Geochronology, Geochemistry and Petrology of the Precambrian Sandia Granite, Albuquerque, New Mexico
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Louisiana State University LSU Digital Commons LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses Graduate School 1985 Geochronology, Geochemistry and Petrology of the Precambrian Sandia Granite, Albuquerque, New Mexico. Arunaditya Majumdar Louisiana State University and Agricultural & Mechanical College Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses Recommended Citation Majumdar, Arunaditya, "Geochronology, Geochemistry and Petrology of the Precambrian Sandia Granite, Albuquerque, New Mexico." (1985). LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses. 4061. https://digitalcommons.lsu.edu/gradschool_disstheses/4061 This Dissertation is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at LSU Digital Commons. It has been accepted for inclusion in LSU Historical Dissertations and Theses by an authorized administrator of LSU Digital Commons. For more information, please contact [email protected]. INFORMATION TO USERS This reproduction was made from a copy of a document sent to us for microfilming. While the most advanced technology has been used to photograph and reproduce this document, the quality of the reproduction is heavily dependent upon the quality of the material submitted. The following explanation of techniques is provided to help clarify markings or notations which may appear on this reproduction. 1.The sign or “target" for pages apparently lacking from the document photographed is “Missing Page(s)”. If it was possible to obtain the missing page(s) or section, they are spliced into the film along with adjacent pages. This may have necessitated cutting through an image and duplicating adjacent pages to assure complete continuity. 2. When an image on the film is obliterated with a round black mark, it is an indication of either blurred copy because of movement during exposure, duplicate copy, or copyrighted materials that should not have been filmed. For blurred pages, a good image of the page can be found in the adjacent frame. If copyrighted materials were deleted, a target note will appear listing the pages in the adjacent frame. 3. When a map, drawing or chart, etc., is part of the material being photographed, a definite method of “sectioning” the material has been followed. It is customary to begin filming at the upper left hand comer of a large sheet and to continue from left to right in equal sections with small overlaps. If necessary, sectioning is continued again—beginning below the first row and continuing on until complete. 4. For illustrations that cannot be satisfactorily reproduced by xerographic means, photographic prints can be purchased at additional cost and inserted into your xerographic copy. These prints are available upon request from the Dissertations Customer Services Department. 5. Some pages in any document may have indistinct print. In all cases the best available copy has been filmed. University Microfilms International 300 N. Zeeb Road Ann Arbor, M148106 8517744 Majumdar, Arunaditya GEOCHRONOLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY AND PETROLOGY OF THE PRECAMBRIAN SANDIA GRANITE, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO The Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical Col.Ph.D. 1985 University Microfilms International300 N. Zeeb Road, Ann Arbor, Ml 43106 Copyright 1985 by Majumdar, Arunaditya Ail Rights Reserved PLEASE NOTE: In all cases this material has been filmed in the best possible way from the available copy. Problems encountered with this document have been identified here with a check mark V . 1. Glossy photographs or pages f 2. Colored illustrations, paper or print ^ 3. Photographs with dark background ^ 4. Illustrations are poor copy _______ 5. Pages with black marks, not original copy ______ 6. Print shows through as there is text on both sides of page _______ 7. Indistinct, broken or small print on several pages / 8. Print exceeds margin requirements ______ 9. Tightly bound copy with print lost in spine ________ 10. Computer printout pages with indistinct print _______ 11. Page(s)____________ lacking when material received, and not available from school or author. 12. Page(s)____________ seem to be missing in numbering only as text follows. 13. Two pages numbered . Textfollows. 