Uranium anomalies in paleo-aquifers near sandstone-type uranium deposits in the devonian catskill formation of Pennsylvania

Abstract

Background values of U and Th in 371 clastic sedimentary rocks from the Catskill Formation correlate negatively with Si and positively with Al and most other major elements because of the low content of U and Th in quartz and the relative enrichment in clays, Fe oxides, and other fine-grained components. Background U also correlates closely with Th. Similar results are obtained from 100 samples from western Colorado near the Uravan mineral belt. Weak anomalies in U are much more easily recognized by study of residuals or deviations from regressions of U against Al or Th than in the raw data. At Penn Haven Junction near Jim Thorpe, Pa., roll-type uranium deposits similar to those in Wyoming are localized around an iron-stained paleo-aquifer of conglomeratic sandstone. Twenty-four rock samples from this paleo-aquifer contain 1–12 ppm U; eight of the samples contain less than 4 ppm U, the background level for shales of the area. Uranium residuals from regressions against Al or Th are clearly anomalous for all samples. Experiments on another group of samples suggest that readily extractable U (H 2O 2-acetic acid leach) would also show the paleo-aquifer to be anomalous. Anomalies of this type in paleo-aquifers should be useful in evaluation of drill holes, outcrops, and radiometric data in prospective districts, especially when paleo-aquifers are difficult to recognize visually. The anomalies also indicate that U is added to sandstones of the paleo-aquifer rather than leached out to form the ore bodies in reduced rocks at the margins of a geochemical cell.