GEOCHEMICAL RECONNAISSANCE FOR URANIUM IN MIDDLE TERTIARY ASH-FLOW TUFFS OF THE MOREY PEAK QUADRANGLE, NORTHERN NYE COUNTY, NEVADA.
Abstract
Rock and water samples were collected from the Morey Peak 15' quadrangle in the northern Hot Creek Range, Nye County, Nevada. The water was analyzed for trace element content. The rock samples were analyzed for oxide composition, selected trace element composition, and K-U-Th content.
Water sampled from spings, hot springs, and creeks had temperatures ranging between 8 and 60(DEGREES)C, conductance between 100 and 1,800 mhos, pH between 5.4 and 8.7, and Eh between -106 and -301 mv. The water sample set is rich in fluorine although no fluorite has yet been reported from rocks of the area. The fluorine and lithium are being added to the hydrologic system by hot springs. There is an anomalous occurrence of antimony on the west side of Hot Creek Canyon. Tin, recorded in varying concentrations, does not reflect the tin-sulfosalt assemblage of the Morey Camp area. Zinc content correlates with water from Paleozoic terranes. Uranium content of the water varies between 1 and 19 ppb. The uranium content of these waters is enriched over world averages. The average uranium content of water associated with individual ash-flow sheets increases with decreasing age of the unit. The best correlation of uranium is with selenium although there is a minor positive correlation with pH, Eh, molybdenum, and lithium. Factor analysis of the sample set reveals a U-Li-Se association and also identifies oxidized galena in solution. This analysis suggests that water need only be analyzed for copper, lithium, selenium, uranium, and vanadium in an uranium exploration program.
Oxide analyses of these samples show gross similarities to other volcanic suites in central Nevada. The samples, on the average, are enriched in arsenic (to 666 ppm). Copper content varies between 4 and 185 ppm. The rocks of the Morey area are depleted in fluorine although the waters are enriched. An anomalous lithium value is associated with uranium mineralization in Corral Canyon. These rocks are enriched in molybdenum, selenium, tin, and slightly enriched in lead. Uranium contents of samples vary between 1 and 49 ppm. Uranium content of individual ash-flow sheets increases with decreasing age of the unit. Correlation coefficients indicate that in this area uranium is independent of any of the tested variables. Factor analyses suggest that there is an association between beryllium and uranium, arsenic and uranium, and selenium and uranium.
The K-U-Th analyses yielded a wide variance of measurements. Potassium content ranges between 0 and 7.66%, thorium between 0 and 39.09 ppm, and uranium between 0.04 and 1,744 ppm. Disequilibrium plots suggest that the mineralization present in the Corral Canyon area is late.
Subject Area
Geology
Recommended Citation
EVANS, KATHRYN CHRISTINA, "GEOCHEMICAL RECONNAISSANCE FOR URANIUM IN MIDDLE TERTIARY ASH-FLOW TUFFS OF THE MOREY PEAK QUADRANGLE, NORTHERN NYE COUNTY, NEVADA." (1981). ETD Collection for University of Texas, El Paso. AAI8201190.
https://scholarworks.utep.edu/dissertations/AAI8201190