- BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY Mineral Reconnaissance Programme Report No. 91 A geochemicall survey of part of the Cheviot Hills and investigations of drainage anomalies in the Kingsseat area Geochemistry D G Cameron, BSc D C Cooper, BSc PhD P J Bide, BSc Geology P M Allen, BSc PhD Mineralogy H W Haslam, MA PhD MIMM A report prepared for the Department of Trade and Industry Bibliographical reference Cameron, D G, Cooper, D C, Bide, P J, Allen, P M, and Haslam, H W. 1988. A geochemical survey of part of the Cheviot Hills and investigations of drainage anomalies in the Kingsseat area. Mineral Reconnaissance Programme Report, British Geological Survey, No. 91 . 0 Crown copyright 1988 Keyworth, Nottingham 1988 BRITISH GEOLOGICAL SURVEY The full range of Survey publications is available through the Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG Sales Desks at Keyworth and Murchison House, Edinburgh. s Plumtree (060 77) 61 11 Telex 378173 BGSKEY G Selected items can be bought at the BGS London Information Fax % 060 77-6602 Office, and orders are accepted here for all publications. The adjacent Geological Museum bookshop stocks the more popular Murchison House, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3LA books for sale over the counter. Most BGS books and reports % 031-667 1000 Telex 727343 SEISED G are listed in HMSO’s Sectional List 45, and can be bought from Fax % 031-668 2683 HMSO and through HMSO agents and retailers. Maps are listed in the BGS Map Catalogue and the Ordnance Survey’s Trade London Information Office at the Geological Museum, Catalogue, and can be bought from Ordnance Survey agents as Exhibition Road, South Kensington, London SW7 2DE well as from BGS. % 01-589 4090 Telex 88 12 180 GEOSCI G The British Geological Survey carries out the geological survey % 01-938 9056/57 Fax % 01-584 8270 of Great Britain and Northern Ireland (the latter as an agent y service for the government of Northern Ireland), and of the surrounding continental shelf, as well as its basic research 64 Gray’s Inn Road, London WC1 X 8NG projects. It also undertakes programmes of British technical aid % 01-242 4531 in geology in developing countries as arranged by the Overseas Development Administration. 19 Grange Terrace, Edinburgh EH9 2LF = 031-667 1000 Telex 727343 SEISED G The British Geological Survey is a component body of the Natural Environment Research Council. St Just, 30 Pennsylvania Road, Exeter EX4 6BX * Exeter (0392) 78312 Maps and diagrams in this book use topography based on Ordnance Survey mapping Bryn Eithyn Hall, Llanfarian, Aberystwyth, Dyfed SY23 4BY % Aberystwyth (0970) 6 1 1038 Windsor Court, Windsor Terrace, Newcastle upon Tyne NE2 4HB = 091-281 7078 Fax % 091-281 9016 Geological Survey of Northern Ireland, 20 College Gardens, Belfast BT9 6BS % Belfast (0232) 666595 and 666752 Maclean Building, Crowmarsh Gifford, Wallingford, Oxfordshire OX10 8BB * Wallingford (0491) 38800 Telex 849365 HYDRO G Fax a 0491 32256 Parent Body Natural Environment Research Council Polaris House, North Star Avenue, Swindon, Wiltshire SN2 1 EU % Swindon (0793) 40101 Telex 444293 ENVRE G CONTENTS FIGURES Location of the survey area. 2 Summary 1 Simplified geological map of the Cheviot Hills area showing the location of documented metalliferous Reconnaissance Drainage Survey 1 mineral occurrences (see Table 1). 3 Location of reconnaissance drainage survey sample Introduction 1 sites. 6 Dendrogram based on R-mode cluster analysis of Geology 1 analytical results from the reconnaissance drainage SedimentarJ)I and volcanic rocks survey. 9 Intrusions 4 Simplified geological map of the Kingsseat area Structure 4 showing the location of follow-up sample sites. 11 Superficial deposits 5 Mineralisation 5 TABLES Sampling and analysis 6 Results and interpretation 7 Documented metalliferous mineral occurrences in Introduction 7 the Cheviot Hills (see Figure 2). 5 Distribution analysis 7 Summary of the analytical results for stream sedi- Sources of geochemical variation ment, panned concentrate and streamwater samples Distribution of anomalies 10 collected during the reconnaissance survey. 7 Summary of the most highly significant inter- Investigations in the Kingsseat area 10 element correlations in the reconnaissance drainage sample data. 8 Introduction 10 Summary of the analytical results for 93 follow-up stream sediment and panned concentrate samples Geology 10 from the Kingsseat area. 13 Composition of ‘least altered’ andesitic lava and Alteration and mineralisation 12 porphyry samples collected in the Kingsseat area. 14 Stream sediment survey 12 Rock geochemistry 12 Conclusions 14 References 15 . 