Earth Sciences Commons^™

Stable Isotopes Of Hydrothermal Carbonate Minerals In The Butte Porphyry-Lode Deposits, Montana, Ryan Stevenson

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The stable isotopic compositions of over 90 hydrothermal carbonate minerals in the Butte porphyry-lode system were analyzed. These samples came from the underground workings as well as the active Continental Pit area. Most material came from polymetallic “Main Stage” veins which post-date the porphyry Cu-Mo mineralization of Butte. Some samples from late calcite-stellerite veins were also included in the study. Rhodochrosite d¹³C and d¹⁸O values range from -8.3 to -2.9‰ (average of -6.7±1.0‰) and -1.8 to 12.8‰ (average of 3.6 ±3.4‰) respectively, while calcite d¹³C and d¹⁸O values range from -9.0 to …

Biogeochemical Cycling In A Headwater Stream And Riparian Zone, A. Capri Gillam

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Several teams of researchers at multiple universities are currently measuring annual and seasonal fluxes of carbon dioxide and other greenhouses gases (nitrous oxide and methane) in riparian wetlands and upland forests in the Tenderfoot Creek Experimental Forest (TCEF), a subalpine watershed in the Little Belt Mountains, Montana. In the current thesis, the author characterized the geochemistry and stable carbon isotope composition of shallow groundwater, soil water, and stream water in upper Stringer Creek, near sites that are being investigated for gas chemistry and microbial studies. It was hypothesized that if methanogenesis were a dominant process in the riparian wetlands of …

Shallow Groundwater Quality And Geochemistry In The Shields River Basin, South-Central Montana, Daniel D. Blythe

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Water samples were collected from 33 domestic wells, 2 springs, and 3 streams in the Shields River Basin (Basin) in southwest Montana. Samples were collected in 2013 to describe the chemical quality of groundwater in the Basin. Sampling was done to assess potential impacts to water quality from recent exploratory oil and gas drilling and to establish baseline water quality conditions. Wells were selected in areas near and away from oil and gas drilling and in areas susceptible to contamination. Water samples from surface water sites were collected in October to characterize base flow conditions. Physical characteristics of the land …

3d Block Modeling And Reserve Estimation Of A Garnet Deposit, Maurice Ayisi

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The purpose of this project is to develop a three-dimensional block model for a garnet deposit in the Alder Gulch, Madison County, Montana. Garnets occur in pre-Cambrian metamorphic Red Wash gneiss and similar rocks in the vicinity. This project seeks to model the percentage of garnet in a deposit called the Section 25 deposit using the Surpac software. Data available for this work are drillhole, trench and grab sample data obtained from previous exploration of the deposit. The creation of the block model involves validating the data, creating composites of assayed garnet percentages and conducting basic statistics on composites using …

Geochemical Assessment And Separation Of Source Waters In The Upper Boulder River Watershed Near Boulder, Mt, John Anderson

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Environmental samples were collected at three surface water sites between 5/21/2011 and 11/21/2014 along the Upper Boulder River near Boulder Montana. The sites were located at Bernice (within the mountain block), near the High Ore drainage (near the mountain block/basin transition), and at the USGS Gauging Station near Boulder, Montana (within the basin). The parameters measured in the field were SC, temperature, and alkalinity with occasional pH measurements. We collected samples for anions, cations, and stable isotopes in the catchment. We identified endmembers by sampling snow and groundwater and determined from available data an approximate endmember for rain, snow, and …

Rapid Analysis Of Secondary Manganese Oxides Using Portable Xrf: Applications To Environmental Geochemistry And Mineral Exploration, Dustin Jensen

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Secondary manganese oxides (MnOx) are common weathering products of polymetallic vein deposits, and are also locally abundant in streams draining abandoned mine lands. MnOx are scavengers of trace metals, and the trace metal composition of MnOx could potentially be used as a vector to locate mineral anomalies or point sources of pollution in mining-impacted streams. This study is examining the chemistry of MnOx in weathered rock samples and partially flooded underground mine tunnels in the Butte Cu-Ag-Pb-Zn deposit, as well as MnOx crusts on boulders in small streams draining the nearby Basin-Boulder Superfund Site, Montana. Data obtained using a portable …

Temperature And Pressure Sensing In Three Flooded Underground Mine Workings In Butte, Montana, Usa, Tyler Hagan

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

Temperature and pressure were measured in several flooded underground mine shafts in order to assess the potential for the development of additional mine-based geothermal heating in Butte, Montana, USA. Temperature was sensed using both optical fibers, functioning as a distributed sensor, and thermistors, functioning as point sensors; while pressure was sensed using a piezoresistive strain gauge. Upon observing good agreement between the continuous and discrete temperature sensors, we found no significant change in temperature with increasing depth within the water column. This suggests the thorough transfer of heat throughout the mine shaft via convection. Moreover, we found water temperature (T) …

Development And Application Of A Method For Unwrapping Single Images Of Cylindrical Objects, Aaron Zosel

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The goal of this project was to create a software tool to unwrap digital images of cylindrical rock cores and also to create a tool to measure the accuracy of the unwrapping transform.

