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Reconnaissance geologic mapping and radiometric ages provide the framework for correlation of Cretaceous and middle Tertiary volcanic and clastic rocks in the Vaca Hills and Eloy quadrangles, Arizona. The radiometric ages also record a middle Tertiary thermal event of much greater extent than .suggested by the volume of middle Tertiary igneous rocks present in outcrop.
The Rosalie Granite was a name applied by S. H. Ball in 1906 to a granite which forms a ridge between Mount Evans and Mount Rosalie (renamed Rosalie Peak). The type locality originally designated for the Rosalie Granite was in a pluton (later called the Rosalie lobe) 10 kilometers southeast of Rosalie Peak on Deer and Elk Creeks. The name "Rosalie Granite" was abandoned by T. S. Levering in 1929 because the granite of the Rosalie lobe is actually the distinctly younger Pikes Peak Granite, only 1,030 m.y. (million years) old, whereas the "Rosalie Granite" between Mount Evans and Rosalie Peak is a felsic phase of the l,700-m.y.-old Mount Evans pluton. In addition, the Rosalie Granite has more MgO and Sr and less Na 2 O, F, and Rb than the Pikes Peak Granite, and the two granites differ petrographically. In order to avoid confusion in correlation, the name Rosalie should not be applied to rocks in this area. Therefore, we propose that the Rosalie lobe be renamed Lone Rock pluton and that the "Rosalie Granite" be informally referred to as the granite of Rosalie Peak until it can be attached to a formal geologic rock unit.
The Mitu Group consists of generally coarse clastic strata and volcanic rock of Permian and (or) Triassic age filling elongate basins that parallel the general structural trend of the Peruvian Andes. Volcanic rocks of the Mitu Group include peralkaline and nonperalkaline rhyolite and subalkaline basalt. To our knowledge, the peralkaline rhyolites are the first of this rock type reported from South America. The presence of appreciable volumes of peralkaline rhyolite and basalt, supports the interpretation that the Mitu Group was deposited in major graben structures that resulted from lithospheric extension produced by rifting or possible backarc extension.
A trachybasalt plug, 100 m in diameter, has partially fused inclusions and wallrock of porphyritic granodiorite near Tuolumne Meadows, Yosemite National Park, Calif. Granodiorite surrounding the plug was altered within distances of about 3.5 m. Within this distance, (1) trace amounts of glass occur along fractures and grain boundaries, (2) biotite has been altered from dark olive to dark reddish brown and contains bands of fine reddish iron oxide grains, and (3) optic axial angles of potassium feldspar decrease toward the contact. As much as 20 volume percent of glass occurs in the granodiorite in a reentrant and in inclusions within the plug. Detailed study of two partially fused samples shows that, relative to unfused granodiorite, SiO 2 is clearly depleted in both samples, whereas K 2 O is depleted in one but not the other. Total iron, Al 2 O 3 , MgO, Na 2 O, and H 2 O show apparent increases in both samples; other constituents show no significant changes. Chemical analyses suggest that much original material was lost from the partially fused rocks, probably by mass migration of melt rather than by chemical diffusion. The composition of glasses now present in the partially fused rocks was dominated by melting of quartz and feldspars, whereas the composition of the early-formed "lost" melt was strongly influenced by subsolidus reaction and subsequent melting of biotite.
A relatively pure chabazite deposit of at least 75 X 10 6 metric tons occurs near the Durkee type locality of erionite. This erionite is in a welded tuff interbedded with lacustrine rocks- of a closed Pliocene basin. The zeolites, chabazite, erionite, clinoptilolite, and other authigenic silicate minerals are confined to a 27-square-kilometer area of altered rocks enclosed in relatively freshwater lacustrine beds. About 135 meters of the lower part of the 350-m stratigraphic section at the southeastern part of the lake basin contain zeolitic tuff. The chabazite is an early product of the reaction between glass of rhyolitic or dacitic composition and alkaline (pH>9) saline lake waters. Erionite, clinoptilolite, analcime, and potassium feldspar follow chabazite in the paragenetic sequence. At the erionite type locality, chabazite and clinoptilolite form megascopic crystal clusters within fractures and cavities in unaltered welded tuff. Elsewhere in the basin, most zeolite crystals in the altered airfall or reworked tuffs are less than 80 micrometers long. Chemical analyses, unit-cell determinations, and mean indices of refraction show that fine-grained chabazite varies in composition and physical parameters.
