Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated 

with the Hot Springs and Geysers of 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 

Supplemented with Data from 

Steamboat Springs, Nevada 

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Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated 

with the Hot Springs and Geysers of 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 

Supplemented with Data from 

Steamboat Springs, Nevada 

By DONALD E. WHITE, CHRIS HEROPOULOS, and 

R.O. FOURNIER 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 2001 
U.S. DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR 

MANUEL LUJAN, JR., Secretary 

U.S. GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

Dallas L. Peck, Director 

Any use of trade, product, or firm names 

in this publication is for descriptive purposes only 

and does not imply endorsement by the U.S. Government 

Text and illustrations edited by George A. Havach 

UNITED STATES GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON : 1992 

For sale by the 

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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data 

White, Donald Edward, 1914-

Gold and other minor elements associated with the hot springs and geysers 

of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, supplemented with data from 

Steamboat Springs, Nevada I by Donald E. White, Chris Heropoulos, and 

R.O. Fournier. 

p. em. - (U.S. Geological Survey bulletin ; 2001) 

Includes bibliographical references. 

1. Gold ores-Yellowstone National park. 2. Gold ores-NevadaWashoe County. 3. Hydrothermal deposits-Yellowstone National Park. 

4. Hydrothermal deposits-Nevada-Washoe County. I. Heropoulos, Chris. 

II. Fournier, R.O., Ill. Title. IV. Title: Steamboat Springs, Nevada. V. Series. 

QE75B9 no. 2001 

(QE390.2.G65) 

557.3 s-dc20 91-29371 

[553.41110978752] CIP 
CONTENTS 

Abstract 1 

Introduction 1 

Comparison of analytical methods for gold 2 

Diagenesis of the hydrothermal silica minerals 2 

Gold and associated elements deposited from hot-spring systems at Yellowstone 

National Park 4 

Opaline hot-spring sinter S 

Chalcedonic sinter deposits 7 

Gold and associated elements in miscellaneous spring deposits 7 

Gold and associated elements in miscellaneous materials collected at shallow 

depths 8 

Gold and associated elements in hydrothermal eruption craters 8 

Gold and associated elements in core from drill holes Y-12 and Y-13, 

Norris and Lower Geyser Basins, Yellowstone National Park 9 

Gold in samples from Steamboat Springs, Nevada 10 

Gold in material precipitated from hot springs 10 

Gold and associated elements deposited in three drill holes at Steamboat 

Springs, Nevada 11 

Conclusions, interpretations, and speculations 13 

References cited 18 

FIGURES 

1. Index map of Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., showing locations of analyzed 

samples by thermal area 3 

2. Plot of solubilities of common silica minerals in water as a function of 

temperature S 

3. Geologic sketch map of Steamboat Springs thermal area, Nev. 14 

4. Plot of antimony versus gold contents in samples from Yellowstone National 

Park and Steamboat Springs 16 

5. Plot of arsenic versus gold contents in samples from Yellowstone National Park 

and Steamboat Springs 17 

6. Log-log plot of thallium versus gold contents in samples from Yellowstone 

National Park and Steamboat Springs 18 

TABLES 

1. Reported Au contents in some hot-spring deposits of Yellowstone National 

Park, Wyoming, and Steamboat Springs, Nevada 4 

2-9. Contents of gold and associated elements in: 

2. Opaline sinters of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 6 

3. Chalcedonic sinter of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 8 

4. Miscellaneous spring deposits of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 9 

5. Miscellaneous near-surface materials from well-established depths, 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 10 

6. Samples from hydrothermal eruption craters of Yellowstone National Park, 

Wyoming 11 

7. Core from drill holes Y-12 and Y-13, Norris Geyser Basin and Lower 

Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 12 

8. Samples from three drill holes, Steamboat Springs, Nevada, for comparison 

with Yellowstone National-Park, Wyoming 13 

9. Samples from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, that are relatively 

gold rich 15 

Contents Ill 

Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the 

Hot Springs and Geysers of Yellowstone National Park, 

Wyoming, Supplemented with Data from 

Steamboat Springs, Nevada 

By Donald E. White, Chris Heropoulos, and R.O. Fournier 

Abstract 

A commonly held theory of the origin of epithermal 

ore deposits relates Au, Ag, Hg, As, Sb, Tl, and other 

"volatile" elements to "fossil" hot-spring systems that transported and deposited these metallic elements close to the 

ground surface existing at the time. In the early 1970's, an 

emission-spectrographic method using short-wavelength radiation (SWR) was developed for use in the analysis of 

these "volatile" elements. This method was applied to 125 

samples of rock and hot-spring chemical precipitates from 

Yellowstone National Park and 43 samples from Steamboat 

Springs, Nev. The results of those analyses are presented 

here. Recently, other, more sensitive methods for the 

analyses of gold and volatile elements have been developed and (or) become less expensive, but these methods 

generally have not yet been applied to Yellowstone 

samples. 

A few samples from Yellowstone National Park and 

Steamboat Springs were analyzed by neutron-activation (NA) 

and SWR methods, as well as by fire assay. In general, the 

results from the SWR method agree more closely with those 

from the fire-assay than the NA method. Present findings reveal significant gold contents (more than 0.1 ppm) in only a 

few samples from Yellowstone, but the general principles relating Yellowstone's hot-spring and geyser activity to gold 

transport and deposition are of considerable interest as a 

guide to how gold deposits may have formed elsewhere. 

Concentrations of Sb, As, Hg, B, Tl, and Zn vary widely 

with respect to Au and each other in the Yellowstone and 

Steamboat Springs samples. Although Au appears to be concentrated in samples rich in Sb and As, high Sb or As contents do not necessarily require correspondingly high Au 

contents. Tl is 10 to 100 times lower in abundance in Yellowstone samples than in Steamboat Springs samples. At 

Yellowstone, however, the best correlation of Au with SWRanalyzed metallic elements appears to be with Tl. 

The distribution of gold in Yellowstone National Park is 

more restricted than at Steamboat Springs, possibly because 

Manuscript approved for publication, June 18, 1991. 

of greater dilution by a more abundant water supply at 

Yellowstone. 

INTRODUCTION 

A commonly held theory of the origin of epithermal ore deposits relates Au, Ag, Hg, As, Sb, and other 

"volatile" elements to "fossil" hot-spring systems that 

transported and deposited these metallic elements close 

to the ground surface existing at the time. A second 

group of epithermal deposits, consisting mainly of the 

base metals Cu, Pb, Zn, and Ag, is generally thought to 

form at greater depth within hydrothermal systems. 

Base-metal deposits are not considered in this report, although zinc is reported here as a trace element. Silver is 

commonly present in both groups and generally becomes 

more abundant downward where the base metals underlie "volatile element" deposits. 

Geologists and geochemists familiar with lowgrade, dispersed, epithermal gold deposits have applied 

various names to them, including "bulk minable," "sediment hosted," and "invisible gold." These types of deposits became the focus of exploration programs in the 

1960's, when the value of gold increased dramatically. 

Gold is now routinely analyzed at levels above 1 part 

per billion (ppb) by neutron-activation (NA), and of 1-2 

ppb by inductively coupled plasma atomic-emission 

spectroscopic (ICP-AES), methods. In the 1960's and 

1970's, however, these analytical techniques were either 

very expensive (NA method) or unavailable (ICP-AES 

method), and so the small gold concentrations in dispersed deposits were seldom detected by the thenprevalent standard analytical methods (fire assay and 

spectrographic). Therefore, a group of associated trace 

elements, generally more abundant and more widely distributed than Au, including Ag, Hg, As, Sb, and Tl, became useful indicators that provide broader targets more 

easily identifiable than Au alone. 

Introduction 
In the early 1970's, a short-wavelength-radiation 

(SWR) emission-spectrographic method was developed by 

one of us (C.H.) and applied to the analysis of those "volatile" elements that are transported under conditions similar 

to those for gold. This method is as much as 100 times 

more sensitive than conventional spectrographic methods. 

Typical detection limits for conventional spectrographic 

analyses have been lowered by the SWR method, respectively, from 7 to 0.1 ppm for Au, from 700 to 1.0 ppm for 

As, and from 300 to 3 ppm for Sb. The only element 

closely associated with Au that is not determined more reliably by the SWR method than by conventional spectrographic methods is Ag; detection limits for Se, Te, and Bi 

are also improved. 

Analytical data were compiled over a time period of 

about 15 years. Steamboat Springs, Nev., is well known for 

its current deposition of Au, Ag, Hg, and Sb, but little has 

been published about the distribution of these elements within 

the Yellowstone National Park hydrothermal system. Although present findings reveal significant gold concentrations 

(more than 0.1 ppm) in only a few Yellowstone samples, 

the general principles relating Yellowstone's hot-spring and 

geyser activity to gold transport and deposition are of great 

interest as a guide to how gold deposits may have formed 

elsewhere. We realize that many advances have been made 

in techniques for the rapid analysis or' trace amounts of gold 

and related elements since our cooperative effort started in 

the early 1970's, but our results for the broad suite of volatile elements found in the hot-spring deposits at Yellowstone 

National Park and Steamboat Springs are still of interest 

because the data have general! y not been superseded by 

newer analyses. 

The background Au contents of fresh volcanic rocks 

of Yellowstone National Park were carefully studied in 

two related reports by Gottfried and others (1972) and 

Tilling and others (1973), utilizing NA analysis in combination with fire assay for radiochemical separation. The 

Au contents of most of Yellowstone's fresh rocks range 

from 0.1 to 60 ppb and average 0.5 ppb; the Au contents 

of Yellowstone's thermal waters range from less than 

0.004 to 0.1 ppb and average about 0.004 ppb (all much 

too low for the SWR method). 

We make no effort to duplicate in this report the 

careful background study of the gold contents of fresh 

rocks or of water, as determined by Gottfried and others 

(1972) and Tilling and others (1973). Instead, we concentrate on determining the gold contents of precipitates and 

hydrothermally altered rocks within the above-described 

analytical limits of the SWR method. 

