Geochemical Relations of 

Zinc-Bearing Peat to the 

Lockport Dolomite 

Orleans County 

New York

GEOLOGICAL SURVEY BULLETIN 1000-D

A CONTRIBUTION TO GEQCHEMICAL PROSPECTING

FOR MINERALS

GEOGHEMIGAL RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT

TO THE LOCKPORT DOLOMITE, ORLEANS

COUNTY, NEW YORK

HELEN L. CANNON

ABSTRACT

Peat deposits containing as much as 16 percent of zinc and some lead occur 

near Manning, Orleans County, N. Y. The metals, estimated to total 2,000 tons, 

have been derived from the Lockport dolomite of Silurian age which crops out 

adjacent to the bogs. Excessive amounts of zinc in the peat soils have induced 

yellowing between veins of leaves and dwarfing of plants; in the most toxic 

areas it has killed all but a few tolerant species. Excessive amounts of lead are 

stored in the roots of plants, and it is possible that root crops grown in the 

mineralized peats may be harmful for human consumption. Geochemical studies 

of soils, plants, and ground water in the area were made by colorimetric methods 

developed for field testing. Variations in the metal content of glacial till and 

well water samples suggest the occurrence of mineralized beds in the underlying 

dolomites. Studies of surface exposures and core from 17 holes drilled in the 

area establish the presence of recurrent zones in the dolomites that can be 

correlated over considerable distances.

These zones consist of a clastic bed of partly dissolved fossil debris overlain 

by recrystallized reef rock containing large algal and coralline forms. The clastic 

beds were probably bottom muds below wave base that represent periods of 

Quiescence and partial stagnation during which carbonate was dissolved. These 

formed the substratum for reef building and widespread reef flank deposition. 

Analyses of the beds show a concentration of lead, chromium, copper, and nickel 

in the bottom muds, and zinc and strontium in the reef material.

The average content of these metals through the dolomite series is higher than 

for an average limestone and suggests that the sea water from which the metals 

were precipitated contained uncommon concentrations of metals. The mineralized beds of the series contain an average of 0.06 percent zinc and 0.002 percent 

lead. Sphalerite and galena occur throughout the upper and lower parts of 

the Lockport section as disseminated crystals or are concentrated in certain 

beds, but have not yet been found in deposits of commercial value in western 

New York State.

119
120

INTRODUCTION

Geochemical studies of zinc-bearing peats in western New York 

State show them to be related genetically to underlying mineralized 

beds of the Lockport dolomite of Niagaran age. For a number of 

years agriculturally unproductive areas had been noticed in certain 

of the muck soils of Orleans County near Manning, N. Y. In some 

places the vegetable crops were poor over an area of an acre or more, 

and smaller spots supported no vegetation (crops or other) whatsoever. Crops planted on these areas came up normally, but soon after 

the first leaves appeared the plants turned yellow, remained stunted, 

and eventually died. E. V. Staker, professor of soil technology at 

Cornell University, proved that the soil contained enough zinc to be 

toxic to plants. In an intensive field and laboratory study the surface 

soil of the Manning Muck was systematically sampled and tested for 

zinc, and the vertical distribution of the zinc throughout the peat 

profile was studied in detail (Staker and Cummings, 1941; Staker, 

1942, 1944). In several spots the zinc content by weight of the airdried peat was found to be as high as 16 percent.

The high concentration of zinc in the peat and plants of the area 

offered an opportunity for study of the geochemistry of zinc in soils, 

plants, and waters under natural conditions and for tracing the zinc to 

its source. Would it be possible, in line with Goldschmidt's (1944, 

p, 176) speculations, to use the distribution of zinc in peat as a guide 

for prospecting more valuable deposits of zinc in the surrounding 

rocks?

Intermittent field work was begun in the area by the United States 

Geological Survey in September 1946; after some interruptions, field 

work was completed in June 1948. In 1950, 1,900 feet of diamond 

drilling was completed in the area. Geochemical and botanical surface Studies were made of the drained and undrained bogs and also 

of till-covered parts of the area. These were followed by geologic 

studies of the dolomites of Niagaran age near Manning. In the course 

of the field studies many hundreds of samples of water, soils, and

plants were taken and analyzed chemically both in the field and in the

laboratory for zinc and lead. Geochemical data on the relation of

peats, soils, plants, and water to the underlying dolomites of the area

are presented, and the stratigraphic significance of the occurrence of

sulfides in the dolomite series is indicated in this report.

, The variety of problems presented required resources of many kinds,

and personnel from several branches of the Geological Survey contributed to their solution: John R. Cooper helped with the initial 

geochemical studies and is responsible for recognition of the sphalerite 

in the Lockport dolomite as the probable source of the zinc in the peat; 

Frank Grimaldi made field analyses of well water and soil; and the late 

V. H. Rockefeller of the Water Resources Division helped in collect-
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 121

ing well water samples. R. H. Stewart supervised the drilling 

program.