Chemical leaching and analysis of the sulflde portion of rocks from a section of the Basal zone of the Stillwater Complex demonstrate that mole fractions of nickel, copper, cobalt, and sulfur in the sulfldes show trends and repeating patterns when plotted against stratigraphic position. These patterns are attributed to differentiation of immiscible sulflde liquids probably in response to differentiation of basaltic magma. Changes in composition of the immiscible sulflde liquids could most readily take place during the collection of the sulflde from the basaltic magma or during the crystallization of the sulflde liquid to the present assemblages of minerals.
The difference in color between tan to red oxidized sandstone and gray reduced sandstone on either side of the reduction-oxidation (redox) interface, which is- the locus of uranium concentration in roll-type deposits, has been noted and used locally as an exploration guide within known uranium districts. Reduced sandstone is characterized in many deposits by the presence of iron sulflde minerals (particularly marcasite and pyrite) that occur as replacements of and overgrowths on iron-titanium oxide minerals and plant debris and as cement of detrital grains. Oxidation of the sulfldes by oxygenated ground water forms yellow to red ferric oxide and ferric hydroxide phases ("limonite") that replace the FeS 2 minerals. Processes other than the oxidation of sulfldes, however, can cause reddening of clastic sediments without the creation of a redox boundary, and so color alone is not a sufficient condition by which to judge the potential for uranium ore in frontier areas. Ferric oxides that form by the oxidation of iron sulflde minerals can be distinguished from other forms of ferric oxide by reflection microscopic examination of polished grain mounts- and polished thin sections'. Diagnostic features of oxidized sulfldes are limonite pseudomorphs of sulfldes and limonite containing internal textures that mimic characteristic textures of previously sulfldized detrital phases. Recognition of oxidized sulfides by reflection microscopy, then, can distinguish oxidized sandstones, which might have a redox boundary downdip and which would therefore be favorable hosts for uranium concentration, from those without such potential.
Previous chemical, geological, and hydrological information describing the physical and chemical environment of the Nevada Test Site (a Federal reserve for the testing of nuclear explosive devices) has been combined with new radiochemical and isotope data for water and rock samples in order to explain the behavior of uranium during alteration of thick sequences of rhyolitic volcanic rocks and associated volcaniclastic sediments. A model is proposed in which uranium mobility is controlled by two competing processes. Uranium is liberated from the volcanic rocks through dissolution of the glassy constituents and is carried in solution as a uranyl carbonate complex. Uranium is subsequently removed from solution by adsorption on secondary oxides of iron, titanium, and manganese, as observed in fission-track maps of aquifer rocks. The model explains the poor correlation of dissolved uranium with depth within tuffaceous sequences in which percolation of ground water is predominantly downward. Good positive correlation of dissolved uranium with dissolved Na, total dissolved solids, and total carbonate supports the glass dissolution model, while inverse correlation of dissolved uranium with U 234 /U 238 ratios of waters implies uranium is being absorbed by a relatively insoluble, surficial phase. Alpha radioactivity of Test Site water is primarily caused by high U 234 contents, and beta activity is highly correlated with dissolved K (K 40 ). Small amounts of dissolved radium, Pb 210 , and Po 210 are present but no evidence was found for alpha activity sources related to nuclear testing (Pu, U 235 ). A filtered but unacidified carbonate solution of uranium was found to be stable (± 10 percent of original U concentration) for years when stored in acid-washed polyethylene bottles.
