Mineral resources of the Citico Creek Wilderness study area, Monroe County, Tennessee
The proposed Citico Creek Wilderness comprises about 14,000 acres (56.7 km/sup 2/) in the Cherokee National Forest south of the Little Tennessee River in easternmost Monroe County, Tennessee. Principal drainages are Citico Creek and Doublecamp Creek. Rocks of the study area include greenschist-facies arkosic metasandstone, metagraywacke, slate, and metaconglomerate of the Great Smoky Group of Proterozoic Z age. Minor deposits of unconsolidated Quaternary alluvium locally mantle the bedrock. Deformation is expressed by asymmetric and overturned folds and by several major faults. More than 500 samples of soil, rock, and stream sediment were collected and analyzed for 31 major, minor, and trace elements by spectrographic, atomic-absorption, and fire-assay methods. No significant metal anomalies were detected. Concentrations of Cu, Co, As, Pb, and Zn slightly higher than background were found within sulfidic parts of a distinctive stratigraphic unit composed of graphitic slate and metagraywacke. Within this unit, pyrite and pyrrhotite are the chief sulfide minerals; traces of accessory sphalerite, chalcopyrite, galena, and arsenopyrite form microscopic intergrowths. A reconnaissance ground radiometric survey and subsequent neutron-activation analysis of selected radioactive rock samples show that the sulfidic parts of the graphitic slate unit also have a relatively high content of Th but have no resource potential. No metallic mineral resources appear to exist. Resources of slate, silica, and stone are present, but they display no special qualities. Anomalous concentrations of Ba in some rock samples suggest local potential for barite. Ceramic evaluation tests on selected samples of slate indicate that the slate would have only marginal use for structural clay products. Minor sand and gravel deposits occur along a few streams. A possibility also exists for the presence of natural gas at great depths.
- Research Organization:
- Geological Survey, Reston, VA (USA); Bureau of Mines, Washington, DC (USA)
- OSTI ID:
- 5260322
- Report Number(s):
- USGS-BULL-1552; ON: TI85902202
- Resource Relation:
- Other Information: Studies related to wilderness
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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