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V.R. Wilmarth

Publications and source records attributed to V.R. Wilmarth.

At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1959

Geological Survey investigations in the U12e.05 tunnel, Nevada Test Site

The papers comprising the various parts of this report contain the preliminary results of the U. S. Geological Survey investigations in the U12e.05 tunnel at the Atomic Energy Commission's Nevada Test Site, Nye County & Nevada (fig. 1). Reports on electrical resistivity, natural radioactivity, and heat required to raise the rocks to 100°C will be issued later. A preliminary report on the geologic effects of the Blanca event is being prepared. The U12e.05 tunnel, one of two laterals from the main U12e tunnel, trends west and connects with the main tunnel about U960 feet from the portal (fig. 2). The U12e.05 tunnel was driven for the nuclear test, code name Blanca, which took place on October 30, 1958. Before the explosion, the tunnel was 8 feet high and 8 to 9 feet wide and consisted of 990 feet of workings, a shot chamber, and an alcove (fig. 2). The original shot chamber, at the west end of the tunnel, was 19 feet long, 10 feet wide, and 15 feet high. The vertical and minimum cover over the original shot chamber are 1,150 and 950 feet, respectively. After detonation of the nuclear device in the test, code named Logan, in the U12e.02 tunnel on October 15, 1958, the U12e.05 tunnel, locally, was damaged severely.

Nevada↗
USGS1959

Geological Survey investigations in the U12b.01 tunnel, Nevada Test Site

The U12b.01 tunnel is part of the U12b (Rainier) tunnel system driven northwestward from the east slope of Rainier Mesa (figs. 1 and 2). Geologic and geophysical studies in this tunnel were conducted by the U.S. Geological Survey on behalf of the Albuquerque Operations Office of the Atomic Energy Commission. This report includes a brief description of the stratigraphy and structure, and data on petrology, mineralogy, and chemical and physical properties of the rocks that are exposed in the tunnel. The U12b.01 tunnel trends N. 10° W., and connects with the Ul2b tunnel at about 500 feet from the portal (fig. 2). The U12b,01 tunnel is about 250 feet long and contains an alcove 40 feet long and 20 feet wide, and a shot chamber 17 by 20 feet. The tunnel is irregular and ranges from 6 to 15 feet in width and averages 7 feet in height. Much of the tunnel has been supported using 6-foot steel sets and wood planks for lagging Vertical and minimum cover over the shot chamber at west end of the tunnel are approximately the same, about 295 feet.

Nevada↗
USGS1956

Non-pegmatitic resources of beryllium in United States

During the period from 1948 to 1950 the U.S. Geological Survey conducted a program of field and laboratory research w determine the mode of occurrence of beryllium in non-pegmatitic rocks and mineral deposits as part of the Beryllium Program of the Division of Raw Materials of the U.S. Atomic Energy Commission. Approximately 23 man months were spent in the field collecting samples from 146 localities in 15 states; a total of 680 samples were collected and analyzed for beryllium. Additional samples collected by the Geological Survey. U.S. Bureau of Mines, various state Geological Surveys and other institutions. and private companies were analyzed for beryllium. In total, the beryllium content of 1,238 samples from about 600 localities in the United States is compiled in the final report which is being prepared for publication by the U.S. Geological Survey. The main topics discussed are: uses and properties of beryllium; methods of analysis and mineralogy of beryllium; occurrence of beryllium in igneous, sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, pyrometasomatic and related deposits, vein deposits, and hot spring deposits; the genesis of beryllium deposits; and a description of the deposits examined. This abstract and table 1 summarize the more pertinent economic data. Beryllium is more abundant than arsenic, gold, silver, and molybdenum in the lithosphere, but its chemical and physical properties prohibit its concentration in minerals which are common w large commercial vein and replacement deposits. There are 29 minerals in which beryllium is an essential constituent but of these only beryl, mined from granite pegmatites, is an ore of beryllium., Beryl also occurs disseminated in granites and high-temperature veins. The other 28 minerals occur as rare constituents in syenite and granite pegmatites, granites, and pyrometasomatic deposits. Beryllium, as a trace constituent, has been detected in 49 minerals but recovery of the beryllium requires metallurgical methods as yet unknown.

