Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-dh8gc Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-09T19:25:11.455Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Abundance and distribution of uranium and thorium in the northern units of the Leinster granite, Ireland

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

P. J. O'Connor ,
J. Hennessy ,
P. M. Bruck  and
C. T. Williams
P. J. O'Connor
Affiliation:
Geological Survey of Ireland, 14 Hume Street, Dublin, Ireland
J. Hennessy
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of TorontoToronto, Canada
P. M. Bruck
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University College, Cork, Ireland
C. T. Williams
Affiliation:
Department of MineralogyBritish Museum (Natural History), London, U.K.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Summary

Abundance data, determined by epithermal neutron activation analysis, are reported for radioelements in the northern units of the Leinster granite. Compared to similar data for silicic igneous rocks and British Caledonian granites, the Leinster granite shows normal U and K contents but is low in Th. Inter-element correlations and fission-track results suggest that most Th and up to 40% of the U is bound in resistate accessory phases (zircon, sphene, apatite), but that the bulk of U is associated with late-stage alteration products and is located at interstitial labile sites within the host-rock matrix. Mobilization of U located at such sites in the Leinster granite by hydrothermal leaching could lead to redeposition and enrichment in marginal sediments of Old Red Sandstone or younger age.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 119 , Issue 6 , November 1982 , pp. 581 - 592
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1982

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahrens, L. H. 1965. Distribution of the Elements in our Planet. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Birch, F. 1954. Heat from radioactivity. In Nuclear Geology (ed. Faul, H.). New York.Google Scholar
Bowie, S. H. U., Simpson, R. R. & Rice, C. M. 1973. Application of fission-track and neutron activation methods to geochemical exploration. In Geochemical Exploration (ed. Jones, M. J.), pp. 359–72. Instn Min. Metall. (Proc. 4th Int. Geochem. Exploration Symp., London 1972).Google Scholar
Brück, P. M. 1974. Granite varieties and structures of the Northern and Upper Liffey Valley Units of the Leinster batholith. Bull. geol. Surv. Ireland 1, 381–93.Google Scholar
Brück, P. M. & O'connor, P. J. 1977. The Leinster batholith: geology and geochemistry of the northern units. Bull. geol. Surv. Ireland 2, 107–41.Google Scholar
Bruck, P. M. & O'connor, P. J. 1980. Major transverse and other linears in the Leinster granite. Bull. geol. Surv. Ireland 2, 349–70.Google Scholar
Gabelman, J. W. 1970. Speculations on the uranium ore fluid. In Uranium Exploration Geology, pp. 315–30.Google Scholar
Gallagher, M. J., McL. Michie, U., Smith, R. T. & Haynes, L. 1971. New evidence of uranium and other mineralization in Scotland. Trans. Instn Min. Metall. 80 B, 150–73.Google Scholar
Goldschmidt, V. M. 1954. Geochemistry. Oxford: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Hennessy, J. 1981. A classification of British Caledonian granites based on uranium and thorium contents. Mineralog. Mag. 44, 449–54.Google Scholar
Kleeman, J. D. & Lovering, J. F. 1967. Uranium distribution studies by fission track registration in Lexan plastic prints. Atom. Energy in Australia 10, 3–8.Google Scholar
Mann, H. B. & Whitney, D. R. 1947. On a test of whether one of two random variables is stochastically larger than the other. Ann. Math. Statist. 18, 50–60.Google Scholar
Moorbath, S. & Welke, H. 1969. Lead isotope studies on igneous rocks from the Isle of Skye, northwest Scotland. Earth Planet. Sci. Lett. 5, 217–30.Google Scholar
O'connor, P. J. 1981(a). Report on a reconnaissance radiometric survey of the Irish Republic. Geol. Surv. Ireland Rept. Series, RS, 81/1 (Geophysics), 26 pp.Google Scholar
O'connor, P. J. 1981(b). Radioelement geochemistry of Irish granites. Mineralog. Mag. 44, 485–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O'connor, P. J. & Brück, P. M. 1978. Age and origin of the Leinster granite. Jl Earth Sci. R. Dubl. Soc. 1, 105–113.Google Scholar
O'connor, P. J. & Reeves, T. 1979. Age and provenance of the Carrigmore Diorite, Co. Wicklow. Bull. geol. Surv. Ireland 2, 307–14.Google Scholar
O'connor, P. J., Reeves, T. & Hennessy, J. 1981. Radioelement abundance data for the Carrigmore diorite and certain minor granite intrusives from East Leinster. Bull. geol. Surv. Ireland 3, 9–16.Google Scholar
Rogers, J. J. W. & Adams, J. A. S. 1969. Uranium, Thorium. In Handbook of Geochemistry, vol. 11–3, 92-B-1 to 92-O-8 and 90-B-1 to 90-O-5 (ed. Wedepohl, K. H.). Springer-Verlag, 1972.Google Scholar
Siegel, S. 1956. Nonparametric Statistics for the Behavioural Sciences. New York: McGraw-Hill.Google Scholar
Simpson, P. R., Brown, G. C., Plant, J. & Ostle, D. 1979. Uranium mineralization and granite magmatism in the British Isles. Phil. Trans. R. Soc. Lond. A 291, 385–421.Google Scholar
Simpson, P. R., Plant, J. & Cope, M. J. 1976. Uranium abundance and distribution in some granites from northern Scotland and southwest England as indicators of uranium provinces. In Geology, Mining and Extractive Processing of Uranium (ed. Jones, M. J.), pp. 126–39. London: Instn Min. Metall. and EEC, 1977.Google Scholar
Steiger, R. 1977. Prospecting for lithium and tungsten in Ireland. In Prospecting in Areas of Glaciated Terrain, Inst Min. Metall. (Helsinki, 1977), pp. 14–24.Google Scholar
Steiger, R. & Von Knorring, O. 1974. A lithium pegmatite belt in Ireland. Jl Earth Sciences Leeds 8, 433–43.Google Scholar
Tammemagi, H. Y. 1976. Radioelement concentrations in British Tertiary Granites. Geol. Mag. 113, 271–6.Google Scholar
Tammemagi, H. Y. & Smith, M. L. 1975. A radiogeologic study of the granites of SW England. Jl geol. Soc. Lond. 131, 415–27.Google Scholar
Taylor, S. R. 1965. The application of trace element data to problems in petrology. Phys. Chem. Earth 6, 133–213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thornton, C. P. & Tuttle, O. F. 1960. Chemistry of igneous rocks. 1. Differentiation index. Am. J. Sci. 258, 664–84.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wilson, I. R. & Floyd, P. A. 1974. Distribution of uranium in the Land's End granite and aureole, and various greenstones from Cornwall. Proc. Ussher Soc. 3, 166–76.Google Scholar