions lost their oxygen without lowering their Eh enough to precipitate uranium. Without oxygen, they then. became incapable of oxidizing iron sulfide minerals. Subsequent localization and formation of ore bodies from these oxygen-depleted solutions, therefore, was not necessarily dependent on large reducing capacities.

Open-File Report↗

USGS1973

Silica-carbonate alteration of serpentine: Wall rock alteration in mercury deposits of the California Coast Ranges

Chemical, isotopic, and thermodynamic properties have been measured of CO 2 -rich ground waters in the central California Coast Ranges. The acidic CO 2 -rich waters react with serpentine to form silica-carbonate rock, the host rock of many mercury deposits in the Coast Range of California. In part the waters are of a metamorphic origin and in part the waters are locally derived meteoric waters. The CO 2 is entirely derived from metamorphic reactions at depth. Depending on the relative importance of several reactions, the relative abundances of silica and carbonate minerals vary in the silica-carbonate rock. If the CO 2 -rich fluids react directly with peridotite or dunite, massive magnesite deposits may form. © 1973 Society of Economic Geologists, Inc.

California↗

USGS2000

Geochronology and geology of late Oligocene through Miocene volcanism and mineralization in the western San Juan Mountains, Colorado

Twenty-five new 40Ar/39Ar ages from volcanic rocks and veins in the western San Juan Mountains clarify relationships between volcanism and mineralization in this classic area. Five calc-alkaline ash-flow sheets erupted from caldera sources (Ute Ridge, Blue Mesa, Dillon Mesa, Sapinero Mesa, and Crystal Lake Tuffs) from 28.6 to 27.6 Ma. This is a much more restricted time interval than previously thought and indicates that the underlying batholith rose and evolved very rapidly beneath the western San Juan Mountains. The new ages and geologic relations constrain the timing of joint resurgence of the Uncompahgre and San Juan calderas to between 28.2 and 27.6 Ma. The collapse of the Silverton caldera produced a set of strong ring fractures that intersected with graben faults on the earlier resurgent dome to produce the complex set of structures that localized the mid-Miocene epithermal gold veins. Later calc-alkaline monzonitic to quartz monzontic plutons solidified at 26.5-26.0 Ma as the underlying batholith rose through its volcanic cover. A new age from lavas near Uncompahgre Peak supports earlier interpretations that these lavas were fed by nearby 26 Ma monzonite intrusions. Nearly all of these intrusions are associated with subeconomic Mo and Cu mineralization and associated alteration, and new ages of 26.40 and 25.29 Ma from the Ute-Ulay and Lilly veins in the Lake City region show that some of the most important silver and base-metal veins were temporally and possibly genetically connected to these plutons. In addition, the Golden Fleece telluride vein cuts all of the post-Uncompahgre caldera volcanics in the area and is probably temporally related to this cycle, though its age of 27.5 ? 0.3 Ma was determined by less precise U/Pb methods. The 22.9 Ma Lake City caldera collapsed within the older Uncompahgre caldera structure but is petrologically unrelated to the older calc-alkaline activity. The distinctive suite of high-silica rhyolite tuff and alkaline resurgent intrusions indicates that it is closely related to the early stages of bimodal high-silica rhyolite-alkali basalt volcanism that accompanied the onset of extensional tectonism in the region. Both 40Ar/39Ar ages and paleomagnetic data confirm that the entire caldera sequence formed in less than 330,000 years. Only weak quartz vein mineralization is present in the center of the caldera, and it appears to be related to leaching of metals from the intracaldera tuffs above the resurgent intrusion. Massive alunitization and weak Mo and Cu mineralization along the eastern ring fracture are associated with calc-alkaline lavas and stocks related to late stages of the caldera cycle. These calc-alkaline stocks also appear to be genetically and temporally linked to a radial pattern of barite-precious metal veins on the northeastern margin of the Lake City caldera.

