Special Events

Colorado Scientific Society Past Presidents’ Dinner

Colorado Scientific Society Past Presidents in May 10, 2017
Peter Barkmann, Pete Modreski, Lisa Fisher, Bruce Bryant, Barney Poole, Karl Kellogg, Emmett Evanoff, Jim Cappa, Bill Nesse, Paul Morgan, Marith Reheis

Thursday, September 21, 2023

CSS 2023 Past Presidents’ Dinner

Dinner and presentation at the Mount Vernon Canyon Club
24933 Clubhouse Circle, Golden, CO (on Lookout Mtn., off I-70)

‘Golden Age of Geology’,
Plate Tectonics and the Metaluminous-Peraluminous Distinction

Monte Swan, MagmaChem Associates, LLC

Mount Vernon Canyon Club; Note large balcony on right, which is outside our dining room
Mount Vernon Canyon Club
Note large balconies, which are outside our dining room

‘Golden Age of Geology’, Plate Tectonics and the Metaluminous-Peraluminous Distinction

Abstract:

The second half of the twentieth century saw the convergence of the plate tectonic revolution, and multiple new technologies during a fundamental shift from analogue ‘eyes-on-the-rocks’ to digital ‘eyes-on-the-screen’. Strong funding during this shift led to the formation of numerous industry geologic research groups supporting world-wide oil & gas and mineral exploration, the generation of massive amounts of geologic data, many discoveries and a thriving multi-generational geological in-person community. High risk characterized this time, with work in remote deserts, rugged mountains, and deep jungles, while 4-wheeling and camping in virgin wilderness with no phone or radio and paper maps–this describes the life of the geologist back then. It could be considered a ‘Golden Age of Geology’ and it is hard to imagine it ever happening again.

The MagmaChem Exploration Company and Research Institute was founded during this golden age with the mission of integrating the past and future with the new technologies. This was done by focusing on empirical data compilation and the systematic taxonomic organization of specifically magmatism and associated mineral deposit data. The result of this research was a source- and process-based, 7-fold, Linnean type, Magma-Metal Series, chemical classification of igneous rocks and mineral deposits ultimately developing and integrating into an empirically-defined petrotectonic model of a layered earth (Figures 1 and 2). Not only does this give plate tectonics higher resolution, but it increases its predictive power. For example, application to mineral exploration dramatically reduces risk, which led to the discovery of twenty mineral deposits on 3 continents worth one hundred and three billion dollars and could be considered an economic proof of concept (Figure 3). The 89-72 Ma Sevier-Laramide late Cretaceous paleo-tectonic map and cross section of the WUS in Figure 4 is an example of the integration of oceanic and continental plate motion data and the direct linkage of mantle sources and processes to crustal geology.

This presentation will present an overview of the results of MagmaChem’s research and then focus on one of MagmaChem’s most important distinctions–the plate tectonic settings and resource implications of: 1) moderate to steep, subduction-generated, metaluminous igneous rocks, mineral deposits and serpentinization; and 2) flat, subduction-generated, peraluminous, igneous rocks, mineral deposits and serpentinization (Figures 5 and 6).

Notes:

