I4.ufc/0£xJ llfc 330 C 3 STATE OF ILLINOIS DEPARTMENT OF REGISTRATION AND EDUCATION Trace Elements, Rare Earths, and Chemical Composition of Southern Illinois Igneous Rocks J. C. Bradbury ***** ******* ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY URBANA 1962 CIRCULAR 330 LIBRARY. ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 3 3051 00004 0273 *\ffl TRACE ELEMENTS, RARE EARTHS, AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITION OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS IGNEOUS ROCKS J. C. Bradbury ABSTRACT This investigation was made in order to answer the many questions that have been raised regarding the rare earth, trace element, and general chemical composition of the igneous intrusive rocks of southern Illinois , to determine the present possible commercial significance of these rocks, and to provide data in connection with development of pos- sible future uses . The intrusive rocks occur as dikes, sills, and explosion breccias . Fifteen of the known deposits were sampled. The trace element content and rare earth content of all samples were determined spectrographically; nine samples were analyzed by wet gravimetric methods. A num- ber of samples were fused to determine whether they would produce unusual kinds of glass. The results of the tests failed to show any unusual major compositional character- istics that would suggest special uses for the rocks. The amounts of trace elements and rare earths found are not believed to be within the present commercial range for ores. INTRODUCTION Hardin, Pope, Saline, Gallatin, and Williamson Counties in extreme south- ern Illinois comprise the only part of the state in which igneous rocks crop out or come close to the surface. These rocks occur as intrusive bodies of dark colored igneous rock and explosion breccias (Clegg and Bradbury, 1956) . During the search for uranium on Hicks Dome in Hardin County in 1955 and 1956, a deposit of radio- active, silty clay, possibly associated with one of the masses of explosion breccia (Bradbury et al. , 1955; Bradbury, 1960; Trace, 1960), was found. However, no 1] ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 330 N Dike showing strike + Dike, strike uncertain o Sill O Explosion breccia • Drill hole penetrating igneous rock SCALE Fig. 1 —Distribution of igneous intrusive rocks in southern Illinois. Some occurrences within city limits of Rosiclare not shown for sake of clarity. (Adapted from Clegg and Bradbury, 1956, plate 1.) SOUTHERN ILLINOIS IGNEOUS ROCKS 3 development ensued, presumably because the quantity of the clay was limited. Analyses of three samples of the clay (Bradbury, 19 60) showed an average of 3. 3 percent total rare earth oxides . At various times there has been speculation regarding the trace element content of the southern Illinois igneous rocks as well as their general chemical composition and the possibility that they might have special uses. The finding of the radioactive clay, with its abnormal content of rare earths, further increased interest in the intrusives. Figure 1 shows the location of all known igneous intru- sive bodies in southern Illinois. Those sampled for analysis are designated by name on the map. PURPOSE OF INVESTIGATION This investigation was undertaken to provide data regarding the foregoing matters in order that the present commercial possibilities of the intrusive rocks might be known and that a representative body of data might be available for judg- ing the suitability of these rocks for possible future uses. To this end all major and most minor outcrops of igneous intrusive rocks in Hardin and Pope Counties, three dikes exposed in coal mines in Saline and Williamson Counties, and similar rock from a diamond-drill core from the Omaha Dome in Gallatin County were sam- pled and analyzed for trace elements and rare earths; major chemical constituents were determined for nine of the samples . CHARACTER OF DEPOSITS The intrusive rocks occur as flat or nearly flat-lying sills, vertical or near- ly vertical dikes, and plugs. Certain occurrences are referred to simply as "intru- sives" because too little is known or can be seen of their shape to permit more specific identification. The dikes may reach a maximum width of 300 feet but generally are less than one to a few feet wide. The sills are rarely more