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Summary of the Geology and Resources of Uranium in the San Juan Basin and Adjacent Region

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Summary of the Geology and Resources of Uranium in the San Juan Basin and Adjacent Region u~c..~ OFR :J8- 'JtgLJ all''1 I. i \ "' ! .SUHMARY OF THE GEOLOGY .ANp RESOURCES OF ,URANIUM IN THE SAN JUAN BASIN AND ADJACENT 'REGION, NEW MEXICO, ARIZONA, UTAH & COLORADO I , J.L. Ridgley, et. al. 1978 US. 6EOL~ SURVEY ~RD, US'RARY 505 MARQU51"1"5 NW, RM 72e I .1\LB'U·QuERQ~, N.M. 87'102 i I UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR GEOLOGICAL SURVEY SUMMARY OF THE GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF URANIUM IN THE SAN JUAN BASIN AND ADJACENT REGION, NEW MEXICO, A~IZONA, UTAH, AND COLORADO 'V'R.0 t ~.-4~ . GICAL SURVEY p.· ..... P• 0 . .:.;J .. _. ·5 ALBU~U~~QUE, N. By Jennie L. Ridgley, Morris W. Green, Charles T. Pierson, • Warren I. Finch, and Robert D. Lupe Open-file Report 78-964 1978 Contents • Page Abstract Introduction 3 General geologic setting 3 Stratigraphy and depositional environments 4 Rocks of Precambrian age 5 .. Rocks of Cambrian age 5 < 'I Ignacio Quartzite 6 Rocks of Devonian age 6... i Aneth Formation 6 Elbert Formation 7 Ouray Limestone 7 Rocks of Mississippian age 8 Redwall Limestone 8 Leadville Limestone 8 Kelly Limestone 9 Arroyo Penasco Group 10 Log Springs Formation 10 Rocks of Pennsylvanian age 11 Molas Formation 11 ~ermosa Formation 12 .' . Ric9 Formation'· 13 .. •;,. Sandia Fotfuatto~ 13 Madera Limestone 14 Unnamed Pennsylvanian rocks 15 • ii • Rocks of Permian age 15 Bursum Formation 16 Abo Formation 16 Cutler Formation 17. Yeso Formation 18 Glorieta Sandstone 19 San Andres Limestone 19 Rocks of Triassic age 20 Moenkopi(?) Formation 21 Chinle Formation 21 Shinarump Member 21 Monitor Butte Member 22 Petrified Forest Member and Sonsela Sandstone Bed 22 Owl Rock Member 23 • Agua Zarca Sandstone Member and sandstone member 24 Salitral Shale Tongue and Poleo Sandstone Lentil 25 Dolores Formation 26 Wingate Sandstone 27 Rocks of Jurassic age 28 San Rafael Group 29 Carmel Formation 29 Entrada Sandstone 30 Todilto Limestone 31 Summerville Formation 31 Bluff Sandstone 32 • Cow Springs Sandstone 33 iii Morrison Formation 33 Salt Wash Member 34 • Recapture Creek Member 35 Westwater Canyon Sandstone Member 36 Brushy Basin Member 38 Rocks of Cretaceous age 39 Burro Canyon Formation 40 Dakota Sandstone 41 Mancos Shale 41 Mesaverde Group 42 Gallup Sandstone 42 Crevasse Canyon Formation 43 Point Lookout Sandstone 43 Menefee Formation 44 Cliff House Sandstone 44 • Lewis Shale 45 Pictured Cliffs Sandstone 45 Fruitland Formation 46 Kirtland Shale 47 Animas Formation 47 Rocks of Tertiary age 48 San Juan Basin 48 Ojo Alamo Sandstone 49 Nacimiento Formation 49 San Jose Formation 50 Chuska Sandstone 50 iv • Igneous rocks in the San Juan Basin and vicinity 51 • Chama Basin 53 El Rite Formation 53 Abiquiu Tuff of the Santa Fe Group 53 Los Pinos Formation 54 Igneous rocks in the Chama Basin 54 Southern section 54 Baca Formation 54 Datil Formation 55 Santa Fe Group 55 Structural geology 56 Geologic history 58 Paleontology 66 • Uranium deposits, production, reserves, and resources 69 Location of uranium mining districts and ore reserve areas 69 History of uranium discovery and production 69 Uranium occurrences and deposits 71 General 71 Uranium in Precambrian rocks 73 '"';~~ Uranium in Paleozoic rocks 73 \ Uranium in Mesozoic rocks 73 Uranium in Triassic rocks 73 Uranium in Jurassic rocks 74 Uranium in Cretaceous rocks 75 Uranium in Cenozoic rocks 76 Origin of the deposits 76 • v Uranium production, reserves, and resources 77 • Selected bibliography 84 • vi • • Illustrations (Plates in pocket) Plate 1. Generalized geologic map of the San Juan Basin and adjacent region, Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah 2. Preliminary map showing principal areas of known uranium occurrences, prospects, mines and undeveloped deposits in the San Juan Basin and vicinity. Figures • Page Figure 1. Index map of the San Juan Basin and vicinity, showing locations of uranium districts and ore reserve areas-----70 Tables Table 1. Product1on from the San Juan Basin, 1948-1976---------------79 Table 2. Uranium reserves for resource areas in the San Juan Basin---81 Table 3. Potential uranium resources in the San Juan Basin-----------82 • vii • SUMMARY OF THE GEOLOGY AND RESOURCES OF URANIUM IN THE SAN JUAN BASIN AND ADJACENT REGION, NEW MEXICO, ARIZONA, UTAH, AND COLORADO By Jennie L. Ridgley, Morris W. Green, Charles T. Pierson, Warren I. Finch, and Robert D. Lupe ABSTRACT The San Juan Basin and adjacent region lie predominantly in the southeastern part of the uranium-rich Colorado Plateau of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado. Underlying the province are rocks of the Precambrian basement complex composed mainly of igneous and metamorphic • rocks; a thickness of about 3,600 meters of generally horizontal Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks; and a variety of Upper Cretaceous and Cenozoic igneous rocks. Sedimentary rocks of the sequence are commonly eroded and well exposed near the present basin margins where Tertiary tectonic activity has uplifted, folded, and