GENERAL, GEOLOGY AND GEOGRAPHY

Manning is 35 miles west of Rochester and 2 miles west of Clarendon 

in Orleans County, N. Y. (pi. 1). The area studied is a part of a 

glacial lake plain that slopes southward at an average of 30 to 50 feet 

to the mile. In general, the land surface conforms to the dip of the 

underlying Lockport dolomite of the Niagara series of Silurian age. 

The truncated northern edge of the Lockport dolomite is marked by a 

cuesta that extends east-west across the northern part of the area. 

The cuesta shifts abruptly to the south along a north-south line 

through the town of Clarendon. Chadwick (1920) describes the 

break as offset along a normal fault with the downthrown side to the 

west. The angle of bedding in the eastern part of the area is -affected 

by the fault so that the strike is northwest-southeast, and the dip is 

about 30 feet to the mile in a southwest direction. The metal content 

of the dolomite beds does not appear to increase near the fault scarp. 

An east-west cross fault is postulated to cut the area south of the Manning Muck.. The evidence for a fault is repetition of beds at the sur-

 face and the offset of beds encountered in drilling. The beds in hole 

9 (pi. 1) are 27 feet higher than their position in the section projected 

from the holes to the north.

Removal of the Salina group of Late Silurian age, which overlies 

the dolomites of the Niagara series to the south, by glacial action has 

left a low area across the entire county. This area is occupied by a 

series of poorly drained swamps which rest on the Lockport dolomite 

at a more or less uniform distance from the outcrop. Several of these 

bogs have become sufficiently mineralized by leaching of the sulfides 

from the underlying dolomites to deserve geochemical study.

GEOCHEMISTRY

METHODS

A study in 1946 of the Manning Muck, shown as an area of drained 

muck southwest of Manning (pi. 1), was the first investigation undertaken by the Geological Survey using geochemical prospecting techniques, and work on the collection of data from that area was con- 

.tinued intermittently until 1948. Orleans'County was thus a testing 

ground for sampling and analytical methods, and new procedures for 

. both sampling and analyzing were gradually evolved during the course 

of the field project. The first analytical work was done by F. .S. 

Grimaldi ,who analyzed rock and soil samples gravimetrically, precip-

- itating zinc as ZnS by hydrogen sulfide, in a laboratory made available 

by the University of Rochester. He experimented with .a dithizone 

test that could be made in the field and was specific for zinc in water.
122 'CON-TRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

Later, a simplified test by-Huff (1948) for measuring total heavy 

metals in water samples was developed and used for further studies 

of well water and surface water. Dithizone methods for testing soils 

(Lakin, Stevens, and Almond, 1949) and plants (Keichen and Lakin, 

1949) for zinc in the field were also perfected and tested in the Manning area. Field studies based on these methods demonstrate that the 

zinc content of the well waters may be as high as 0.0011 percent, or 11 

parts per million (ppm); till, 2,200 ppm; peat 88,000 ppm; arid 

plants, 10,400 ppm; average amounts of zinc are much lower, however. The maximum lead content found in dry peat was 336 ppm. 

For convenience, all analyses for metals in plants, soil, and water are 

reported in parts per million rather than in percents.

GEOCHEMICAL STUDY OF THE PEAT BOGS

Abnormal concentrations of metals in peats are frequently reported 

in the literature. Forrester (1942, p. 126) and Eckel (1949, p. 55) 

have described copper-bearing peats in Montana and .Colorado that 

developed downstream from areas of copper deposits. A comprehensive study of this phenomenon has also been made by a Finnish 

geologist, Marti Salmi (1950, p. 1) who spectrographed 63 samples 

from 50 peat bogs. He found maximum contents of 0.3 percent copper 

and 1 percent zinc in peats near minable deposits of these metals and 

concluded that a content in peat ash of 0.1 percent copper, 0.1 percent 

nickel, or 0.6 percent zinc indicates the occurrence of these metals in 

the bedrock of the region surrounding the bog.

BOG SOILS

Drained bog soils in the area of this report are referred to as muck, 

and these soils are used for truck farming. Kies (1903, p. 76) defines

muck in this sense as "* * * a peat with a high percentage of mineral 

matter * * * useful for truck farming when drained." Many of the

muck areas in Orleans County have been ditched and are now being 

intensively cultivated as farm land. Names given to the individual

mucks by local inhabitants are used in this report.

Areas of zinc-rich peat occur in the Manning Muck, the western

edge of the Clarendon Muck, and the northern part of the Big Muck

(pi. 1). Areas of the Shelby Muck and several of the undrained peat

bogs are also known to contain appreciable amounts of zinc. The

position of these areas in relation to the outcrop of the Lockport dolomite (pi. 1) Suggested a Stratigraphic correlation of zinc-rich peat 

with specific beds in the upper and lower parts of the Lockport dolomite. Subsequent detailed geochemical and geologic work has tended 

to confirm this relationship.

