John N Aleinikoff

The Late Cretaceous Boulder batholith in southwest Montana consists of the Butte Granite and a group of associated smaller intrusions emplaced into Mesoproterozoic to Mesozoic sedimentary rocks and into the Late Cretaceous Elkhorn Mountains Volcanics. The Boulder batholith is dominated by the voluminous Butte Granite, which is surrounded by as many as a dozen individually named...

Re–Os geochronology of fractions composed of unsized, coarse, and fine molybdenite from a pod of unusual monazite–xenotime gneiss within a granulite facies paragneiss, Hudson Highlands, NY, yielded dates of 950.5 ± 2.5, 953.8 ± 2.6, and 941.2 ± 2.6 Ma, respectively. These dates are not recorded by co-existing zircon, monazite, or xenotime. SEM–BSE imagery of thin sections and separated...

We present new evidence for the assignment of the Neoproterozoic Massabesic Gneiss Complex of New Hampshire to the Gander terrane rather than the Avalon terrane. The majority of Avalonian (sensu stricto) igneous and meta-igneous rocks as defined in Maritime Canada have positive whole-rock ɛNd compared to more negative values for Gander rocks, although there is a region of overlap in ɛNd...

A pod of monazite-xenotime gneiss (MXG) occurs within Mesoproterozoic paragneiss, Hudson Highlands, New York. This outcrop also contains granite of the Crystal Lake pluton, which migmatized the paragneiss. Previously, monazite, xenotime, and zircon from MXG, plus detrital zircon from the paragneiss, and igneous zircon from the granite, were dated using multi-grain thermal ionization mass

Mesoproterozoic basement in the vicinity of Mount Rogers is characterized by considerable lithologic variability, including major map units composed of gneiss, amphibolite, migmatite, meta-quartz monzodiorite and various types of granitoid. SHRIMP U-Pb geochronology and field mapping indicate that basement units define four types of occurrences, including (1) xenoliths of ca. 1.33 to ≥1...

New mapping, geochemistry, and 17 U–Pb SHRIMP zircon ages from rocks of the Sirwa, Bou Azzer–El Graara, and Jebel Saghro inliers constrain the Neoproterozoic evolution of the eastern Anti-Atlas during Pan-African orogenesis. In the Sirwa inlier, Tonian quartzite from the pre Pan-African passive margin deposits of the Mimount Formation contains detrital zircon derived entirely from the...

Xenotime occurs as epitaxial overgrowths on detrital zircons in the Mesoproterozoic Revett Formation (Belt Supergroup) at the Spar Lake red bed-associated Cu-Ag deposit, western Montana. The deposit formed during diagenesis of Revett strata, where oxidizing metal-bearing hydrothermal fluids encountered a reducing zone. Samples for geochronology were collected from several mineral zones...

The Blackbird district, east-central Idaho, contains the largest known Co reserves in the United States. The origin of strata-hosted Co-Cu ± Au mineralization at Blackbird has been a matter of controversy for decades. In order to differentiate among possible genetic models for the deposits, including various combinations of volcanic, sedimentary, magmatic, and metamorphic processes, we...

In central Idaho, Neoproterozoic stratified rocks are engulfed by the Late Cretaceous Idaho batholith and by Eocene volcanic and plutonic rocks of the Challis event. Studied sections in the Gospel Peaks and Big Creek areas of west-central Idaho are in roof pendants of the Idaho batholith. A drill core section studied from near Challis, east-central Idaho, lies beneath the Challis...

This report presents the results of zircon and monazite uranium-lead (U-Pb) geochronologic analyses of 24 rock samples. The samples in this study were collected from mapped exposures identified while conducting either new, detailed (1:24,000-scale) geologic quadrangle mapping or reconnaissance mapping, both of which were used for compilation of the bedrock geologic map of Vermont. All of...

The ages of orthogneisses exposed in massifs of the Variscan chain can determine whether they are part of a pre-Neoproterozoic basement, a Neoproterozoic, Panafrican arc, or are, in fact, lower Paleozoic, and their isotopic compositions can be used to probe the nature of their source rocks, adding to the understanding of the types, distribution, and tectonic evolution of peri-Gondwanan...

The Waterbury dome, located in the Rowe-Hawley zone in western Connecticut, is a triple window exposing three terranes: parautochthonous or allochthonous peri-Laurentian rocks in its lowest level 1, allochthonous rocks of the Rowe-Hawley zone in its middle level 2, and allochthonous cover rocks, including Silurian-Devonian rocks of the Connecticut Valley Gaspé trough, in its highest...