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K. R. Simmons

Publications and source records attributed to K. R. Simmons.

29 records · Page 2Linked to original sources
USGS1992

U-Pb dating of uranium deposits in collapse breccia pipes of the Grand Canyon region

Two major periods of uranium mineralization are indicated by U-Pb isotope dating of uranium ores from collapse breeeia pipes in the Grand Canyon region, northern Arizona. The Hack 2 and 3, Kanab North, and EZ 1 and 2 orebodies apparently formed in the interval of 200 + or - 20 Ma, similar to ages inferred for strata-bound, Late Triassic-hosted uranium deposits in southern Utah and northern Arizona. Samples from the Grand Canyon and Pine Nut pipes, however, indicate a distinctly older age of about 260 Ma. The Pigeon, Orphan, and Arizona-1 deposits were apparently mineralized before 220, 186, and 169 Ma, respectively, but no useful upper age limits can be inferred. There is no evidence in the U-Pb isotope data for uranium mineralization related to Laramide tectonism, mid-Tertiary volcanism, or late Tertiary uplift. The clustering in ages for a variety of uranium deposits at about (or slightly younger than) the age of the lower part of the Chinle Formation (Late Triassic) suggests that uranium in these deposits may have been derived by leaching from volcanic ash in the Chinle and mobilized by ground-water movement resulting from changing hydrologic gradients caused by regional uplift to the southwest. Pb isotope ratios of galenas in mineralized pipes are more radiogenic than those of sulfides from either uranium-poor pipes or occurrences away from pipes. This isotopic contrast suggests that fluids which passed through the pipes had interacted with the Proterozoic basement, possibly through the vertical fractures which influenced the location and evolution of the pipes themselves. Regardless of the source of the common Pb in the uranium-bearing pipes, the generally distinct Pb isotope composition of their galenas (compared to those of barren pipes and nonpipe sulfides in the region) may provide a useful exploration guide.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1992

Mass-spectrometric 230Th-234U-238U dating of the Devils Hole calcite vein

The Devils Hole calcite vein contains a long-term climatic record, but requires accurate chronologic control for its interpretation. Mass-spectrometric U-series ages for samples from core DH-11 yielded 230 Th ages with precisions ranging from less than 1,000 years (2σ) for samples younger than ∼140 ka (thousands of years ago) to less than 50,000 years for the oldest samples (∼566 ka). The 234 U/ 238 U ages could be determined to a precision of ∼20,000 years for all ages. Calcite accumulated continuously from 566 ka until ∼60 ka at an average rate of 0.7 millimeter per 10 3 years. The precise agreement between replicate analyses and the concordance of the 230 Th/ 238 U and 234 U/ 238 U ages for the oldest samples indicate that the DH-11 samples were closed systems and validate the dating technique in general.

Nevada↗
USGS1991

Crustal subsidence rate off Hawaii determined from 234U/238U ages of drowned coral reefs

A series of submerged coral reefs off northwestern Hawaii was formed during (largely glacial) intervals when the rate of local sea-level rise was less than the maximum upward growth rate of the reefs. Mass-spectrometric 234 U/ 238 U ages for samples from six such reefs range from 17 to 475 ka and indicate that this part of the Hawaiian Ridge has been subsiding at a roughly uniform rate of 2.6 mm/yr for the past 475 ka. The 234 U/ 238 U ages are in general agreement with model ages of reef drowning (based on estimates of paleo-sea-level stands derived from oxygen-isotope ratios of deep-sea sediments), but there are disagreements in detail. The high attainable precision (±10 ka or better on samples younger than ∼800 ka), large applicable age range, relative robustness against open-system behavior, and ease of analysis for this technique hold great promise for future applications of dating of 50-1000 ka coral.

Hawaii↗
USGS1987

Age of uranium mineralization at the Jabiluka and Ranger deposits, Northern Territory, Australia: New U-Pb isotope evidence