faulted the sequence into its present geologic configuration of basins, platforms, monoclines, and other related structural features. Sedimentary rocks of Jurassic age in the southern part of the San Juan Basin contain the largest uranium deposits in the United States, and offer the promise of additional uranium deposits. Elsewhere in the basin and the adjacent Colorado Plateau, reserves and resources of uranium are known primarily in Triassic, Jurassic, and Cretaceous • strata. Only scattered occurrences of uranium are known in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks or in Tertiary sedimentary and igneous rocks. Although uranium occurs in several formations and rock types within • the area, the most important uranium deposits are contained in sandstone facies of the sequence, where geochemical and sedimentological conditions were most suitable for concentration of uranium. The distribution of sandstone and other favorable facies is controlled by the special distribution and association of sedimentary depositional environments operative during past geologic periods in the basin and on the Colorado Plateau. These environments of sedimentary deposition included a variety of both marine and continental types, such as deep and shallow marine, marginal marine, evaporite basin, fluvial, lacustrine, and desert eolian and sabkha (small, subsurface recharged, interdune ponds and lakes). Uranium is most commonly associated with ancient continental stream (fluvial) and lake (lacustrine) deposits of • Jurassic age and marginal marine deposits of Cretaceous age. Most of the 120;000 tons of u o produced in the area came from the 3 8 Westwater Canyon and Brushy Basin Members of the Morrison Formation. The largest proportion of the reserves of 465,500 tons of u o (at 3 8 $50-per-pound forward cost) are in the area between Gallup and Laguna, New Mexico. Potential uranium resources, most of which remain undiscovered, total 826,600 tons at $30-per-pound forward cost and u3o8 are in the southern San Juan basin. The total resource base for the basin is about 1,500,000 tons u3o8 at a forward cost of $50-per-pound. 2 • • INTRODUCTION The following report has been compiled for the purpose of providing . a summary of the geology and uranium-resources of the San Juan Basin and adjacent region of New Mexico, Arizona, Utah, and Colorado (plates and 2). This report supplements the Interior Department-sponsored San Juan Basin Regional Uranium Study project, which has as its primary objective the gathering of information pertinent to the analysis of the effects and impacts of future uranium developments on the natural and human environments in the region through the year 2000. Material contained in this report has been synthesized primarily from literature written during the past 10 years on the geology and uranium resources of the region. The report has been composed for the governmental decisionmaker; however, the authors hope that it will also be of value to the explorationist seeking a broad overview of the • regional geology and its relationship to mineral occurrence. The authors express appreciation to the personnel of the Grand Junction, Colorado, and Albuquerque, New Mexico, offices of the U.S. Department of Energy for their cooperation and aid in providing uranium resource data for this report. GENERAL GEOLOGIC SETTING The San Juan Basin and vicinity (plate 1) lies mainly within the southeastern part of the Colorado Plateau physiographic province. This province, which comprises an area of approximately 390,000 square kilometers, lies within the states of Arizona, Colorado, New Mexico, and Utah. Underlying the province are: (1) a Precambrian basement complex • 3 composed mainly of igneous and metamorphic rocks; (2) a thickness of • about 3,600 m of generally flat-lying Paleozoic, Mesozoic, and Cenozoic sedimentary rocks; and (3) a variety of Upper Cretaceous and Cenozoic igneous rocks. Uplifts and related downwarps and platforms, as well as faults and monoclinal folds are locally present. These structural features and the rocks they disrupt are discussed in later sections of this report. In addition, sedimentary rocks present south of the map area (plate 1). and north of Socorro, New Mexico, are briefly discussed, as many of these rock units represent southern extensions of rock units present in the San Juan Basin. This discussion was included in order to provide a more complete picture of the stratigraphy and depositional environments of the map area. STRATIGRAPHY AND DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS Rocks exposed iri the San Juan Basin and adjacent areas range in age • from Precambrian to Tertiary. Sedimentary rocks, which are dominantly sandstone, siltstone, mudstone, and limestone, were deposited in a variety of continental and marine environments.; Basaltic to granitic igneous rocks were formed under various intrusive and extrusive conditions. Uranium is known in a number of sedimentary formations and is generally associated with rocks of fluvial and lacustrine origin. Many occurrences of uranium in the area are not economic; however, the largest deposits in the United States occur in members of the Morrison Formation of Jurassic age.
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