Geology and Differentiation of Round Butte Laccolith Central Montana
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University of Montana ScholarWorks at University of Montana Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers Graduate School 1984 Geology and differentiation of Round Butte laccolith central Montana Alan Robert Liptak The University of Montana Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd Let us know how access to this document benefits ou.y Recommended Citation Liptak, Alan Robert, "Geology and differentiation of Round Butte laccolith central Montana" (1984). Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers. 7436. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/7436 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at ScholarWorks at University of Montana. It has been accepted for inclusion in Graduate Student Theses, Dissertations, & Professional Papers by an authorized administrator of ScholarWorks at University of Montana. For more information, please contact [email protected]. COPYRIGHT ACT OF 1976 Th is is an unpublished manuscript in which copyright sub s is t s . A ny FURTHER REPRINTING OF ITS CONTENTS MUST BE APPROVED BY THE AUTHOR. MANSFIELD L ibrary Un iv e r s it y of Hontana Date : f 1 9 8 4 GEOLOGY AND DIFFERENTIATION OF ROUND BUTTE LACCOLITH, CENTRAL MONTANA By Alan Robert Liptak B.A., State University of New York, Potsdam, 1982 Presented in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science University of Montana 1984 Approved by: Chairman, Board 4 Æ Examiners D^n, Graduate School Date " ' UMI Number: EP38237 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. UMT OisMrtatk>n Publishing UMI EP38237 Published by ProQuest LLC (2013). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code ProQuest LLC. 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106 - 1346 Liptak, Alan R., M.S., June 1984 Geology Geology and Differentiation of Round Butte Laccolith, Central Montana (49 pages) Director—Dr. Donald W. Hyndman Round Butte is a differentiated alkalic lac co lith on the eastern flank of the Highwood Mountains in west-central Montana. It consists of basal shonkinite overlain by a syenite wedge, capped by a small lens of upper shonkinite chill-zone. Coarse grained syenite with some pegmatite exists between the lower shonkinite and syenite. A combination of field, hand sample, thin section, and chemical data point toward liquid immiscibility as the dominant mechanism of differentiation in Round Butte. In addition, crystal settling might have acted on a small scale in the shonkinite and on a larger scale in the syenite. Reexamination of the coarse syenite "transition rock" (Hurlbut and Griggs, 1939) results in a new interpretation as the basal member of the syenite, perhaps formed due to crystal settling onto solid shonkinite. Comparison of other Highwood laccoliths with Round Butte indicates that all are derived from the same parent magma originating in the eastern Highwood Mountains and that the "transition zone" present in the Shonkin Sag laccolith probably formed in a manner similar to the lower syenite on Round Butte. 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The efforts of many people were combined to make this project a success. I would like to thank Drs. Donald Hyndman and Dave Alt for their frequent advice. Dr. Wayne VanMeter provided helpful com ments about the chemistry chapter. Steve Balogh made short work of many thin-sections. John Cuplin's advice on aspects of photography and drafting was invaluable. Mr. and Mrs. Leroy Strand of Geyser, Montana, allowed access to Round Butte, for which I am grateful. The Turrecks of Coffee Creek, Montana, provided a place to stay and lots of friendly advice during fieldwork at Round Butte. I want to thank my parents, Ronald and Gloria Liptak, for their undying moral and financial support.- I especially want to thank my wife, Ellen, for typing the thesis and for providing technical advice during the long process of transforming rough drafts into finished copies. I l l TABLE OF CONTENTS TITLE PAGE A b s t r a c t .................................................................ii Acknowledgements .................................................... iii Introduction ......................................................... 1 Structure of the Laccolith ........................................ 8 General ......................................................... 8 D i k e s .............................................................. 10 The Lower Shonkinite ........................................ 