Geology and alteration of the Baltazor Hot Springs and Painted Hills Thermal Areas, Humboldt County, Nevada
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.
- DOE Contract Number:
- EG-78-C-07-1701
- OSTI ID:
- 5648027
- Report Number(s):
- DOE/ET/28392-36
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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Related Subjects
HOT SPRINGS
HYDROTHERMAL ALTERATION
NEVADA
GEOLOGY
CALCITE
GEOLOGIC FAULTS
KGRA
LANDSLIDES
MINERALIZATION
OPALS
QUARTZ
SEDIMENTS
SINTERS
VOLCANIC ROCKS
VOLCANISM
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM CARBONATES
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATES
CHALCOGENIDES
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
IGNEOUS ROCKS
MINERALS
NORTH AMERICA
OXIDES
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SILICA
SILICON COMPOUNDS
SILICON OXIDES
THERMAL SPRINGS
USA
WESTERN REGION
Geothermal Legacy
150201* - Geology & Hydrology of Geothermal Systems- USA- (-1989)