Genesis of the tabular-type vanadium-uranium deposits of the Henry Basin, Utah

Northrop, H. Roy; Goldhaber, Martin B.; Landis, Gary P.; Unruh, John W.; Reynolds, Richard L.; Campbell, John; Wanty, Richard B.; Grauch, Richard I.; Whitney, G.W.; Rye, Robert O.

doi:10.2113/gsecongeo.85.2.215

Cited by 72 publications

(61 citation statements)

References 0 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Most of the V in the Colorado deposits occurs in chlorite (Northrop and Goldhaber, 1990), where it substitutes for Al in the octahedral sites (Breit and Wanty, 1991). In these deposits V and U were introduced into fluvial sandstones of the Morrison Formation by low-temperature groundwater prior to compaction of the sediment (Northrop and Goldhaber, 1990). The V content directly correlates with the organic carbon content of the Mesozoic deposits.…”

Section: Vanadium and Uraniummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The V content directly correlates with the organic carbon content of the Mesozoic deposits. Precipitation of V was driven by reduction of the vanadate (plus V) or vanadyl (plus IV) ion to the plus 3 state; the V then may have precipitated as oxyhydroxides (Hostetller and Garrels, 1962;Northrop and Goldhaber, 1990;Wanty and Goldhaber, 1992). Vanadium is much more soluble in oxidizing water than in reducing water (Sugiyama, 1989;Mao, 1999, 2000), and its solubility can be further increased if it forms complexes with sulfate (Wanty and Goldhaber, 1992).…”

Section: Vanadium and Uraniummentioning

confidence: 99%

“…If oxidized solutions containing dissolved V diffuse into black shales and marls, which are rich in bitumen and organic matter, the V is precipitated onto organic compounds, such as tetrapyrrole (Lewan and Maynard, 1982), or forms vanadyl porphyrins (Premovic et al, 1986;Wanty and Goldhaber, 1992). During diagenesis of the Colorado Plateau sediments the V, which would have been present either as oxyhydroxides or organic complexes, was incorporated into smectite as it altered to chlorite (Northrop and Goldhaber, 1990). By analog with the Colorado Plateau, we therefore interpret the elevated V in the limestone as being originally derived from volcanic ash by oxidized groundwater, and then fixed by contact with organic derived reductants in the limestone.…”

Section: Vanadium and Uraniummentioning

confidence: 99%

See 2 more Smart Citations

Geochemistry of Paleoproterozoic Gunflint Formation carbonate: Implications for hydrosphere-atmosphere evolution

Fralick

Planavsky

Burton

et al. 2017

Precambrian Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The ~1880 Ma Gunflint Formation has played a critical role in shaping our view of the evolution of the Precambrian biosphere and the redox state of Earth's early oceans.Herein we present a study of the petrology and geochemistry of calcic grainstones and stromatolitic limestones present at the very top of the Gunflint Formation and compare them with underlying ankeritic grainstones that dominate the shore-proximal portion of the basin. Meteoric calcite cements in the upper limestones formed prior to the unit being brecciated and/or buried by debris carried by the blast cloud from the 1850 Ma Sudbury impact event. The intraclastic grains and cements in the limestone are highly enriched in V, Cr, U and REEs, with REE patterns similar to those of modern groundwater. Cr isotopes have a distinctly positive signature in most samples indicating formation of oxidized, hexavalent Cr during subaerial weathering. These redox-sensitive metals were transported in oxygenated groundwater and precipitated where the fluid encountered reducing conditions. In contrast, the underlying ankeritic marine grainstones have REE patterns similar to those of some modern-day venting hydrothermal fluids and earliest Paleoproterozoic seawater. This work suggests that significant levels of oxygen existed in the atmosphere at the time, whereas, even shallow areas of the world ocean remained very oxygen-deficient. The contrast in redox state of anoxic shallow-marine water verses oxic groundwater was probably linked to strong sub-seafloor hydrothermal circulation and extensive upwelling onto shallow shelves, which could have sustained widespread marine anoxia. More broadly, our study highlights the importance of investigating and understanding lateral geochemical gradients, and the flux rates that control them, in shallow paleomarine settings.

show abstract

Section: Vanadium and Uraniummentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vanadium and Uraniummentioning

confidence: 99%

Section: Vanadium and Uraniummentioning

confidence: 99%

See 1 more Smart Citation

Geochemistry of Paleoproterozoic Gunflint Formation carbonate: Implications for hydrosphere-atmosphere evolution

Fralick

Planavsky

Burton

et al. 2017

Precambrian Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…The geology and mineralogy of the uranium-vanadium deposits in the Morrison Formation have been extensively described by Meunier (1989), Breit (1986), and Northrop and Goldhaber (1990). Stratigraphically, the Upper Jurassic Morrison Formation in Colorado and Utah is divided into two main members: the Salt Wash Member, which hosts the ore, and the superposed volcanic-ash rich Brushy Basin Member.…”

Section: Techniques and Materialsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Composition and Origin of Vanadium-Rich Clay Minerals in Colorado Plateau Jurassic Sandstones

Meunier

1994

Clays and clay miner.