Colorado↗

USGS2013

Zirconium

Zirconium is the 20th most abundant element in the Earth’s crust. It occurs in a variety of rock types and geologic environments but most often in igneous rocks in the form of zircon (ZrSiO 4 ). Zircon is recovered as a coproduct of the mining and processing of heavy mineral sands for the titanium minerals ilmenite and rutile. The sands are formed by the weathering and erosion of rock containing zircon and titanium heavy minerals and their subsequent concentration in sedimentary systems, particularly in coastal environments. A small quantity of zirconium, less than 10 kt/a (11,000 stpy), compared with total world production of 1.4 Mt (1.5 million st) in 2012, was derived from the mineral baddeleyite (ZrO 2 ), produced from a single source in Kovdor, Russia.

Mining Engineering↗

USGS1978

Origin of a South Texas roll-type uranium deposit; I, Alteration of iron-titanium oxide minerals

The detrital Fe-Ti oxide minerals and their authigenic alteration products in samples from cores spanning 1.7 km across a roll-type uranium deposit in the mid-Tertiary Catahoula Tuff, south Texas, record important information on host-rock preparation and on development of the altered tongue of the deposit. In reduced rock, in front of and enveloping the altered tongue, iron disulfide minerals (pyrite and marcasite) have partially to completely replaced titanomagnetite and, to a lesser extent, titanohematite. Subsequent oxidation of these sulfidized Fe-Ti oxides, by processes that formed the altered tongue and uranium roll, produced ferric oxide and hydroxide phases (limonite) pseudomorphous after the sulfides. Fe-Ti oxides 1.0 km updip from the roll front were never sulfidized; titanomagnetite (partly replaced by hematite) and martite constitute nearly half of the heavy mineral fraction and limonite is absent. Oxidized rocks 210 m and closer to the nose of the roll front, however, are nearly devoid of titanomagnetite and contain abundant limonite. The redox interface that bounds the altered tongue, therefore, moved more than 210 m but less than 1.0 km. Detrital Fe-Ti oxide minerals are increasingly sulfidized in the downdip direction indicating that initial sulfidizaton was more intense in that direction. Organic carbon content is uniformly very low throughout the host sandstone, which implies that heterotrophic sulfate-reducing bacteria were not involved in the generation of sulfide. The H 2 S for the initial sulfidization may have been derived from oil and gas in formations that underlie the Catahoula Tuff. The H 2 S probably invaded the Catahoula along a fault that is 1.5 km downdip from the present roll front.

Texas↗

USGS2007

Chemical data for rock, sediment, biological, precipitate, and water samples from abandoned copper mines in Prince William Sound, Alaska

Introduction In the early 20th century, approximately 6 million metric tons of copper ore were mined from numerous deposits located along the shorelines of fjords and islands in Prince William Sound, Alaska. At the Beatson, Ellamar, and Threeman mine sites (fig. 1), rocks containing Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb sulfide minerals are exposed to chemical weathering in abandoned mine workings and remnant waste piles that extend into the littoral zone. Field investigations in 2003 and 2005 as well as analytical data for rock, sediment, precipitate, water, and biological samples reveal that the oxidation of sulfides at these sites is resulting in the generation of acid mine drainage and the transport of metals into the marine environment (Koski and others, 2008; Stillings and others, 2008). At the Ellamar and Threeman sites, plumes of acidic and metal-enriched water are flowing through beach gravels into the shallow offshore environment. Interstitial water samples collected from beach sediment at Ellamar have low pH levels (to ~3) and high concentrations of metals including iron, copper, zinc, cobalt, lead, and mercury. The abundant precipitation of the iron sulfate mineral jarosite in the Ellamar gravels also signifies a low-pH environment. At the Beatson mine site (the largest copper mine in the region) seeps containing iron-rich microbial precipitates drain into the intertidal zone below mine dumps (Foster and others, 2008). A stream flowing down to the shoreline from underground mine workings at Beatson has near-neutral pH, but elevated levels of zinc, copper, and lead (Stillings and others, 2008). Offshore sediment samples at Beatson are enriched in these metals. Preliminary chemical data for tissue from marine mussels collected near the Ellamar, Threeman, and Beatson sites reveal elevated levels of copper, zinc, and lead compared to tissue in mussels from other locations in Prince William Sound (Koski and others, 2008). Three papers presenting results of this ongoing investigation of sulfide oxidation in Prince William Sound are in press. Koski and others (2008) provide an overview of rock alteration, surface water chemistry, and the distribution of metals at the Ellamar, Threeman, and Beatson mine sites. Based on a 60-day, stream-discharge experiment at Beatson in 2005, Stillings and others (2008) analyze changes in water chemistry during storm events and the flux of metals to the shoreline. Foster and others (2008) investigate the biomass and diversity of microbial communities present in surface waters (streams, seeps, pore waters) using fatty acid methyl ester (FAMES) data and principal component analysis. The publications cited above contain a subset of the total chemical data for rock, sediment, biological, precipitate, and water samples collected from the three mine sites in 2003 and 2005. The purpose of this report is the presentation of complete chemical data sets for all samples collected during the two field periods of fieldwork. Data for a small number of samples collected at two other mines (Schlosser and Fidalgo, fig. 1), visited in 2003, are also included in the tables.

