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Geologic Map of the Maysville Quadrangle, Chaffee County, Colorado

Geologic Map of the Maysville Quadrangle, Chaffee County, Colorado

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Mount Princeton pluton.<br />

Age determinations on <strong>the</strong> Mount Princeton pluton and a potentially correlative<br />

volcanic unit, <strong>the</strong> Wall Mountain Tuff, were compiled by Shannon (1988). The average<br />

<strong>of</strong> six K-Ar ages, five fission-track ages, and one Pb/Th age on <strong>the</strong> Mount Princeton<br />

pluton is 36.6 Ma. The Pb/Th zircon age determination <strong>of</strong> 36.6 +/- 0.4 Ma (Ed DeWitt,<br />

1987, written communication; Fridrich and o<strong>the</strong>rs, 1998) may be <strong>the</strong> most reliable<br />

indication <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> age <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> Mount Princeton pluton because o<strong>the</strong>r age determinations<br />

may be partially reset by younger magmatism. The average <strong>of</strong> six K-Ar ages and three<br />

fission-track ages for <strong>the</strong> Wall Mountain Tuff is 36.6 Ma, <strong>the</strong> same as <strong>the</strong> indicated age <strong>of</strong><br />

<strong>the</strong> Mount Princeton pluton. McIntosh and Chapin (2004) presented new high precision<br />

40 Ar/ 39 Ar age determinations for <strong>the</strong> Wall Mountain Tuff and <strong>the</strong> Mount Princeton<br />

pluton. The mean <strong>of</strong> five ages for <strong>the</strong> Wall Mountain Tuff is 36.69 +/- 0.09 Ma. New age<br />

determinations for <strong>the</strong> Mount Princeton pluton mostly record <strong>the</strong>rmally reset ages<br />

associated with <strong>the</strong> Mount Aetna cauldron magmatic event (Chapin, 2003, personal<br />

communication).<br />

Tmpp Mount Pomeroy subunit (late Eocene) – The Mount Pomeroy subunit is<br />

present in a 400 to 1,000 ft long, 300 to 400 ft wide zone in <strong>the</strong> northwest corner <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />

<strong>Maysville</strong> quadrangle. It is separated by <strong>the</strong> outer ring dike <strong>of</strong> Mount Aetna quartz<br />

monzonite porphyry (Tma) from a small area <strong>of</strong> Mount Princeton finer-grained quartz<br />

monzonite subunit (Tmpf) in <strong>the</strong> very northwest corner <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> quadrangle.<br />

The Mount Pomeroy subunit is a medium-dark-gray to slightly purplish-gray,<br />

medium to coarse-grained rock (fig. 24). It is distinctly darker in color than all <strong>the</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r<br />

Mount Princeton pluton border and interior subunits. The rock is characterized by a slight<br />

porphyritic to seriate texture with abundant 3 to 10 mm tabular plagioclase grains, some 3<br />

to 7 mm alkali feldspar grains and 2 to 4 mm hornblende-biotite grains. The plagioclase<br />

grains have a distinct medium-gray to purplish-gray color. The matrix is finer grained,<br />

about 0.5 to 2.0 mm and practically merges with <strong>the</strong> smaller sizes <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> larger crystal<br />

population. It is distinctly more quartz- and alkali feldspar-rich (felsic) than <strong>the</strong> larger<br />

crystal population.<br />

Modal analyses <strong>of</strong> <strong>the</strong> various Mount Princeton pluton subunits were compiled by<br />

98

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