Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Petrological And Geochemical Evaluation Of Rare-Earth Element Potential In The Sparta Granite Complex, Max J. Eshbaugh

Honors College Theses

Rare earth elements (REEs) are important resources with applications in the electronics, renewable energy, and automotive industries. REEs may be concentrated in the residual weathered portion of igneous parent rocks, typically granites. These residual deposits are mined in southeast Asia, but analogous climatic and geologic conditions suggest the existence of economically viable REE residual deposits in the southeastern United States (U.S.). The Sparta Granite Complex in east-central Georgia is a granitoid complex emplaced at the end of the Alleghanian orogeny, forming a suture between the Savannah River and Milledgeville terranes. Petrologic and geochemical assessments of the Sparta Granite and overlying …

Disequilibrium Melting Of The Continental Crust During Emplacement Of The Mt. Princeton Batholith, Central Colorado Volcanic Field, Loren A. Bohannon

MSU Graduate Theses

Assimilation and crystallization are difficult to constrain at magmatic boundaries, including the interactions of magma with the surrounding country rock. The assumption of the relationship between a magma and what it is intruding upon is relegated to homogenous bodies or epizonal plutons. Realistically, wall rock influences chemical heterogeneity and isotopic variance at the outcrop scale and changes depending on distance from the magma-wall rock interface. Here, we present a case study of the 35 Ma Mt. Princeton Batholith and the host Precambrian rocks of the Central Colorado Volcanic Field. We assess chemical heterogeneity by whole rock and mineral trace element …

The Origin Of An Archean Batholith In Michigan’S Upper Peninsula, Brandi Petryk

Dissertations, Master's Theses and Master's Reports

The Southern Complex is part of the Archean Superior Province in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan and includes a batholithic sized body of Archean high-K megacrystic granitoid rocks informally called the Bell Creek granite. U-Pb zircon ages of the granitoid from previous studies suggest an emplacement age of ~2.6 Ga (Tinkham, 1997). Based on those ages the Bell Creek granite formed around the Archean-Proterozoic transition. This transition is a crucial time period in Earth’s history for crustal growth because of the onset of subduction and increased sedimentary environments at the end of the Archean (Taylor and McLennan, 1995). In this …

The Evolution Of Igneous Rocks On The Moon: Insights From Lunar Meteorites And Apollo 12, Sarah Valencia

Arts & Sciences Electronic Theses and Dissertations

Lunar samples are the “ground truth” that anchor our knowledge of lunar geology. Lunar rocks present many challenges in that they are often brecciated (composed of multiple rock types), and their location of formation on the Moon is not always known. The brecciated nature of lunar samples also has advantages – multiple lithologies that have a related petrogenetic history can occur in the same sample, allowing us to trace the petrogenetic history of evolving magmatic systems. In this dissertation, I examine two evolved magmatic systems, using samples from the Northwest Africa (NWA) 773 clan of lunar meteorites and Apollo 12 …

Characterization Of Granite And Subsequent Ground Control Management Plan At Orphan Boy Mine – Butte, Montana, Emily Rose

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Underground Mine Education Center (UMEC) and World Museum of Mining facilities began as shallow underground mines in the 1880’s during the mining boom that populated Butte, Montana. The UMEC is a multi-disciplinary facility that provides an on-campus underground laboratory environment and a place for students to learn and practice practical underground mining techniques; therefore, the longevity of the facility is important to Montana Tech. The goal of this project is to develop a Ground Control Management Plan (GCMP) for the UMEC and World Museum of Mining facilities.

The World Museum of Mining (Orphan Girl) and UMEC (Orphan Boy) facilities …

The Relationship Between Magmatism And Deformation During The Acadian Orogeny: A Case Study From Eastern-Central Vermont, Samuel William Lagor

Graduate College Dissertations and Theses

The Silurian-Devonian metasedimentary rocks of the Connecticut Valley-Gaspé trough (CVGT) were subjected to multiple deformational and metamorphic events during the Acadian orogeny in the Middle-Late Devonian. Plutons intruding the Devonian Waits River and Gile Mountain Formations have been considered post-tectonic, but microstructural studies of the intrusions and their metamorphic aureoles indicate some of these plutons intruded syntectonically. This study investigates the relationship between Acadian deformation and intrusion of the Knox Mountain pluton (KMP) of central Vermont. Structural and geochronological data were collected along a c. 15 km transect from the western limit of the CVGT, where the unconformable Richardson Memorial …

