Geochemical survey of the Dolly Ann Roadless Area, Alleghany County, Virginia

The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) made a reconnaissance geochemical survey of the Dolly Ann Roadless Area (fig. 1) to test for indistinct or unexposed mineral deposits that might be recognized by their geochemical halos. Similar geochemical surveys based on trace-element analyses have been credited with the discovery of many types of mineral deposits (Hawkes and Webb, 1962). No metallic mineral deposits other than iron Md manganese are known in the sequence of rocks exposed in the study area, and no evidence of any other deposit was found in the geochemical studies. Samples collected by the author, assisted by M. B. Longacre in May 1979 and A. E. Grosz in April 1980, include 39 stream sediments, 17 soils, and 120 rocks.