14. Curling and wrinkled pages _______ 15. Dissertation contains pages with print at a slant, filmed as received __________ 16. Other_____________ _______ University Microfilms International GEOCHRONOLOGY, GEOCHEMISTRY AND PETROLOGY OF THE PRECAMBRIAN SANDIA GRANITE, ALBUQUERQUE, NEW MEXICO A Dissertation Submitted to the Graduate Faculty of the Louisiana State University and Agricultural and Mechanical College in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in The Department of Geology by Dr. Arunaditya Majumdar B. Sc. (Geol), University of Calcutta, 1964 M. Sc. (Geol), University of Calcutta, 1966 Ph.D (Geol), Indian Institute of Technology, Kharagpur, 1973 May, 1985 0 © 1985 ARUNADITYA MAJUMDAR All Rights Reserved ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I carried out this dissertation research under the joint supervision of Professor Douglas G. Brookins of the Department of Geology, University of New Mexico, and Professor Ajoy K. Baksi of the Department of Geology, Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge. Professor Brookins initiated me to the geochronological problems of the Sandia granite. His patient guidance and profound inspiration at all stages have been the key to the successful completion of this research. I am also immensely grateful to Professor Baksi for his elaborate discussion on the topic and supervision of my work. His instructive criticism improved my work to a great extent. I am thankful to the other members of my advisory committee namely, Professors Jeffrey S. Hanor, Donald R. Lowe, Paul Aharon, Eugene W. Berg and Roy K. Dokka for their valuable suggestions that improved the manuscript. I wish to record my thanks to Professor A. F. Wilson of the University of Queensland, Australia, for analyzing some of my samples for oxygen isotopic composition, to Mr. S. R. Garcia of the Los Alamos National Laboratory, New Mexico, for analyzing my samples for rare earth elements, and to Mr. John Husler, chemist of the Department of Geology, UNM, for providing facilities and assistance in chemical analysis. Special mention should be made of my friends Mr. Mark S. Abashian, Mr. A lbert W. Vogler, Mr. Ronald Matheney and Ms. C hristine M. MacDonald to whom I am indebted in many a ways. Mr. Abashian showed me the technique of isotopic dilution and spared his valuable time in running some of my ii samples in the mass spectrometer. Mr. Vogler taught me the details of mass spectrometer operation. I am also thankful to my friend Mr. Gautam F. Sarkar for his help and inspiration. I gratefully acknowledge the financial supports from the Government of India, the ARCO Foundation, the Chevron Oil Company and the Sigma Xi which partially helped this project, I thank the Chairman, Department of Geology, LSU, and the Chairman, Department of Geology, DNM, for providing all possible facilities. Ms. Kathy Sanders of the Precision Typing Services, Baton Rouge, took great pain in typing this dissertation. I thank her cordially. Finally, I wish to express my deepest sense of appreciation for my wife, Dipti, whose limitless patience and relentless inspiration led me towards this success. I dedicate this dissertation to my parents Dr. Kumud Bondhu Majumdar and Mrs. Usha Rani Majumdar who are my first teachers in this world, and to the late Professor Santosh Kumar Ray who was my first teacher in Geology. iii Table of Contents Page ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS............................................................................................................... i i LIST OF TABLES.................................................................................................................... vi LIST OF FIGURES................................................................................................................. v i i i ABSTRACT.........................................................................................., ...................................... x i i i CHAPTER 1. INTRODUCTION............................................................................................... 1 1.1 General Comments ....................................................................... 1 1.2 Proterozoic Tectonic Setting of Western and Central United States: An overview 2 1.3 Previous Study ................................ 6 1.4 Present Study .................................................... 12 2. FIELD GEOLOGY AND PETROLOGY.........................................................‘ 16 2.1 General Comments ................................................................. 16 2.2 Juan Tabo A rea ............................................................................ 16 1. The Precambrian metamorphic rocks ..................... 16 2. Pegmatite and aplite dikes across the Juan Tabo S e rie s ......................................................... 21 3. Granite inlier within the Sandia granite.. 23 4. Xenoliths in the Sandia granite .................... 29 5. The Sandia g r a n ite ............................................................ 29 6 . Pegmatite and aplite dikes across the Sandia granite .............................................................. 34 7. F a u lts ...................................... 34 2.3 Pino Canyon A rea ....................................................................... 35 1. The Sandia g r a n ite ...........................................................