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Ward C. Smith

Publications and source records attributed to Ward C. Smith.

7 recordsLinked to original sources
USGS1968

Borax solution at Kramer, California

Material of obscure structure that forms part of the hanging wall of the great sodium borate ore body at Kramer, Kern County, Calif., is interpreted herein as collapsed insoluble claystone layers left where interbedded borax has been dissolved. Nodular ulexite in such collapsed material is secondary; relationships between primary borax and contemporaneous ulexite or other syngenetic borate minerals remain unestablished. The effects of solution also leave unestablished the original limits of borax deposition. It is suggested that collapsed claystone layers containing ulexite might be used as an indicator of proximity to borax elsewhere in the district.

California↗
USGS1962

Borates in the United States, exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii

This map shows the location of borate deposits in the United States (exclusive of Alaska and Hawaii). Because all the known borate deposits of the United States of any historic or present economic importance occur in California, western Nevada, and southern Oregon, this map covers only the western part of the country.

Mineral Investigations Resource Map↗
USGS1960

Core logs from five test holes near Kramer, California

In 1957, five test holes were drilled near Kramer, Calif., in the western Mojave Desert, for the U.S. Geological Survey. The drill sites are in topographic basins where gravimetric and geologic surveys indicated the presence, beneath alluvium, of a thick section of Quaternary and Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Two holes, which were deeper tests at sites drilled in 1954, cored only silts, sands, and gravels: Four Corners test hole. 1 was drilled in sec. 20, T. 10 N., R. 6 W., to a depth of 3,500 feet. Four Corners test hole 2, in sec. 5, T. 10 N., R. 8 W., was drilled to 2,328 feet. Three holes which were drilled at new sites north of Kramer Junction, the intersection of U.S. Highways 395 and 466 and locally known as Four Corners, penetrated colemanite-bearing sediments. The location and total depth of these holes, are as follows: Four Corners test hole 3, sec. 18, T. 11 N., R. 6 W., depth 2,568. feet; Four Corners test hole 4, near the north edge of sec. 30, T. 11 N., R. 6 W., 1 depth 3,500 feet; Four Corners test hole 5, near the south edge of sec. 30, depth 1,604 feet. The sections of rocks penetrated in these 3 holes are similar. In each, the colemanite is in fine-grained sediments; these lie below sands and gravels, which are about 600 to 800 feet thick, and are underlain by sandstones and conglomerates. Colemanite is most abundant in the cores from Four Corners test hole 5, particularly in the 76 feet of core recovered between depths of 1,051 and 1,131 feet. Chemical analysis indicates that in this section of core the average content of BaOs is above 14 percent. In addition to colemanite, the cores contain sulfides of arsenic, an unusual iron sulfide, and zeolites. This mineral ,content of the colemanite-bearing sediments north of Kramer Junction (Four Corners), together with the general lithology of the lake beds and the occurrence of the sediments as a tilted section of beds below sands and gravels, supports correlation with the upper or marginal parts of the borate-bearing sediments at the Kramer borate mining district, which have similar features. There is, however, no evidence that any beds are exactly equivalent in age.

Bulletin↗
USGS1958

Borate deposits of the Mojave Region, California

Output of the United States borate producers reached approximately 1,000,000 tons in 1957, nearly four times the average annual production of 1941-45. Increasing consumption for long-established uses and several new ones accounts for the rise; further rise, for new uses such as high energy fuels, lies ahead. Among known borate deposits, the largest are at Searles Lake and Kramer, which supply 90 percent of the world's recorded production. The Kramer ore body, which is very large, consists of remarkably pure sodium borates in Tertiary lake beds. At Searles Lake, also large, the borax is produced from brines pumped out of salt layers which are the residue of a dessicated Pleistocene lake. Prospecting for borates is now more active than it has been for years. The best prospecting ground is in the alluvial-covered basins of western Nevada and particularly southeastern California, in concealed sections of Tertiary continental sediments. Several playas or salt flats that resemble Searles Lake were test-drilled for the U. S. Geological Survey by a contractor but the holes encountered no borates. Drill holes near Kramer, however, encountered a deposit of colemanite in lake beds.

California, Nevada↗
USGS1958

Core logs from five holes near Kramer, in the Mojave Desert, California

In 1957, five test holes were drilled near Kramer, California, in =he western Mojave Desert. The drill sites are in topographic basins where gravimetric and geologic surveys indicated the presence, beneath alluvium, of a thick section of Quaternary and Tertiary sedimentary and volcanic rocks. Two holes which were deeper tests at sites drilled in 1954 cored only silts, sands and gravels: Four Corners test hole No. 1 was drilled in sec. 20, T. I0 N., R. 6 W., to a depth of 3,500 feet. Four Corners No. 2, in sec. 5, T. I0 N., R. 8 W., was drilled to 2,328 feet. Three holes which were drilled at new sites north of the intersection of U. S. Highways 395 and 466, locally known as Four Corners, encountered colemanite-bearing sediments. The locations and total depths of these holes are as follows: Four Corners No. 3, sec. T. 11 N., R. 6 W., depth 2,568 feet; Four Corners No. 4, near northern edge of sec. 30, T. ll N., R. 6 W., depth 3,500 feet; Four Corners No. 5, near southern edge of sec. 30, depth 1,604 feet. The sections of rocks encountered in these three holes are similar. In each, the colemanite is in fine-grained sediments that lie below sands and gravels, which are about 600 to 800 feet thick, and are underlain by sandstones and conglomerates. Colemanite is most abundant in the cores from Four Corners to hole No. 5, particularly in the 76 feet of core recovered between depths of 1,051 and 1,131 feet. Chemical analysis shows that in this section of core the average content of B203 is above 14 percent. In addition to colemanite, the cores contain sulfides of arsenic, an unusual iron sulfide, and zeolites. This mineralogy of the colemanite-bearing sediments north of Four Corners, together with the general lake bed lithology and the occurrence as a tilted section of beds below sands and gravels, supports correlation with the upper or marginal parts of the borate-bearin8 sediments at the Kramer borate mining district, which have similar features. There is, however, no evidence that any beds are exactly equivalent in age.

Open-File Report↗