Alaska↗

USGS2007

Chemical data for rock, sediment, biological, precipitate, and water samples from abandoned copper mines in Prince William Sound, Alaska

In the early 20th century, approximately 6 million metric tons of copper ore were mined from numerous deposits located along the shorelines of fjords and islands in Prince William Sound, Alaska. At the Beatson, Ellamar, and Threeman mine sites (fig. 1), rocks containing Fe, Cu, Zn, and Pb sulfide minerals are exposed to chemical weathering in abandoned mine workings and remnant waste piles that extend into the littoral zone. Field investigations in 2003 and 2005 as well as analytical data for rock, sediment, precipitate, water, and biological samples reveal that the oxidation of sulfides at these sites is resulting in the generation of acid mine drainage and the transport of metals into the marine environment (Koski and others, 2008; Stillings and others, 2008). At the Ellamar and Threeman sites, plumes of acidic and metal-enriched water are flowing through beach gravels into the shallow offshore environment. Interstitial water samples collected from beach sediment at Ellamar have low pH levels (to ~3) and high concentrations of metals including iron, copper, zinc, cobalt, lead, and mercury. The abundant precipitation of the iron sulfate mineral jarosite in the Ellamar gravels also signifies a low-pH environment. At the Beatson mine site (the largest copper mine in the region) seeps containing iron-rich microbial precipitates drain into the intertidal zone below mine dumps (Foster and others, 2008). A stream flowing down to the shoreline from underground mine workings at Beatson has near-neutral pH, but elevated levels of zinc, copper, and lead (Stillings and others, 2008). Offshore sediment samples at Beatson are enriched in these metals. Preliminary chemical data for tissue from marine mussels collected near the Ellamar, Threeman, and Beatson sites reveal elevated levels of copper, zinc, and lead compared to tissue in mussels from other locations in Prince William Sound (Koski and others, 2008). Three papers presenting results of this ongoing investigation of sulfide oxidation in Prince William Sound are in press. Koski and others (2008) provide an overview of rock alteration, surface water chemistry, and the distribution of metals at the Ellamar, Threeman, and Beatson mine sites. Based on a 60-day, stream-discharge experiment at Beatson in 2005, Stillings and others (2008) analyze changes in water chemistry during storm events and the flux of metals to the shoreline. Foster and others (2008) investigate the biomass and diversity of microbial communities present in surface waters (streams, seeps, pore waters) using fatty acid methyl ester (FAMES) data and principal component analysis. The publications cited above contain a subset of the total chemical data for rock, sediment, biological, precipitate, and water samples collected from the three mine sites in 2003 and 2005. The purpose of this report is the presentation of complete chemical data sets for all samples collected during the two field periods of fieldwork. Data for a small number of samples collected at two other mines (Schlosser and Fidalgo, fig. 1), visited in 2003, are also included in the tables.