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Abstract--The composition and origin of vanadium-bearing clay minerals in the Jurassic (Morrison and Entrada Formations) sandstones of the Colorado Plateau are reassessed using microanalyses (microprobe and scanning electron microscope). The main V-clays are authigenic illite and chlorite of various petrologic habits: clay casts and matrix, pore lining, replacement of detrital grains. The chemical composition of the V-clays is similar in three different localities in the Morrison Formation separated by about 50 kin, suggesting that the V-clays are the result of a large regional event. In both illite and chlorite, A1 and V are inversely correlated, showing that V replaces AI in the octahedral position. The chlorite contains a complex mixture of divalent and trivalent cations that cannot fit within a sudoite structure. A classification of V-micas is proposed that employs V3+/sum of the octahedral cations vs. the sum of the interlayer charges. V-illite and roscoelite from the Colorado Plateau are characteristic of diagenetic/hydrothermal environments. For a given locality the composition of the V-clays does not vary with habit, showing that these minerals formed at thermodynamic equilibrium.

show abstract

“…It is supported by the fact that U ore bodies mainly have a tabular shape with a thickness ranging from 3 to 18 m and length of ~200 m. Their attitudes are sub-parallel to bedding ( Figure 1B). The tabular U ore bodies were formed from mixing between a relatively stagnant saline fluid and a rapid flowing U-bearing meteoric water [38][39][40]. Dabous and Osmond [40] reported that waters from the sandstone Nubian Aquifer in Egypt exhibit broad correlations between 234 U/ 238 U AR and 1/Ucon., consistent with mixing between recharging and aquifer waters with distinct 234 U/ 238 U AR as well as 238 U and excess 234 U concentrations.…”

Section: Activity Ratios Of U-series Radionuclidementioning

confidence: 99%

Uranium-Series Disequilibria in the Groundwater of the Shihongtan Sandstone-Hosted Uranium Deposit, NW China

et al. 2015

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Uranium (U) concentration and the activities of 238 U, 234 U, and 230 Th were determined for groundwaters, spring waters, and lake water collected from the Shihongtan sandstone-hosted U ore district and in the surrounding area, NW China. The results show that the groundwaters from the oxidizing aquifer with high dissolved oxygen concentration (O 2 ) and oxidation-reduction potential (Eh) are enriched in U. The high U concentration of groundwaters may be due to the interaction between these oxidizing groundwaters and U ore bodies, which would result in U that is not in secular equilibrium. Uranium is re-precipitated as uraninite on weathered surfaces and organic material, forming localized ore bodies in the sandstone-hosted aquifer. The 234 U/ 238 U, 230 Th/ 234 U, and 230 Th/ 238 U activity ratios (ARs) for most water samples show obvious deviations from secular equilibrium (0.27-2.86), indicating the presence of water-rock/ore interactions during the last 1.7 Ma and probably longer. The 234 U/ 238 U AR generally increases with decreasing U concentrations in the groundwaters, suggesting that mixing of two water sources may occur in the aquifer. This is consistent with the fact that most of the U ore bodies in the deposit have a tabular shape originati from mixing between a relatively saline fluid and a more rapidly flowing U-bearing meteoric water.

show abstract

Genesis of the tabular-type vanadium-uranium deposits of the Henry Basin, Utah

Cited by 72 publications

References 0 publications

Geochemistry of Paleoproterozoic Gunflint Formation carbonate: Implications for hydrosphere-atmosphere evolution

Geochemistry of Paleoproterozoic Gunflint Formation carbonate: Implications for hydrosphere-atmosphere evolution

The Composition and Origin of Vanadium-Rich Clay Minerals in Colorado Plateau Jurassic Sandstones

Uranium-Series Disequilibria in the Groundwater of the Shihongtan Sandstone-Hosted Uranium Deposit, NW China

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About