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Edwin H. McKee

Publications and source records attributed to Edwin H. McKee.

At least 55 records · Page 3Linked to original sources
USGS1981

Aeromagnetic map of the Mokelumne Wilderness and contiguous Rare II further planning areas, central Sierra Nevada, California

The aeromagnetic map consists of parts of two surveys flown at an altitude of 300 m above the average ground surface. One survey (west park of the map_ centered over the Mokelumne Wilderness was flowing in a northeast-southwest direction along slight lines spaced at a horizontal interval of about 800 m (U>S> Geological Survey, 1979b). The survey to the east is part of a regional survey flown in an east-west direction along flight lines spaced at an interval of about 1,600 m (U.S. Geological Survey, 1979a). The join of the aeromagnetic contours along the border between the two surveys is generally conformable. The contour datum of the eastern regional survey, however, is about 650 nT (nanotesla) lower than the Mokelumne Wilderness survey because of difference in data reduction. The aeromagnetic pattern reflects variations of magnetization within the underlying rocks, but the pattern is complicated by strong topographic effects. That is, magnetic anomaly maxima tend to occur over ridges and hilltops and minima over canyons and depressions. The topographic effect exists mostly because a constant ground clearance could not be maintained at normal aircraft speeds in this area of rugged topographic relief. The recorded flight altitude varied from 30 m to nearly 1,500 m above the ground with local changes that approard 1,000 m in distances of less than 5,000 m. Four magnetic anomalies that can be related to geologic features are discusses., Magnetic highs or lows cause by topography are not discussed.

California↗
USGS1975

Geothermal significance of eastward increase in age of upper Cenozoic rhyolitic domes in southeastern Oregon

Rhyolitic domes, flows, and ash-flow tuffs of Miocene to Holocene age form an important part of the thick sequence of Cenozoic volcanic rocks that cover southeastern Oregon east of the Cascade Range. Rhyolitic domes 11-17 m.y. old are widespread, particularly in the easternmost part of the state and in adjacent parts of Idaho and Nevada. Domes younger than 11 m.y. occur principally in two 250-km-long belts that trend N. 75° W. On the basis of 47 K/Ar radiometric dates, the rhyolitic domes in and between these belts show a remarkably well defined monotonic age progression from less than 1 m.y. old in the west to about 10 m.y. old on the east. The progression in age of the domes is sufficiently well defined that the ages of the domes can be smoothly contoured and the age of most undated domes can be estimated to within 1 m.y. The age contours are oblique to the trend of the two belts; domes younger than 4 m.y. occur only in and near the northern belt. The rate of progression is about 1 cm/yr for domes younger than about 5 m.y. and 3 cm/yr for domes 5-10 m.y. old. The change in rate of progression about 5 m.y. ago is accompanied by a change in orientation of the age contours and in area of outcrop. Inferred vents for dated rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs younger than 10 m.y. are located in areas where domes are approximately the same age as the tuffs and thus also fit the age progression. Most electric-power-producing geothermal fields in the world occur in or proximal to areas of young silicic volcanic rocks. On the basis of the well-defined age progression of rhyolitic domes in southeastern Oregon, silicic intrusive bodies sufficiently young to be heat sources for geothermal systems are likely only in the vicinity of Newberry Volcano at the west end of the northern belt of domes.

Oregon↗
USGS1973

Reconnaissance study of the strontium isotopic composition of Cenozoic volcanic rocks in the northwestern Great Basin

