Petrology and geochemistry of the Wildcat Gulch syenite, Gunnison County, Colorado
- UNCW Author/Contributor (non-UNCW co-authors, if there are any, appear on document)
- Benjamin Grosser (Creator)
- Institution
- The University of North Carolina Wilmington (UNCW )
- Web Site: http://library.uncw.edu/
- Advisor
- Robert Roer
Abstract: Southwest of Gunnison, Colorado, within the Wildcat Gulch study area, syenitoid plutons
intrude the Proterozoic Dubois Greenstone. Limited work has been done to document their
lithologic character, ascertain their origin, or place them within the regional geology of central
Colorado.
These syenitoid intrusions may be related to the igneous rocks of the ~1700 Ma Routt
Plutonic Suite that formed during the Colorado orogeny that included episodes of arc collision
and accretion during the Early Proterozoic. Alternatively, these syenitoid intrusions may be
related to the rocks of the ~1400 Ma Berthoud Plutonic Suite that formed during the Berthoud
orogeny in an episode of crustal thickening and shortening during the Middle Proterozoic. It is
also possible that the syenitoid intrusions in the Wildcat Gulch study area are related to the
syenite intrusions of the Iron Hill complex (570 Ma) that formed in an extensional continental
environment.
This study provides a petrological and geochemical characterization and assessment of
the informally named Wildcat Gulch syenite to aid the placement of these syenitoid intrusions
within the regional geology of Colorado.
Through petrologic and geochemical analyses this study finds that the Wildcat Gulch
syenite can be classified as quartz syenite and quartz monzonite. Although these rocks vary in
terms of their mineralogy, they are geochemically very similar. The geochemical data suggest
that the syenitoid varieties may have evolved from a single, possibly basaltic parent magma,
through fractional crystallization. Additionally, it is suggested that the Wildcat Gulch syenite
intrusions formed between 1390 - 1330 Ma as part of the Berthoud orogeny.
Petrology and geochemistry of the Wildcat Gulch syenite, Gunnison County, Colorado
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Created on 1/1/2009
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Additional Information
- Publication
- Thesis
- A Thesis Submitted to the University of North Carolina Wilmington in Partial Fulfillment Of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Science
- Language: English
- Date: 2009
- Keywords
- Geochemistry, Geology--Colorado--Gunnison County, Metamorphism (Geology), Petrology--Colorado--Gunnison Count, Rocks Igneous--Colorado--Gunnison County
- Subjects
- Geology -- Colorado -- Gunnison County
- Rocks, Igneous -- Colorado -- Gunnison County
- Metamorphism (Geology)
- Petrology -- Colorado -- Gunnison County
- Geochemistry