USGS Science⌕ Search

Geology topics

J. S. Stuckless

Publications and source records attributed to J. S. Stuckless.

At least 37 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1986

Trace-element contents of postorogenic granites of the eastern Arabian Shield, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

Trace-element contents for 46 postorogenic granitoids vary by as much as two orders of magnitude; most samples are strongly enriched in incompatible elements (such as the heavy rare earths, yttrium, niobium, and uranium) and depleted in the compatible elements (such as barium, strontium, scandium, europium, and cobalt). These trace-element characteristics are typical of A-type granites found in other areas of the world. In spite of the wide range in trace-element contents, no samples contained economically significant concentrations of a single element. Samples range from peralkaline to strongly peraluminous; most are weakly peraluminous or metaluminous. All three subgroups (peralkaline, metaluminous, and peraluminous) are enriched in uranium and hafnium and are depleted in compatible elements. The peralkaline granites are generally enriched in yttrium and niobium - the strongly peraluminous granites in rubidium and tantalum; both groups are also somewhat enriched in the heavy-rare-earth elements. Several of the peraluminous granites are known to be tin-bearing and, like tin-bearing granites found elsewhere in the world, their chondrite-normalized, rare-earth-element patterns are flat and have large negative europium anomalies. Samples from several plutons have very anomalous ratios for geochemically similar elements such as yttrium and holmium, niobium and tantalum, and zirconium and hafnium. These ratios may reflect differential complexing with a halogen-rich aqueous phase that may be characteristic of plutons that have been subjected to an ore-forming process. A program to test these hypotheses, through study of known mineralized areas and laboratory experiments, should be implemented. The regional trends for the chemical data and geochemical correlations over the large area sampled, suggest that the postorogenic granites were derived from a single protolith that formed by the mixing of oceanic sediments from the west, continental sediments from the east.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1985

Isotopic studies of the late Archean plutonic rocks of the Wind River Range, Wyoming

Isotopic studies of the Rb-Sr and U-Th-Pb systems in whole-rock samples and the U-Pb systematics for zircons document the existence of two late Arehean intrusive events in the Wind River Range. All of the systems examined indicate an age of ∼2,630 ± 20 m.y. for the Louis Lake batholith. Apparent ages for the Bears Ears pluton range from 2,504 ± 40 m.y. to 2,575 ± 50 m.y. The scatter in apparent ages for the Bears Ears pluton does not appear to be primarily the result of disturbance by postintrusive events, but it may be explained by an isotopically inhomogenous magma at the time of intrusion. Data for a few samples indicate that the Wind River Range was affected locally by a postmagmatic hydrothermal event that was approximately Tertiary in age. This event lowered δ 18 O values and disturbed parent-daughter relationships in most of the isotopic systems investigated, but it was recent enough that there is no demonstrable effect in the Pb-Pb system. The Bears Ears pluton has some chemical and petrologic features that are similar to those reported for the granites in the Granite Mountains to the east. These granites are spatially associated with low-temperature uranium deposits of Tertiary age and have been shown to have lost large amounts of uranium during the early to middle Tertiary. U-Pb systematics indicate, however, that the low to moderate uranium contents and highly variable Th/U values noted for the Bears Ears pluton are best interpreted as being primary features. If uranium was lost after magma generation, the loss most likely occurred at the time of intrusion. Such a loss could account for uraniferous Precambrian pegmatites southwest of the main part of the Range. The two intrusive units apparently were derived from different protoliths that were formed during early to middle Archean. Initial isotopic ratios and petrochemistry for the Louis Lake batholith are consistent with an early Archean trondhjemitic to tonalitic source. The protolith for the Bears Ears pluton must have been more evolved and somewhat younger. Inconsistencies as to the degree of evolution of this protolith, as inferred from isotopic and trace-element data, suggest that the protolith may have been subjected to high-grade meta-morphism that caused loss of Rb and U prior to generation of the magma.