Alaska↗

USGS2015

Hydrogeochemistry and microbiology of mine drainage: An update

The extraction of mineral resources requires access through underground workings, or open pit operations, or through drillholes for solution mining. Additionally, mineral processing can generate large quantities of waste, including mill tailings, waste rock and refinery wastes, heap leach pads, and slag. Thus, through mining and mineral processing activities, large surface areas of sulfide minerals can be exposed to oxygen, water, and microbes, resulting in accelerated oxidation of sulfide and other minerals and the potential for the generation of low-quality drainage. The oxidation of sulfide minerals in mine wastes is accelerated by microbial catalysis of the oxidation of aqueous ferrous iron and sulfide. These reactions, particularly when combined with evaporation, can lead to extremely acidic drainage and very high concentrations of dissolved constituents. Although acid mine drainage is the most prevalent and damaging environmental concern associated with mining activities, generation of saline, basic and neutral drainage containing elevated concentrations of dissolved metals, non-metals, and metalloids has recently been recognized as a potential environmental concern. Acid neutralization reactions through the dissolution of carbonate, hydroxide, and silicate minerals and formation of secondary aluminum and ferric hydroxide phases can moderate the effects of acid generation and enhance the formation of secondary hydrated iron and aluminum minerals which may lessen the concentration of dissolved metals. Numerical models provide powerful tools for assessing impacts of these reactions on water quality.

Applied Geochemistry↗

USGS2007

Main Andean sinistral shear along the Cooper Bay Dislocation Zone, South Georgia?

The Cooper Bay Dislocation Zone (CBDZ) represents a major NW-SE trending tectonic boundary within the island of South Georgia that juxtaposes components of a Middle Jurassic to mid-Cretaceous island-arc and back-arc- basin system. New detailed structural data from the southern end of the dislocation zone reveal that earliest displacement along the boundary appears to have been associated with dip-slip reverse shear, characterised by widespread proto- to meso-mylonitic granitic rocks within the basement assemblage exposed to the southwest of the shear zone. Along the northeast margin, highly sheared and mylonitised metasedimentary and metabasic rocks reveal sinistral strike-slip kinematics and a sub-horizontal mineral lineation. Narrow zones of sinistral shear are locally superimposed within the basement rocks along the SW margin, that together with the presence of brittle sinistral faults suggest that the strike-slip component of deformation postdates the dip-slip. Comparison with the tectonic history of the Rocas Verdas Marginal Basin, Fuegian Andes, suggests that the sinistral shear event preserved along the CBDZ maybe be related to Late Cretaceous, main Andean orogenic transpression, although a Cenozoic event cannot to ruled out.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2025

Timing of hydrothermal alteration and Au-Sb-W mineralization, Stibnite-Yellow Pine district, Idaho

