Mappin' Without Diggin':
An
Application of Magnetometry Techniques
in Rittenhouse Gap Mining District in Berks County, Pennsylvania
Hoefert, Catherine M.,
Burris,
Lea, Yenchik, John, Black, Laurel E., and
Friehauf,
Kurt C., Department of Physical Sciences, Kutztown Univ
of Pennsylvania, Kutztown, PA 19530
Magnetite veins in the Rittenhouse
Gap iron-mining district located in Berks County, Pennsylvania
are parallel, but offset in a stepped fashion, cutting Proterozoic
granitic gneisses. Forest
litter obscures all of the outcrop, making
geologic
mapping difficult. We used a hand-held proton precession magnetometer
coupled
with a GPS receiver, sampling with a two-meter area, and compiled our
data with
GIS to map the magnetic field in the iron-mining district. We
interpreted the
variations in the magnetic data in terms of wall rock hydrothermal
alteration,
calibrated by comparing magnetic data with petrographic
studies of rocks exposed in the iron-mine region. In order to determine
whether
the district’s en echelon vein pattern reflects a large-scale Reidel shear fracture, or offsets of a simple
vein by cross
faults, a larger study area involving smaller grids of magnetometer
readings
would generate a clearer and decisive underground petrology picture.
Northeastern Section - 38th Annual Meeting (March
27-29,
2003)
Session
No.
38--Booth# 35
Undergraduate Research in the Geological Sciences
II
(Posters)
Westin Hotel: Commonwealth A
8:00 AM-4:30 PM, Saturday, March 29, 2003