Sixteen mafic and intermediate lava flows of Eocene to Pleistocene age from the northwestern Great Basin have initial Sr 87 /Sr 86 ratios of from 0.7029 to 0.7047. Seven upper Miocene mafic and intermediate lava flows have initial ratios of from 0.7037 to 0.7041, suggesting a common source for the Steens Basalt and contemporaneous rocks of the northwestern Great Basin. Values of 0.7047 and 0.7033 obtained on olivine basalts of early Miocene and Quaternary ages, respectively, suggest that these lavas were derived from different source materials than were the late Miocene rocks. Unusually low values of 0.7029 obtained on two specimens of andesite from the Eocene Cedarville Series of Russell (1928) suggest that these lava flows were derived from still another source material. Ten silicic volcanic rocks, most from widespread and voluminous ash-flow sheets and lava complexes, have initial ratios of approximately 0.7023 to 0.7057. Some of the more radiogenic values, obtained on very highly differentiated and strontium-poor rock units, provide only an upper limit for the initial Sr 87 /Sr 86 ratios of the parent magmas. The close similiarity of the strontium isotopic composition of the silicic rocks to those of spatially and temporally associated intermediate lavas supports the concept that the widespread Miocene silicic volcanic rocks of the northwestern Great Basin were produced by the fractional crystallization of enormous volumes of mantle-derived mafic magma. The data also provide indirect support for the interpretation that the relatively radiogenic character of many salic volcanic rocks from other parts of the Great Basin largely reflects the presence of an unusually radiogenic mantle rather than the involvement of crustal material.

California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon↗
USGS1973

Granitic rocks of the White Mountains area, California-Nevada: Age and regional significance

Potassium-argon ages have been determined on 25 biotite and hornblende samples (four coexisting biotite-hornblende pairs were dated) from a number of granitic formations in the more than 500 sq mi of dominantly granitic outcrop in the White Mountains. These new data, together with earlier published radiometric ages, indicate a group of plutons about 70 to 85 m.y. old, a single body about 210 m.y. old, another that may be about 225 m.y. old, and several between 130 and 185 m.y. old. Evidence of intrusion is lacking in the intervals of about 90 to 130 m.y. and 185 to 200 m.y. The oldest age, about 226 m.y., may represent the chance preservation of a “primary” hornblende in a body in which the dark minerals are largely recrystallized and their radiometric ages reset. This age suggests that Triassic magmatism may be more widespread along the eastern margin of the Sierra Nevada batholith than had previously been considered. The radiometric age data from the White Mountains, together with similar data from northwestern and north-central Nevada and abundant data from the central Sierra Nevada, suggest essentially continuous, albeit irregular, magmatic activity from Triassic to the end of Cretaceous, except for periods of little or no activity in earliest Jurassic and earliest Cretaceous. Episodes of magmatic activity may, and probably do, characterize specific areas, but when sufficiently large blocks of the Sierra Nevada batholith are considered, the sum of the episodes approaches a continuum.

California, Nevada↗
USGS1971

Age and chemistry of tertiary volcanic rocks in north-central Arizona and relation of the rocks to the Colorado Plateaus

During late Miocene (14.8 m.y.) to early Pliocene (10.1 m.y.) time, local latite and widespread basaltic flows accumulated with associated continental sedimentary deposits in north-central Arizona. Some of these rocks were displaced and tilted by normal faults, and new drainage, now occupied in part by basalt flows of late Pliocene age (average 5 m.y., maximum of 6 m.y.), was established at the southern margin of the Colorado Plateaus. The time of faulting and uplift of the Colorado Plateaus in this region is thus bracketed between about 10.1 and 6 m.y. ago. Five analyzed basalts fall within the tholeiitic basalt field of the alkali-silica diagram and twenty are in the alkalic basalt field; in general, they are similar to other alkali-olivine basalts from the western United States.

Arizona↗
USGS1971

Mesozoic granitic rocks in northwestern Nevada: A link between the Sierra Nevada and Idaho batholiths

Extensive areas in northwestern Nevada are underlain by granodiorite and quartz monzonite plutons, as well as less common smaller bodies of quartz diorite. Twenty-six K/Ar age determinations on rocks from this suite range from about 175 to 85 m.y., but most of the plutons are between 105 and 85 m.y. old. This Late Cretaceous intrusive epoch extending from 105 to 85 m.y. ago is here named the Lovelock intrusive epoch. Twenty-three whole-rock chemical analyses show that the granitic rocks of northwestern Nevada form a homogeneous differentiation series with a narrow range in major element distribution. The granitic plutons of northwestern Nevada are chemically and petrographically indistinguishable from granitic intrusives of equivalent age in the Sierra Nevada and Idaho batholiths, and form a link between these two major batholiths.