The Stibnite-Yellow Pine district of central Idaho was mined from the early 1900s until the 1990s, extracting gold, antimony, tungsten, and mercury from veins and disseminated and replacement ores in mountainous terrain along the headwaters of the Salmon River. Mining during the two World Wars supplied critical antimony and tungsten to the war efforts. Recent exploration has delineated mineral resources of over 187 metric tons Au, 274 metric tons Ag, and 93,000 metric tons Sb. Mineralization is hosted in Cretaceous Idaho batholith granitic rocks and a sequence of Neoproterozoic to Paleozoic metasedimentary strata of carbonate and siliciclastic compositions. Historical studies outlined some of the complex paragenesis but debated the absolute age of mineralization. New petrographic and geochronologic work documents a sequence of five hydrothermal events in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine district. Event 1 is related to Cretaceous magmatic and hydrothermal activity and includes events ranging in age from 86 to 75 Ma, including sparse quartz-molybdenite veins dated at 86 Ma. Disseminated gold mineralization of event 2 is associated with sericitic alteration and sulfidation of igneous biotite and replacement of plagioclase by potassium feldspar, largely in granodiorite. Gold is present in zoned arsenian pyrite in both disseminated ores and in crosscutting carbonate-quartz veins containing pyrite and arsenopyrite. The large Yellow Pine deposit, localized at a dilatant bend in the Meadow Creek fault, hosts such disseminated and vein gold. Event 2 is interpreted as the major gold-forming event; 40 Ar/ 39 Ar ages of sericite and potassium feldspar alteration range, respectively, from 70 to 59 and 66 to 56 Ma. The long span is interpreted to reflect the age of gold mineralization and local overprinting by event 3. A narrower range from 66 to 61 Ma is interpreted to date the peak of gold mineralization and alteration. Event 3, tungsten mineralization with scheelite, is texturally later than event 2 gold and localized along the Meadow Creek structure. Event 3 scheelite has been dated by isotope dilution-thermal ionization mass spectrometry (ID-TIMS) and laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) U-Pb methods at 57 Ma. Event 4, best developed in the West End area, includes gold-silver–bearing quartz-carbonate-pyrite veins and breccias with epithermal textures and potassium feldspar alteration envelopes. Adularia from event 4 yields 40 Ar/ 39 Ar plateau ages of 52 to 51 Ma. Event 5 antimony and mercury mineralization consists of stibnite veins and breccia cements at the Yellow Pine and Hangar Flat deposits as well as cinnabar veins and replacements at the peripheral Fern and Hermes deposits; it is constrained by an LA-ICP-MS U-Pb date on scheelite (ca. 47 Ma) intergrown with stibnite. Minor propylitic and argillic alteration is evident in 47 Ma igneous dikes, which do not contain economic mineralization. The Au-Sb-W ores in the Stibnite-Yellow Pine mining district formed over an extended time period from about 70 to 45 Ma in multiple pulses that were localized along the Meadow Creek fault zone. Each event corresponds to episodes of magmatism and/or hydrothermal activity in the region. Insignificant event 1 skarn and molybdenum mineralization is similar in age to the Thompson Creek porphyry molybdenum deposit in central Idaho. Event 2 gold mineralization occurred during a magmatic gap in central Idaho but was synchronous with magmatism in the Bitterroot lobe further north; event 2 is similar in age to orogenic gold-arsenic mineralization at the Beartrack mine in eastern Idaho. Event 3 scheelite mineralization coincides with tungsten mineralization at the Quartz Creek deposit, late magmatism in the Bitterroot lobe, and rapid exhumation of the Atlanta lobe of the Idaho batholith. Event 4 gold mineralization is coincident with the onset of regional Challis magmatism and extension. Event 5 antimony and mercury mineralization is time-equivalent to epithermal gold mineralization in the nearby Thunder Mountain volcanic field and the peak of Challis magmatism.

Idaho↗

USGS1999

The USGS Abandoned Mine Lands Initiative: Protecting and restoring the environment near abandoned mine lands

The Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) Initiative is part of a larger strategy of the U.S. Department of the Interior and the U.S. Department of Agriculture to clean up Federal lands contaminated by abandoned mines. Thousands of abandond hard-rock metal mines (such as gold, copper, lead, and zinc) have left a dual legacy across the Western United States. They reflect the historic development of the west, yet at the same time represent a possible threat to human health and local ecosystems. Abandoned Mine Lands (AML) are areas adjacent to or affected by abandoned mines. AML's often contain unmined mineral deposits, mine dumps (the ore and rock removed to get to the ore deposits), and tailings (the material left over from the ore processing) that contaminate the surrounding watershed and ecosystem. For example, streams near AML's can contain metals and (or) be so acidic that fish and aquatic insects cannot live in them. Many of these abandoned hard-rock mines are located on or adjacent to public lands administered by the Bureau of Land Management, National Park Service, and U.S. Forest Service. These federal land management agencies and the USGS are committed to mitigating the adverse effects that AML's can have on water quality and stream habitats. The USGS AML Initiative began in 1997 and will continue through 2001 in two pilot watersheds - the Boulder River basin in southwestern Montana and the upper Animas River basin in southwestern Colorado. The USGS is providing a wide range of scientific expertise to help land managers minimize and, where possible, eliminate the adverse environmental effects of AML's. USGS ecologists, geologists, water quality experts, hydrologists, geochemists, and mapping and digital data collection experts are collaborating to provide the scientific knowledge needed for an effective cleanup of AML's.