Fluvial and eolian deposits are interbedded in ephemeral-stream, arid-region point bars in the channel of the Rio Puerco, west of Albuquerque, N. Mex. Number frequency distributions of grain size for both types of deposits were obtained using an electronic automatic image analyzer for a suite of 10 samples. The number-frequency results were superior to weight-frequency (sieve) results in discriminating between eolian units and fluvial units in a vertical point-bar sequence. The image-analysis technique also identified those fluvial deposits whose size distributions have been altered significantly by winds, as well as fluvial deposits that do not show a prominent eolian-process component.
Disseminated uraninite occurs in Wheeler Basin, Grand County, Colo., about 5 mi (8 km) southeast of Monarch Lake, in Precambrian metamorphic rocks consisting of migmatized gneiss and mixed gneiss and pegmatite. An intrusion of Precambrian Y Silver Plume Granite lies within 400 ft (122 m) of the occurrence. The disseminated uraninite is confined to parts of the host rock that are rich in biotite; highest grade found was 0.73 percent uranium. The disseminated uraninite occurs as cubes and grains, generally from 0.1 to 0.3 mm across. Unit cell edge of the uraninite, ≈ 5.48 A, suggests its pegmatitic origin. The origin of the uraninite disseminations is attributed by us to remobilization and concentration of elements during metamorphism caused by the intrusion of Silver Plume Granite. Uranium and lead isotopic analyses by K. R. Ludwig of uraninite and monazite from biotite concentrations confirm an apparent age of 1,450±20 m.y. for these minerals. This age is equivalent to that reported for the Silver Plume Granite. Although the Wheeler Basin occurrence is small in size, it has many similarities to the Rossing uranium deposit in South-West Africa.
Lunar heat flow cannot be derived unambiguously from the spectral gradient of the radiobrightness. Volume scattering of microwaves by rock clasts within the lunar regolith results in a spectral component in the 5- to 30-centimeter range of wavelengths that is a significant fraction of that resulting from lunar heat flow.
Information taken directly from published and unpublished reports was used to appraise the accuracy and the limitations of the three general flood-mapping methods: detailed, historical, and physiographic. In the appraisal, the probable nationwide average standard error of estimate for water depth and elevation in percentage of depth and in meters was determined for 100-year flood boundaries. Bias errors, users' errors, and certain time-variant errors were not. considered. The probable standard error for the detailed method is 23 percent. Based on 3.9 m as the national average 100-yr depth, the probable standard error of estimate is 0.9 m. The detailed method is applicable to a wide range of hydraulic and topographic conditions; it is the only method tested that is directly applicable to floodways analysis. The method requires detailed data and time-consuming analyses, however, and it has only limited application for determining flood elevations for sheet flow and for flow in channels having readily movable boundaries. The probable standard error for the historical method is 23 percent. Based on the 3.9-m average 100-yr depth, the standard error is 0.9 m. The historical method is applicable to a wide range of hydraulic and topographic conditions if specific data are available. The method is not applicable to floodways analysis, and it has only limited application for flow in moveable-boundary channels. The standard error for the physiographic method is 27 percent. In meters, the error is 1.1. .The physiographic method is simpler to apply than the other methods; however, it can be used only in natural channels having rigid boundaries. It is not applicable to sheet flow and to floodways analysis.
This report presents statistical tests for assessing the accuracy and validity of two regional models of the relationship between dissolved-solids concentration and specific conductance. These models are used to estimate dissolved-solids concentrations based on specific-conductance measurements. The two regional models are compared with station models for 27 stream sites in the Susquehanna River basin. The average standard errors of estimate of two regional models, when used to estimate dissolved-solids concentrations for the 27 stream sites, are 10.7 and 10.6 percent. In comparison, the station models have average standard errors of 9.0 and 9.3 percent, respectively. Results of the statistical tests indicate that in the Susquehanna River basin the regional models can be used to estimate dissolved-solids concentrations from specific-conductance data for sites for which chemical analyses are not available.