California, Idaho, Nevada↗
USGS1971

Tertiary igneous chronology of the Great Basin of western United States — Implications for tectonic models

The chronology of igneous activity in the Great Basin of western United States is used as a time framework for a simple plate model. This chronology suggests that a plate (Farallon plate) became underthrust to sufficient depth by the middle Tertiary to trigger the eruption of volcanic rocks of andesitic to rhyolitic composition in the central part of the Great Basin, 40 m.y. ago. This plate continued to be underthrust until about 19 m.y. ago, at which time it was completely consumed and volcanic activity ceased. When the oceanic ridge reached a certain point under the Great Basin about 16 m.y. ago, this resulted in the widespread eruption of olivine basalt and the main initial phase of Basin and Range faulting.

Arizona, California, Idaho, Nevada, Oregon, Utah↗
USGS1971

Thrust and strike-slip faulting in the Plomosa Mountains, southwestern Arizona

Thrust and strike-slip faulting are recognized in the Plomosa Mountains, southwestern Arizona. The distribution of rock types and the geometry of the thrust faults necessitate that the upper plate moved from east to west. The amount of displacement is not known, but is considered to be large. Apparent separations along the strike-slip faults are in a right-lateral sense and are greater than 19,000 ft. Rhyodacite flows, dated by K-Ar methods at 19 to 20 m.y., unconformably overlie the thrust faults and are cut by the strike-slip faults.

Arizona↗
USGS1970

Geochronology of Tertiary igneous rocks in central Nevada

Potassium-argon dating of Tertiary igneous rocks in Lander County, central Nevada, indicates that igneous activity was episodic and can be separated into three periods. Igneous activity started abruptly about 37 m.y. ago with local extrusion of andesitic to quartz-latitic lava flows and intrusion of hypabyssal rocks of similar composition. This activity ceased about 33 m.y. ago and was followed by extrusion of rhyolite ash-flow sheets that blanketed large parts of the region. These ash-flow sheets range from about 34 to 22 m.y. in age. The final phase, represented by basalt and basaltic-andesite flows and intrusive rhyolite flow-dome complexes, took place about 16 to 10 m.y. ago. Andesitic to dacitic lava and hypabyssal rocks about 35 m.y. old are widespread east of Lander County and rhyolitic ash-flow tuffs 34 to 20 m.y. old are found south and east of Lander County. The younger (16 to 10 m.y.) basalt and basaltic-andesite flows are related to volcanism of the Snake River plain province to the north. The precision of the ages was evaluated by means of: (1) repeat analyses of the same mineral separate, (2) age determination of mineral pairs from the same hand specimen, and (3) age determinations on widely spaced samples from the same geologic body or formation. The last method seems most meaningful from a geologic point of view.

Nevada↗
USGS1970

Fission-track and K-Ar ages of Tertiary ash-flow tuffs, north-central Nevada

Ages obtained from three Tertiary ash-flow tuffs in central Nevada by fission-track and K-Ar dating are concordant. Samples dated by these methods from the same localities give the same age within the limits of analytical uncertainty. Samples of three units from widely separated localities were dated further to confirm the concordance of the dating methods and to establish that ages can be used, in conjunction with normal geologic techniques, as a criteria for correlation. The minerals dated by K-Ar were biotite and sanidine; and sphene zircon and apatite were used to determine the fission track ages. The Bates Mountain Tuff was dated at 24.0 m.y. (F.T.) and 24.0 m.y. (K-Ar). The Fish Creek Mountains Tuff has a fission-track age of 24.4 m.y., and a K-Ar age of 23.9 m.y. The average fission-track age for the Caetano Tuff is 34.9 m.y., and it has an average K-Ar age of 32.3 m.y. The amount of analytical uncertainty is slightly greater in the fission track method. Sampling, preparation, and determination of the age by the fission-track method is competitive with the K-Ar method.

Nevada↗