Kyanite, Sillimanite, and Andalusite Deposits of the Southeastern ...

More documents

Recommendations

Info

KYANITE DEPOSITS 63 3 Miles EXPLANATION Precambrian(?) rocks are not necessarily in strict stratigraphic order Base from North Carolina State Highway and Public Works Commission road map of Rutherford County Area in which float of kyanite- Muscovite schist Indefinite or inferred contact Outline of area of kyanitequartz rock float ? Strike and dip of foliation APPROXIMATE MEAN DECLINATION 1959 Bearing and plunge of linear structure: k, kyanite; FA, fold axis Base map from U. S. Department of Agriculture aerial photographs Geology by P. K. Theobold.Jr. and J. W. Whitlow 1951 1000 1000 2000 3000 4000 5000 Feet FIGURE 40. Geologic map of Youngs Mountain kyanite area, Rutherford County, N.C.
64 KYANITE, SILLIMANITE, AND ANDALUSITE DEPOSITS, SOUTHEASTERN UNITED STATES shown in figure 40. Elongated blocks of kyanitequartz rock as much as 10 feet wide and 20 feet long are found at various places within this area. It seems likely that these large blocks were elongated masses of kyanite and quartz in schist that have been set free by weathering and have accumulated on the surface. If this is true, individual bodies of kyanite-quartz rock probably are small and scattered erratically through the schist. OTHER LOCALITIES Kyanite is widely distributed in quartz veins and pegmatites in the Blue Ridge area of western North Carolina. In addition to the occurrences in the Burnsville-Swannanoa area and the Warne- Sylva sillimamte district (p. 106), kyanite is found in Cherokee, Haywood, Avery, Wilkes, and Ashe Counties in the Blue Ridge area (Genth, 1891; Stuckey, 1932, 1937). In the western Piedmont, additional kyanite localities are in Surry, Stokes, Iredell, and Mecklenburg Counties, according to Genth (1891). At the locality in northern Iredell County noted by Genth, lenticular aggregates of fibrous bluish-gray kyanite a few inches across are found as scattered fragments of float in an area of garnetmuscovite schist and gneiss, about 11/2 miles northeast of Union Grove on the road to Hunting Creek. Additional occurrences of kyanite in the eastern Piedmont are in Wake and Franklin Counties. In Wake County, kyanite-garnet-mica schist crops out at the intersection of North Carolina Highway 264 and the road to Woodland Church, about 3 miles west of Wake Forest. Several shallow prospects for kyanite and mica were dug near here during World War II (Steel, 1952). NORTH CAROLINA-SOUTH CAROLINA KINGS MOUNTAIN DISTRICT, CLEVELAND, GASTON, AND LINCOLN COUNTIES, N.C., AND YORK COUNTY, S.C. The Kings Mountain district is in the center of the Piedmont province at the North Carolina-South Carolina border, about 25 miles west of Charlotte, N. C. Kyanite and sillimanite quartzites occur in two parts of the district, the Crowders Mountain- Henry Knob area at the south and the Reese Mountain-Clubb Mountain area at the north (fig. 41). The Crowders Mountain-Henry Knob area, covering about 35 square miles, lies in the northeast part of the Kings Mountain quadrangle; the area also includes a very small part of the Clover, Gastonia, and Lincolnton quadrangles to the east, northeast, and north, respectively. The general geology of this area is shown on plate 7. The principal kyanite deposits are at Crowders Mountain, The Pinnacle, the Shelton property, and Henry Knob; the main sillimanite quartzite deposits are at, the Will Knox and Ryan-Purcley properties. The Reese Mountain-Clubb Mountain area (fig. 41) is in the middle of the Gastonia quadrangle, about 15 miles northeast of the Crowders Mountain- Henry Knob area. In the Reese Mountain-Clubb Mountain area only the high-alumina quartzite deposits and the eastern contact of the Yorkville quartz monzonite 7 were mapped (pi. 8). Other metamorphic and igneous rocks were not studied in detail in this area. The principal occurrence of kyanite quartzite in this area is at the north end of Clubb Mountain; sillimanite quartzite is best developed at Reese Mountain and at Machpelah Church. The geology of the Kings Mountain district was discussed by Keith and Sterrett (1931), and by Kesler (1955). The kyanite deposit at Henry Knob was studied by Newcome, 8 and a discussion of the origin of this deposit is given by Smith and Newcome (1951). Except for sillimanite, records of most of the occurrences of the high-alumina minerals in the district are found in the early literature (Kerr, 1875; Genth and Kerr, 1881; Sloan, 1908). A preliminary account of the present study has been given by Potter (1954). The following special studies also involve this district: Granite (Watson, 1909, 1910), magnetite and brown hematite (Nitze, 1893), manganese (White, 1944), barite (Van Horn and others, 1949), and tin and spodumene (Kesler, 1942). GENERAL GEOLOGY The metamorphic rocks of the Crowders Mountain-Henry Knob area are part of a well-defined structural and lithologic belt extending northeast from Gaffney, S.C. This belt is from 5 to 10 miles wide and at least 35 miles long (Keith and Sterrett, 1931; Kesler, 1955; King, 1955; Sterrett, D. B., written communication, 1912). It contains hornblende and mica schists and gneisses, marble, high-alumina quartzite and conglomerate, manganif erous schist, low-grade schists exhibiting relict sedimentary and volcanic textures, and metatonalite, in contrast to the rather monotonous succession of micaceous and hornblendic schists and gneisses to the west. Economic deposits of pegmatite, carrying spodumene and cassiterite, occur in this belt just south of the village of Kings Mountain. In gen- 7 Originally named the Yorkville granite by Keith and Sterrett (1931), this rock is redefined as the Yorkville quartz monzonite. 8 Newcome, R. C., 1949, Kyanite at Henry Knob, South Carolina: Master of Science thesis, South Carolina Univ.
Page 1 and 2:
Kyanite, Sillimanite, and Andalusit
Page 3 and 4:
UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INT
Page 5 and 6:
IV Page Kyanite deposits Continued
Page 7 and 8:
VI CONTENTS TABLES TABLE 1. Major d
Page 9 and 10:
KYANITE, SILLIMANITE, AND ANDALUSIT
Page 11 and 12:
Page 13 and 14:
Page 15 and 16:
8 KYANITE, SILLIMANITE, AND ANDALUS
Page 17 and 18:
Type of mica Muscovite . . . Do....
Page 19 and 20: 12 KYANITE, SILLIMANITE, AND ANDALU
Page 69: 62 KYANITE, SILLIMANITE, AND ANDALU
Page 95 and 96: KYANITE, SILLIMANITE, AND ANDALUSIT
Page 107 and 108: 100 KYANITE, SILLIMANITE, AND ANDAL
Page 121 and 122:
114 KYANITE, SILLIMANITE, AND ANDAL
Page 123 and 124:
Page 125 and 126:
Page 127 and 128:
120 KYANITE, SILLIMANITE. AND ANDAL
show all

Kyanite, Sillimanite, and Andalusite Deposits of the Southeastern ...

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

Delete template?

Save as template?