than one foot thick and more commonly are only a few inches thick. The dikes and sills are mica-peridotites or related rocks that have been altered (table 1) by serpentini- zation, the addition of carbonates (chiefly calcite) , or, less commonly, by silici- fication (Clegg and Bradbury, 19 56) . The dimensions of the plugs, which are composed of explosion breccia, are not determinable, but one of them crops out over a 400- by 800 -foot area. Alteration of the breccias has been similar to that of the dikes and sills (table 1) . SAMPLES AND RESULTS OF TESTS Table 1 lists the deposits sampled, their location, the thickness of the rock represented by each sample, the kind of rock composing the sample, its physical appearance, and the character of alteration. ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 330 TABLE 1. - SOURCE AND Sample Name Location County Thickness sampled( ft. ) Kind of no. Quarters Sec. T. R. rock 1 Downeys Bluff sill 2 Absher dike 3 Argo dike 4 Dering #2 dike 5 Golconda dike 6 Good Hope dike 7 Mix dike 8 Orrs Landing dike 9 Peabody #43 dike NW NW SE 5 13 S SE SW SE 34 9S NE SW 32 12S — SE NE 24 8S NW SW NE 25 13S — NE NW 5 13S — NE NE 18 13S NE SW NE 33 12 S — SE NE 17 9S 10 Robinson dike NW SW NW 29 IIS SE NW SW 4 8S 11 Omaha Dome in trusive 12 Hicks Dome pli 13 Grants in- trusive 14 Soward plug 15 Soward plug 16 Sparks Hill plug lg SE SE NW 30 IIS SE NW NW 6 12 S NE SW 31 12S NE SW 31 12 S SW NE NE 13 IIS 8E Hardin 2 Lamprophyre? 4E Williamson 9 Mica- peridotite 8E Hardin 2 Lamprophyre? 6E Saline 15 Mica- peridotite 6E Pope — Mica- peridotite 8E Hardin 1 Lamprophyre? 7E Pope 15 Mica- peridotite 8E Hardin 1 Lamprophyre? 6E Saline 6 Mica- peridotite 8E Hardin 2 + Mica- peridotite? 8E Gallatin m Mica- peridotite 8E Hardin (*) Explosion breccia 8E Hardin 5 Explosion breccia 8E Hardin (t) Explosion breccia 8E Hardin (t) Explosion breccia 8E Hardin (i) Explosion breccia * Samples from boulders and ledges on the west half of small hill, t Samples taken from a 400 by 800 foot outcrop area. * Samples taken from creek bed at intervals for a distance of 300 feet. IGNEOUS INTRUSIVE ROCKS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS CHARACTER OF SAMPLES Color Texture Type of alteration Comments Dark greenish gray Dark greenish gray Gray Dark greenish gray Dark greenish gray Greenish gray Dark greenish gray Dark gray Dark greenish gray Brown Dark greenish gray Brown Greenish gray Gray Brown Dark gray Fine grained Medium grained Fine grained Fine grained Medium grained Fine grained Coarse grained Fine grained Fine grained Coarse grained Fine grained Matrix fine grained Matrix fine grained Matrix fine grained Matrix fine grained Matrix fine grained Abundant carbonate Partial serpentin- ization Mostly carbonate Serpentinization Serpentinization Silicification Partial serpentin- ization Mostly carbonate Carbonate; serpent- inization In coal strip mine At 500-ft. level in Argo mine Dike in coal mine Sample from boulders In Good Hope mine In bluff along rail- road; boulders Serpentinization Silicification Abundant carbonate Dike in Peabody 43 coal mine Weathered rock in pit Sample from diamond drill core Unweathered Oxidized Weathered Abundant carbonate — 6 ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 330 Table 2 gives the results of wet gravimetric chemical analyses for nine samples and indicates the major chemical constituents of these samples; table 3 reports on trace element content and table 4 on rare earths. DISCUSSION OF DATA Major Chemical Constituents The nine samples in table 2 show a great diversity of composition. Sample 12, Hicks Dome plug, contains the greatest amount of silica, a moderate amount of alumina, and very little of the other compounds listed. The high silica content is related to the fact that the rock is composed chiefly of chert fragments in a fine- grained quartz cement (Bradbury et al., 19 55, p. 7, sample 50 (125); Clegg and Bradbury, 1956, p. 17, table 1, occurrence (l)) . Sample 8, Orrs Landing dike, is high in carbonates; also containing impor- tant amounts of carbonates are samples 1, 14, and 16. The carbon dioxide reported in these samples, if calculated to calcium carbonate, yields the figures given below; Sample Calculated CaCO„ 1 41.5% 8 86.5% 14 34.6% 16 41.8% Petrographic examination of these four rocks reveals