Wyoming↗
USGS1984

Uranium mineralization in response to regional metamorphism at Lilljuthatten, Sweden

Analyses of six mineralized and five nonmineralized whole-rock drill core samples from the uranium deposit at Lilljuthatten yield a lead-lead isochron age of 420 + or - 1 m.y. This age corresponds to the last stage of the Caledonian Orogeny. None of the isotopic systems examined have completely retained the intrusive age of the Olden Granite, but data for several systems suggest an age of approximately 1,650 m.y. Indications that Caledonian hydrothermal activity strongly affected most of the Olden Granite. A model for the genesis of the ore deposit is proposed as follows: (1) derivation of a highly evolved granite by partial melting of crustal materials about 1,650 m.y. ago; (2) pervasive hydrothermal alteration and fracturing of the granite in response to the Caledonian Orogeny approximately 420 m.y. ago; (3) mobilization of uranium and lead in response to circulation of heated fluids; (4) precipitation of these elements in open fractures; and (5) recent modification of the Caledonian uranium distribution as a result of exposure to near-surface conditions.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1982

The chemical and isotopic record of rock-water interaction in the Sherman Granite, Wyoming and Colorado

Chemical, isotopic, radiographic, and rock-leaching data are combined to describe the effects of rock-water interactions in core samples of petrographically fresh, 1.43 b.y.-old Sherman Granite. The data serve to identify sensitive indicators of incipient alteration and to estimate the degree, pathways, and timing of element mobilization. Unfractured core samples of Sherman Granite are remarkably fresh by most chemical or isotopic criteria, but incipient alteration is indicated by the abundance and distribution of uranium and the degree of radioactive equilibration of uranium with its decay products. Uranium abundances which are out of equilibrium with lead decay products indicate remobilization of a portion (3 to 60 percent) of original uranium in late Phanerozoic time. Association of uranium with minor but pervasive secondary alteration products also indicates some remobilization. The amount of apparent uranium mobility in unfractured Sherman Granite (3 to 60 percent) is small compared to the results of similar studies of Archean granites from nearby localities. Chemical and isotopic data evaluated as a function of core-sample depth suggest a uranium migrational pathway involving near-surface leaching and reconcentration at depth. Movement of solutions through the upper 200 ft (60 m) of Sherman Granite is fracture controlled, and brecciated granite shows more obvious petrographic, chemical, and isotopic evidence of alteration and multi-element redistribution. Laboratory experiments using freshly crushed Sherman Granite confirm that uranium is leached in preference to elements such as Si, Mg, Ca, and K, and that leachable uranium is situated close to the solid-liquid interface; perhaps as uranium along grain boundaries, in crystal defects, or on cleavage traces of minerals that exclude uranium from their structure. ?? 1981 Springer-Verlag.

Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology↗
USGS1981

U-Th-Pb systematics in hydrothermally altered granites from the Granite Mountains, Wyoming

U-Th-Pb systematics were investigated in 15 samples representing two types of deuterically altered Archean granite (albitized and silicified-epidotized granite) from the Granite Mountains, Wyoming. The loss of K-feldspar during both types of deuteric alteration was accompanied by an extreme reduction of Pb content from roughly 40 ppm to less than 12 ppm in the most altered samples. Nine of the 15 samples yield anomalously young whole-rock Pb-Pb and Th-Pb ages compared to concordia ages for zircons and to whole-rock Pb-Pb and Th-Pb ages for samples of unaltered granite. The young ages are interpreted to be the result of radiogenic Pb loss during a middle Proterozoic metamorphism that disturbed several isotopic systems in the unaltered granite. The loss of radiogenic Pb from the whole-rock systems of the deuterically altered granites is most likely due to the absence of microcline. In many granitic rocks, potassium feldspar tends to act as a receptor for Pb that has been mobilized, and this effect may account for the closed-system behavior of Pb in whole-rock samples of the unaltered granite. It may also account for the apparent gain of radiogenic Pb during the Proterozoic by one sample which was collected at the edge of an alteration zone. The deuterically altered granites may have also lost U during the Proterozoic, but, except for two samples, the dominant U loss occurred relatively recently, probably during Tertiary uplift and erosion. The low common-Pb contents and rather high U and Th contents of the hydrothermally altered granites might seem to indicate that these rocks are well suited for geochronologic studies in the U-Th-Pb system because such rocks should have a high percentage of radiogenic Pb. Unfortunately, open-system behavior in response to post-crystallization metamorphism shows that apparent ages for these types of rocks must be interpreted with caution.