The locations of sampled thermal areas in Yellowstone National Park, mainly within the caldera, are shown 

in figure 1. The locations of Steamboat Springs samples 

were adequately described in previous publications 

(Brannock and others, 1948; White, 1968), except that 

analytical data on samples from drill holes GS-2, GS-5, 

and GS-6 are also reported here. 

Acknowledgments.-We are grateful to the National 

Park Service for allowing samples to be collected from hot 

springs and for the opportunity provided for research drilling in the park. The continuing cooperative efforts of R.A. 

Hutchinson, National Park Service geologist, are especially 

appreciated In addition to many other activities, he helped 

in collecting samples from Dantes Spring of the Sylvan 

Group of western Gibbon Geyser Basin, and from Beryl 

Spring in Gibbon Canyon. 

COMPARISON OF ANALYTICAL METHODS 

FOR GOLD 

A few samples from Steamboat Springs and Yellowstone National Park were analyzed by NA and SWR methods, as well as by fire assay (table 1). Au contents below 

0.1 ppm are reported by the SWR method as <0.1 (later 

analyses) or <0.2 ppm (earlier analyses). Only a few samples of the material analyzed by different methods were 

collected at the same time and place; most samples were 

from common localities but were collected on different 

dates. 

In general, the results from the SWR method agree 

more closely with those from the fire-assay than the NA 

method. The NA results for two samples from Steamboat 

Springs (W-50 and W-91) are considerably higher than 

those obtained by the other two methods. In contrast, NA 

gives much lower values than the other two methods for 

the samples from Beryl Spring in Yellowstone National 

Park (fig. 1). However, the samples from Beryl Spring that 

were analyzed by the NA method were collected at a different date and place than the samples analyzed by the 

SWR and frre-assay methods. 

DIAGENESIS OF THE 

HYDROTHERMAL SILICA MINERALS 

Because of the close affinity of gold with silica in 

the veins of many deposits, the diagenesis of hydrothermal silica is considered here before the metallic-element 

analyses are discussed. By definition, sinter (normally, 

amorphous opal) forms by direct chemical precipitation 

of Si02 from hot water discharging at the surface. As the 

hot water cools, the solubility of Si02 decreases, and the 

solution becomes supersaturated, first with respect to 

quartz and then to more soluble silica species (fig. 2). 

The rates of polymerization of dissolved silica and 

growth of crystalline silica phases decrease drastically as 

the temperature declines (White and others, 1956; 

Fournier, 1973, 1985; Rimstidt and Barnes, 1980). Hot 

2 Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the Hot Springs and Geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 
waters rising to the ground surface commonly have dissolved Si02 contents that exceed the solubility of amorphous silica. A water-rich amorphous product commonly 

precipitates, forming either hard sinter (if cooled and 

dried rapidly, such as near a geyser vent) or silica gel 

(which may harden over time if subjected to wetting and 

drying). All or most of the samples listed in table 2 consist predominantly of amorphous opal. 

Opaline sinter commonly becomes buried under 

additional sinter and other sedimentary deposits. In an 

active high-temperature system where temperatures are 

generally on or near a reference boiling curve (see White 

and others, 1975, fig. 24), buried opal undergoes diagenetic changes with increasing time and depth of burial, 

first crystallizing to cristobalite and eventually to chalcedony or quartz. In addition to the transformation of opaline sinter to chalcedony, other chalcedony is deposited 

underground from solution within porous cavities in sinter. As much as 50 percent of the chalcedony in a dense 

chalcedonic sinter probably formed by direct deposition 

111 °00' f . \ . ,.../ r ~ 11 0°00' 

45 ~7'" 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

' 

. ----- / ' l _ ___) Gardin~---·--·-- -- -- --·---- · I 

111' Mammoth Hot Springs 

I 

1 '"' I ' Tower Junction O \ 

• ( ' 

" 

Washburn ' ' ( 

\ 

• \ ) 

/ 

,-/ 

~ 

) 

./ 

L~: "d\ 

\_ .--'.) ~ 

_/ 

~ 0 10 20 KILOMETERS 

I ~ ~· 

4

4

o

08. . __ . ...L_ . __ . _:___ . __ . __I_ . BOU~DARY 9F YE~OWSTC?NE NA~IONAL ~ARK . __ . 

Figure 1. Index map of Yellowstone National Park, Wyo., showing locations of analyzed samples by thermal area. 

Diagenesis of the Hydrothermal Silica Minerals 3 
Table 1. Reported Au contents in some hot-spring deposits of 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, and Steamboat Springs, Nevada 

[All analyses in parts per million. Neutron-activation (NA) analyses by J.J. Rowe, 

short-wavelength-radiation (SWR) emission-spectrographic analyses by C. Heropoulos, 

and fire-assay analyses by W.I. Smyth (University of Nevada, School of Mines). Sp., 

spring] 

NA SWR Fire 

assay 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 

Old Faithful Sinter, Upper Basin----------------

Daisey Green, Upper Basin ----------------------

Travertine, Hillside, Upper Basin: 

Outside --------------------------------------------

Inside ----------------------------------------------

Dantes sinter, Sylvan, Gibbon Basin------------

Beryl Spring, Gibbon Canyon -------------------

Porkchop Geyser, Norris Basin------------------

Echinus Geyser, Norris Basin--------------------

Marcasite-pyrite veinlet ------------------------

Pyrite-marcasite veinlet ------------------------

Steamboat Geyser, Norris Basin: 

Pyrite coating on erupted cobble -------------

0.0053 

.0024 

.0102 

.0045 

.813, 0.857 

.538, 0.593 

.078 

.075 

9.29 

<.1 

.66 .58 

10 3 

.74 

<.1 

.74 

Steamboat Springs, Nevada 

W-37eh, Sp. 24, 5/29/45, dark mud------------

W-50, Sp. 24, 6/21/45, dark mud---------------

W-88, Sp. 21, 9/28/45, light mud---------------

W-91, Sp. 27, 11/1/45, dark mud---------------

W -128-8, chalcedonic sinter---------------------

W-128-9, Sp. 23, spouter, opal, calcite--------

W-128-10, calcite deposited in erupting 

Steamboat well, 1949. 

W -226, fragmental sinter -------------------------

from cooling hydrothermal waters. In a final stage, when 

the flow rate is very slow and the degree of silica supersaturation in the upflowing water has greatly diminished, 

well-formed quartz crystals deposit as linings that coat 

the last of the open spaces. 

Silica-saturated water also may deposit chalcedony 

in subsurface channels or veins. Some chalcedonic sinter 

resembles subsurface vein chalcedony, except that the 

veins commonly crosscut relict bedding of sinter. The 

veins generally are deposited along steeply dipping fractures, with deposition progressing inward as the veins 

grow; mirror images form on the vein walls, with the central part commonly being the last to form. True chalcedonic sinter commonly contains crosscutting veinlets that are 

the feeder channels for upflowing chalcedonizing solutions. Thus, chalcedonic sinters are complex in origin, 

partly formed by reconstitution of original opaline sinter 

and partly by direct deposition of chalcedony from rising 

Si02-rich water. 

The early history of vein chalcedony and cristobalite 

is commonly uncertain. Some chalcedony and cristobalite 

7.8 

200 

.278 

23.7 

.050 

.280 

.0026 

.0136 

15 

.2 

.5 

10.0 

.14 

.56 

may show relict shrinkage cracks and banding that indicate 

replacement of an original, . more water rich form, probably 

gelatinous silica or opal. 

GOLD AND ASSOCIATED ELEMENTS 

DEPOSITED FROM HOT-SPRING SYSTEMS AT 

YELLOWSTONE NATIONAL PARK 

Hydrothermal activity in Yellowstone National Park 

may have started during or soon after collapse of the large 

third-stage Yellowstone caldera about 600 ka, which accompanied the eruption of major ash flows. Huge rhyolite 

lava flows were erupted during the past 200 ka, especially 

in the western part of the caldera (Christiansen, 1984), 

concealing evidence of any early postcaldera hydrothermal 

activity that may have occurred within the caldera. Circulating meteoric water is so abundant and heat supply is so 

great (Fournier and others, 1976; Fournier, 1989) that geysers and former geysers are a major part of the thermal 

discharge. Possibly because of the abundant meteoric4 Cold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the Hot Springs and Geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 
water supply, the thermal liquids contain only about 30 

percent as much dissolved solids as those of Steamboat 

Springs. Yellowstone's very dilute near-surface waters 

may help to explain why the evidence for abundant transport and deposition of gold and related elements is relatively weak. 

Opaline Hot-Spring Sinter 

The Au contents of most samples of opaline hotspring sinter (table 2) were below the limit of detection by 

the SWR method (0.2 ppm, later lowered to 0.1 ppm). A 

few samples of amorphous silica collected by Fournier in 

1962 were submitted for NA analysis with other samples 

from Steamboat Springs obtained by White (table 1). All 

samples contained detectable gold at the parts-per-billion 

level. 

Beryl Spring in Gibbon Canyon, about 1 mi south of 

Gibbon Geyser Basin, is one of the few springs in Yellowstone National Park that is depositing sinter with gold in 

z 

0 

:::i 

-1 1000 

~ 

a: 

w 

CL. ,::,a;, 

en ~0 

!;: ~~ 

~ s-0 

~ 

~ 

..... -

z 

w 

1-

z 

0 

u 500 0 

(j) 

the range 0.5-10 ppm. This spring was described by Allen 

and Day (1935, p. 332) as having a beautiful pool, about 6 

m in diameter and 91 oc in temperature, and a nearby 

superheated fumarole (96.3°C, when its boiling temperature should have been limited to about 92.8°C). Samples 

of sinter from Beryl Spring collected in 1962 contained 

0.538 and 0.593 ppm Au in duplicate NA analyses (table 

1). Of four samples from Beryl Spring collected by D.E. 

White and R.A. Hutchinson in 1984 (84-7 through 84-9a, 

table 2), one sample contained less than 0.1 ppm Au, and 

the other three from 3 to 10 ppm Au. 

Sylvan Springs in the southwestern part of Gibbon 

Geyser Basin (Allen and Day, 1935, p. 400-403) had little 

significant discharge at the time of Allen and Day's study, 

and no detailed map of the Sylvan Group was then available. Allen and Day mentioned only one spring of the 

group by name, called "Evening Primrose"; its temperature 

was 64 °C. No other spring had a temperature above 

87 .8°C when these early observations were made. 

