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Uranium Mineralization of Fossil Wood
- Source :
- Geosciences, Volume 10, Issue 4, Geosciences, Vol 10, Iss 133, p 133 (2020)
- Publication Year :
- 2020
- Publisher :
- Multidisciplinary Digital Publishing Institute, 2020.
-
Abstract
- Uraniferous sandstone deposits commonly resulted when uranium in groundwater precipitated in reducing environments caused by degradation of ancient wood and organic debris. However, the mineralogy of uranium in fossil wood has received relatively little study. Previous microscopic observations of petrified wood from a few uranium mines have demonstrated that uranium in fossil wood primarily involves the oxide mineral uraninite or the silicate mineral coffinite, often in association with metal sulfides such as chalcopyrite. These observations are applicable to primary ore zones that are located below the water table, where oxidation is inhibited. New analyses utilizing scanning electron microscopy and X-ray fluorescence (SEM/EDS) reveal that fossil wood from oxidized ore zones may contain a diverse variety of uranium minerals, including carnotite, tyuyamunite, and zippeite, as well as various vanadate and sulfate minerals. Uranium-bearing common opalized wood and stratiform common opal from two prospects in Nevada, USA, contain no identifiable uranium minerals. Instead, the element is dispersed in trace amounts within the opal.
- Subjects :
- inorganic chemicals
010504 meteorology & atmospheric sciences
Geochemistry
chemistry.chemical_element
010502 geochemistry & geophysics
01 natural sciences
complex mixtures
uraninite
uranium
Uraninite
coffinite
carnotite
Coffinite
fossil wood
0105 earth and related environmental sciences
tyuyamunite
lcsh:QE1-996.5
technology, industry, and agriculture
zippeite
Uranium
Petrified wood
Tyuyamunite
Carnotite
lcsh:Geology
chemistry
visual_art
Fossil wood
visual_art.visual_art_medium
vanadium
General Earth and Planetary Sciences
Environmental science
Sulfate minerals
Subjects
Details
- Language :
- English
- ISSN :
- 20763263
- Database :
- OpenAIRE
- Journal :
- Geosciences
- Accession number :
- edsair.doi.dedup.....1b9aaf4e94bd1bf229f53019d39584ce
- Full Text :
- https://doi.org/10.3390/geosciences10040133