The floating dome method of measuring reaeration rates was evaluated using a modified tracer technique and a disturbed equilibrium technique. The lack of agreement between results of the floating dome method and the other methods was attributed to limitations in instrument accuracy amplified by physical relationships of the dome to the water column rather than conceptual errors in the dome method. In techniques where polarographic oxygen probes are used to monitor the oxygen content within the dome atmosphere, the ratio of volume of the dome to volume of the water column under the dome must be kept below 0.02 to minimize instrument error to less than 10 percent of the predicted oxygen transport. The combination of instrument limitations, coupled with environmental limitations caused by wind and the greenhouse effects, severely restrict application of the floating dome method.
The Sapo Alegre prospect, a small porphyry copper-molybdenum occurrence in west-central Puerto Rico, is characterized by distinct zones of alteration and mineralization of quartz diorite porphyry. A biotite-chlorite zone in the porphyry near its contact with surrounding metavolcanic rocks contains copper, molybdenum, gold, silver, selenium, and tellurium. A quartz-sericite-pyrite zone within the porphyry contains abundant sulfur and traces of selenium, but metals of the biotite-chlorite zone are nearly absent and zinc, manganese, nickel, sodium, calcium, and magnesium contents are very low. Quartz grains in the biotite-chlorite zone contain abundant fluid inclusions in which halite crystals are common, whereas in the quartz-sericite-pyrite zone inclusions are less abundant and rarely contain halite inclusions. Metavolcanic rocks northwest of the mineralized porphyry are altered to amphibolitic hornfels near the contact. Biotitic alteration is strong outward from the hornfels and grades into chlorite alteration. The hornfels has very low sulfide content, and the biotite zone has moderate amounts of copper and sulfur, decreasing outward. The chlorite zone is characterized by an abrupt increase in zinc and manganese content. Fluid-inclusion data suggest temperatures between 300° and 400°C for hydrothermal fluids in the biotite-chlorite zone of the porphyry and 250° to 300°C for fluids in the quartz-sericite-pyrite zone. Pressures equivalent to about 1.5 km of burial are indicated.
Pumice layers composing four different groups of tephra beds (termed "sets"), whose stratigraphy, age, and trend away from Mount St. Helens are fairly well known, are potentially valuable stratigraphic markers in the northwestern United States and adjacent parts of Canada. All four tephra sets are less than about 18,000 yr old. The oldest set described (set S) is between about 18,000 and 12,000 yr old; the most extensive pumice layers of the set, however, probably are no more than about 13,000 yr old. Relatively voluminous layers in the next younger tephra unit (set J) probably range from slightly less than 12,000 to slightly more than 8,000 yr old; in the overlying set Y, the most extensive layers range from about 4,000 to 3,400 yr old. The largest tephra layers in the youngest tephra set described, set W, are apparently all about 450 yr old. All the extensive tephra deposits were carried chiefly east of Mount St. Helens, and the bulk of them form an arc which extends from north-northeast of the volcano clockwise around to the southeast.
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.
During August 7-13, 1972, intense and sustained rockfall activity occurred in Makaopuhi Crater on the east-rift zone of Kilauea Volcano. In a 4-day period (August 7-10), approximately 270,000 m 3 of rockfall debris accumulated in Makaopuhi's west pit, representing a total kinetic energy release of about 101B ergs. Because the rockfalls happened within an area with an established seismic network, it was possible to correlate the seismic record of the rockfalls with onsite field observations. The seismic signatures of rockfalls are generally distinguishable from those of earthquakes and other recorded events. Approximate magnitudes determined for some of the largest rockfalls range from 0.8 to 1.2, corresponding to calculated seismic energy releases of 2X10 11 to 10X10 11 ergs, if the magnitude-energy relationship for earthquakes is applicable to rockfalls. The August 1972 swarms of rockfalls at Makaopuhi correlate in time not with moderate or large earthquakes but rather with local eruptive activity and are inferred to have been caused by eruption-induced modifications of stress patterns of the crater walls. However, the amount and nature of the stress change required to exceed the threshold stability of the crater wall and to trigger a rockfall flurry cannot be determined. The Makaopuhi activity is typical of most major rockfall episodes in other Kilauean pit craters in recent years, which also have been associated with volcanic activity, particularly during times of changes in eruptive behavior.