Dantes Inferno in the Sylvan Springs area came into 

existence in 1959 at or near the time of the Hebgen Lake 

.. ~ ........ ""' r;' 

QL-------~------~------~------~--------~------~--------~------~ 

0 50 100 150 200 250 

TEMPERATURE, IN DEGREES CELSIUS 

Figure 2. Solubilities of common silica minerals in water as a function of temperature. 

300 350 

Gold and Associated Elements Deposited From Hot-Spring Systems at Yellowstone National Park 5 
Table 2. Contents of gold and associated elements in opaline sinters of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 

[Short-wavelength-radiation emission-spectrographic analyses in parts per million. G.B., Gibbon Basin; G.C., Gibbon Canyon; 

H.L., Heart Lake Geyser Basin; L.B., Lower Geyser Basin; M.B., Midway Geyser Basin; N.B., Norris Geyser Basin; U.B., Upper 

Geyser Basin; W.T., West Thumb Geyser Basin; Y.L., Yellowstone Lake; Y.R., Yellowstone River. Do., ditto] 

Field No. Description Au As B Hg Sb Tl Zn 

(66)-220 Myriad Springs, organic matter, U.B. --- <0.2 100 3 20 <1 5 

(66)-163 Silica gel, White Creek, L.B. ------------- <.1 300 70 1,000 10 2 10 

Y-2-16 ft Drill core, -16 ft, L.B. --------------------- <.1 1.5 200 3 15 1 3 

Y-7-~ ft Biscuit Basin, U .B. ------------------------- <.1 10 300 1.5 15 3 15 

Y-13-1 ft Porcupine Hills, L.B. ----------------------- <.1 2 150 3 15 

71-3 Mud volcano, Y.R. ------------------------- <.1 17 22 <2 <1 9.4 

71-19 Sinter, E. of Giant, U.B. ------------------- <.1 1,000 <2 68 <1 

71-25b do ---------------------------------------- <.2 100 50 2 150 <1 10 

71-32 Sinter, mud volcano, Y.R. ----------------- <.2 30 5 150 <1 9.4 

72-13 Concretionary sand, N.B. ------------------ <.1 1,000 20 14 315 2.1 1.1 

73-2 Below Glade Geyser, H.L. ---------------- <.1 31 135 40 1.7 8.8 

73-4 Spike Geyser, H.L. ------------------------- <.1 280 <2 286 1.4 .81 

73-7 Spouter near Spike, H.L. ------------------ <.2 30 <2 300 1.4 7 

75-7C Sinter below W.T., Y.L. ------------------- <.1 65 17 110 <1 52 

75-24 Geyser eggs, N.B. --------------------------- <.1 70 50 <2 310 <1 2.6 

75-29 Gibbon Hill Geyser, G.B. ----------------- <.1 8.3 <2 365 <1 2.2 

76-16b Butte Spring, Y.L. -------------------------- <.1 61 <2 60 <1 7 

76-23a Crater Hills Geyser, Y.R. ------------------ <.1 48 13 >500 >1 2.8 

76-26c Rabbit Creek, M.B. ------------------------- <.2 20 1 100 5 3 

78-3f Hydrophane Spring, N.B. ------------------ <.2 50 12 150 .31 36 

78-9 S. of Butte Spring, Y.L. ------------------- <.1 62 <2 21 <1 66 

78-14b Turbid Lake NE. of M.B. ------------------ <.1 37 <2 110 <1 1.7 

82-2a Dantes, Sylvan Spring, G.B. -------------- .58 61 64 180 180 1.6 2.5 

82-2b do ---------------------------------------- .74 44 12 350 350 2.8 36 

82-2a2 do ---------------------------------------- .66 27 >100 320 320 4.9 8.8 

84-6a Fonner vent, Graceful Geyser, N.B. ----- <.1 7,000 200 5 300 <1 7 

84-6 Vent, Graceful Geyser, N.B. -------------- <.1 1,000 500 10 500 <1 5 

84-5 Graceful Geyser, discharge <.1 >50,000 30 2 500 <1 20 

approx 30ft E. of vent, N.B. 

84-3 Graceful Geyser, 80 ft E., N.B. ---------- <.1 >50,000 20 2 700 <1 15 

84-7 Beryl Spring, above water, G .C. --------- <.1 500 150 5 150 <2 10 

84-8 do ---------------------------------------- 10 150 70 50 150 50 10 

84-9 Beryl Spring, bottom deposits, G .C. -----

84-9a Beryl Spring, gray sinter, G.C. -----------

84-10 Old sinter, hydrophane, N.B. -------------

earthquake. The spring broke out on a gently sloping hillside in a mature pine forest, killing all trees within 6 to 13 

ft of the present large pool; other trees nearby were soon 

killed by hot ground. The first detailed map of the 

hydrothermal features in the Sylvan Springs area, showing 

the relation of Dantes Inferno to other hot springs, appears 

to have been that by Hutchinson (1978). Dantes Inferno, 

which is the largest spring vent now in the area, is about 

350 ft southwest of Evening Primrose, the only previously 

named feature on Hutchinson's map. 

Fournier periodically collected water samples from 

Dantes Inferno for chemical analyses over a 12-yr period, 

starting in 1962. All samples contained more than 600 

ppm Si02 and were greatly supersaturated with respect to 

amorphous silica at the temperature of the pool (for example, see sample YF426 of Thompson and others, 1975, 

3 

7 

<.1 

150 70 30 150 15 10 

200 50 2 200 100 7 

100 50 2 150 <1 1.5 

p. 40). When frrst observed, the water in the pool had a 

characteristic opalescent-blue color caused by the lightscattering properties of suspended colloidal silica particles, 

much like that of former Coral Spring in Norris Basin 

(White and others, 1988, fig. 9). The water that is presently discharged from the pool is still supersaturated with 

respect to amorphous silica and has the same characteristic 

opalescent-blue color. 

Samples of sinter collected by Fournier in 1962 for 

NA analyses contained 0.813 and 0.857 ppm Au (table 1). 

Samples of sinter collected by White and Hutchinson in 

1982 for SWR analysis (samples 82-2a, 82-2b, 82-2, 

table 2) contained from 0.58 to 0.74 ppm Au. The gold is 

evidently contained within amorphous silica (opal) and elemental sulfur that become attached to the sides of the 

pool and to the limbs of pine trees partly immersed in the 

6 Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the Hot Springs and Geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 
pool. The deposit is thickest at the pool surface and thins 

to nearly 0 at depths of 1 ft. Silica gel is also precipitating 

slowly as a floc on the bottom of the pool and on its discharge apron. 

Many investigators have suggested that silica-gold 

colloids may be important in the formation of gold deposits (for example, Boydell, 1924; Lindgren, 1936; Frondel, 

1938; Boyle, 1979). Fournier (1985) suggested that the 

gold in Dantes Inferno (identified only as a spring appearing in a pine forest on the southwestern margin of Gibbon 

Meadows after the Hebgen Lake earthquake) could have 

been incorporated into colloidal silica particles that were 

forming at depth, and then transported to the surface. 

Amorphous silica that precipitates from water commonly 

fonns a floc (or silica gel), and this floc may eventually be 

transformed into quartz, as previously discussed. The common association of gold with quartz in veins may partly 

result from the original adsorption of gold particles onto 

flocculated silica. 

To test these possibilities, a small surging spring in 

Norris Basin, later called "Porkchop," was monitored 

sporadically from 1947 to 1989 as it evolved to a geyser, 

then a wet fumarole (1987), and eventually to a hydrothermal eruption crater that self-destructed on September 

5, 1989. Its early evolution was described and illustrated 

by White and others (1988, figs. 11-13), who just 

missed the culminating self-destruction. Samples of 

silica mud and opaline sinter collected in 1988 and 1989 

were analyzed for gold by the SWR method, but none 

was found. A geyser in Crater Hills (sample 76-23a, 

table 2), west of the Yellowstone River, was acidic, high 

in Cl and S04• This sample was checked for Au on the 

chance that enrichment might be found, but its Au content was less than 0.1 ppm. 

Chalcedonic Sinter Deposits 

Stream-rounded cobbles and pebbles of chalcedonic sinter are sparsely but widely distributed in late 

Pinedale kame deposits in Yellowstone National Park. 

These cobbles were preserved in the glacial deposits because of their hardness and fine-grained interlocking 

crystals. Subarea! amorphous sinter deposits fonned as a 

result of pre-Pinedale hot-spring activity. These early 

sinters were buried by subsequent sinter resulting from 

continuing hot-spring activity. The buried amorphous 

sinter was converted by diagenesis to chalcedony, while 

amorphous sinter continued to be deposited at the surface of the hydrothermal system, as previously discussed. Late Pinedale glaciation stripped off and finely 

pulverized the friable opaline sinter cap but preserved 

the hard, more resistant chalcedonic sinter as rounded 

cobbles. The precise positions of the earlier spring vents 

are generally uncertain, but some present thermal activity generally continues in the area where concentrations 

of "glacial" chalcedonic cobbles are found. The common 

association of chalcedonic cobbles with present hot 

springs is evidence that many areas of active springs 

also had an earlier history of pre-Pinedale activity. 

Characteristic mobile elements in chalcedonic sinter (table 3) are less abundant than in opaline sinter. This 

generalization is difficult to prove for any one sample 

but is strongly indicated by comparing the As, Hg, Sb, 

and Tl contents listed in tables 2 and 3. The principal 

examples of inplace chalcedonic sinter listed in table 3 

are samples 71-2, 71-13, 72-1c, 73-10a, 75-20a, 76-

25f, and 78-33a; a few other samples are of rounded 

cobbles of float. 

Gold and Associated Elements in 

Miscellaneous Spring Deposits 

Table 4 lists a few analyses of nonsiliceous chemical 

precipitates, including Mn-rich travertine, and Fe- and Asrich sulfides deposited from acidic waters. The Au contents of these samples are all below 0.1 ppm, and As and 

Sb contents vary widely. 

