Urano-organic ores of the San Rafael Swell, Utah

Geology and uranium deposits of the Temple Mountain District, Emery County, Utah

“…Although the effectiveness of alpha radiation as a precipitating mechanism for the asphaltite may be questioned, radiation has almost certainly been important in causing the hydrogen deficiency of asphaltite, its insolubility, and possibly, its anomalous hydroxyl and oxygen content (p. 94). Kerr and Kelley (1956), Kelley and Kerr (1958), and Abdel-Gawad and Kerr (1961) proposed that the asphaltite was formed by the mingling of introduced hydrothermal solutions and petroleum contained in the Moss Back Member and adjacent strata, and that the asphaltite was converted to its present state by heat supplied by the hydrothermal solutions. Abdel-Gawad and Kerr (1961, p. 405-407) showed that fluid asphalt from the Temple Mountain district can be significantly altered by heating to about 250°-300° C; the infrared absorption pattern of the heated asphalt resembles that of asphaltites from the Temple Mountain district and the Tomisch Mountain mining area of the San Kafael Swell.…”

“…References on the organic materials constitute most of the literature on the ore; the most significant of these are reports by Kerr and Kelley (1956), Kelley and Kerr (1958), Hausen (1959), Breger and Deul (1959), and Abdel-Gawad and Kerr (1961). Breger and Deul studied various organic materials from the district and concluded that the so-called "asphaltite" was derived from coal or coal extracts rather than from petroleum.…”

Sources of the elements in the sandstone-type uranium deposits of the Colorado Plateau

“…Hydro carbons that have been found in both large and small quantities i n some of the uranium deposits (Hess, 1922;Kerr and Kelly, 1956) Finally, it should be emphasized that all the uranium deposits on the Colorado Plateau are almost certainly not of the same origin.…”