Arizona, California, Colorado, Idaho, Montana, New↗

USGS1981

Sequential extraction techniques applied to a porphyry copper deposit in the basin and range province

Samples of minus-80-mesh (<180 μm) stream sediment, rock containing exposed fracture coatings, and jarosite and chrysocolla were collected from an area surrounding the North Silver Bell porphyry Cu deposit near Tucson, Arizona. The samples were subjected to a series of extractions in a scheme originally designed for use on samples from humid or sub-humid environments, in which the following fractions can effectively be separated: (1) carbonates and exchangeable metals; (2) Mn oxides; (3) organic compounds and sulfides; (4) hydrous Fe oxides; and (5) residual crystalline minerals. Jarosite and chrysocolla, two major minerals of the North Silver Bell area, were found to dissolve over two or more steps of the extraction scheme. The results represent only a limited number of samples from one copper deposit. Nevertheless, they do suggest that in a semiarid to arid environment, where mechanical dispersion of such minerals predominates, uncritical assignment of unique phases, such as Mn oxides or organics to a given extraction would lead to false interpretations of weathering processes. However, the relative proportions of elements dissolved in each step of the jarosite and chrysocolla extractions could be used as a “fingerprint” for recognition of the presence of these two minerals in the stream-sediment and rock samples. The relative abundance of hydrous Fe oxide and jarosite and the alteration zoning could be mapped using data from jarosite and chrysocolla extractions. Manganese oxides were also found to have a greater influence on Zn than on Cu or Pb during supergene alteration. The rapid change in relative importance of the first (1 M -acetic acid) extraction for Cu, Zn, and Pb near the mineralized zone suggested the occurrence of minor hydromorphic processes within the stream sediments. Thus, the acetic acid extraction proved the most effective for pinpointing mineralization in sediments. In contrast, the residual fraction had the longest dispersion train, suggesting that total metal concentrations are most effective in arid environments for reconnaissance surveys.

Journal of Geochemical Exploration↗

USGS1983

The mineral resource potential of the Harrat Nawasif, sheet 21/42 C, Ranyah, sheet 21/42 D, and Jabal Dalfa, sheet 21/43 C quadrangles, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Areas with mineral resource potential in the Harrat Nawasif, Ranyah, and Jabal Dalfa quadrangles in the central Precambrian Shield of Saudi Arabia have been identified by reconnaissance rock geochemistry and inspection of ancient prospects. Locally anomalous areas in perthitic, alkalic granite terrane in the Ranyah quadrangle possibly contain niobium, zirconium, thorium, fluorite, rare-earth, tin, molybdenum, or copper mineralization. The reconnaissance rock geochemical survey in layered volcanic and volcaniclastic terrane in the Jabal Dalfa quadrangle identified a zinc anomaly in quartzite and a nickel-copper zone that is an extension of the Jabal Judayr prospect, where a low-grade, nickel-copper sulfide deposit is known. The Precambrian terrane in the Harrat Nawasif quadrangle has no known mineral resource potential.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2021

The triple argon isotope composition of groundwater on ten-thousand-year timescales