that the mineral calcite (CaC03) has replaced considerable proportions of the original mineral constituents (Clegg and Bradbury, 1956, p. 13-15 and table 1). Sample 10, Robinson dike, is unusual in its comparatively high content of alumina, ferric oxide, and phosphorous pentoxide. As the Robinson dike was ex- tremely weathered, it is probable that these three oxides are residual concentra- tions , with the alumina and ferric oxide occurring in the weathering products clay and limonite, respectively, and the phosphorous in apatite, a common accessory mineral in the mica-peridotites and one that is highly resistant to weathering. Also high in total iron (Fe203+FeO) are samples 1, 2, 7, and 11. Sample 1, Downeys Bluff sill, and samples 14 and 16, Soward and Sparks Hill breccia plugs, contain higher than average amounts of soda (Na20) . In samples 14 and 16 the soda probably is contained in plagioclase, An^, which has been recognized in thin sections of these rocks. No sodium minerals could be positively identified in thin sections of the Downeys Bluff sill, but an X-ray diffractogram revealed the presence of analcite, a sodium aluminum silicate (NaAlSi 2 6 -H20). As no feldspar or feldspathoids have ever been reported from thin section studies of the sill and dike rocks of southern Illinois (Clegg and Bradbury, 1956; Weller et al. , 1952; Currier, 19 20; Johannsen, 1905), the analcite in the Downeys Bluff sill is the first concrete evidence that some of the dike rocks originally con- tained feldspathic minerals. Johannsen (1905) was the first to suggest that the IGNEOUS INTRUSIVE ROCKS OF SOUTHERN ILLINOIS 7 more extensively altered dikes, particularly those that were replaced in large part by carbonate, originally may have contained feldspar and no olivine and should, therefore, be classed as lamprophyres . The Orrs Landing dike (sample 8), which is two-thirds carbonate, may be a lamprophyre that was depleted in soda through extensive replacement of the rock by carbonate. The other dike rocks in table 2, with the exception of the highly weathered Robinson dike, are undoubted mica- peridotites . The potash raises no such problems as the soda. Phlogopite, a potassium- magnesium mica, in the sill and dike rocks and potash feldspar in the plug rocks appear to be the sources of the potash. Titania (Ti02) is present in concentrations of over 4 percent in three of the nine samples and of over 5 percent in two samples. Examination of thin sections of the rocks revealed that most of the titania is contained in the mineral perovs kite (CaTi03) in fresh peridotite, and in leucoxene (chiefly Ti02, an alteration product of titanium minerals) in altered rock. Grain sizes of the titanium minerals were typically 0.5 mm for perovskite and 0.1 to 0. 2 mm for leucoxene. Although it is conceivable that such relatively low concentrations might be commercial in some deposits, the fine grain size of the titanium minerals in the southern Illinois in- trusives would make their recovery difficult and their profitable production question- able. No specific uses for the samples tested are recognized on the basis of the chemical analyses although it is possible that some of the samples might meet the requirements for some special purpose. The possibility that some of the samples might be used for making a variety of glass was explored by fusion tests. Three samples of explosion breccia and two samples of mica-peridotite, representing bodies of rock of possible minable size, were powdered and heated to 1500° C in a muffle furnace. After cooling, it was found that two of the explosion breccia samples, Sparks Hill and Soward plugs, had yielded a dark greenish glass, although the Sparks Hill sample showed a thin rind of crystalline material next to the crucible wall. The third explosion breccia sample, Hicks Dome plug, had not fused because of its high silica content, 88 per- cent (table 2) . The two samples of peridotite, Mix and Absher dikes, had fused but on cooling had reverted to the crystalline state. These results can be attributed to the chemical compositions of the rocks involved (table 2). The glass-making properties of a silicate mixture depend, to a large extent, on its content of silica (Si02) and alumina (AI2O3) (J. S. Machin, personal communication) . If the sum of Si02 + Al203 falls below about 48 percent, the mixtureis not likely to yield a glass. For example, the Soward plug rock, which had fused entirely to glass, contains 55.6 percent Si02+Al203. The Sparks Hill plug sample, with 49.3 percent Si02 + Al203, just above the prescribed minimum, yielded mostly glass. The Absher and Mix dikes, containing less than 48 percent Si02+Al203, did not yield a glass. Trace Elements The trace element data in table 3 indicate that none of the elements reported upon occur in amounts exceeding . 