Organic matter diagenesis as the key to a unifying theory for the genesis of tabular uranium-vanadium deposits in the Morrison Formation, Colorado Plateau

Interstitial, epigenetic amorphous organic matter is intimately associated with uranium in the Grants uranium region and is considered essential to genetic models for these deposits. In contrast, uranium minerals are intimately associated with authigenic vanadium chlorite and vanadium oxides in amorphous organic matter-poor ores of the Slick Rock and Henry Mountains mining districts and therefore, in some genetic models amorphous organic matter is not considered crucial to the formation of these deposits. Differences in organic matter content can be explained by recognizing that amorphous organic matter-poor deposits have been subjected to more advanced stages of diagenesis than amorphous organic matter-rich deposits. Evidence that amorphous organic matter was involved in the genesis of organic matter-poor, as well as organic matter-rich, deposits is described. -from Authors