Understanding the age and movement of groundwater is important for predicting the vulnerability of wells to contamination, constraining flow models that inform sustainable groundwater management, and interpreting geochemical signals that reflect past climate. Due to both the ubiquity of groundwater with order ten-thousand-year residence times and its importance for climate reconstruction of the last glacial period, there is a strong need for improving geochemical dating tools on this timescale. Whereas 14 C of dissolved inorganic carbon and dissolved 4 He are common age tracers for Late Pleistocene groundwater, each is limited by systematic uncertainties related to aquifer composition and lithology, and the extent of water-rock interaction. In principle, radiogenic 40 Ar in groundwater acquired from decay of 40 K in aquifer minerals should be insensitive to some processes that impact 14 C and 4 He and thus represent a useful, complementary age tracer. In practice, however, detection of significant radiogenic 40 Ar signals in groundwater has been limited to a small number of studies of extremely old groundwater (>100 ka). Here we present the first high-precision (<1‰) measurements of triple Ar isotopes ( 40 Ar, 38 Ar, 36 Ar) in groundwater. We introduce a model that distinguishes radiogenic 40 Ar from atmospheric 40 Ar by using the non-radiogenic Ar isotopes ( 36 Ar, 38 Ar) to correct for mass-dependent fractionation. Using this model, we investigate variability in radiogenic 40 Ar excess (Δ 40 Ar) across 58 groundwater samples collected from 36 wells throughout California (USA). We find that Δ 40 Ar ranges from ~0‰ (the expected minimum value) to +4.2‰ across three study areas near Fresno, San Diego, and the western Mojave Desert. Based on measurements from a network of 23 scientific monitoring wells in San Diego, we find evidence for a strong dependence of Δ 40 Ar on aquifer lithology. We suggest that Δ 40 Ar is fundamentally controlled by the weathering of old K-bearing minerals and thus reflects both the degree of groundwater-rock interaction, which is related to groundwater age, and the integrated flow through different geological formations. Future studies of Late Pleistocene groundwater may benefit from high-precision triple Ar isotope measurements as a new tool to better interpret 14 C- and 4 He-based constraints on groundwater age and flow.

Chemical Geology↗

USGS1982

Electrical studies at the proposed Wahmonie and Calico Hills nuclear waste sites, Nevada Test Site, Nye County, Nevada

Two sites in the southwest quadrant of the Nevada Test Site (NTS) were investigated as potential repositories for high-level nuclear waste. These are designated the Wahmonie and Calico Hills sites. The emplacement medium at both sites was to be an inferred intrusive body at shallow depth; the inference of the presence of the body was based on aeromagnetic and regional gravity data. This report summarizes results of Schlumberger VES, induced polarization dipole-dipole traverses and magnetotelluric soundings made in the vicinity of the sites in order to characterize the geoelectric section. At the Wahmonie site VES work identified a low resistivity unit at depth surrounding the inferred intrusive body. The low resistivity unit is believed to be either the argillite (Mississippian Eleana Formation) or a thick unit of altered volcanic rock (Tertiary). Good electrical contrast is provided between the low resistivity unit and a large volume of intermediate resistivity rock correlative with the aeromagnetic and gravity data. The intermediate resistivity unit (100-200 ohm-m) is believed to be the intrusive body. The resistivity values are very low for a fresh, tight intrusive and suggest significant fracturing, alteration and possible mineralization have occurred within the upper kilometer of rock. Induced polarization data supports the VES work, identifies a major fault on the northwest side of the inferred intrusive and significant potential for disseminated mineralization within the body. The mineralization potential is particularly significant because as late as 1928, a strike of high grade silver-gold ore was made at the site. The shallow electrical data at Calico Hills revealed no large volume high resistivity body that could be associated with a tight intrusive mass in the upper kilometer of section. A drill hole UE 25A-3 sunk to 762 m (2500 ft) at the site revealed only units of the Eleana argillite thermally metamorphosed below 396 m (1300 ft) and in part highly magnetic. Subsequent work has shown that much if not all of the magnetic and gravity anomalies can be attributed to the Eleana Formation. The alteration and doming, however, still argue for an intrusive but at greater depth than originally thought. The electrical, VES, and IP data show a complex picture due to variations in structure and alteration within the Eleana and surrounding volcanic units. These data do not suggest the presence of an intrusive in the upper kilometer of section. The magnetotelluric data however gives clear evidence for a thick, resistive body in the earth's crust below the site. While the interpreted depth is very poorly constrained due to noise and structural problems, the top of the resistive body is on the order of 2.5 km deep. The IP data also identifies area of increased polarizability at Calico Hills, which may also have future economic mineralization.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2005