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta↗
USGS1981

U-Th-Pb systematics of some granitoids from the northeastern Yilgarn Block, Western Australia and implications for uranium source rock potential

The Mount Boreas‐type granite and spatially associated syenitic granitoid of Western Australia yield Pb‐Pb ages of 2370 ± 100 Ma and 2760 ± 210 Ma, respectively. Th‐Pb ages, although less precise, are concordant with these ages, and therefore the apparent ages are interpreted to be the crystallisation ages for these two units. U‐Pb ages are variable and for the most part anomalously old, which suggests a Cainozoic uranium loss. However, this loss is generally small (< 3 μ g/g); therefore, neither granitoid in its fresh state provides a good source for nearby calcrete‐hosted uranium deposits. The possibility remains that the Mount Boreas‐type granite that has been completely weathered during the Tertiary could have been a source for the calcrete‐type uranium deposits in W.A. Although the Mount Boreas‐type granite is highly fractionated, it does not bear a strong geochemical imprint of a sedimentary precursor. This feature contrasts it with apparently fresh granitoids from other parts of the world that have lost large amounts of uranium (∼ 20 μ g/g ) and are associated with large roll‐type and other low temperature‐type uranium deposits.

Journal of the Geological Society of Australia↗
USGS1981

Petrogenetic modeling of a potential uranium source rock, Granite Mountains, Wyoming

Previous studies of the granite of Lankin Dome have led to the conclusion that this granite was a source for the sandstone-type uranium deposits in the basins that surround the Granite Mountains, Wyo. Q-mode factor analysis of 29 samples of this granite shows that five bulk compositions are required to explain the observed variances of 33 constituents in these samples. Models presented in this paper show that the origin of the granite can be accounted for by the mixing of a starting liquid with two ranges of solid compositions such that all five compositions are granitic. There are several features of the granite of Lankin Dome that suggest derivation by partial melting and, because the proposed source region was inhomogeneous, that more than one of the five end members may have been a liquid. Data for the granite are compatible with derivation from rocks similar to those of the metamorphic complex that the granite intrudes. Evidence for crustal derivation by partial melting includes a strongly peraluminous nature, extremely high differentiation indices, high contents of incompatible elements, generally large negative Eu anomalies, and high initial lead and strontium isotopic ratios. If the granite of Lankin Dome originated by partial melting of a heterogeneous metamorphic complex, the initial magma could reasonably have been composed of a range of granitic liquids. Five variables were not well accounted for by a five-end-member model. Water, CO 2 , and U0 2 contents and the oxidation state of iron are all subject to variations caused by near-surface processes. The Q-mode factor analysis suggests that these four variables have a distribution determined by postmagmatic processes. The reason for failure of Cs0 2 to vary systematically with the other 33 variables is not known. Other granites that have lost large amounts of uranium possibly can be identified by Q-mode factor analysis.

Professional Paper↗
USGS1980

Comparison of three techniques for the determination of uranium and thorium in rocks

U and Th concentrations have been determined in a series of selected whole-rock samples, using three different techniques: neutron activation analysis (INAA), X-ray fluorescence spectrometry (XRF) and isotope dilution mass spectrometry (ID). The INAA technique yields U and Th data that are comparable with those obtained by ID over the entire concentration range studied. XRF only provides data with comparable precision at relatively high concentrations (> 10 ppm) but has the advantage of being able to determine other useful elements such as Rb, Sr, Pb and K. The choice between INAA and XRF therefore depends on the concentration levels anticipated, together with the overall requirements for the particular study. ?? 1980.