Travertine is sparse in Yellowstone caldera, presumably because carbonate rocks are rare below the 

caldera floor. CaC03, along with most alkaline-earth carbonates, increases in solubility with decreasing temperature. Other factors, such as pH and total dissolved C02 

content, can overrule the above generalization. An important factor contributing to when and where carbonates 

precipitate is loss of C02 during decompressional boiling of an ascending fluid. Mn, Fe, and Sr are commonly 

associated elements in travertine. Oxides of manganese 

and, to a lesser extent, iron tend to adsorb other ore elements typical of epithermal gold deposits, such as W, 

Cd, and base metals. 

The arsenic contents of some hot-spring deposits 

are high; arsenic commonly precipitates initially as 

amorphous yellow and red sulfides from slightly acidic, 

gassy, sulfur-bearing springs. Springs named Realgar 

and Orpiment in Norris Basin (White and others, 1988, 

p. 53-54) have a pH of 3 to 6 and are only moderately 

hot. These springs have precipitated amorphous yellow 

and red arsenic sulfides that resemble orpiment (yellow 

when thin) or realgar (red when thick). Although all 

tested precipitates are X-ray amorphous, they probably 

will crystallize over time. 

Some spring deposits are high in elemental sulfur 

(White and others, 1988), and pyrite and marcasite commonly are present in veins and as coatings. Relatively 

high concentrations of As, Tl, and base metals tend to 

coprecipitate with pyrite and marcasite (table 4). 

Gold and Associated Elements Deposited From Hot-Spring Systems at Yellowstone National Park 7 
Table 3. Contents of gold and associated elements in chalcedonic sinter of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 

[Short-wavelength-radiation emission-spectrographic analyses in parts per million. E.P., Elk Park; H.L, Heart 

Lake Geyser; M.B., Midway Geyser Basin; N.B., Norris Geyser Basin;Y.C., Yellowstone Canyon] 

Field No. location Au As B Hg Sb Tl Zn 

71-2 SW. of Artists Point, in place, Y.C. -------- <0.1 760 <2 85 20 22 

71-7 Float, N.B. -------------------------------------- <.1 20 <2 120 <1 .6 

71-13 Geyserite, SW. of Artists Point, <.1 73 <2 39 <1 1 

in place, Y.C. 

71-17 Float, N.B. -------------------------------------- <.1 10 <2 <2 <1 1.6 

72-1c Chalcedony-opal sinter, N.B. ---------------- <.1 54 <2 120 <1 21 

73-10a Chalcedonic sinter, in place, H.L. ----------- <.1 64 <2 <2 <1 .7 

75-20a Inspiration Point, in place, Y.C. ------------- <.2 61 <2 29 <1 3.4 

76-25e Inclusion, late P~edale, E.P. ----------------- <.1 68 <2 

76-25f In place, E.P. ----------------------------------- <.2 30 <1 50 <1 10 

76-26a Float, Rabbit Creek, M.B. -------------------- <.1 <2 10 2 <1 4.8 

78-33a Basal hydrophane, spring, N.B. ------------- <.1 100 300 2 200 <1 

Gold and Associated Elements in Miscellaneous 

Materials Collected at Shallow Depths 

Table 5 lists miscellaneous samples of sediment collected at shallow depths, some of which had no known 

direct contact with hydrothermal systems. Four samples of 

unaltered "obsidian sand" (74-1a through 74-2c, table 5) 

were collected for SWR analysis with the aim of establishing background levels of elements in recent rhyolitic sedimentary deposits underlying Upper and Lower Geyser Basins 

in places where no recognized hydrothermal activity is 

known. In these obsidian sands, arsenic occurs slightly below 

or near the background level found in most rocks, ranging 

from about 10 to 30 ppm; Hg, Sb, and Tl are all below the 

detection limits by common analytical methods, and Zn is 

near the background level for siliceous volcanic rocks. 

Sample 68-1 (table 5), an altered mid-Tertiary volcanic rock from north of the caldera margin, is related to 

the vapor-phase activity of Washburn Hot Springs. Mercury 

is the principal anomalous trace element. It is normally high 

in surface acidic pools. 

Sample 75-26b, containing 0.53 ppm Au, is of special interest because it is one of the very few examples of 

gold-bearing material that had not been recognized in 

Fournier's search by NA analysis (table 1). In early mapping, 

the rock was called a chalcedony-cemented "quartzite" or 

arkose (White and others, 1988, p. 11-12) that contained 

stream-rounded quartz grains, feldspar that includes hydrothermal K-feldspar, and an absence of original volcanic glass 

(recognizable from relict textures). This chalcedonized stream 

sediment does not contain debris from the younger lava 

flows but consists entirely of fragments best explained by 

derivation from Yellowstone ash-flow tuffs. This observation provides some evidence that the relatively young lavas 

now present in the immediate area of the park were absent 

when the stream sediment was deposited. These and other 

charncteristics (White and others, 1988, p. 11-13) indicate 

that this material is from the core of a former chalcedonic 

sinter terrace from which the original capping of sinter was 

completely stripped by pre-Pinedale glaciers. 

Gold and Associated Elements in 

Hydrothermal Eruption Craters 

Abundant hydrothermally altered debris was ejected 

from 9 or 10 hydrothermal eruption craters around the northem part of Yellowstone Lake that ranged in diameter from 

150 ft to as much as 2 mi long and % mi wide (table 6). 

Many of these craters formed near the end of the Pinedale 

glaciation, when the lake was partly filled with ice (Muffler 

and others, 1971). The largest crater (Mary Bay) had not 

yet been recognized in 1971 as an explosion crater, even 

though its east half is well preserved as a "half-crater," frrst 

mapped and described briefly by Richmond (1976, 1977). 

Smaller craters, about 0.4 mi or less in diameter, erupted various hydrothermally cemented clastic materials and 

glacial debris, broken into angular blocks or, in part, mixed 

with uncemented clastic pebbles and cobbles. In general, 

this uncemented debris was probably erupted from shallow 

depth, thereby explaining the absence of cementation. Wellcemented debris occurs in angular blocks, presumably from 

greater but unknown depths and fractured by explosive force. 

The largest of the Mary Bay craters erupted thoroughly cemented volcaniclastic debris and massive rhyolite flows that were broken into angular blocks, as much as 

3 ft in diameter. Hydrothermally altered porphyritic rhyolite is surprisingly low in As, Sb, Hg, and Tl. In this rock, 

large feldspar phenocrysts were fractured, the fractures 

were filled by quartz veinlets, and the remaining feldspar 

8 Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the Hot Springs and Geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 
Table 4. Contents of gold and associated elements in miscellaneous spring deposits of Yellowstone National Park, 

Wyoming 

[Short-wavelength-radiation emission-spectrographic analyses in parts per million. L.B., Lower Geyser Basin; N.B., Norris Geyser Basin; 

U.B., Upper Geyser Basin; Y.R., Yellowstone River. Do., ditto] 

Field No. Description 

W-209 Sulfur "cinders," Cinder Pool, N.B. -----------------

W-706a Mn travertine, hillside, U .B. --------------------------

W-1130-1 do ----------------------------------------------------

W-1130-3 do ----------------------------------------------------

(66)-3 Mn travertine, Steady Geyser, L.B. ------------------

68-6 Petrified wood, Ebony Geyser, N.B. ----------------

69-4 Orpiment Spring, amorphous S~S , N.B. ----------

69-8b Native sulfur, FeS2, Sulphur Cauldron, Y.R. -------

76-28 Conophytons (organisms), L.B. ----------------------

(66)-114 Amorphous As2S3, Realgar Spring, N .B. -----------

82-4a Pyrite veinlet, Echinus Geyser, N.B. ----------------

82-4b Marcasite veinlet, Echinus Geyser, N.B. ------------

YM-910 Marcasite-pyrite veinlet, Echinus Geyser, N.B. ---

YM-911 Pyrite-marcasite veinlet, Echinus Geyser, N.B. ----

or its argillic replacements were leached, in part leaving 

webs of veinlets of small quartz crystals enlarged by overgrowth of euhedral hydrothermal quartz. Some quartz 

crystals containing fluid inclusions, as much as 2 mm long 

and 1 mm wide, were examined by John Batchelder (written common., 1980), who found that the fluid inclusions 

homogenized to liquid on the heating stage at 287°±3°C. 

Freezing temperatures of eight fluid inclusions were 

uniformly near 0°C, indicating salinities near 0.0 weight 

percent NaCl equivalent If no ice cover was present at the 

time the fluid inclusions formed while boiling conditions 

prevailed at all depths (no pressure correction is required), 

these homogenization temperatures indicate -explosive 

ejection from depths near 3,000 ft. Bargar and Fournier 

(1988), however, found much variation in fluid-inclusion 

homogenization temperatures at specific depths in the core 

of drill hole Y -13. These and other high fluid-inclusion 

homogenization temperatures found in core from other research drill holes in Yellowstone (White and others, 197 5) 

are best explained by thick ice cover of as much as 1,300 

ft above the present ground surface during glaciation. 

Thus, ice cover of unknown thickness seems likely, and 

the depth below the present ground swface cannot be reliably estimated. 

Gold and Associated Elements in Core from 

Drill Holes Y-12 and Y-13, Norris and Lower 

Geyser Basins, Yellowstone National Park 

Drill hole Y -12 is located at the northern margin of 

Norris Geyser Basin, and drill hole Y-13 between the two 

western Porcupine Hills in Lower Geyser Basin (see White 

Au As B Hg Sb Tl Zn 

<0.2 500 <2 20 700 7 >100 

<.1 >5,000 <2 .7 50 1.5 

<.1 32 4.5 <.2 <1 1.8 

<.1 <2 <2 96 <1 6.2 

<.2 60 3 1.5 10 150 30 

<.1 90 <2 152 .6 5.6 

<.1 >1,000 11.4 33 55 .7 

<.1 102 70 <2 <1 36 

<.2 70 2 70 <1 3 

<.1 >2,000 7 45 30 7 10 

<.1 >1,000 66 340 >100 >100 

<.1 >1,000 >2 360 >100 >100 

<.1 >1,000 <2 90 400 >100 500 

<.1 >1,000 <2 90 500 >100 1,000 

and others, 197 5, map locations and physical conditions of 

the drill holes). 

