%0 Conference Proceedings %B Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America %D 2010 %T Evidence for arsenic-mineralization in granitic basement rocks, Ayer Granodiorite, northeastern Massachusetts %A Koteas, G. Christopher %A Keskula, Anna J. %A Stein, Carol L. %A McTigue, David F. %A Joseph P Kopera %A Brandon, William C. %K #StaffPubs %K acadian %K arsenic %K arsenides %K arsenopyrite %K Ayer Granodiorite %K Berwick formation %K fractured materials %K geochemistry %K granodiorites %K Igneous and metamorphic petrology 05A %K igneous rocks %K lower Paleozoic %K massachusetts %K Merrimack Synclinorium %K metals %K metamorphic rocks %K metamorphism %K metasedimentary rocks %K metasomatism %K Middlesex County Massachusetts %K migration of elements %K mineralization %K Mineralogy of non-silicates 01C %K northeastern Massachusetts %K orogeny %K Paleozoic %K plutonic rocks %K pollutants %K pollution %K pyrite %K sulfides %K United States %X Core samples of the Ayer Granodiorite along the eastern margin of the Merrimack Belt in northeastern Massachusetts host a series of sulfide and oxide phases that resulted from interaction with sulfide-bearing meta-sedimentary host rocks. Euhedral arsenopyrite grains are found with ilmenite, apatite, and REE phosphates in zones that generally mimic the intersection between a gneissic fabric and a relict magmatic foliation. Arsenopyrite crystals are typically elongate with this lineation. Euhedral to subhedral pyrite crystals have also been observed, but are localized to areas without As-bearing phases. Micro-fractures that parallel either a steep NW-striking joint set or gently-dipping sheeting joints are commonly filled with interwoven calcite cements and As-bearing Fe-oxides. Surface coatings of major fracture sets are also characterized by Fe-As-rich rinds that host micron-scale sub-angular particles of quartz, feldspars, and phyllosilicates. Where micro-fractures are most concentrated, sulfide-bearing minerals are less common; however, subhedral to anhedral arsenopyrite grains do occur along some open micro-fractures. These crystals preserve lobate grain boundaries and are associated with As-bearing Fe-oxide-rich coatings along adjacent fractures. The presence of 1) pyrite, 2) arsenopyrite associated with phosphates, and 3) As-bearing fracture coatings suggests multiple stages of mineralization. We propose that intrusion-related fluid-rock interaction associated with heating of nearby sulfide-bearing schists of the Berwick Formation during Acadian orogenesis may have provided the necessary constituents for growth of sulfide phases in the Ayer. It appears that Late Devonian greenschist facies metamorphism and metasomatism led to mineralization that generated arsenopyrite and accompanying phosphates; however, the role of the cross-cutting Clinton Newbury Fault Zone as a conduit for hydrothermal fluids may also be important. Lower temperature As-bearing Fe-oxide and calcite coatings on open fractures surfaces may be associated with a change from lithostatic- to hydrostatic-pressures during post-glacial regional uplift. This mineralization appears to be synchronous with intense microfracturing that post-dates all other mineralization. %B Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America %I Geological Society of America (GSA) : Boulder, CO, United States %C United States %V 42 %P 160 - 160 %8 2010/03/01/ %@ 00167592 %G eng %U https://gsa.confex.com/gsa/2010NE/finalprogram/abstract_169998.htm %N 11 %! Abstracts with Programs - Geological Society of America %0 Journal Article %J Hydrogeology Journal %D 1997 %T Analyzing outcrop-scale fracture features to supplement investigations of bedrock aquifers %A Stephen B Mabee %A Hardcastle, Kenneth C. %K #StaffPubs %K aquifers %K BEDROCK %K boreholes %K California %K dip fractures %K field studies %K fractures %K framework silicates %K ground water %K hydrodynamics %K Hydrogeology 21 %K laumontite %K Madera County California %K mapping %K mineralization %K movement %K Raymond California %K roughness %K silicates %K United States %K zeolite group %X A case study was conducted of 79 outcrops within 150 meters of the nine, 7590 m deep boreholes at the Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory (LBL) Fracture Hydrology Field Site in Raymond, California, USA, in order to make preliminary comparisons between surface fracture data and geophysical and hydrologic testing conducted in the boreholes. The orientation, trace length, spacing, roughness, planarity, associated mineralization, and domains (the geographic distribution of specific fracture sets) of 471 fractures were measured. Five families of steeply-dipping fractures and one family of shallow dipping fractures comprise 75 percent of the data and trend 52, 62, 130, 147, 173, and 35, respectively. The geographic distributions (domains) of the families, however, show the well field to be within the domains of the 62-, 173- and 35-trending families. The steeply-dipping fractures detected in the boreholes by LBL via acoustic televiewer logging trend about 65, 173, and 30 corroborating the findings of the fracture-domain analysis. Results indicate that the boreholes are located within a laumontite-mineralized area, including a steeply-dipping, 160-trending zone, 520 cm wide, of laumontite-rich pods that transects the boreholes. Independent hydrologic tests by LBL revealed a 160-trending barrier to groundwater flow between some of the boreholes, precisely where the 160-trending zone of laumontite-mineralized pods was mapped. %B Hydrogeology Journal %I Verlag Heinz Heise : Hanover, Federal Republic of Germany %C Federal Republic of Germany %V 5 %P 21 - 36 %8 1997/01/01/ %@ 1431217414350157 %G eng %U http://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s100400050106 %N 4 %! Hydrogeology Journal %0 Report %D 2011 %T Experiments Summarizing the Potential of CO2 Sequestration in the Basalts of Massachusetts – Final Report %A Petrick, Carrie %A Stephen B Mabee %K #MGSPub %K #MGSPubs %K #Reports %K basalts %K Carbon %K carbonate %K climate change %K CO2 %K Holyoke Basalt %K injection %K mineralization %K precipitation %K sequestration %X Basalts are gaining more attention as reservoirs for the geological sequestration of carbon dioxide (CO2). The purpose of this report is to present the results of experiments that were conducted on the basalts in western Massachusetts and Connecticut to determine their potential to sequester CO2. There were two primary objectives of these experiments:
  • To recreate and validate prior carbonate mineralization experiments conducted on the Holyoke basalt by Schaef et al. (2009) from Pacific Northwest National Laboratories (PNNL) and to test if their results are reproducible and geographically consistent within western Massachusetts and Connecticut, and,
  • 2. To explore the possibility of reacting CO2 with basalt at the earth’s surface in an ex-situ mineral reactor and, in particular, to identify the optimum conditions necessary to precipitate large amounts of carbonate at the surface in a short time period by varying pressure, temperature, water volume, mass of sample and grain size in the experiments.
  • Prepared for the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center %I Massachusetts Geological Survey %C Amherst, MA %P 103 %8 10/2011 %G eng %U http://www.geo.umass.edu/stategeologist/Products/reports/BasaltSequestrationReport.pdf