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The significance of Rb-Sr glauconite ages, Bonneterre Formation, Missouri: Late Devonian-Early Mississippian brine migration in the midcontinent: A discussion

Journal Article · · Journal of Geology; (United States)
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1086/629614· OSTI ID:6937566
 [1]
  1. Yale Univ., New Haven, CT (United States)

Stein and Kish (1991) believe the Rb-Sr isochron obtained for glauconites from the mineralized parts of the Bonneterre Formation at the Magmont Mine, Missouri yields a date that corresponds to the time of mineralization. They examine and reject the hypothesis that these data represent a fictitious isochron, that is, a linear array in [sup 87]Rb/[sup 86]Sr-[sup 87]Sr/[sup 86]Sr space that forms by mixing of two components and that does not provide information about the timing of the event that generated the array. A more detailed examination of the Rb/Sr data from throughout the Bonneterre Formation reveals the likelihood that the Magmont 'isochron' is the result of mixing and, as such, does not provide information regarding the age of mineralization. The evidence presented in this paper contradicts the claim of Stein and Kish (1991, 1985) that mixing cannot produce the linear array of data in [sup 87]Sr/[sup 86]Sr-[sup 87]Rb/[sup 86]Sr space observed from Magmont glauconites: on the contrary, the Magmont data appear to be an extension, at higher Sr and lower [sup 87]Sr/[sup 86]Sr, of a mixing trend evident in 25 of 27 of the glauconites of the region. Because the linear array of Magmont data in [sup 87]Rb/[sup 86]Sr-[sup 87]Sr/[sup 86]Sr space probably formed by mixing as part of a larger array from the region, rather than by complete isotopic homogenization of Sr, it is a fictitious isochron: the slope of the line principally reflects the original Paleozoic age of the glauconites and provides no information about the timing of the event that generated the array.

OSTI ID:
6937566
Journal Information:
Journal of Geology; (United States), Journal Name: Journal of Geology; (United States) Vol. 100:5; ISSN JGEOAZ; ISSN 0022-1376
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English