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Geology topics

Charles S. Spirakis

Publications and source records attributed to Charles S. Spirakis.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1996

The roles of organic matter in the formation of uranium deposits in sedimentary rocks

Because reduced uranium species have a much smaller solubility than oxidized uranium species and because of the strong association of organic matter (a powerful reductant) with many uranium ores, reduction has long been considered to be the precipitation mechanism for many types of uranium deposits. Organic matter may also be involved in the alterations in and around tabular uranium deposits, including dolomite precipitation, formation of silicified layers, iron-titanium oxide destruction, dissolution of quartz grains, and precipitation of clay minerals. The diagenetic processes that produced these alterations also consumed organic matter. Consequently, those tabular deposits that underwent the more advanced stages of diagenesis, including methanogenesis and organic acid generation, display the greatest range of alterations and contain the smallest amount of organic matter. Because of certain similarities between tabular uranium deposits and Precambrian unconformity-related deposits, some of the same processes might have been involved in the genesis of Precambrian unconformity-related deposits. Hydrologic studies place important constraints on genetic models of various types of uranium deposits. In roll-front deposits, oxidized waters carried uranium to reductants (organic matter and pyrite derived from sulfate reduction by organic matter). After these reductants were oxidized at any point in the host sandstone, uranium minerals were reoxidized and transported further down the flow path to react with additional reductants. In this manner, the uranium ore migrated through the sandstone at a rate slower than the mineralizing ground water. In the case of tabular uranium deposits, the recharge of surface water into the ground water during flooding of lakes carried soluble humic material to the water table or to an interface where humate precipitated in tabular layers. These humate layers then established the chemical conditions for mineralization and related alterations. In the case of Precambrian unconformity-related deposits, free thermal convection in the thick sandstones overlying the basement rocks carried uranium to concentrations of organic matter in the basement rocks.

Ore Geology Reviews↗
USGS1995

Evaluation of proposed precipitation mechanisms for Mississippi Valley-type deposits

The mechanism of precipitation is an important aspect of any genetic model for Mississippi Valley-type deposits. Yet most of the precipitation mechanisms for minerals in the Mississippi Valley-type association have serious flaws. Solution mixing would require an unlikely series of solutions to account for the various minerals in the ores, and it does not account for the universal occurrence of organic matter in the ores nor for the oxidation state of sulfur in pyrite in the ores. Sulfate reduction addresses some of these problems, but is inconsistent with kinetic data and could not be reversed to account for the oscillations between precipitation and dissolution of sulfide minerals in the ores. Carbon dioxide effervescence does not address the precipitation of most minerals in the ores, and all of the evidence for effervescence may be explained in other ways. Cooling of the mineralizing solution could precipitate many minerals, but fluid inclusion data suggest that, in many deposits, the solution did not cool significantly as any particular stage formed. A credible genetic model also must explain why all of the minerals precipitated at the same sites; any combination of the above mechanisms which suggests that unrelated mechanisms occurred at the same sites by coincidence is unlikely. The most reasonable scenario is that a hot, thiosulfate-bearing mineralizing solution reacted in various ways with organic matter at the sites of mineralization to precipitate the ore minerals. The organic matter acted as a reductant, source of carbon dioxide, source of organic acids, and a substrate for bacterial metabolism of thiosulfate in various stages of mineralization. Thus organic matter links all stages of the mineralization to the same sites.

Ore Geology Reviews↗
USGS1981

The possible role of sulfate-reduction kinetics in the formation of hydrothermal uranium deposits

Sulfate is known to be an active oxidizing agent at high temperatures; however, both experimental and geologic evidence indicate that as a hydrothermal solution cools (to about 200 degrees C, depending on pH) kinetic factors slow the rate at which sulfate enters into redox reactions. This retardation of sulfate reduction diminishes the effectiveness of sulfate as an oxidizing agent. Consequently, as cooling proceeds, the reducing effect of H 2 S (and other reduced species) is not balanced with the oxidizing effect of SO (super -2) 4 to the same extent as at higher temperatures. The result is a progressively more reducing solution, which is precisely what is needed to precipitate reduced uranium minerals and to generate the paragenetic sequence observed in these deposits. The same mechanism may apply to other types of epithermal deposits.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1979

The possible role of sulfate-reduction kinetics in the formation of hydrothermal uranium deposits

As a sulfate-bearing, hydrothermal solution cools to less than about 200°C, kinetic factors prevent sulfate from entering into oxidation-reduction reactions. Consequently, the reducing effect of H 2 S (and other reduced species) is not balanced with the oxidizing effect of SO 4 = to the same extent as at higher temperatures. The result is a lower effective Eh of the system. This decrease in the effective Eh due to a slowing of the rate of sulfate reduction with cooling may be the precipitation mechanism for many types of ore deposits.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1979

Interpretation of thermoluminescence patterns around a Wyoming roll-type uranium deposit

Thermoluminescence from quartz and feldspar grains in samples collected from the vicinity of a Wyoming roll-type uranium deposit show an increase in the importance of high-temperature thermoluminescence relative to low-temperature thermoluminescence of samples which are believed to be former positions of the migrating mineralized front. This effect is believed to be due to the increased radiation in the ore coupled with the faster rate of fading of low-temperature thermoluminescence compared to high-temperature thermoluminescence. Both the ratios of thermoluminescent responses from any of a variety of temperature ranges and glow curves (plots of intensity of thermoluminescence versus temperature) can be used to detect the increased importance of high-temperature thermoluminescence relative to low-temperature thermoluminescence of previously mineralized samples. Both ratios and glow curves present a systematic pattern around this deposit; these patterns may have application in uranium prospecting.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1977

Thermoluminescence of sand grains around a South Texas roll-type deposit

The termoluminescence of quartz and feldspar grains around a south Texas roll-type deposit was studied to determine whether a systematic variation in such thermoluminescence exists. Measurements of the thermoluminescence were made in the temperature ranges of 100° to 322°C and 315° to 410°C. Neither temperature range yielded data to differentiate between oxidized and reduced rock. The ratio of the lower temperature to the higher temperature thermoluminescence, however, was consistently higher in ore and reduced rock than in oxidized rock. Studies of thermoluminescence may be useful in identifying alteration related to uranium mineralization.

Texas↗
USGS1975

Preliminary report on the use of LANDSAT-1 (ERTS-1) reflectance data in locating alteration zones associated with uranium mineralization near Cameron, Arizona

LANDSAT-I (ERTS-I) multispectral reflectance data were used to enhance the detection of alteration around uranium deposits near Cameron, Ariz. The technique involved stretching and ratioing computer-enhanced data from which electronic noise and atmospheric haze had been removed. Using present techniques, the work proves that LANDSAT-I data are useful in detecting alteration around uranium deposits, but the method may still be improved. Bluish-gray mudstone in the target area could not be differentiated from the altered zones on the ratioed images. Further experiments involving combinations of ratioed and nonratioed data will be required to uniquely define the altered zones.

Open-File Report↗