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Research about Virginia

Source-linked reports with geographic coverage including Virginia.

At least 613 records · Page 34Linked to original sources
USGS1954

Summary of geology and ground-water resources of the Eastern Shore peninsula, Virginia: a preliminary report

The U.S. Geological Survey, in cooperation with the Virginia Division of Geology (Virginia Division of Mineral Resources), conducted an investigation of the geology and ground-water resources of the Coastal Plain of Virginia. This report summarizes preliminary findings from exploratory test drilling done to ascertain whether there are any satisfactory water-bearing zones deeper than those in general use.

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USGS1952

Manganese, iron, and barite deposits of the James River-Roanoke River district, Virginia

During the period 1940-1942 the United States Geological Survey made a geologic study of the manganese deposits of the James River-Roanoke River district, in the general vicinity of Lynchburg, Va. (fig. 1), as part of its program of strategic minerals investigations. This work was done by the writer and supervised by D. F. Hewett. John Rodgers and W. R. Wagner assisted during part of the project. In the course of the investigation, the geology was mapped over an area about 60 miles long and several miles wide, from Altavista on the Roanoke River northeast to Howardsville on the James River (fig. 2); and the mineral deposits-principally manganese, iron, and barite-were studied. After completion of the geologic studies, the writer participated in an exploration project conducted by the United States Bureau of Mines in the early summer of 1942 at five manganese deposits in the district. This preliminary report presents the essential information concerning the mineral deposits of the region in advance of the more comprehensive report on the geology and mineral deposits that will be published as a bulletin of the U.S. Geological Survey.

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USGS1946

Lower Middle Ordovician stratigraphy of the Shenandoah Valley, Virginia

In classifying the lower Middle Ordovician of the Shenandoah Valley, the formation names Stones River, Mosheim, Lenoir, Holston, Whitesburg, and Athens have been used without adequate evidence. Detailed study shows that the so-called Athens and Whitesburg, as developed near Harrisonburg, are laterally continuous with the greater part of the Chambersburg limestone, which is supposed to be younger than the Athens. The newly discovered relations of these formations affect the classification of the Middle Ordovician in much of the northern Appalachian region. The present study has been high-lighted by the discovery that Cryptophragmus antiquatus , widely regarded as a valid guide to the lower Black River, ranges through several hundred feet of beds, possibly as high as lower Trenton. In the Shenandoah Valley, this fossil is most abundant near the top of the Chambersburg, which is supposed to be late Black River or early Trenton. In the proposed reclassification, the lower Middle Ordovician is divided into six time-stratigraphic units, in ascending order: the New Market limestone, Whistle Creek limestone, Lincolnshire limestone, Edinburg formation, Oranda formation, and Collierstown limestone. The Edinburg embraces two equivalent facies: one of cobbly limestone (Lantz Mills facies) which is mainly developed in the northern and western parts of the Shenandoah Valley; and a relatively thicker body of black limestone and shale (Liberty Hall facies) which is typically developed in the Harrison-burg-Staunton area. In the western part of Shenandoah County, the topmost division of the Edinburg formation is composed of light-gray calcilutite and calcarenite, named the St. Luke limestone member. The rusty-brown granular limestones just below Butts' Athens in the Harrisonburg-Staunton-Lexington area are here named the Botetourt limestone member of the Edinburg formation. At least part of the New Market limestone is linked with a part of the New York Chazy and type Lenoir, but the Lincolnshire seems to be post-Chazy. All the succeeding beds, comprising the greater part of the lower Middle Ordovician succession, are Black River or Trenton.

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USGS1945

The Arcadia zinc area, Scott County, Virginia

The Arcadia zinc area in the southeastern part of Scott County, Va., about 1 1/2 mile north of the village of Arcadia, Tenn., and in the eastern part of the Indian Springs topographic map area. According to Secrist prospects were opened in 1906 by Mr. Frank Bowman and were worked sporadically until the fall of 1917. A small Joplin type mill was erected in 1948 and 25 tones of concentrates was produced.