2 percent, most of them occurring in smaller or very much smaller amounts. No uses for the intrusive rocks are recognized on the basis of their trace element content. 8 ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 330 Rare Earths The rare earth content of all samples tested was less than .2 percent (2000 parts per million), with the exception of sample 8 which contained .21 percent (table 4). Samples 9, 10, and 14 contained no rare earths in amounts detectable by the spectrographic procedures used. Samples 5, 11, 12, and 15 contained very- little rare earths. Sample 8, Orrs Landing dike, and sample 13, Grants intrusive, contained the largest amounts of rare earths . Igneous rocks such as those described herewith are not common commercial sources of rare earths, and insofar as is known the amounts of rare earths found in the southern Illinois igneous rocks are not sufficiently great to place them in the category of ores at the present time. Because of the infancy of the rare earth industry, the experimental nature of ore processing methods, and the lack of an established market for rare earth metals, industry-wide specifications for ores or concentrates do not exist (Whitman, 1960). However, it would appear from the slight amount of information available on grades of ore presently being mined that a commercial deposit should contain several percent rare earth oxides. For example, a bastnaesite deposit at Mountain Pass, California, has an average grade of 10 per- cent rare earth oxides (Vickery, 1960), and a monazite vein deposit in South Africa contains 35 to 40 percent rare earth oxides (Kremers, 19 58). 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>o 3 P O c cu CJ •H p 0) CO -H CO P c U CO CU CU ^H ^ CJ O p c 33 o 3 o o XJ 0) p o c 0) o rH •H rH P o CJ CJ cu p CU cu ^ T3 ■Cm ~ cp Hi o CO p MH •H o E •H CO rH e rO • X) P, P cu bD C P CU CO CM O CJ P -rH = CU XJ CM 3 P •H cp • CU cu o ^ p> p CO CO p r-\ C p CO CO c 3 ,£: 01 CHP CJ 0) 3 CO o 3 CO CJ O 0) •H r-t rC r-^ p H ■•> p •H XI CO E 0) cu P P CJ p CU p p * CO O p Cm 3 bD O 1 C O ■H O X! CO r-\ 3 33 12 ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY CIRCULAR 330 REFERENCES Bradbury, J. C. , 1960, Rare earth and trace element content of an unusual clay on Hicks Dome in Hardin County, Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Indus. Min. Notes 11, p. 1-5. Bradbury, J. C, Ostrom, M. E., and McVicker, L. D., 1955, Preliminary report on uranium in Hardin County, Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Circ. 200, 21 p. Clegg, K. E., and Bradbury, J. C, 1956, Igneous intrusive rocks in Illinois and their economic significance: Illinois Geol. Survey Rept. Inv. 197, 19 p. Currier, L. W., 1920, Igneous rocks, in Weller, Stuart, The geology of Hardin County, Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Bull. 41, chap. XI, p. 237-244. Johannsen, Albert, 1905, in Bain, H. F., The fluorspar deposits of southern Illinois: U. S. Geol. Survey Bull. 255, p. 28. Kremers, H. E., 1958, Commercial thorium ores: Am. Inst. Min. Met. Petroleum Eng. Preprint no. 5819A18, 14 p. Trace, R. D., 1960, Significance of unusual mineral occurrence at Hicks Dome, Hardin County, Illinois: U. S. Geol. Survey Prof . Paper 400-B, p. 63-64. Vickery, R. C. , 1960, The abundant rare earths: Industrial Research, v. 2, no. 4, p. 31-34. Weller, J. M., Grogan, R. M., and Tippie, F. E., 1952, Geology of the fluorspar deposits of Illinois: Illinois Geol. Survey Bull. 76, p. 71-73. Whitman, J. H., 1960, Evaluation and marketing of rare earth deposits, ores and concentrates: Am. Inst. Min. Met. Petroleum Eng. Preprint no. 60H42, 8 p. Illinois State Geological Survey Circular 330 12 p., 1 fig., 4 tables, 1962 Printed by Authority of State of Illinois, Ch. 127, IRS, Par. 58.25 CIRCULAR 330 ILLINOIS STATE GEOLOGICAL SURVEY URBANA