11 The Syenite ....................................................... 12 Upper Shonkinite ................................................ 17 Petrology and Petrography of Round Butte Laccolith ............ 18 Lowest Shonkinite ........................................... 18 Upper Lower Shonkinite ..................................... 23 Lower Syenite ....................................................24 Upper Syenite ....................................................28 Upper Shonkinite ............................................... 29 D i k e s .............................................................. 30 Chemistry of Round Butte Laccolith ............................... 32 C o n c l u s i o n .............................................................. 45 Bibliography ......................................................... 47 IV FIGURES AND TABLES NUMBER TITLE PAGE Figure 1 Sketch 1 Figures 2A, 2B Maps 3 Figure 3 Geologic Map 4 Figure 4 Cross-section 5 Figure 5 Geologic Map 9 Figures 6A, 6B Photographs 13 Figures 7A, 7B Photographs 14 Figure 8 Thin-section Sketch 20 Figure 9 Binary Phase Diagram 22 Figure 10 Ternary Diagram 38 Figure 11 Ternary Diagram 43 Table 1 Rock Units 19 Table 2 Description of Analyzed Samples 32 Table 3 Chemical Data 33 L n iiiirii t n rm m . Figure 1 — Round Butte, left, and Square Butte. Looking northeast from Geyser-Geraldine road. Introduction Round Butte 1s a small laccolith, part of the Montana Alkalic Province of Pirsson (1905) and Larsen (1941). It is on the eastern fringe of the Highwood Mountains, approximately 60 miles east of Great Falls, Montana, six miles south of Shonkin Sag laccolith, and two miles west of Square Butte laccolith (Figures 1 and 2). Round Butte has differentiated into two dominant rock types. Mafic shonkinite forms dark col umnar-joi nted c liffs at the base of the laccolith. Felsic syenite overlies the shonkinite. It forms white cliffs high on the laccolith and underlies most of the grassy break between the shonkinite and syenite c liffs . A small shonkinite body above the syenite is the remnant of a once-continuous c h ill zone (Figures 3 and 4). Weed and Pirsson (1895) provide the earliest geological information of Round Butte. Their work includes an accurate description of the major units of the laccolith and a chemical analysis of the syenite. A hiatus of 40 years separates their work from the next investigation. Hu rlbut and Griggs (1 939) surveyed Round Butte as part of a comprehensive study of the laccoliths of the Highwood Mountains. They worked in the northern valleys of the butte and examined features that eluded Weed and Pirsson. They noted an upward density increase in the shonkinite and discovered a coarse "transition zone" low in the syenite cap similar to that in the Shonkin Sag laccolith. Other laccoliths in the Highwood Mountain region also contain shonkinite overlain by syenite. Differentiation in these laccoliths has 108 M i ssnn 1.1 Bu 11 Billings Figure 2A — State of Montana 100 miles 162 km Shonkin Sag Laccolith Highwood Mountains Square Round Butte Butte Laccolith Laccolith Figure 2B — Map shows relationship of Round Butte to the Highwood Mountains and other nearby laccoliths. 5 miles 8 km 110*18'40" 110*18 North Syenite dike in Shonkinite 47*28 Key Upper chill-zone # v* ,• ■* Shonkinite Syenite— fine up : A ward, coarsens Figure 3 — Geologic Map downward, pegamite of Round Butte Laccolith. inferred near lower contact 0.5 mile = 0.8 km r Lower Shonkinite— r / i i more mafic upward. UPPER SHONKINITE— small remnant lens maximum thickness = 10 feet. .. • • • . • / SYENITE— coarsens downward; * maximum thickness 270 feet south, 65 ' feet north. Inferred Pegmatite not shown LANDSLIDE DEPOSITS— hummocky, internally-drained, mantle i t LOWER SHONKINITE— more base of laccolith. \,/\ mafic upward; contains y . syenite patches in higher levels; minimum thickness = 640 feet. \ ( > r '/ Basal contact not exposed Shonkinite sills and sedimentary rocks of the Montana formation buried by landslide deposits. Figure 4 — Diagramatic cross-section of Round Butte laccolith. Vertical Scale — 1 inch = 200 feet = 61.5 meters. Looking westward across south edge of laccolith. been variously attributed to crystal settling (Hurlbut and Griggs, 1939; Barksdale, 1952), multiple intrusion (Barksdale, 1939), and crystal fractionation modified by diffusion of ionic species (Pirsson, 1905). Pirsson (1 905) mentioned "liquation," or liquid immisc i bi 1 ity in reference to differentiation on Square Butte, and observed that crystal fractionation and separation of immiscible magmas are compatible. However, he did not pursue the point,