Measurements of an object can be taken directly from an image if the object is planar and the image plane of the camera is perpendicular to the object. If these conditions are met then picture scale allows a user to relate measurements in the image to a real world coordinate system after correcting for radial distortion. But if the object in the image is not planar or …

Geochemistry And Stable Isotopes Of Surface Water And Groundwater In The Continental Pit In Butte, Montana, Usa, Amber Mcgivern

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Continental porphyry Cu‐Mo mine, located 2 km east of the famous Berkeley Pit lake of Butte, Montana, contains two small lakes that vary in size depending on mining activity. In contrast to the acidic Berkeley Pit lake, the Continental Pit waters have near-neutral pH and relatively low metal concentrations. The main reason is geological: whereas the Berkeley Pit mined highly‐altered granite rich in pyrite with no neutralizing potential, the Continental Pit is mining weakly‐altered granite with lower pyrite concentrations and up to 1‐2% hydrothermal calcite. The purpose of this study was to gather and interpret information that bears on …

Subsurface To Surface Correlation Of The Tensleep Sandstone In The West Flank Of The Pryor Mountains In Carbon County, Montana, William B. Rhyne

Graduate Theses & Non-Theses

The Pennsylvanian Tensleep Sandstone is an eolian and nearshore marine/sabka quartz arenite unit with prominent outcrops along the western Pryor/Bighorn Mountain front east of Red Lodge, MT. Regionally, the formation represents one of the largest ergs in the global geologic record. High permeability makes it an important oil and gas reservoir and aquifer in south central Montana and throughout much of Wyoming. The Tensleep Sandstone’s high percentage of quartz content and grain roundness, due to its eolian origin, makes it a prospective source for natural proppant sand.

Three continuous 4-inch cores were obtained during a cooperative project between Montana Tech …

Secondary Enrichment Of Copper At The Madison Gold Skarn Deposit, Silver Star District, Montana, Christopher H. Gammons, Jill Sotendahl, Dan Everett

Geological Engineering

Secondary Enrichment of Copper at the Madison Gold Skarn Deposit, Silver Star District, Montana. This paper focuses on the chemical reactions responsible for secondary enrichment of copper...we argue that most of the secondary Cu enrichment occurred during a late hydrothermal event that replaced the high temperature skarn mineral assemblage with hematitic jasperoid. Evidence favoring this "hypogene" Cu enrichment hypothesis is presented.

Creating Lakes From Open Pit Mines: Processes And Considerations, Emphasis On Northern Environments, Christopher H. Gammons, Les N. Harris, James M. Castro, Peter A. Cott, Bruce W. Hanna

Geological Engineering

Creating Lakes from Open Pit Mines: Processes and Considerations, Emphasis on Northern Environments. This document summarizes the literature of mining pit lakes (through 2007), with a particular focus on issues that are likely to be of special relevance to the creation and management of pit lakes in northern climates. Pit lakes are simply waterbodies formed by filling the open pit left upon the completion of mining operations with water. Like natural lakes, mining pit lakes display a huge diversity in each of these subject areas. However, pit lakes are young and therefore are typically in a non-equilibrium state with respect …

Archeological Investigations At The Big Creek Lake Site (24ra34), Lynn Barry Fredlund

Geological Engineering

In August 1977 excavation was conducted at the Big Creek Lake site -24RA34- at the outlet of the 91g Creek Lakes, Selway-Bitterroot Wilderness Area, Ravalli County, Montana. The site contained shallow, disturbed deposits and lacks any statisgraphic separation. One of these occupations was identified by a projectile point type not previously reported from the area. This was termed Big Creek Corner Notched and its temporal affiliation is not precisely known. Comparative material from Colorado and Alberta suggest either Early Archaic or Late Archaic affiliation. The occupations exemplified by Big Creek Corner Notched points and by Pelican Lake-Elko points (Late Archaic …

Effects Of Oxygen Content Of Admitted Gases In Sulfide Flotation, Brian J. Boyle

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

No abstract provided.