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USGS1945

Industrial limestones and dolomites in Virginia: northern and central parts of the Shenandoah Valley

The area described in this report includes the northern and central parts of Shenandoah Valley in Virginia extending from the West Virginia line southwestward to the vicinity of Greenville, Augusta County. It contains extensive deposits of high-calcium limestone averaging more than 97 per cent calcium carbonate. The Mosheim limestone, composed largely of high-calcium limestone, is the important "quarry rock" of the area. Other formations containing high-calcium limestone include locally a part of the Lenoir, the upper part of the Chambersburg in the western belts of Shenandoah County, and relatively thin units in the Beekmantown along the eastern side of the Massanutten Mountain syncline north of Rockingham County. Some of the thickest deposits of high-calcium limestone near railroads are in Frederick, Shenandoah, Rockingham, and Augusta counties. Extensive exposures of the Tomstown (Shady) dolomite, containing more than 42 per cent magnesium carbonate, occur in the eastern part df Clarke County. Locally near the North Mountain fault in parts of Shenandoah and Rockingham counties, 80 feet or more of brecciated dolomite in the Elbrook formation contains about 43.5 per cent magnesium carbonate and generally less than 2 per cent silica. Most of the sampled dolomite units in the Elbrook, Conococheague, and Beekmantown formations contain less than 40 per cent magnesium carbonate. Special study was made of the carbonate rocks suitable for chemical use and favorably located near railroads. Limestones, containing less than 95 per cent calcium carbonate, were studied locally in some detail. Descriptions of the belts of industrial limestone and dolomite are supplemented by geologic maps and sections, and chemical analyses.

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USGS1942

Manganese-bearing veins in southwestern Virginia

Veins carrying manganese silicates largely in the form of the manganese garnet, spessartite, occur in the crystalline schists and gneisses of Carroll and Grayson Counties, Virginia, in the southern parts of the Galax and Independence quadrangles just north of the North Carolina State line. This brief paper includes a discussion of these manganese-bearing veins which are described in a report on the Geology and Mineral resources of the Great Gossan Lead district prepared by G. W. Stose and the writer for publication by the Virginia Geological Survey

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USGS1940

The Vaucluse gold mine, Orange County, Virginia

The Vaucluse gold property has been worked intermittently since gold was discovered in 1832. The latest operation was carried on by the V-M Corporation from March 1935 to November 1938, producing 26,452 tons of ore of \$143,760 gross value, of which \$91,569.36 was won in 1938. The host rock is a quartz-sericite-chlorite schist. The workings lie wholly within a well-defined shear zone up to 40 feet in width, which has been traced along the surface for several miles. The shear zone strikes N. 40 degrees -60 degrees E. and is conformable with the schistosity of the enclosing rock. The ore is in shoots that pitch NE. at angles ranging between 30 degrees and 70 degrees and conform to fluting in the shear zone. The ore occurs along the walls of the shear zone and the location of the shoots was controlled, partly at least, by pre-mineral fractures. Quartz, sericite, and ankerite make up most of the gangue and chlorite is abundant in the enclosing rock. Abundant pyrite is the only important sulphide; some chalcopyrite and galena are generally present. Gold is the only mineral of economic value and is intimately associated with the pyrite. The ore was milled on the property and flotation concentrates were shipped to a smelter. Direct mining, milling, and shipping cost per ton, from December 1935 to November 1938, was $4.56. Approximately 4,500 feet of core drilling was done below the 300-foot level, which indicated about the same conditions as those present above this level.

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USGS1939

Ridge-making thin sandstone in Frederick County, Virginia: Chapter C

It is generally recognized that massive thick-bedded sandstones and relatively weak shales and soluble limestones form characteristic surface features. The uncommon effect of a thin argillaceous sandstone in producing ridges in an area in northern Virginia, in which the writer has recently done detailed field work, is briefly described in this paper. This bed, with an average thickness of 2 feet, where it crops out in a nearly vertical position, commonly forms discontinuous ridges ranging.in height from a few feet to as much as 20 feet. The areas southeast of Winchester (Fig. 9) and northwest of Stephens City (Fig. 10) were chosen as typical localities to illustrate the ridge-making influence of this sandstone on the local topography.

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