  1. Figures 2, 4, and 6, below, contain a lot of detail, and they were resized to load in a reasonable time.
    To zoom in on these images, click here to download Plate Tectonics and the Metaluminous-Peraluminous Distinction 10.6 MB,  a PDF with the images at full resolution.
  2. Metaluminous rocks are igneous rocks that have a molar proportion of aluminium oxide lower than the combination of calcium oxide, sodium oxide and potassium oxide. …” – Wikipedia
  3. Peraluminous rocks are igneous rocks that have a molecular proportion of aluminium oxide higher than the combination of sodium oxide, potassium oxide and calcium oxide. …” – Wikipedia
Figure 1: Taxonomic structure of the Magma-Metal Series Classification.
Figure 1: Taxonomic structure of the Magma-Metal Series Classification.
Figure 2: Magma-Metal Series Petrotectonic Model for a Layered Earth, comprising an 8-layered mantlewith chemically distinct and physically immiscible layers.
Figure 2: Magma-Metal Series Petrotectonic Model for a Layered Earth, comprising an 8-layered mantle with chemically distinct and physically immiscible layers.
Figure 3: MagmaChem client Cu-Au-Ag discoveries identified and targeted by MagmaChem.
Figure 3: MagmaChem client Cu-Au-Ag discoveries identified and targeted by MagmaChem.
Figure 4: Sevier-Laramide, Late-Cretaceous (89-72 Ma)paleo-tectonic, time-slice map and cross section of the WUS showing integration of oceanic and continental plate motion data and the direct linkage of mantle sources and processes to crustal geology.
Figure 4: Sevier-Laramide, Late-Cretaceous (89-72 Ma) paleo-tectonic, time-slice map and cross section of the WUS showing integration of oceanic and continental plate motion data and the direct linkage of mantle sources and processes to crustal geology.
Figure 5: Schematic cross-section of Andean-Style Cordilleran Orogeny associated with end-on convergence and moderate-to-steep subduction, showing metaluminous magmatism and serpentinization of lherzolitic, alkaline peridotite associated with Type II oil.
Figure 5: Schematic cross-section of Andean-Style Cordilleran Orogeny associated with end-on convergence and moderate-to-steep subduction, showing metaluminous magmatism and serpentinization of lherzolitic, alkaline peridotite associated with Type II oil.
Figure 6: Schematic cross-section of Andean-Style Cordilleran Orogeny associated with end-on convergence and flat subduction, showing peraluminous magmatism and serpentinization of harzburgitic, sub-alkaline peridotite associated with Type I oil.
Figure 6: Schematic cross-section of Andean-Style Cordilleran Orogeny associated with end-on convergence and flat subduction, showing peraluminous magmatism and serpentinization of harzburgitic, sub-alkaline peridotite associated with Type I oil.

Click here to download Plate Tectonics and the Metaluminous-Peraluminous Distinction 10.6 MB, a PDF with the abstract and all figures in full resolution.

Monte Swan
Monte Swan
Monte M. Swan

Founder, MagmaChem Research Institute
President, MagmaChem Associates, LLC

Monte is a geologist with international mineral and petroleum exploration experience. He began his career as a research geologist for Kennecott’s Geological Research Group focusing on basement lithology and structure and as an exploration geologist for Newmont Mining Company at the time of their initial major gold discoveries in Nevada. In 1983 he co-founded MagmaChem Exploration, LLC and helped built a client base to fund the MagmaChem concept. He is now president of MagmaChem Associates, LLC and co-founder of the MagmaChem Research Institute. He was instrumental in development of a broad client base to fund MagmaChem. His clients have included virtually all the major mining and oil and gas companies, in addition to groups such as the USGS and DOE. He has special interest in basement geology, kinematic analysis and fluid flow and has compiled large exploration databases for Mexico, British Columbia, the Western US, and Eastern Canada. He has been an adjunct professor, is a published author and has been an author or co-author for many of MagmaChem’s 160 abstracts and papers and involved in many of the 11 theses and dissertations sponsored by MagmaChem. The MagmaChem technology has dramatically reduced risk for clients, directly contributing to the discovery of 20 economic gold-copper-silver deposits on 3 continents worth more than $100 billion.

Monte earned his B.S. degree in Geological Engineering from Michigan Technological University and M.S. degree in Geology from the University of Arizona. He has been a member and presented papers to numerous professional geologic associations such as: Arizona Geological Society (AGS), the Geological Society of Nevada (GSN), the Society of Economic Geologists (SEG), Denver Region Exploration Geologists Society (DREGS), Society for Mining, Metallurgy, and Exploration (SME), the Geological Society of America (GSA), the American Institute of Mining Engineers (AIME), the American Association of Petroleum Geologists (AAPG), and the Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists (RMAG).


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Colorado Scientific Society Emmons Lecture

The S.F. Emmons Lecture, which began in 1962, is a highlight of the Colorado Scientific Society’s activities and contributes not only to our standing in the scientific community but to the intellectual growth of our members and colleagues. The series is named in honor of the Society’s founder, S.F. Emmons. The lectures feature speakers that are recognized nationally or internationally as being at the forefront of research in some important facet of the earth sciences.