Methods Of Studying The Effects Of Frothers, Frank L. Bazzanella

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

No abstract provided.

Studies In Modulation Of Interfacial Reactions For Certain Sulphide Minerals, Robert Owen Beyaert

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

No abstract provided.

Habit Modification Of Naclo3 With Nai, William A. Coghlan

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

No abstract provided.

Production Of Standard-Grade Ferromanganese In An Electric Arc Furnace, Force F. Baney Jr.

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

The investigations conducted in this project were essentially concerned with the effects of various compositions of two different slag systems upon the increased recovery of manganese in a standard-grade ferromanganese.

Investigation Of The Ternary System Silver-Aluminum-Indium (Ag-Al-In), Elvin H. Beardslee

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

This thesis paper contains material pertaining to & preliminary investigation of the ternary system Ag-Al-In. Procedures in this preliminary investigation are discussed in detail.

Preliminary Examination Of The Aluminum Corner Of The Ternary System Aluminum-Silver-Indium (A1-Ag-In), Jerome J. Blake

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

In this paper the author attempts to lay the groundwork for future work on the Al-Ag-In system.

Increased Corrosion Of A 304 Stainless Steel Upon Bending, William C. Tiddy

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

No abstract provided.

Identification Of Nonmetallic Inclusions In Armco Ingot Iron With Polarized Light, Frank E. Panisko

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

No abstract provided.

The Hydrometallurgy Of Uranium, John E. Cesarani

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

No abstract provided.

Crystal Habit Modification Of Sodium Chlorate, Michael R. Keegan

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

All single crystals have a particular habit or morphology. The crystal habit refers to the relative degree of development of crystallographic planes into surfaces which make up the external appearance of the single crystal.

In this paper, NaClO3 is used as a parent crystal. Its simple cubic habit is modified to tetrahedral by the use of impurities of SO4=, S2O3=, Cr2O7=, and NO3-. The degree of habit change is studied as a function of impurity concentration and temperature. The problem and phenomena are explained in terms of surface chemistry and thermodynamics.

Physico-Chemical Principles Of Sixteenth Century Metallurgy, Robert E. Johnson

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

Following a review of sixteenth century metallurgical literature and a discussion of Gibbs free energy, this thesis discusses thermodynamic considerations of galena (PbS) reduction by iron from a lead assay of this period. The importance of fluxes in this assay is emphasized. The discussion covers both equilibrium and non-equilibrium conditions at 1100 degrees Celsius. Possible substitutes for iron are also covered.

Information from twenty-one small controlled lead assays is correlated with the thermodynamic discussion to determine the purpose of each constituent in the assay.

The Beneficiation Of Titaniferous-Magnetite Sands, Ronald Lloyd Nordwick

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

The purpose of this investigation of beneficiation methods is to develop and study possible economic methods for recovering an iron-titanium concentrate of sufficient purity to meet metallurgical requirements for subsequent direct reduction to pig iron and a high titanium slag.

Stress-Corrosion Cracking Of Brass, Paul A. Fossey

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

the mechanism of stress-corrosion cracking of brass has been sought for many years. Investigators have proposed many mechanisms, but each of these mechanisms has always had several drawbacks. This paper presents an account of experimental work done in the laboratory on this subject and compares it to the work of previous investigations. It evaluates the mechanisms presented by investigators and shows the failures of these mechanisms. A theory of Nitrogen Embrittlement is presented and an evaluation of this theory with experimental work follows.

Experimental Arc Furnace Smelting Of Titaniferous Iron Sands From The Northern Oregon Coast, Allan P. Herring

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

This investigation is an attempt to experimentally smelt titaniferous iron sands from the Northern Oregon Coast in a laboratory arc furnace.

The Effect Of Ph Upon Chelation Reactions In Montmorillonite Clays, Joseph Michael Keane

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

The purpose of this thesis is to investigate several chelation reactions and determine the effect of variable pH upon these reactions.

An Investigation Of The Sintering Of Iron-Wire Compacts, George L. Vivian

Bachelors Theses and Reports, 1928 - 1970

A study of the sintering of iron has been made by observing the rate of bonding of iron wires wound on iron spools. The specimens were sintered at a constant temperature of 850c in vacuum furnaces capable of producing pressures of 10-5 to 10-4 mm of mercury, and the growth of the bond between wires was observed as a function of time.

It has been concluded that the volume-diffusion mechanism is strongly operating in the sintering of iron at 850c, but in an evacuated system, the evaporation-condensation mechanism also contributes to the sintering process.