Chemical Geology↗
USGS1979

A revised version of Graphic Normative Analysis Program (GNAP) with examples of petrologic problem solving

A revised version of Graphic Normative Analysis Program (GNAP) has been developed to allow maximum flexibility in the evaluation of chemical data by the occasional computer user. GNAP calculates ClPW norms, Thornton and Tuttle's differentiation index, Barth's cations, Niggli values and values for variables defined by the user. Calculated values can be displayed graphically in X-Y plots or ternary diagrams. Plotting can be done on a line printer or Calcomp plotter with either weight percent or mole percent data. Modifications in the original program give the user some control over normative calculations for each sample. The number of user-defined variables that can be created from the data has been increased from ten to fifteen. Plotting and calculations can be based on the original data, data adjusted to sum to 100 percent, or data adjusted to sum to 100 percent without water. Analyses for which norms were previously not computable are now computed with footnotes that show excesses or deficiencies in oxides (or volatiles) not accounted for by the norm. This report contains a listing of the computer program, an explanation of the use of the program, and the two sample problems.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1978

Uranium-lead isotope systematics and apparent ages of zircons and other minerals in precambrian granitic rocks, Granite Mountains, Wyoming

Zircon suites from the two main types of granite in the Granite Mountains, Wyoming, yielded concordia-intercept ages of 2,640??20 m.y. for a red, foliated granite (granite of Long Creek Mountain) and 2,595??40 m.y. for the much larger mass of the granite of Lankin Dome. These ages are statistically distinct (40??20 m.y. difference) and are consistent with observed chemical and textural differences. The lower intercepts of the zircon chords of 50??40 and 100+ 75 m.y. for the granite of Long Creek Mountain and granite of Lankin Dome, respectively, are not consistent with reasonable continuous diffusion lead-loss curves but do correspond well with the known (Laramide) time of uplift of the rocks. Epidote, zircon, and apatite from silicified and epidotized zones in the granites all record at least one postcrystallization disturbance in addition to the Laramide event and do not define a unique age of silicification and epidotization. The lower limit of ???2,500 m.y. provided by the least disturbed epidote, however, suggests that these rocks were probably formed by deuteric processes shortly after emplacement of the granite of the Lankin Dome. The earlier of the two disturbances that affected the minerals of the silicified-epidotized rock can be bracketed between 1,350 and 2,240 m.y. ago and is probably the same event that lowered mineral K-Ar and ages in the region. Zircon suites from both types of granite show well-defined linear correlations among U content, common-Pb content, and degree of discordance. One of the zircon suites has an extremely high common-Pb content (up to 180 ppm) and exhibits a component of radiogenic-Pb loss that is apparently unrelated to radiation damage. ?? 1978 Springer-Verlag.

Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology↗
USGS1976

Strontium isotopic geochemistry of the volcanic rocks and associated megacrysts and inclusions from Ross Island and vicinity, Antarctica

Twelve whole-rock samples of volcanic rocks and a composite of 11 basanitoid samples from Ross Island and vicinity, Antarctica show a narrow range of 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios from 0.7030 5 to 0.7033 9 . This range is consistent with a model of differentiation from a single parent magma, but the data allow a 30% variation in the 87 Rb/ 86 Sr ratio in the source region if the average ratio is less than 0.057 and if the source region has existed as a closed system for 1.5 b.y. Megacrysts of titaniferous augite, kaersutite, and anorthoclase are isotopically indistinguishable from the host volcanic rocks and therefore are probably cogenetic with the volcanic sequence. A single trachyte sample is isotopically distinct from the rest of the volcanic rocks and probably was contaminated with crustal strontium. Ultramafic and mafic nodules found in association with basanitoids and trachybasalts have 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios ranging from 0.7027 5 to 0.7057 5 . Several of these nodules exhibit evidence of reaction with the melt and are isotopically indistinguishable from their hosts, but data for seven granulite-facies nodules show an apparent isochronal relationship. Although this isochron may be fortuitous, the resulting age of 158±22 m.y. is similar to ages reported for the voluminous Ferrar Dolerites, and suggests isotopic re-equilibration within the lower crust and upper mantle. These nodules are not genetically related to the Ferrar Dolerites, as evidenced by their lower initial 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios. Three ultramafic nodules are texturally and isotopically distinct from the rest of the analyzed nodules. These are friable, have larger 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios, and may represent a deeper sampling of mantle rock than the granulite-facies nodules. They were, however, derived at a shallower depth than the alkalic magma. Thus they are not genetically related to either the magma or the granulite-facies nodules.

Contributions to Mineralogy and Petrology↗