2023 CSS Emmons Lecture

Thursday, April 20, 2023

The Paleo-Bell River, When the Colorado Ran North – Chasing Zircons from Arizona to the Labrador Sea

Dr. James W. Sears, University of Montana

Figure from Sears and Beranek's paper in the 2022 Canadian Geoscience issue (Vol 49, No 1). Provenance regions discussed in presentation. If you cannot access Canadian Geoscience Volume 49, No. 1, see the articles linked after Jim Sears' biography.
Figure from Sears and Beranek’s paper in the 2022 Canadian Geoscience issue (Vol 49, No 1).
Provenance regions discussed in presentation.
If you cannot access Canadian Geoscience Volume 49, No. 1, see the articles linked after Jim Sears’ biography.

Abstract: The origin of Grand Canyon is still debated. Where did the Colorado flow to the sea when it first started cutting the canyon? Where was its delta? New evidence shows erosion was deeply dissecting the canyon and Colorado Plateau for 20 million years before the first grain of sand reached its modern delta in the Gulf of California. The Gulf didn’t even exist before the canyon’s Inner Gorge was incised.

I propose that the missing delta is way up north in Canada’s Labrador Sea. Luke Beranek of Memorial University and I sampled sand cuttings from a deep exploration well in a giant delta in the Labrador Sea. The sand was deposited when early Grand Canyon was eroding. We extracted zircon sand grains from the cuttings and U-Pb dated them at the University of Arizona Laserchron Lab. We found that, indeed, groups of the grains matched potential sources in the southern Colorado Plateau.

The river was the scale of the Amazon, and would have flowed south to north across the Colorado Plateau and through active grabens in Colorado’s Brown’s Park and Wyoming’s Beaver Rim, to the Big Horn and Yellowstone Rivers. The grabens collected tell-tale detrital zircons linking the southern Colorado Plateau to the Labrador Sea delta. The Yellowstone joined the paleo-Bell River of Canada to reach the Labrador Sea. The gigantic river was destroyed by tectonics, volcanism, and continental glaciation. But evidence remains in tiny zircon sand grains.

Jim Sears
Jim Sears

Bio: Jim Sears recently retired from a long career as a Professor of Geology at the University of Montana. He has been intrigued about the origin of Grand Canyon ever since his undergrad days at Northern Arizona University, where, as a devoted member of the Hiking Club, he trekked hundreds of miles in the canyon. At the University of Wyoming he completed a master’s degree on Grand Canyon Precambrian geology, then went on to complete a PhD in geology at Queen’s University in Canada, with a project in the Canadian Cordillera. His geologic experiences in Grand Canyon, Canada, Wyoming, and Montana led him to the idea that the early canyon may have been carved by a large river that flowed from the canyon, north through Wyoming and Montana, to great delta in Canada’s Labrador Sea. Sears recently returned to Canada to sample detrital zircons from the Labrador delta to test his hypothesis. With Luke Beranek of Memorial University, Sears dated the samples at the University of Arizona Laserchron Lab and indeed found direct links to the southern Colorado Plateau.

Jim Sears at an Arizona cross-road called "Gap". The gap on the skyline is an abandoned river channel near Grand Canyon that is part of the story about how the Colorado once drained north. Johnny MacLean took the photo when they were researching the story a few years ago.
Jim Sears at an Arizona cross-road called “Gap”. The gap on the skyline is an abandoned river channel near Grand Canyon that is part of the story about how the Colorado once drained north. Johnny MacLean took the photo when they were researching the story a few years ago.

Link to related article in Earth Magazine (2018) The Paleo-Bell River: North America’s vanished Amazon

Link to article in GSA Today Late Oligocene–early Miocene Grand Canyon: A Canadian connection? by James W. Sears (2013).

View Zoom Recording of “When the Colorado Ran North – Chasing Zircons from Arizona to the Labrador Sea”

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DISCLAIMER and FAIR-USE STATEMENT: The following Zoom-meeting recording contains content that expresses the opinions, viewpoints, and conclusions of the speakers and does not necessarily reflect the views, policies, or endorsements of the Colorado Scientific Society. This recording is made available to the public for general information and educational purposes only and is not intended to be used for profit. Any use of copyrighted material included therein for other purposes must obtain express written permission from the author.

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