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
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
Recommended Citation
Mercer, Barry Plin, "Areal geology, brecciation, and mineralization in the Trout Creek Area, Park and Chaffee counties, Colorado" (1976). Masters Theses. 3187.
https://scholarsmine.mst.edu/masters_theses/3187
Topographic Map of Thesis Area
Mercer_Plate_2.tif (602447 kB)
Geologic Map of Paleozoic Formation in Thesis Area
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.