Trace Elements Investigations↗
USGS1953

The Robinson and Weatherly uraniferous pyrobitumen deposits near Placerville, San Miguel County, Colorado

Uranium deposits that contain uraniferous pyrobitumen of possible hydrothermal origin occur at the Weatherly and Robinson properties near Placerville, San Miguel County, Colo. These deposits were mined for copper, silver, and gold more than 50 years ago and were developed for uranium in 1950. The Robinson property, half a mile east of Placerville, consists of the White Spar, New Discovery Lode, and Barbara Jo claims. The rocks in this area are nearly horizontal sandstones, shales, limestones, and conglomerates of the Cutler formation of Permian age and the Dolores formation of Triassic and Jurassic (?) age. These rocks have been faulted extensively and intruded by a Tertiary (?) andesite porphyry dike. Uranium-bearing pyrobitumen associated with tennantite, tetrahedrite, galena, sphalerite, chalcopyrite, bornite, azurite, malachite, calcite, barite, and quartz occurs in a lenticular body as much as 40 feet long and 6 feet wide along a northwest-trending, steeply dipping normal fault. The uranium content of eleven samples from the uranium deposit ranges from 0.001 to 0.045 percent uranium and averages about 0.02 percent uranium. The Weatherly property, about a mile northwest of Placerville, consists of the Black King claims nos. 1, 4, and 5. The rocks in this area include the complexly faulted Cutler formation of Permian age and the Dolores formation of Triassic and Jurassic (?) age. Uranium-bearing pyrobitumen arid uranophane occur, along a northwest-trending, steeply dipping normal fault and in the sedimentary rocks on the hanging wall of the fault. Lens-shaped deposits in the fault zone are as much as 6 feet long and 2 feet wide and contain as much as 9 percent uranium; whereas channel samples across the fault zone contain from 0.001 to 0.014 percent uranium. Tetrahedrite, chalcopyrite, galena, sphalerite, fuchsite, malachite, azurite, erythrite, bornite, and molybdite in a gangue of pyrite, calcite, barite, and quartz are associated with the uraniferous material. In the sedimentary rocks on the hanging wall, uranium-bearing pyrobitumen occurs in replacement lenses as much as,8 inches wide and 6 feet long, and in nodules as much as 6 inches in diameter for approximately 100 feet away from the fault. Pyrite and calcite are closely associated with the uraniferous material in the sedimentary rocks. Samples from the replacement bodies contain from 0. 007 to 1.4 percent uranium.

Open-File Report↗
USGS1953

Preliminary reconnaissance survey for thorium, uranium, and rare-earth oxides, Bear Lodge Mountains, Crook County, Wyoming

An area about 6 miles north of Sundance, in the Bear Lodge Mountains, in Crook County, Wyo., was examined during August 1950 for thorium, uranium, and rare-earth oxides and samples were collected. Uranium is known to occur in fluorite veins and iron-manganese veins and in the igneous rocks of Tertiary age that compose the core of the Bear Lodge Mountains. The uranium content of the samples ranges from 0.001 to 0.015 percent in those from the fluorite veins, from 0.005 to 0.018 percent in those from the iron-manganese veins, and from 0.001 to 0.017 percent in those from the igneous rocks. The radioactivity of the samples is more than that expected from the uranium content. Thorium accounts for most of this discrepancy. The thorium oxide content of samples ranges from 0.07 to 0.25 percent in those from the iron-manganese veins and from 0.07 to 0.39 percent in those from the sedimentary rocks, and from0.04 to 0.30 in those from the igneous rocks. Rare-earth oxides occur in iron-manganese veins and in zones of altered igneous rocks. The veins contain from 0.16 to 12.99 percent rare-earth oxides, and the igneous rocks, except for two localities, contain from 0.01 to 0.42 percent rare-earth oxides. Inclusions of metamorphosed sedimentary rocks in the intrusive rocks contain from 0.07 to 2.01 percent rare-earth oxides.

Wyoming↗