The location of drill hole Y -12 was considered favorable for high temperatures because it was near hydrothermally active Porcelain Terrace (White and others, 

1988, pl. 1). This hole was drilled in the massive footwall ash-flow tuff of Porcelain Terrace, and although 

high temperatures were measured, few fractures and 

veins were penetrated. Contents of gold and associated 

elements determined by the SWR method are generally 

low in core samples from this drill hole; no gold was 

found within the detection limit for the method (0.1 

ppm; table 7). A sample of altered Yellowstone ash-flow 

tuff from about -50.7-ft depth shows considerable enrichment in As, Sb, Hg, and Tl above background levels. 

Thus, gold may also be enriched, though still below 0.1 

ppm. The concentration of zinc, the most sensitive indicator for base metals, is highest near the bottom of the 

hole (-1,047.5 ft). Apparently, zinc was slightly mobile 

in the deep Norris Basin environment where 237 .5°C 

was measured (White and others, 1975). Other mineralized zones near -180 and -481 ft are slightly enriched in 

silver (max 0.2 ppm). 

Typical core from drill holeY -13 (table 7) was analyzed by the SWR method for gold and associated volatile 

elements. Gold within the detection limit of 0.1 ppm was 

not found, but silver and associated elements generally 

show some enrichment. This observation suggests that 

gold was also enriched above the background level of 1 

ppb but was less than 0.1 ppm. Arsenic and antimony are 

commonly enriched slightly above the background levels, 

and arsenic is especially enriched from -155- to -215-ft 

depth. Hg and Tl are generally not found, but some Hg 

Gold and Associated Elements Deposited From Hot-Spring Systems at Yellowstone National Park 9 
Table 5. Contents of gold and associated elements in miscellaneous near-surface materials from wellestablished depths, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 

[Short-wavelength-radiation emission-spectrographic analyses in parts per million. N.B., Norris Geyser Basin; U.B., Upper 

Geyser Basin; W.S., Washburn Springs; Y.L., Yellowstone Lake. Do., ditto] 

Field No. Description 

68-1 Sulfur and clay in mudpot, W.S. --------------

74-1a Obsidian sand, -o.5 m, unaltered, U .B. ------ 74-1c do ---------------------------------------------

74-2a Obsidian sand, -o.7 m, U.B. ------------------

74-2c Obsidian sand, -2.0 m, U.B. -------------------

75-15f Opal-cemented sediment, N.B. -----------------

75-19 Opal-cemented lake sediment, 

S. of Squaw Lake, Y.L. 

75-25e Opaline sediment, N .B. ------------------------- 75-26b Chalcedony-cemented sediment, 

pre-late Pinedale, N .B. 

occurs near the surface, and TI is slightly higher in samples near -150- to -215-ft depth. 

Both drill holes Y-12 and Y-13 show much hydrothermal alteration but little veining or Si02 enrichment In 

view of the limited number of holes we were permitted to 

drill in central regions of hydrothermal upflow in the park, 

the absence of Au contents greater than 0.1 ppm in drill 

core is not too surprising. Although gold was not detected 

by the SWR method in any Yellowstone drill core, anomalous concentrations of silver and associated elements 

strongly suggest that gold is also enriched above the background level. The very high gold contents of some hotspring sinters (table 1) are especially intriguing, but the 

ground surrounding these springs was not tested by 

drilling. 

GOLD IN SAMPLES FROM 

STEAMBOAT SPRINGS, NEVADA 

White and Heropoulos (1983) and White (1985) concluded that Steamboat Springs, Nev., is a genuine example 

of epithermal Au-Ag deposits formed by hot springs in the 

Great Basin. Some older deposits, largely veins in and below 

volcanic rocks of central Nevada, are about 43 to 34 Ma 

old. Three younger groups of volcanic rocks associated with 

epithermal gold are approximately 34-17, 17-6, and less 

than 6 Ma old. Each group, plotted by age, is approximately 

arcuate in form and shows that magmatism migrated westward over time. Steamboat Springs, a member of the youngest group, has been active through much, but possibly not 

all, of the past 3 Ma. Gold and silver were deposited early 

at Steamboat Springs, and transport and deposition have 

continued to the present with no obvious break. The deposits are not mined today primarily because of existing high 

temperatures and for environmental reasons. 

Au As Hg Sb Tl Zn 

<0.1 14 140 <2 <1 34 

<.1 14 <2 <2 <1 65 

<.1 26 <2 <2 <1 63 

<.1 12 <2 <2 <1 53 

<.1 9.6 <2 <2 <1 68 

<.1 134 <2 20 2.1 94 

<.1 >1,000 <2 360 >100 >100 

<.1 8.3 <2 <2 <1 2.4 

.53 13 <2 13.5 <1 1.5 

Gold in Material Precipitated from Hot Springs 

The Au contents of deposits from different springs at 

Steamboat differ by at least three orders of magnitude, and 

by a factor of about 25 for samples collected from the 

same spring (No. 24) at different times (samples W-37eh 

and W-50, both from spring 24, table 1). Sample W-50 

was composed almost entirely of fme-grained black mud 

that contained tiny radiating clusters of microscopic stibnite needles, as well as small irregular grains of yelloworange amorphous metastibnite (Sb2S3). Much FeS2 is 

present in an amorphous silica floc. This sample contained 

almost no foreign windblown material and was analyzed at 

least four times by three methods. 

Spring 24 tended to flow at times of high total discharge (White, 1968, pl. 4), particularly when general 

water levels within the main terrace were high and the 

water was turbid from suspended sediment Most of the 

metallic elements in the sediment were associated with siliceous floc. We have no data about dissolved metals still 

in true solution. The detailed records for individual springs 

indicate that each spring is unpredictable (White, 1968, 

bottom of pl. 4 and p. C-35 to C-37). Only springs 2, 3, 8, 

and 50 maintained continuous but changing rates of discharge throughout the 7 years of detailed monitoring. 

The pattern of random changes in individual springs 

(see White, 1968, fig. 19) is best explained by very high 

SiOz contents at high temperatures, much of which precipitates as a floc below the surface, clogging individual 

channels as temperatures decrease upward. Excess heat 

boils off as steam as the water pressure decreases upward. 

Much gold presumably precipitates on the flocculated silica, which may then recrystallize over time to cristobalite 

and eventually to chalcedony at depths of 10 to 300m or 

more. Flocculated silica is brought up in suspension during 

periods of high discharge and agitation. This observation 

10 Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the Hot Springs and Geysen of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 
Table 6. Contents of gold and associated elements in samples from hydrothermal eruption craters of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 

[Short-wavelength-radiation emission-spectrographic analyses in parts per million. LB., Lower Geyser Basin; M.B., Mary Bay; 

W.T., West Thumb Geyser Basin; Y.L., Yellowstone Lake] 

Field No. location Au As B Hg Sb Tl Zn 

(66}-115 Fine sandstone in clastic dike, Pocket Basin, L.B. --------- <0.1 30 <2 13 <1 9 

75-6a Cemented sand, Squaw Lake, Y .L. --------------------------- <.1 15 <2 12 <1 40 

75-15c Leached feldspar porphyry, M.B., Y.L. ---------------------- <.2 100 <1 3 2 15 

75-15f Feldspar porphyry, bladed calcite, quartz, M.B., Y.L. ---- <.1 134 <2 28 2.1 94 

75-20a Feldspar porphyry and pyrite, M.B., Y.L. ------------------- <.1 61 <2 29 <1 

76-1a Feldspar porphyry, vuggy quartz, M.B., Y.L. -------------- <.1 8 <2 <2 <1 

76-1b Volcanic clasts, zeolites, Duck Lake, W.T. ----------------- <.1 10 <2 <2 <1 1.6 

76-1c Feldspar porphyry, leached+ pyrite, M.B., Y.L. ----------- <.1 100 13 49 2.4 

76-14b Chalcedony-pyrite, Butte Quarry, Y.L. ---------------------- <.1 97 <2 9 2.0 32 

76-15a Chalcedony vein fragment, SE. of Butte Quarry, Y.L. ---- <.1 6 <2 14 1.2 3 

78-3e Chalcedony-wairakite vein, Squaw Lake, M.B., Y.L. ----- <.1 23 <2 <2 1.6 31 

78-7a Banded chalcedony vein, M.B., Y.L.------------------------- <.1 15 <2 1.5 7 1.6 7 

78-17 Banded chalcedony vein, Butte Quarry, Y.L. --------------- <.1 6 150? <2 <2 <1 

80-9 Chalcedony-calcite-pyrite vein, M.B., Y.L. ----------------- <.1 12 <2 <2 <1 26 

may also explain why S~S3 occurs in two distinct forms, 

as well-crystallized clusters of tiny needles (stable) and as 

an amorphous orange-colored deposit (metastable). In general, the color of a sediment in the springs at Steamboat 

Springs is a good qualitative indication of its relative Au 

content, as well as of Sb and FeS2• The differences in Au 

contents among springs 24, 27, and 21 appear to be real. 

Gold and Associated Elements Deposited in 

Three Drill Holes at Steamboat Springs, 

Nevada 

The Au and Ag contents of core from drill hole GS5 were summarized by White (1981, 1985) and White and 

Heropoulos (1983), but the contents of associated elements 

from this hole have not been discussed in detail. None of 

the minor-metal data from drill holes GS-2 and GS-6 

have been previously published. The generalized geology 

and locations of these holes are shown in figure 3. The 

detailed stratigraphy of each hole was reviewed by White 

and others (1964, p. B13-B17), and the contents of trace 

elements and silver are listed in table 8. 

Hole GS-2 was drilled on the High Terrace, abOut 

3,000 ft northwest of the Main Terrace. The High Terrace 

has a present water level 40 to 50 ft below the surface; 

water drains mainly northward below ground to Truckee 

Meadows. Water near drill hole GS-5 on the Main Terrace 

also flows northward as well as eastward to Steamboat 

Creek (fig. 3). Drill hole GS-6 is located on Sinter Hill 

southwest of GS-2 and is clearly in the older part of the 

drilled system; its collar is about 116 ft in altitude above 

that of GS-2. Present water in the hole is hot but dilute; its 

water level is about 68 ft below the local surface, and it 

flows slowly northward. 