111 DATA PACKAGE Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Zr, MO, Sn, Sb, Ba, Ce, Pb, Bi and U in panned concentrates and Cu, Zn and This report contains a summary of geochemical surveys Pb in streamwaters. carried out in the western Cheviot Hills. A comprehen- 9 Notes on regional geochemical variation. sive data package is available at a current (1988) cost of 10 1: 200 000 scale moving-average figure-field plots &lOOO sterling. This includes: for Be, B, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Zr, MO, Sn, Ba and Pb in stream sediment and Ti, Mn, A-Consultation with available British Geological Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Zr, MO, Sn, Sb, Ba, Ce and Survey staff who carried out the surveys. Pb in panned concentrates. B-Examination of thin sections and rock samples 11 Report of investigations in the Kingsseat area. collected during the surveys. This includes: i Maps of the geology and alteration assemblages in C-A detailed data package containing the items listed the Kingsseat area. below. The analytical data are available in digital ii Be, B, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, Zr, MO, form if required: Ag, Sn, Ba, Pb and Lo1 analyses for 93 additional stream sediment samples collected from the 1 Be, B, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Zr, Kingsseat area. MO, Sn, Ba, Pb and Lo1 analyses for 708 stream sedi- . 111 Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Zr, Mo, Sn, ment samples collected during the reconnaissance Sb, Ba, Ce, W, Pb, Bi, Th and U analyses for 93 survey. additional panned concentrates collected from the 2 Ti, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Zr, MO, Sn, Sb, Kingsseat area. Ba, Ce and Pb analyses for 708 panned concentrate iv Ca, Ti, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Rb, Sr, Y, Zr, samples collected during the reconnaissance survey. Nb, MO, Ag, Sn, Sb, Ba, Ce, W, Pb, Bi, Th and 3 Cu, Zn and Pb analyses for 7 10 streamwater U analyses for 82 rock samples collected from the samples collected during the reconnaissance survey. Kingsseat area. Au analyses for 29 of these 4 Fiche containing the analytical data for the 708 samples. stream sediments and panned concentrates collected V List of thin sections. during the reconnaissance survey. vi Petrographic notes on major lithologies, based on 48 thin sections. 5 Notes on the determination and distribution of vii Geochemical maps of the Kingsseat area showing metal anomalies in stream sediments and panned con- the location of stream sediment and panned con- centrates. centrate anomalies. 6 Notes on the mineralogical examination of panned concentrates from the Kingsseat area. Enquiries regarding the data package should be made to 7 Cumulative frequency plots for elements determined Dr D J Fettes, British Geological Survey, Murchison in the reconnaissance drainage survey samples. House, West Mains Road, Edinburgh EH9 3LA, or Mr J H Bateson, 8 1: 100 OOO-scale maps showing the location of British Geological Survey, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG. anomalies for Be, B, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Zr, MO, Sn, Ba and Pb in stream sediments; Ti, iv SUMMARY RECONNAISSANCE DRAINAGE SURVEY The results of a reconnaissance geochemical drainage Introduction survey across an area of 850 km2 in the Cheviot Hills are A geochemical drainage survey was carried out across the reported. At each of the 708 sample sites, the - 0.15 mm outcrop of the Lower Devonian volcanic rocks of the fraction of the stream sediment, a panned heavy mineral Cheviot Hills in Roxburghshire and Northumberland concentrate derived from the - 2 mm fraction of the (Figure 1). It was designed to complement similar surveys stream sediment and a water sample were collected. Be, of the Cheviot Granite and the adjacent Silurian- B, V, Cr, Mn, Fe, Co, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Zr, MO, Sn, Ba, Devonian contact zone (Haslam, 1975; Leake and Ph and Lo1 were determined in stream sediment samples; Haslam, 1978). A geochemical survey of the Lower Car- Ti, Mn, Fe, Ni, Cu, Zn, As, Sr, Zr, MO, Sn, Sb, Ba, Ce, boniferous outcrop south of the present survey area has Pb, Bi and U in panned concentrate samples and Cu, Zn also been reported (Bateson and others, 1983). and Pb in water samples. The area is covered by 0. S. 1:50 000 topographic The survey area is composed largely of andesitic sheets 74, 75, 80 and 8 1; Geological Survey of Scotland volcanic rocks of Lower Devonian age. Underlying _ 1:50 000 or 1:63 360 sheets 11, 17, 18 and 25: Geological Silurian greywackes and shales and overlying Devonian Survey of England and Wales 1:50 000 sheets 3, 4, 5, 6 and Carboniferous sedimentary rocks and basaltic lavas and 7. are exposed around the periphery of the volcanic com- Topographically, the survey area forms part of a deeply plex. The Cheviot granite crops out on the eastern margin dissected plateau, with round-topped hills and steep sided of the area. valleys. The plateau stands some 400 m above the Anomalous concentrations of metals recorded in the floodplains of the rivers Tweed, Till, Aln and Breamish. drainage samples are, in general, related to (i) known Rough grass covers the hills except over the highest mineral occurrences, (ii) hydrous oxide precipitation and ground where heather grows on peat.