Petrology and radiogeology of the Stripa pluton
To better define the character of the rock encompassing the thermomechanical and hydrological experiments at the Stripa mine in central Sweden, and to help determine the size of the Stripa pluton, detailed studies were conducted of the petrology and radiogeology of the quartz monzonite and adjacent rocks. Petrologic studies emphasized optical petrography, with supplementary X-ray diffraction, X-ray fluorescence and microprobe analyses. Radiogeologic investigations were based primarily on surface and underground gamma-ray spectrometric measurements of uranium, thorium and potassium, supplemented by laboratory gamma spectrometric analyses and fission-track radiographic determinations of the locations and abundance of uranium in the rock matrix. Both the quartz monzonite and the metavolcanic leptite which it intruded are strongly fractured. Two stages of fracture filling are evident; an earlier stage encompassing quartz, sericite, feldspar, epidote, and chlorite, and a later stage dominated by carbonate minerals. The Stripa quartz monzonite is chemically and mineralogically distinct from other plutons in the region. Muscovite is the predominant mica in the quartz monzonite; biotite has been altered to chlorite, hornblende is absent, and accessory minerals are scarce. In contrast, in other plutons in the Stripa region biotite and hornblende are prominent mafic minerals and accessory minerals are abundant. The Stripa quartz monzonite is also considerably more radioactive than the leptite and other plutons in the region. Uranium and thorium abundances are both- 30 ppm, considerably higher than in "normal" granitic rocks where the thorium-to-uranium ratio generally exceeds 2. Potassium-argon dating of muscovite from the Stripa quartz monzonite indicates that this rock may be older, at 1691 million years than granitic rock of the neighboring Gusselby and Kloten massifs, whose ages, based on K-Ar dating of biotite, are respectively 1604 and 1640 m.y. Heat flow and heat productivity considerations show that although Stripa quartz monzonite contains high abundances of radioelements, the pluton has little effect on the regional heat flow. If it occurs in a layered plutonic setting, it is not more than 1.5 km thick; otherwise it may comprise a stock, dike, or border phase that is relatively small compared with the large granitic plutons exposed in the region.
- Research Organization:
- Lawrence Berkeley National Lab. (LBNL), Berkeley, CA (United States); Swedish Nuclear Fuel Supply Co. (Sweden)
- Sponsoring Organization:
- USDOE (United States); Swedish-American Cooperative Program on Radioactive Waste Storage in Mined Caverns in Crystalline Rock
- DOE Contract Number:
- DE-AC02-05CH11231
- OSTI ID:
- 1082155
- Report Number(s):
- LBL-11654; SAC-36; TRN: US1300346
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
Similar Records
Uranium and thorium in granitic rocks of northeastern Washington and northern Idaho, with comments on uranium resource potential
Petrographic relations and uranium distribution in the Skaloti granitoid complex, Paranestion district, Greek Macedonia