In order of increasing age of near-surface hot-spring 

deposits, the area where hole GS-5 was drilled is the 

youngest and is still active. Hole GS-2 was drilled on the 

High Terrace northwest of GS-5. In this area, water also is 

still circulating below ground but has not discharged at the 

surface for much of the past 100 ka (White, 1968). GS-6 

is in the oldest cover of these three drill holes; it penetrates into basaltic andesite (early Pleistocene) at -91- to 

-133-ft depth, with no evidence for a nondepositional time 

gap at either contact. The age of fresh basaltic andesite in 

the area is tightly constrained near 2.53 Ma (Silberman 

and others, 1979). The basaltic andesite in the drill hole is 

hydrothermally altered but shows clearly recognizable relict textures of the fresh rock, with former plagioclase replaced by monoclinic hydrothermal K-feldspar. The potassium content of the feldspar increased from about 2.5 to 

10.9 weight percent during alteration, and the resulting 

hydrothermal K-feldspar yielded an alteration age of 1.1 

Ma. 

Drill hole GS-5 contains gold detected by the SWR 

method to depths near -231 ft; at greater depths, gold is 

below the detection limit (then 0.2 ppm). Silver is dispersed throughout, especially from -113- to -360-ft depth, 

and its content generally increases downward. Pyrargyrite 

((Ag2S3)3•Sb:zS3) is the only recognized silver mineral. As, 

Gold in Samples From Steamboat Springs, Nevada 11 
Table 7. Contents of gold and associated elements in core from drill holes Y-12 

and Y-13, Norris Geyser Basin and Lower Geyser Basin, Yellowstone National 

Park, Wyoming 

[Short-wavelength-radiation emission-spectrographic analyses in parts per million. Y-12, Norris 

Geyser Basin; Y-13, Porcupine Hills, Lower Geyser Basin] 

Drill hole Depth (ft) Au Ag As B Hg Sb Tl Zn 

Y-12 -8 <0.1 9 14 <2 <1 12.8 

-13 <.1 16 6.4 <2 <1 3.4 

-22 <.1 8.2 10 4.8 <1 2.5 

-50.7 <.1 310 

-52.2 <.1 11 

-80.1 <.1 76 

-80.4 <.1 <.1 

-92.7 <.1 130 

-120 <.1 190 

-180 <.1 .2 16 

-481 <.1 .12 

-1,047.5 <.1 16 

Y-13 -1 <.2 50 

-8 <.1 .2 100 

-43.4 <.1 <.2 10 

-47.2 <.1 <.2 70 

-54.6 <.1 <.2 50 

-64 <.1 .2 50 

-70.9 <.1 .3 70 

-84.3 <.1 .2 50 

-86 <.1 <.2 20 

-90.6 <.1 <.2 7 

-112.4 <.1 <.2 3 

-119.8 <.1 1 50 

-149.9 <.1 .3 10 

-155 <.1 .7 150 

-165 <.1 .7 100 

-169.7 <.1 .2 70 

-185.4 <.1 .5 100 

-206 <.1 .5 50 

-215.5 <.1 .5 100 

-249 <.1 .2 

-294 <.1 .2 

-350 <.1 .2 

-361.7 <.1 .2 

-418.6 <.1 .3 

-463 <.1 .2 

Sb, Hg, Tl, and B are concentrated in the upper part of 

the hole; B and Hg contents vary only slightly below 

-231-ft depth. The highest Au content is 1.5 ppm, and 

the highest Ag content 100 ppm, from -273- to -363-ft 

depth. Antimony and arsenic are markedly enriched above 

-42-ft depth. Significant variations occur in B content 

down to -42-ft depth, and in Hg content in the upper 19 

ft of the hole. 

Gold in core from drill hole GS-2 is also enriched 

near the surface; it was detected to -202-ft depth. The Ag 

content is high throughout the core, especially below -350-

ft depth. The As content is irregularly above the background 

15 

5 

30 

30 

50 

30 

120 93 19 18 

16 16 <1 3.8 

30 88 <1 63 

5.8 

15 15 1.6 10 

<2 28 <1 35 

<2 <2 <1 26 

<2 <2 <1 140 

500 <1 7 <1 4 

20 2 50 <1 30 

<2 <1 50 <1 50 

<.2 2 50 <1 30 

<2 <1 50 1.5 20 

<2 <1 30 <1 50 

2 <1 50 <1 7 

<2 <1 20 <1 100 

<2 <1 30 1 70 

2 1 20 <1 50 

<2 <1 20 <1 30 

2 <1 30 2 70 

<2 <1 30 5 50 

<2 <1 20 1.5 30 

2 <1 10 <1 20 

2 <1 10 <1 50 

2 <1 15 2 70 

<2 <1 10 <1 30 

2 <1 15 15 50 

<2 <1 10 <1 50 

2 <1 7 <1 50 

<2 <1 5 <1 70 

2 <1 10 <1 50 

2 <1 10 1 30 

2 <1 5 1 50 

level, especially above -350-ft depth, in part related to 

coprecipitation with iron of the associated andesite. Sb and 

Tl contents generally are somewhat high, especially above 

-200-ft depth, whereas Hg and B are mainly concentrated 

near the surface. 

Core from drill hole GS-6 is also enriched in gold to 

about 1.5 ppm at -31- and -106-ft depth. As and Sb contents are irregular, showing enrichment at -106-ft depth in 

a veinlet that cuts basaltic andesite. The tungsten content 

ranges from 50 to 100 ppm in three samples, possibly coprecipitated with iron or manganese. Tungsten was not reported elsewhere in drill hole GS-6. 

12 Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the Hot Springs and Geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 
Table 8. Contents of gold and associated elements in samples from three drill holes, Steamboat Springs, Nevada, for comparison with Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 

[Short-wavelength-radiation emission-spectrographic analyses in parts per million. See figure 3 for locations. Do., ditto] 

Depth (ft) Description Au Ag As B Hg Sb Tl Zn w Mn 

Drill hole GS-2 

-11 Opaline sinter -------------------------- <0.1 0.5 10 70 1,500 700 <3 <15 150 1,500 

-27 Chalcedonic sinter --------------------- 1 10 30 30 700 <3 <15 

-41a Late-stage chalcedony vein ---------- 2 10 200 <2 15 >2,000 50 7 <10 

-41b Early-stage gray chalcedony vein--- 1 7 70 5 5 300 5 2 <10 

-72 Chalcedonic sinter --------------------- 2 20 200 20 <10 150 20 <15 

-138 Rounded andesite cobble ------------- <.1 .7 2,000 2 10 100 10 70 <10 

-175a Early-stage dark vein ----------------- 2 50 >2,000 3 20 300 15 200 

-175b Late-stage gray vein------------------- 1.5 50 100 5 <1 100 2 7 

-202 Late-stage gray andesite breccia ---- .1 5 150 3 5 50 5 30 

-244 Andesite breccia with pyrite--------- <.1 15 >2,000 <2 <1 50 2 15 

-297 Calcite-chalcedony vein-------------- <.1 7 700 2 <1 30 1 70 

-349 Gray vein in andesite breccia -------- <.1 7 700 2 <1 30 1 70 

-397 Altered granodiorite ------------------- <.1 .5 150 30 5 30 2 30 

Dri.ll hole GS-5 

-11 Opaline sinter--------------------------- 0.3 2 700 1,000 1,000 150 <10 <15 

-19 Black opaline sinter ------------------- <.2 .3 500 500 500 500 5 <15 

-42 Crystobalite sinter --------------------- .2 .5 200 200 <10 5,000 150 <15 

-84 Chalcedonic sinter --------------------- <.2 <.2 <100 <10 100 7 <15 

-113 Chalcedonic alluvium ----------------- 1.5 30 <100 15 <10 50 5 <15 

-174 Chalcedony-calcite veins ------------- .7 20 <100 15 <10 50 3 <15 

-231 do ----------------------------------- .3 70 <100 15 <10 30 3 <15 

-273 do ----------------------------------- <.2 100 <100 20 <10 30 <3 <15 

-346 7-ft-thick chalcedony-calcite veins-- <.2 15 <100 10 <10 20 <3 <15 

-363 Thick chalcedony-calcite veins <.2 100 <100 20 <10 20 <3 <15 

with ruby silver. 

-446 Granodiorite with ruby silver -------- <.2 .7? <100 15 <10 20 <3 <15 

Drill hole GS-6 

-18 Chalcedonic sinter --------------------- 0.2 0.5 15 30 10 500 <3 0.7 <10 <0.7 

-31 Vein in sinter --------------------------- 1.5 1.5 700 150 100 >2,000 100 7 <10 2 

-54 Cemented alluvium -------------------- <.1 .7 150 5 20 1500 3 1.5 100 2 

-74 Altered andesite flow ------------------ <.1 5 50 5 10 150 5 5 <10 7 

-106a Oldest vein, andesite ------------------ <.1 <.2 >2,000 <2 <1 300 20 15 <10 30 

-106b Middle-stage gray vein in andesite -- 1.5 100 2,000 <2 10 >2,000 50 15 <10 10 

-106c Late-stage vein in andesite ----------- <.1 5 >2,000 <2 7 700 50 700 70 5 

-134 Volcanic breccia ----------------------- <.1 .5 200 7 2 50 5 50 <10 200 

-160 Vein in soda trachyte ------------------ <.1 2 >2,000 7 1 70 5 30 <10 50 

-170 Arkosic alluvium----------------------- <.1 .3 15 20 1 50 <3 50 50 100 

-212 Vein in granodiorite ------------------- <.1 1 700 5 <1 70 3 15 <10 50 

CONCLUSIONS, INTERPRETATIONS, AND for all samples of this report that are notably enriched in 

SPECULATIONS gold. Both Sb and As contents tend to be higher in the Aurich samples, but the relation is far from linear. Note that 

Anomalous Au contents (more than 0.1 ppm by the the Sb and As contents of samples containing less than 0.1 

SWR method) occur in only 9 of 119 Yellowstone samples ppm Au lie within the same range as for samples containing 

(tables 2-7); "enriched" samples above detection levels are more than 0.1 ppm Au (tables 2-8). Although Au appears 

listed in table 9. In these enriched samples, contents of As, to be concentrated in samples rich in Sb and As, high conSb, Hg, B, Tl, and Zn (as a key base metal) all vary widely centrations of these two elements do not necessarily require 

with respect to Au and to each other. In figures 4 and 5, correspondingly high Au contents in either the Yellowstone 

respectively, Sb and As contents are plotted relative to Au or the Steamboat Springs samples. The As content seems to 

Conclusions, Interpretations, and Speculations 13 
vary somewhat more than Sb in the Yellowstone samples, 

ranging from very high (more than 50,000 ppm) to very 

low. Contents of As may change relative to Sb, perhaps 

because arsenic tends to coprecipitate with iron. 