Emplacement Mechanisms And Magma Driving Pressure Of The Proterozoic Curecanti Pluton; The Black Canyon Of The Gunnison, Colorado, Gordon Leonard Hicks

Masters Theses

There is significant obliquity between the margins of the Curecanti pluton, an internal foliation, a coeval swarm of ~400 pegmatite dikes just west of the pluton, and the host rock foliation. This pluton is a 5 km-long, 3 km-wide, and 0.4 km-thick sheet of monzogranite exposed in the Black Canyon of the Gunnison, CO. The pluton is discordant along most of its length, but has a >100-m-thick root at its western margin subparallel to the foliation in the host rock gneisses. A cordierite + anthophyllite + staurolite + garnet schist from the Vernal Mesa pluton aureole was previously dated (1.4 …

Analysis Of The Gouldsboro Pluton And The Fehr Granite: Understanding The Scales Of Magmatic Processes And Partial Melt Generation From The Deep To Shallow Crust, George Christopher Koteas

Open Access Dissertations

The heterogeneity of the continental crust has a first order control on the dynamics of plate tectonic processes and the compositions of the Earth in both time and space. Heterogeneity can be characterized at a variety of scales and in a multitude of tectonic environments, but it is the links between seemingly disparate tectonic settings and crustal levels that are critical in understanding construction of the continents. The focus of this dissertation work is to apply microtextural, microgeochemical, whole rock geochemical and traditional petrographic techniques to study features in both deep and shallow crustal igneous rocks. The goal of these …

Pluton Zonation Unveiled By Gamma-Ray Spectrometry And Magnetic Susceptibility; A Case Study Of The Sheeprock Granite, Western, Utah, Paul D. Richardson

Theses and Dissertations

A radiometric survey of the zoned 21 Ma, A-type Sheeprock granite, western Utah, combined with measurements of magnetic susceptibility and field observations were analyzed using a geographic information system. The intrusion spans 25 square km and is roughly eliptical in shape with its long axis trending northwest. Concentration maps (composed of more than 500 survey stations) of eU, eTh, texture, magnetic susceptibility, color, and joint density help to constrain magmatic and post-magmatic processes related to its chemical and physical zonation. Uranium ranges from 3.9 to 26.9 ppm (mean 12.7) and thorium from 1.7 to 125.7 ppm (mean 45.5). Similarities in …

Small Strike-Slip Faults In Granitic Rock: Implications For Three-Dimensional Models, Siang Joo Lim

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

The geometry and mineralization features of small left-lateral strike-slip faults and associated fractures in Lake Edison Granodiorite of the central Sierra Nevada, California, were examined in order to model the three-dimensional structure of strike-slip faults. These faults, which are reactivated joints, were also examined to determine fault sizes, starting joint size, and evidence for fluid flow.

The associated secondary fractures are usually found in the dilational quadrants of fault-tip regions. The longest fault-segment trace is 32.14 m; the longest joint trace is 22 m. The joint population length (l) is represented by a power-law distribution (l^{-n …}

Chemical Analysis Of Igneous Rocks And Variation Diagrams Of Petrographic Provinces Of Montana, Frederick M. Hilpert

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

A total of 179 chemical analyses of igneous rocks are avail­able for the state of Montana, but these analyses do not cover the entire state in a satisfactory manner. There has been an emphasis on the central part of the state, and an almost complete lack of interest in the southern portion of Montana.

Vermiculite, Occurence, Character, And Concentration Of Mineral From The Pony District, Madison County, Montana, A. Saterdal

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

The purpose of this paper is to investigate the occurrence and character of the vermiculite deposits approximately four miles northwest of Pony; Madison County, Montana. The deposits are situated in rolling foothills at the northern end of the Tobacco Root Mountains.

Stratigraphic Studies Of The Ordovician And Devonian Formations Throughout The Northwest Plains Area, Walter N. Campbell

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

As yet the knowledge of Ordovician and Devonian physiography in this vast northwest region remains almost a complete secret. Very little, in any, work has been done along this line with the exception of those areas where the various formations outcrop.