Masters Theses

Abstract

"The principle purpose of this thesis research has been to map rock types in an area selected for its occurrence of lead-zinc mineralization, and particularly to examine the character and origin of breccias present in the Leadville Limestone. The thesis area is located in Colorado along the east flank of the southernmost Mosquito Range, bounded by Buffalo Peaks Volcanic field on the north and Trout Creek on the south. Units mapped include the Sawatch Quartzite (Cambrian), Manitou Limestone (lower Ordovician), Harding Sandstone (middle Ordovician), Fremont Limestone (upper Ordovician), Parting Quartzite (Devonian), Dyer Dolomite (Devonian), and Leadville Limestone (Mississippian). The Leadville Limestone was found to contain breccia bodies, gossans, and mineralization with associated dolomitization. The breccia bodies are interpreted to have formed as a result of solution-collapse association with the post-Mississippian unconformity surface. Thin-section examination of the cementing material for the breccias shows that it consists of fine-grained calcareous mud. The indication by X-Ray analysis of illite within one breccia body and the presence of illite in the Molas regolith supports this idea. The examination of polished sections prepared from specimens collected from mineralized areas exhibits the ore minerals: galena, sphalerite, chalcocite, covellite, and pyrite. Fluid inclusion study of sphalerite for filling temperatures yielded epithermal temperature ranges. The writer speculates that some of the zebra rock textures in the thesis area may have developed as a result of replacement of rock containing planar algal stromatolites"--Abstract, page ii.

Advisor(s)

Hagni, Richard D.

Committee Member(s)

Grant, S. Kerry
Rockaway, John D.

Department(s)

Geosciences and Geological and Petroleum Engineering

Degree Name

M.S. in Geology

Comments

The writer thanks the V. H. McNutt Foundation and Mrs. McNutt for financial support during the writing of the thesis, for materials, and for reproduction of the thesis.

Two plates, folded in the back pocket of the manuscript, are provided here as supplemental files. Due to their large size, these files may take more time to download.

Publisher

University of Missouri--Rolla

Publication Date

1976

Pagination

xii, 103 pages

Note about bibliography

Includes bibliographical references (pages 98-101).

Geographic Coverage

Park and Chaffee counties, Colorado

Time Period

Paleozoic; Cambrian; Ordovician; Devonian; (Mississippian

Rights

© 1976 Barry Plin Mercer, All rights reserved.

Document Type

Thesis - Open Access

File Type

text

Language

English

Thesis Number

T 4189

Print OCLC #

5994389

Mercer_Plate_1.tif (648076 kB)
Topographic Map of Thesis Area

Mercer_Plate_2.tif (602447 kB)
Geologic Map of Paleozoic Formation in Thesis Area

Included in

Geology Commons

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