The distribution of thallium relative to gold shows a 

linear relation; contents of both elements increase together 

in Yellowstone National Park (fig. 6), but a similar plot 

for samples from the three Steamboat Springs drill holes 

does not support this concept. 

One of us (D.E.W.) has observed that on a regional 

scale in the Western United States, background levels of 

INDEX MAP 

both thallium and boron seem to increase westward toward 

the Pacific Ocean when similar materials and environments are compared, such as hot springs and oil-field 

brines. 

The major differences between Yellowstone National 

Park and Steamboat Springs are: (1) Au contents are consistently higher in drill core from Steamboat than in Yellowstone Park, possibly in part because of the greater age 

of the Steamboat system, with more time available for 

hydrothennal deposition to occur; (2) a and H2S contents 

in Steamboat waters are higher; (3) a greater variety of 

RENO RESORT • EXPlANATION 

NEVADA 

0

Steamboat 

Springs 

thermal area 

0 500 1000 1500 FEET 

CONTOUR INTERVAL 100 FEET 

N 

i Sinter 

D 

Alluvium 

>- a: 

<( 

z 

a: 

LLJ 

~ ::J 

d 

Basa~es;te } ~ 

Mostly metamorphic ~ and granitic rocks a 

w 

Contact g: 

Fault or fissure 

+GS-5 

Drill hole or well 

oSpring 

Figure 3. Geologic sketch map of Steamboat Springs thermal area, Nev. (modified from Schoen and White, 1965, fig. 1 ). 

14 Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the Hot Springs and Geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 
Table 9. Contents of gold and associated elements in samples from Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming, 

that are relatively gold rich 

[Short-wavelength-radiation emission-spectrographic analyses in parts per million. G.B., Gibbon Geyser Basin; G.C., Gibbon 

Canyon; N.B., Norris Geyser Basin. Do., ditto] 

Field No. Description 

75-26b Hydrothermal quartzite, N.B. ----------------

82-2 Dantes, Sylvan, G.B.--------------------------

82-2a do-------------------------------------------

82-2b do ------------------------------------------- 82-3 Pyrite on cobble, Steamboat Geyser, 

N.B. 

84-8 Beryl Spring, G.C. -----------------------------

84-Sa Beryl Spring, below water level, G.C. -----

84-9 Beryl Spring, gray, middle depth, G.C. ----

84-11 Pyrite on cobble, Steamboat Geyser, N.B. 

rocks are penetrated at Steamboat Springs, with more 

basalt and andesite than the dominant rhyolite at Yellowstone; and (4) the percentage of chalcedony-quartz-calcite 

veins is much greater at Steamboat Springs than in Yellowstone. Also, the strikes of dominant vein structures are 

clear at Steamboat Springs, making it easy to site drill 

holes that would intersect veins. Vertical holes at Steamboat Springs generally penetrated one to five steeply dipping vein structures; the thickest veins were as much as 7 

ft thick, in contrast to Yellowstone, where veins were generally absent at sites available for drilling. Environmental 

and other restrictions at Yellowstone seriously limited the 

selection of drill sites; obvious fault and vein structures 

were not drilled. We suspect, but cannot prove, that siliceous veins and veinlets carrying gold and other trace elements are more abundant in the central upflow regions of 

the geyser basins than on the basin margins, where drilling 

generally was carried out for environmental reasons. 

White (1985) questioned whether epithermal vein 

deposits in volcanic rocks differ in significant respects 

from sediment-hosted deposits. Of course, some veins in 

volcanic rocks extend down into sedimentary or metamorphic rocks. Information is unavailable on the maximum 

vertical extent of possible gold mineralization in Yellowstone. More information is available from Steamboat 

Springs, where detectable gold (more than 0.1 ppm) occurs 

to about -230-ft depth in drill hole GS-5 on the Main Terrace, to -200-ft depth in GS-2 on the High Terrace, and to 

a little more than -100-ft depth in GS-6 on Sinter Hill. If 

these differences are taken into account, the original cover 

was eroded by 200 ft on Sinter Hill and, possibly, 100 ft 

on the High Terrace, and so the original maximum depth 

of gold mineralization at Steamboat Springs was likely to 

have been about 250 to 300 ft below the paleosurface then 

existing. This depth range, if valid, is too shallow for typical epithermal veins in the Great Basin, where a depth of 

Au Ag As B Hg Sb Tl Zn 

0.53 13 <2 13.5 <1 1.5 

.66 27 >100 320 4.9 8.8 

.58 61 64 180 1.6 2.5 

.74 44 12.5 150 2.8 36 

.74 23 69 52 2.2 3.3 

10 .3 150 70 50 150 50 10 

3 .2 150 70 30 150 15 10 

7 .2 200 50 2 200 100 7 

1.0 .2 500 20 1.2 

at least 2,000 ft is known for the Comstock Lode. Such 

reasoning suggests that Steamboat Springs may not be as 

potent as some older Great Basin systems, or that higher 

temperatures, deeper initial boiling, or more intimate contact with magma is essential. However, the -250- to -300-

ft maximum depth of gold mineralization at Steamboat 

Springs is based on data from only three drill holes, which 

is not enough to prove consistency. 

Gold in core at Steamboat Springs was detected 

to depths of -500 ft or more and may grade into 

base-metal/silver mineralization, as suggested by White 

and Heropoulos (1983). This observation is consistent 

with studies of the active New Zealand thermal systems 

(Browne, 1971). 

Both Yellowstone National Park and Steam boat 

Springs provide examples of the surface expression of 

vein systems in which deposition of ore minerals is occurring at depth. Many convection systems, however, 

may not discharge directly upward as hot springs. 

Upflow of hot water should "mound" the water table 

above surrounding water levels, but this "mounding" 

may be too deep for discharge to appear locally. If the 

topographic relief is high and the water table is low (as 

under mountain ranges), all discharge of liquid may 

occur laterally, with merging of hotter and cooler waters. 

Such a model could explain the diverse modes of gold 

occurrence related to hot-spring (or hot-spring-like) activity, ranging from conservation of most metallic elements deposited in subsurface veins to wide dispersal by 

springs discharging on the ground surface. Evidence has 

been presented here to indicate that precipitated Au contents greater than about 0.1 ppm at Steamboat Springs 

tend to decrease downward, with a cutoff of about 0.1 

ppm near a depth of 250 ft below the original ground 

surface. Other vein systems may have salinities that are 

too high (or too low) for available reduced species, or 

Conclusions, Interpretations, and Speculations 15 
are responsive to other compositional factors that determine the maximum depth of mineralization. 

Very few sediment-hosted gold deposits of the 

Great Basin are well categorized for maximum depth of 

initial mineralization. The optimum temperature range 

from fluid-inclusion studies is commonly near 250°C 

(ranging from 220° to higher than 300°C) for most vein 

deposits (White and Heropoulos, 1983), but fluidinclusion temperatures for sediment-hosted deposits 

commonly are below 200°C· (White and Heropoulos, 

1983, tables 2, 3). In addition, fluid-inclusion salinities 

commonly exceed 1 weight percent NaCl equivalent in 

sediment-hosted districts, in contrast to less than 1 

weight percent NaCl equivalent in many vein deposits. 

I I I I I I I I I I I I I 

1000 

b 

z 

0 

::J 

..,.I 

~ 

a: 

LU 

a.. 8 (/) 8 I- L• b b a: 

~ 

~ 

r:- 8 z 8 LU 

I- b 8 z b 8 8 0 

u 

.0 

(/) 

100. b 

8 

10~--------~~----~~--~~---L~~L-L-Yr--------~----~--~---L~--L-~~~ 

0.1 10 

Au CONTENT, IN PARTS PER MILLION 

Figure 4. Antimony versus gold contents in samples from Yellowstone National Park (circles) and Steamboat 

Springs, Nev. (triangles), that contain at least 0.1 ppm Au. 

16 Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the Hot Springs and Geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 
The age of mineralization of many sediment-hosted districts, where known, is commonly greater than 40 Ma. 

Better data on ages and salinities are needed for many 

additional sediment-hosted gold deposits. A tentative 

model suggests that many of these deposits may have 

had upper limits to mineralization that lie below the surface, possibly owing to self-sealing by the decreasing 

solubility of quartz (or chalcedony) with decreasing temperature. Such a system could lose much heat upward, in 

large part by conduction rather than convection, and the 

precious metals and other trace elements could pond locally and precipitate as cooling occurred, with the water 

eventually discharging laterally and mixing with cooler 

ground water. 

I 

1000 

~ 

z 

0 

::J 

....1 

~ 

a: 

a.. 

w ~ 

C/) 

1-

a: 

~ 

~ 

1-' 

z 

w 100 ~ 1-

z 

0 

u 

Ul ~ <( 

8 

8 

8 

8 

~ 

8 

10 I 

0.1 

Can such a model be tested? Many factors must be 

considered, but one approach is to select active "blind" 

hydrothermal systems, such as Desert Peak in western 

Nevada (Benoit and others, 1982), for testing. Present 

temperatures at Desert Peak are reported (Muffler, 1979) 

as 208°C (measured), possibly ranging as high as about 

230°C. No thermal water presently discharges at the surface, but the system could have discharged earlier in 

Pleistocene time when water was more abundant. The 

system is topographically high, and ground water presumably flows northwestward and southward. Convective circulation of thermal water, though not yet well defined, may flow in these directions. No chemical data are 

available on trace elements. 

