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R. Ernest Anderson

Publications and source records attributed to R. Ernest Anderson.

26 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1977

Geology and ore deposits of the Kutam Mine, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia

The ancient Kutam mine in southwestern Saudi Arabia was discovered during the course of regional geologic mapping. Malachite coatings along fractures in the ancient workings and nearby large piles of slag indicate the mine was worked for copper. Quartz porphyry of Precambrian age is the principal host rock of the deposit. The quartz porphyry is associated with volcanic rocks of mafic to intermediate composition. All rocks have been deformed and metamorphosed to various types of schist, of which quartz-sericite-chlorite schist is the most common. Mineralization is thought to be controlled by the convergence of three fault patterns that strike N 60°W., N 45°W and N. 20°W, respectively, and dip steeply west to vertical. Cross faults that extend between faults of the N 45°W. pattern have influenced deposition of sulfides locally. Southeast-plunging lineation derived from two converging directions of planar schistosity also may have exerted control on sulfide deposition. Detailed geologic mapping of surface features and geochemical and geophysical studies indicated that the deposit warranted subsurface exploration. Accordingly, eight holes were drilled that delineated possible economic-grade sulfide deposits in an area about 300 m long and which is known to continue to a depth of more than 200 m. However, drilling found copper-zinc mineralization along a strike length of 850 m. Drill findings show that copper and zinc sulfides partially replace chlorite and higher concentrations of chlorite generally define the higher-grade mineralization. The more intensely chloritized zones tend to follow the N.45°W. fracture pattern. South of drill hole KA-I, the sulfide mineralization may plunge 40° to 60° southeast. Indicated and inferred reserves outlined by drilling total 8,056,000 metric tons, the grade of which averages 0.31 g/t Au, 6.13 g/t Ag, 1.83 percent Cu, and 0.95 percent Zn.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1975

The influence of late Cenozoic stratigraphy on distribution of impoundment-related seismicity at Lake Mead, Nevada-Arizona

At Lake Mead, contrasts in permeability of upper Cenozoic sediments show a better correlation with irregularly distributed impoundment-related seismicity than do contrasts in structure. An evaluation of structures developed during the late Cenozoic fails to explain the erratic distribution of seismicity. An evaluation of the late Cenozoic stratigraphy, however, shows a concentration of relatively impermeable evaporite beds and fine-grained clastic strata in the less seismic part of the lake basin; therefore, the authors conclude that a hydraulic connection between the lake water and the deep aquifer system that includes buried faults is needed in the Lake Mead area to cause the release of seismic energy. Where hydraulic connection is prevented by continuous or quasi-continuous upper Cenozoic basin-fill strata of low permeability, as in the eastern basin area, seismicity does not occur.

Arizona, Nevada↗
USGS1973

Geologic and hydrologic summary of salt domes in Gulf Coast region of Texas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama

There are 263 known or suspected onshore salt domes in the Texas-Louisiana-Mississippi-Alabama portion of the Gulf Coast geosyncline. The top of the salt in 148 of them is probably deeper than desirable for a waste repository site, and 79 of those that are shallow enough are probably unavailable for a site because of present use by industry for gas storage or production of oil, salt, or sulfur. In this report we have compiled the available geologic and hydrologic background data pertinent to the evaluation of the remaining 36 known or suspected salt domes as potential sites for waste storage. There are three parts to this compilations: 1) summaries of the geology and hydrology of the salt-dome province as a whole; 2) summaries of the physiography, climate, geology, and hydrology of each of the five salt-dome basins that occur within the province; and 3) an appendix of background data for each of the 36 potentially acceptable domes. The distribution of salt domes in the province is genetically related to areas of relative subsidence that formed basins or depocenters within the Gulf Coast geosyncline. In some cases, as in northeast Texas and south Louisiana, the locations of individual domes or groups of domes are related to deep movement of salt along axial trends. The salt domes in the interior salt-dome subprovince are probably more structurally stable than those of the coastal subprovince because salt diapirism is inferred to have ceased around Miocene time in the interior but may still be active in parts of the coastal subprovince. Although the size and shape of many domes is unknown or can only be roughly approximated, each of the five basins in the province appears to contain potentially acceptable domes of adequate size for a repository. We recognize no pattern to the distribution of salt-dome size. Caprock thicknesses vary greatly within each salt-dome basin,and we recognize no pattern to the variations. Among the potentially acceptable domes, the depths to the top of the salt are generally greatest in the Mississippi salt-dome basin, where all tops are more than 1,500 feet deep. Intermediate depths of about 1,000 feet are common in the east Texas-south Louisiana salt-dome basin. Depths to salt tops in the north Louisiana and northeast Texas basins are variable but most are less than 1,000 feet. Available drilling records are generally adequate to determine the number of wells drilled on or in the vicinity of individual domes and also the well locations. The numbers of wells vary widely within each salt-dome basin. More salt domes are currently available for use as repository sites in the interior subprovince than in the coastal subprovince, where the pressure for industrial use of domes is high. In the interior subprovince many of the potentially acceptable domes are located beneath hilly well-drained terrain that is not subject to flooding or other surface-water problems. Although topographic depressions occupied by shallow lakes, swamps, or 'salines' occur over several of the domes, they are generally flanked by topographically high ground where surface facilities could be sited without complications.A few of the potentially acceptable domes are located beneath floodplains where surface facilities might face hazards from flooding. In the coastal subprovince several of the potentially acceptable domes are located in relatively flat poorly drained terrain where surface flooding might constitute a potential hazard. The availability of fresh to slightly saline ground water varies considerably within each salt-dome basin. We have outlined some of the factors that are responsible for the variations and have provided or referred to maps and geohydrologic cross sections that illustrate the general distribution of fresh to slightly saline water. The top of the salt in about half of the known potentially acceptable domes is below the regional base of the fresh to slightly saline ground-water system, but in a few of

Alabama, Louisiana, Mississippi, Texas↗
USGS1971

Thin skin distension in Tertiary rocks of southeastern Nevada

Volcanic rocks of late Tertiary age, aggregating about 17,000 ft, accumulated on a surface of low relief cut on Precambrian rocks in the Basin and Range province south of Lake Mead, in Nevada and Arizona. They consist mostly of lava and flow breccia of intermediate composition with minor ash-flow tuff, bedded tuff, and lava of rhyolitic composition. The last of three main phases of volcanism was accompanied by widespread epizonal plutonism and intense faulting. All or parts of six similarly but separately fault-deformed structural units are recognized in a 92-sq-mi mapped area. The structural units are highly distended by a system of closely spaced north-to northwest-striking shingling normal faults (many of which are low angle) that displace younger over older rocks in a west to west-southwest direction. Cumulative amounts of distension approximate the breadth of the structural units and are as much as 20,000 ft, whereas cumulative vertical displacements are much less and in some places are minimal. The structural units are floored at or near the present level of exposure by complex low-angle zones of detachment or décollement into which the numerous shingling normal faults merge. Where the units abut along their strike, they are separated by complex zones of transcurrent faults that appear to merge with the detachment structures and thus mark the ultimate limits of the structural units. Displacement on the detachment structures has the same sense as, but in some places is much greater than, that of the cumulative offset on the shingling faults, thus indicating low-angle movement of the structural units as platelike or lobate masses. These relationships indicate remarkably thin-skinned, large-scale, fault-related tectonism of a type which is present in a broad belt south of Lake Mead and in numerous other areas in the Basin and Range province. The best exposed structural units exhibit a serial eastward progression from broad areas of steeply dipping strata, low-angle faults, and deep denudation to gently dipping strata, high-angle faults, and little denudation. Reverse-drag flexing, a volume-compensating mechanism for movement on concave-upward faults, is inferred to have produced the gentle to moderate dips of the strata, whereas the nearly vertical dips in the western parts of the units probably resulted from a combination of reverse-drag flexing and rotation related to uplift. Evidence of compression-related folding is absent. The extreme distension is viewed as a surficial feature of a crustal belt that was subjected to a brief episode of tensional rifting. Rifting at subjacent levels along the belt was compensated for by emplacement of plutons. The surficial rocks were stretched and thinned over the plutons.

Nevada↗