Geology and alteration of the Baltazor Hot Springs and Painted Hills Thermal Areas, Humboldt County, Nevada

Technical Report · Sat Dec 01 04:00:00 EST 1979

DOI:https://doi.org/10.2172/5648027· OSTI ID:5648027

Hulen, J B

The Baltazor Hot Springs KGRA and nearby Painted Hills thermal area are situated in Humboldt County, northwestern Nevada along the northwestern margin of the Basin and Range province. The oldest rocks exposed in the Baltazor area are eugeosynclinal metasedimentary and subordinate metavolcanic rocks of Permian to Triassic age intruded by Cretaceous diorite and quartz diorite. These are overlain by a thick volcanic and volcaniclastic sequence of Miocene through Pliocene age. Pre-Tertiary rocks are not exposed in the Painted Hills. Principal structures in the Baltazor area are intersecting high-angle normal faults which trend northerly and northwesterly. Quaternary landslides are dominant in the Painted Hills, although northerly- and northwesterly-trending high-angle faults are also present. Hydrothermal alteration and mineralization at Baltazor and in the Painted Hills are of several different styles and ages. Copper-bearing quartz veins in pre-Tertiary rocks antedate Cenozoic volcanism and sedimentation. The heat source for thermal phenomena and alteration in both areas is probably deep fault-controlled fluid circulation coupled with an abnormally high regional thermal gradient. (MHR)

• Research Organization: Utah Univ., Salt Lake City (USA). Research Inst.
• OSTI ID: 5648027
• Report Number(s): DOE/ET/28392-36
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

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