Acid-rock drainage at Skytop, Centre County, Pennsylvania, 2004

Recent construction for Interstate Highway 99 (I?99) exposed pyrite and associated Zn-Pb sulfide minerals beneath a >10-m thick gossan to oxidative weathering along a 40-60-m deep roadcut through a 270-m long section of the Ordovician Bald Eagle Formation at Skytop, near State College, Centre County, Pennsylvania. Nearby Zn-Pb deposits hosted in associated sandstone and limestone in Blair and Centre Counties were prospected in the past; however, these deposits generally were not viable as commercial mines. The pyritic sandstone from the roadcut was crushed and used locally as road base and fill for adjoining segments of I?99. Within months, acidic (pH<3), metal-laden seeps and runoff from the exposed cut and crushed sandstone raised concerns about surface- and ground-water contamination and prompted a halt in road construction and the beginning of costly remediation. Mineralized sandstones from the cut contain as much as 34 wt. % Fe, 28 wt. % S, 3.5 wt. % Zn, 1% wt. Pb, 88 ppm As, and 32 ppm Cd. A composite of <2 mm material sampled from the cut face contains 8.1 wt. % total sulfide S, 0.6 wt. % sulfate S, and is net acidic by acid-base accounting (net neutralization potential ?234 kg CaCO3/t). Primary sulfide minerals include pyrite, marcasite, sphalerite (2 to 12 wt. % Fe) and traces of chalcopyrite and galena. Pyrite occurs in mm- to cm-scale veinlets and disseminated grains in sandstone, as needles, and in a locally massive pyrite-cemented breccia along a fault. Inclusions (<10 ?m) of CdS and Ni-Co-As minerals in pyrite and minor amounts of Cd in sphalerite (0.1 wt. % or less) explain the primary source of trace metals in the rock and in associated secondary minerals and seepage. Wet/dry cycles associated with intermittent rainfall promoted oxidative weathering and dissolution of primary sulfides and their oxidation products. Resulting sulfate solutions evaporated during dry periods to form intermittent ?blooms? of soluble, yellow and white efflorescent sulfate salts (copiapite, melanterite, and halotrichite) on exposed rock and other surfaces. Salts coating the cut face incorporated Fe, Al, S, and minor Zn. They readily dissolved in deionized water in the laboratory to form solutions with pH <2.5, consistent with field observations. In addition to elevated dissolved Fe and sulfate concentrations (>1,000 mg/L), seep waters at the base of the cut contain >100 mg/L dissolved Zn and >1 mg/L As, Co, Cu, and Ni. Lead is relatively immobile (<10 ?g/L in seep waters). The salts sequester metals and acidity between rainfall events. Episodic salt dissolution then contributes pulses of contamination including acid to surface runoff and ground water. The Skytop experience highlights the need to understand dynamic interactions of mineralogy and hydrology in order to avoid potentially negative environmental impacts associated with excavation in sulfidic rocks.

Open-File Report↗

USGS2008

Quantitative approaches to characterizing natural chemical weathering rates

Silicate minerals, constituting more than 90% of the rocks exposed at the earth’s surface, are commonly formed under temperature and pressure conditions that make them inherently unstable in surficial environments. Undoubtedly, the most significant aspect of chemical weathering resulting from this instability is the formation of soils which makes life possible on the surface of the earth. Many soil macronutrients in this “critical zone” are directly related to the rate at which primary minerals weather (Huntington, 1995; Chadwick et al., 2003). Chemical weathering also creates economically significant ore deposits, such as those for Al and U (Samma, 1986; Misra, 2000), as well as potentially releasing high concentrations of toxic trace elements such as Se and As (Frankenberger and Benson, 1994). Silicate weathering is a significant buffer to acidification caused by atmospheric deposition (Driscoll et al., 1989) and from land use practices (Farley and Werritty, 1989). Atmospheric CO 2 levels have been primarily controlled by the balance between silicate weathering and the rate of volcanic inputs from the Earth’s interior, a relationship which may explain long-term climate stability (Ruddiman, 1997)

Book chapter↗