The Ranger and Jabiluka uranium deposits are the largest in the Alligator Rivers uranium field, which contains at least 20 percent of the world's low-cost uranium reserves. Ore occurs in early Proterozoic metasediments, below an unconformity with sandstones of the 1.65-b.y.-old Kombolgie Formation. This study has used U-Pb isotope data from a large number of whole-rock drill core samples with a variety of mineral assemblages and textures. Ranger samples indicate a well-defined age of 1,737 + or - 20 m.y., consistent with earlier suggestions of the antiquity of this deposit. This age is distinctly pre-Kombolgie, so the Ranger deposit cannot have been formed by processes requiring its presence. The age is consistent, however, with mineralization related to heating associated with either the emplacement of early postmetamorphic granites, or possibly, with intrusion of the nearby Oenpelli Dolerite. In contrast, data for the least-altered Jabiluka ores yield a concordia intercept age of 1,437 + or - 40 m.y.--significantly younger than the Ranger age and also younger than the Kombolgie Formation. This age may correspond to a regional thermal event, as indicated both by mafic dikes of roughly this age and a zircon lower intercept age from a nearby granite-gneiss. Thus our data indicate that there must be at least three distinct periods of major U mineralization in the Alligator Rivers uranium field (including the previously determined approximately 900-m.y. age of the Nabarlek deposit), despite the fact that all of the deposits share strong similarities in their host rock, mineralogy, alteration, and geologic setting.Both Ranger and Jabiluka reflect a common, profound isotopic disturbance at about 400 to 600 m.y. This disturbance, which was especially pronounced at Jabiluka, may correspond to the development of basins and associated basalt flows to the west and southwest, as suggested by Crick et al. (1980).

Economic Geology↗
USGS1985

The Schwartzwalder uranium deposit, II: Age of uranium mineralization and lead isotope constraints on genesis

U-Pb isotope analyses of ores from the Schwartzwalder uranium mine, Colorado, show that these ores have high amounts of initial (common) Pb and that the initial Pb was both variable and relatively radiogenic in its Pb isotope ratios ( 206 Pb/ 204 Pb = 26-30). As a result, the only useful approach to dating these ores is with U-Pb isochrons, and even so, some means of dealing with the variable initial Pb isotope ratios is required. Because the common Pb in these ores was apparently derived from sources of similar age and Th/U, the observed 208 Pb/ 204 Pb of these Th-free ores can be used either to identify sample suites with similar initial Pb isotope ratios or to normalize for the variable initial Pb isotope ratios. The resulting U-Pb isochrons indicate an age of mineralization for both Illinois vein and Titan vein ores of 69.3 + or - 1.1 m.y., suggesting that the deposit was formed during the earliest stages of Laramide uplift and under at least 3 km of Phanerozoic cover. The initial Pb isotope systematics of the ores show that the metals in the Schwartzwalder ores were derived from source(s) of 1,730 + or - 130-m.y.-age, with a Th/U of 2.2 + or - 0.2 and 238 U/ 204 Pb of 30 to 60. These restrictions on the source(s) of the metals rule out the possibility that the deposit could have been formed by remobilization of a Proterozoic uranium deposit, and both the 69.3-m.y.-age of the ores and their initial Pb isotope ratios preclude any contribution of metals to the deposit by younger volcanics such as those in the Denver Formation.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1985

U-Pb isochron age and Pb isotope systematics of the Golden Fleece vein; implications for the relationship of mineralization to the Lake City caldera, western San Juan Mountains, Colorado

A U-Pb isochron age of 27.5 + or - 0.5 m.y. has been determined for the Golden Fleece vein, southwestern Colorado, which contains an assemblage of pitchblende and gold-silver tellurides unique within the Lake City area. Initial Pb isotope ratios of ore samples from the vein ( 206 Pb/ 204 Pb = 19.08-19.58; 207 Pb/ 204 Pb = 15.643-15.682; 208 Pb/ 204 Pb = 38.533-38.84) are among the most radiogenic values reported from the San Juan Mountains and suggest that a significant component of common Pb, and possibly other metals, was derived from upper crustal Precambrian rocks by deeply circulating hydrothermal fluids. The 27.5-m.y. age of the Golden Fleece vein is identical, within analytical uncertainty, to the age of the quartz latite lavas that it cuts. This clearly documents the relationship of the vein to the waning stages of activity associated with the Uncompahgre caldera (27-29 m.y.) rather than to early activity related to the 23.1-m.y.-old Lake City caldera. Other veins in the Lake City area have Pb isotope ratios and mineral assemblages that are distinctly different from the Golden Fleece, and most of these veins are thought to be genetically related to the younger Lake City caldera.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1985

Isotopic studies of the late Archean plutonic rocks of the Wind River Range, Wyoming