~ 

8 -

-

~ 8 -

8 •) 

~ -

-

-

~ -

-

-

-

-

-

1\ 

<..!._, I 

10 

Au CONTENT, IN PARTS PER MILLION 

Figure 5. Arsenic versus gold contents in samples from Yellowstone National Park (circles) and Steamboat 

Springs, Nev. (triangles), that contain at least 0.1 ppm Au. 

Conclusions, Interpretations, and Speculations 17 
The "blind" geothermal systems southeast of the 

Salton Sea system in California provide other opportunities for testing the model. The Salton Sea system now 

has a feeble surface discharge that was surely much 

greater in the past when sea level was higher, covering 

all of the geothermal field. This system is well known 

for its extremely high temperatures (above 360°C), a 

clearly volcanic heat source, dominance of meteoric water, very high salinities, and high contents of base metals, at least in part derived from contact of brine and 

fine-grained sedimentary deposits. 

Other "blind" convection systems not so closely 

related to nearby volcanic sources of heat also are 

present between the Salton Sea and the United StatesMexican border. At least five other presently "blind" 

systems have been drilled, ranging in maximum temperature from about 160° to 250°C (Muffler, 1979). Salinities are consistently less than in the Salton Sea system and are in approximate proportion to their maximum 

temperature. Some of these systems, as well as Cerro 

Prieto south of the United States-Mexican border, are 

rich in silver and base metals, but no reliable analyses 

for gold are known. 

REFERENCES CITED 

Allen, E.T., and Day, A.L., 1935, Hot springs of the Yellowstone 

National Park: Carnegie Institution of Washington Publication 466, 525 p. 

I I I I I I I II I I I I I I I I I II 

• -

- 100 

-

-

-

• -

-

-

& -

z 

0 10 

::::i 

...J 

~ 

a: 

UJ 

a.. 

(/) 

~ 

~ 

~ 

1-' 

z 

UJ 

1-

z 

0 

u 

i= 

• 

& • 

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

• -

-

-

-

-

-

-

-

0.1 ~----~~--~~-L-~~~I~I~Iul ____ ~l--~1--~ll~l-~llul~l----_uL ___ L_I~i~i~l~i~~~~~ 

0.1 1 10 100 

Au CONTENT, IN PARTS PER MILLION 

Figure 6. Thallium versus gold contents in samples from Yellowstone National Park (dots) and Steamboat 

Springs, Nev. (triangles), that contain at least 0.1 ppm Au. 

18 Gold and Other Minor Elements Associated with the Hot Springs and Geysers of Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming 
Bargar, K.E., and Fournier, R.O., 1988, Effects of glacial ice on 

subsurface temperatures of hydrothermal systems in Yellowstone National Park. Wyoming: Fluid inclusion evidence: 

Geology, v. 16, no. 12, p. 1077-1080. 

Benoit, W.R., Hiner, J.E., and Forest, R.T., 1982, Discovery and 

geology of the Desert Peak geothermal field: A case history: 

Nevada Bureau of Mines and Geology Bulletin 97, 82 p. 

Boydell, H.C., 1924, The role of colloidal solutions in the formation of mineral deposits: Institution of Mining and Metallmgy Transactions, v. 34, pt. 1, p. 145-337. 

Boyle, R.W., 1979, The geochemistry of gold and its deposits: 

Geological Survey of Canada Bulletin 280, 584 p. 

Brannock, W.W., Fix, P.F., Gianella, V.P., and White, D.E., 1948, 

Preliminary geochemical results at Steamboat Springs, Nevada: American Geophysical Union Transactions, v. 29, no. 2, 

p. 211-226. 

Browne, P.R.L., 1971, Mineralization in Broadlands geothermal 

field, Taupo volcanic zone, New Zealand: Society of Mining 

Geology of Japan, special issue 2, p. 64-75. 

Christiansen, R.L., 1984, Yellowstone magmatic evolution: Its 

bearing on understanding large-volume explosive volcanism, 

in Studies in geophysics: Explosive volcanism: Inception, 

evolution, and hazards: Washington, National Academy Press, 

p. 84-95. 

Fournier, R.O., 1973, Silica in thermal waters-laboratory and 

field investigations, in Ingerson, Earl, ed., Symposium on 

Hydrogeochemistry and Biogeochemistry, Tokyo, 1970, Proceedings: Washington, Clark Co., v. 1, p. 122-139. 

---1985, Silica minerals as indicators of conditions during 

gold deposition, in Tooker, E.W., ed., Geologic characteristics of the sediment- and volcanic-hosted types of gold 

deposits-search for an occurrence model: U.S. Geological 

Survey Bulletin 1646, p. 15-26. 

---1989, Geochemistry and dynamics of the Yellowstone National Park hydrothermal system: Annual Review of Earth 

and Planetary Sciences, v. 17, p. 13-53. 

Fournier, R.O., White, D.E., and Truesdell, A.H., 1976, Convective heat flow in Yellowstone National Park: Uriited Nations 

Symposium on the Development and Use of Geothermal Resomces, 2d, San Francisco, 1975, Proceedings, v. 1, p. 731-

739. 

Fronde}, Clifford, 1938, Stability of colloidal gold under hydrothermal conditions: Economic Geology, v. 33, no. 1, p. 1-

20. . 

Gottfried, David, Rowe, J.J., and Tilling, R.I., 1972, Distribution 

of gold in igneous rocks: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 727, 42 p. 

Hutchinson, R.A., 1978, Geologic setting of Sylvan Springs geothermal area of Yellowstone National Park: Iowa City, University of Iowa, M.S. thesis, 43 p. 

Lindgren, Waldemar, 1936, Succession of minerals and temperatmes of formation in ore deposits of magmatic affiliations: 

American Institute of Mining and Metallurgical Engineers 

Technical Publication 713, p. 18. 

Muffler, L.J.P., ed., 1979, Assessment of geothermal resomces 

of the United States-1978: U.S. Geological Survey Circular 790, 163 p. 

Muffler, L.J.P., White, D.E., and Truesdell, A.H., 1971, Hydrothermal explosion craters in Yellowstone National Park: Geological Society of America Bulletin, v. 82, no. 3, p. 723-

740. 

Richmond, G.M., 1976, Surficial geologic history of the Canyon 

Village quadrangle, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming: 

U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1427, 35 p. 

--1977, Surficial geologic map of the Canyon Village quadrangle, Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Miscellaneous Investigations Series Map 1-652, 

scale 1:62,500. 

Rimstidt, J.D., and Barnes, H.L., 1980, The kinetics of silicawater reactions: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 44, 

no. 1l,p. 1683-1699. 

Schoen, Robert, and White, D.E., 1965, Hydrothermal alteration 

in GS-3 and GS-4 drill holes, Main Terrace, Steamboat 

Springs, Nevada: Economic Geology, v. 60, no. 7, p. 1411-

1421. 

Silberman, M.L., White, D.E., Keith, T.E.C., and Docktor, R.D., 

1979, Duration of hydrothermal activity at Steamboat Springs, 

Nevada, from ages of spatially associated volcanic rocks: 

U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 458-D, p. DlD14. 

Thompson, J.M., Presser, T.S., Barnes, R.B., and Bird, D.B., 1975, 

Chemical analysis of the waters of Yellowstone National 

Park, Wyoming, from 1965-1973: U.S. Geological Survey 

Open-File Report 75-25, 59 p. 

Tilling, R.I., Gottfried, David, and Rowe, J.J., 1973, Gold abundance in igneous rocks-bearing on gold mineralization: Economic Geology, v. 68, no. 2, p. 168-186. 

White, D.E., 1968, Hydrology, activity, and heat flow of the Steamboat Springs thermal system, Washoe County, Nevada: U.S. 

Geological Survey Professional Paper 458-C, p. C1-C109. 

---1981, Active geothermal systems and hydrothermal ore 

deposits: Economic Geology, 75th anniversary volume, 

p.392-423. 

---1985, Vein and disseminated gold-silver deposits of the 

Great Basin through space and time, in Tooker, E.W., ed., 

Geologic characteristics of sediment- and volcanic-hosted disseminated gold deposits--search for an occurrence model: 

U.S. Geological Survey Bulletin 1646, p. 5-14. 

White, D.E., Brannock, W.W., and Murata, K.J., 1956, Silica in 

hot-spring waters: Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, v. 10, 

no. 1-2, p. 27-59. 

White, D.E., Fournier, R.O., Muffler, L.J.P., and Truesdell, A.H., 

1975, Physical results of research drilling in thermal areas of 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 892, 70 p. 

White, D.E., and Heropoulos, Chris, 1983, Active and fossil hydrothermal-convection systems of the Great Basin, in The role 

of heat in the development of energy and mineral resomces 

in the northern Basin and Range province: Geothermal Resources Council Special Report 13, p. 41-53. 

White, D.E., Hutchinson, R.A., and Keith, T.E.C., 1988, The geology and remarkable thermal activity of Norris Geyser Basin, 

Yellowstone National Park, Wyoming: U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1456, 84 p. 

White, D.E., Thompson, G.A., and Sandberg, C.H., 1964, Rocks, 

structures, and geologic history of Steamboat Springs thermal area, Washoe County, Nevada: U.S. Geological Survey 

Professional Paper 458-B, p. B 1-B63. 

References Cited 19 

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years since the last permanent catalog may be purchased by mail and 

over the counter in paperback book form. 

State catalogs, "List of U.S. Geological Survey Geologic and 

Water -Supply Reports and Maps For (State)," may be purchased by mail 

and over the counter in paperback booklet form only. 

"Price and Availability List of U.S. Geological Survey Publications," issued annually, is available free of charge in paperback booklet form only. 

Selected copies of a monthly catalog "New Publications of the U.S. 

Geological Survey" available free of charge by mail or may be obtained 

over the counter in paperback booklet form only. Those wishing a free 

subscription to the monthly catalog "New Publications of the U.S. 

Geological Survey" should write to the U.S. Geological Survey, 582 

National Center, Reston, VA 22092. 

Note.--Prices of Government publications listed in older catalogs, 

announcements, and publications may be incorrect. Therefore, the 

prices charged may differ from the prices in catalogs, announcements, 

and publications.