Isotopic studies of the Rb-Sr and U-Th-Pb systems in whole-rock samples and the U-Pb systematics for zircons document the existence of two late Arehean intrusive events in the Wind River Range. All of the systems examined indicate an age of ∼2,630 ± 20 m.y. for the Louis Lake batholith. Apparent ages for the Bears Ears pluton range from 2,504 ± 40 m.y. to 2,575 ± 50 m.y. The scatter in apparent ages for the Bears Ears pluton does not appear to be primarily the result of disturbance by postintrusive events, but it may be explained by an isotopically inhomogenous magma at the time of intrusion. Data for a few samples indicate that the Wind River Range was affected locally by a postmagmatic hydrothermal event that was approximately Tertiary in age. This event lowered δ 18 O values and disturbed parent-daughter relationships in most of the isotopic systems investigated, but it was recent enough that there is no demonstrable effect in the Pb-Pb system. The Bears Ears pluton has some chemical and petrologic features that are similar to those reported for the granites in the Granite Mountains to the east. These granites are spatially associated with low-temperature uranium deposits of Tertiary age and have been shown to have lost large amounts of uranium during the early to middle Tertiary. U-Pb systematics indicate, however, that the low to moderate uranium contents and highly variable Th/U values noted for the Bears Ears pluton are best interpreted as being primary features. If uranium was lost after magma generation, the loss most likely occurred at the time of intrusion. Such a loss could account for uraniferous Precambrian pegmatites southwest of the main part of the Range. The two intrusive units apparently were derived from different protoliths that were formed during early to middle Archean. Initial isotopic ratios and petrochemistry for the Louis Lake batholith are consistent with an early Archean trondhjemitic to tonalitic source. The protolith for the Bears Ears pluton must have been more evolved and somewhat younger. Inconsistencies as to the degree of evolution of this protolith, as inferred from isotopic and trace-element data, suggest that the protolith may have been subjected to high-grade meta-morphism that caused loss of Rb and U prior to generation of the magma.

Wyoming↗
USGS1984

U-Pb isotope systematics and apparent ages of uranium ores, Ambrosia Lake and Smith Lake districts, Grants mineral belt, New Mexico

Orebodies occur in continental sandstones of the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation and comprise two main types of mineralization; primary ore formed early in the history of the host rock and resulted in tabular, peneconcordant orebodies rich in organic material; redistributed ore apparently was formed by oxidative destruction and reconcentration of primary ore at some time after Laramide deformation and resulted in roll-type orebodies lacking organic material. U-Pb isotope ages of four redistributed ores from the Ambrosia Lake District give concordant to nearly concordant ages of 3.3 to 12.5 m.y., supporting the concept that most redistributed ore formed in the late Tertiary or later. U-Pb isotope ages of primary ores from the Ambrosia Lake District show pronounced normal discordance, evidently due to coupled, continuous loss of Pb and radioactive daughters of 238 U. Data for ores from the Smith Lake District consistently give pre-Tertiary apparent ages.

Economic Geology↗
USGS1980

U-Pb ages of uraniferous opals and implications for the history of beryllium, fluorine, and uranium mineralization at Spor Mountain, Utah

The U-Pb isotope systematics of uraniferous opals from Spor Mountain, Utah, were investigated to determine the suitability of such material for geochronologic purposes, and to estimate the timing of uranium and associated beryllium and fluorine mineralization. The results indicate that uraniferous opals can approximate a closed system for uranium and uranium daughters, so that dating samples as young as ∼1 m.y. should be possible. In addition, the expected lack of initial 230 Th and 231 Pa in opals permits valuable information on the initial 234 U/ 238 U to be obtained on suitable samples of ≲10 m.y. age. The oldest 207 Pb/ 235 U apparent age observed, 20.8 ± 1m.y., was that of the opal-fluorite core of a nodule from a beryllium deposit in the Spor Mountain Formation. This age is indistinguishable from that of fission-track and K-Ar ages from the host rhyolite, and links the mineralization to the first episode of alkali rhyolite magmatism and related hydrothermal activity at Spor Mountain. Successively younger ages of 13 m.y. and 8–9 m.y. on concentric outer zones of the same nodule indicate that opal formed either episodically or continuously for over 10 m.y. Several samples of both fracture-filling and massive-nodule opal associated with beryllium deposits gave 207 Pb/ 235 U apparent ages of 13–16 m.y., which may reflect a restricted period of mineralization or perhaps an averaging of 21−and<13−m.y. periods of opal growth. Several samples of fracture-filling opal in volcanic rocks as young as 6 m.y. gave 207 Pb/ 235 U ages of 3.4–4.8 m.y. These ages may reflect hot-spring activity after the last major eruption of alkali rhyolite.

Utah↗