Thickening and thinning of the component parts of the Manning 

Muck from the surface to bedrock, and data on the zinc-lead distribution both horizontally and vertically are shown in figure 19. (The

124 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

location of the section is shown in pi. 3.) These, data were obtained - 

from a series of augered samples taken to bedrock along a northsouth line. Peat as thick as 4 feet is underlain by marl ranging from 

2 or 3 feet thick in the northern half of the bog to 10 or 11 feet in the 

southern half. Conversely, the banded red-and-blue glacial clay or 

rock flour underlying the marl is only a few", feet,thick in the southern 

half of the bog but thickens to 11 feet in the northern half. The lake 

left by the retreating glacier probably filled rapidly from the north 

with rock flour and clay; and open water was maintained longest near 

the south end, where a thick formation of marl was slowly deposited 

as a chemical or organic precipitate. The areas of zinc-rich muck 

are confined mostly to the shallow edges of the bog, where the peat is 

not underlain by marl but is in contact with either mineralized zones 

in the underlying Lockport dolomite or with highly mineralized 

ground water entering the bog from the sides.. .Drainage is toward the 

south through the permeable marl and peat. Zinc-rich areas near the 

center of the bog are centered around springs.

The localizing of zinc in these areas by ground-water circulation is 

well illustrated by a change that has taken place in certain zinc-rich 

areas during the course of the present survey. In 1948 the owner of 

a strip of the Manning Muck put in a tiled east-west drainage ditch 

to improve his land: Immediately an area of vegetation on his land 

began to die, and the owner of the adjoining strip of the muck 

was able for the first .time in many years to produce a crop. Analyses 

of peat from these spots show a definite change in total zinc content. 

Because of such fluctuations, the original mapping of zinc-rich areas 

by Staker in 1941 is no longer accurate in detail, and although data 

from his map have been used in figure 20, the original map is not

reproduced in this paper.

BOG ECOLOGY

To establish whether plants living in the original bog were unusual

accumulators of zinc and lead and were therefore responsible for 

the concentration of these metals from ground waters, studies were 

made of the past and present plant life of the bogs in this general 

area. Because the Manning Muck and other zinc-bearing drained

mucks have been cleared'and planted in cultivated crops and no macroscopic plant remains can be recognized in the peat, an understanding

of the history of peat deposition in these muck areas is aided by pollen 

studies of the peat and comparative studies of undrained bogs nearby 

on which plant life has remained undisturbed.

A thickness of several feet of peat in the drained mucks is underlain 

commonly by several feet of marl. Arthur S. Knox of the Geological 

Survey made pollen studies of the Manning peat, the underlying 

marl, a second thin peat layer, and the remaining section of marl. 

The marl section in the eastern part of the bog is broken at a depth of
RELATIONS'OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT1 DOLOMITE 125

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126 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR.MINERALS

8 inches by a second 4-inch layer of peat. The analysis is given in 

table 1. From his study, Knox (written communication) concludes 

that the second peat layer is a sedge peat that probably accumulated 

during a period of lower water level in the pond. A similar peat layer 

also overlain by marl was described by Stewart and Merrill (1937, 

p. 248) as occurring in the Bergen Bog 7 miles southeast of Manning. 

The pollen analyses of the marl and peat in the Manning Muck are 

interpreted as evidence that the forest around the marl-depositing 

pond in the early stages of bog development was made up largely of 

coniferous trees (hemlock and pine); as the pond basin gradually 

filled, the conifers in the adjacent forest were replaced by hardwood 

trees (oak, maple, beech, elm, and hickory). .

An ecologic study was made of small undrained bogs in the vicinity 

of Manning for comparison with the drained and cleared Manning 

Muck. The small bogs studied are under several-feet of water in the 

spring, but usually become dry by fall. Red maples, elm, spicebush, 

birch, hemlock, oak, and other species now form canopies over the 

bogs; and creeping juniper, wood ferns, and large clumps of royal 

ferns cover the floors, which consist of spongy masses of half-rotted 

leaves and fallen moss-covered tree trunks. On small promontories 

which extend into the bogs, black currant, highbush cranberry, and 

dogwoods form shade for wild ginger, violets, baneberry, bishopscap, 

false Solomons-seal, and winterberry. According to local inhabitants, 

the original cover was in large part logged off or burned over.

F. J. Hermann and S. F. Blake of the Department of Agriculture 

identified, except as noted, the following specimens collected from 

the present cover:

Acer rubrwm, L_____ red maple 

Actaea rubra, (Ait.) WiUd ____ _____. red baneberry 

Arisaema atrorubens Blume_ Jack-in-the-pulpit 

Aaarum canadense Li______________________. Canada wild ginger

Aspidium spinulosum var.

intermedia (Muhl.) D. O. Eaton 1____________. wood fern

Betula, lutea, Michx______ - . yeiiow birch

Cornus amomum Mill__________________^. Silky dOgWOOd 

Dry&pteris cristata L.. (Muhl.) Gray___________ evergreen fern

Dryopteris intermedia (Muhl.) TJnderw_______. evergreen fern 

JDqwisetum, arvense L._______________________ horsetail

Equisetum fluviatiie horsetail

nex verticuiata, (L.) Gray__________ common winterberry

ImpatienS MflOra Walt__-____ '. spotted touch-me-not 

Juniperus iiorizontalis, Moensch.1_____________ creeping juniper I/indera benzoin (L.) Biume Commoil ^ice^st 

Miteiia diphyiia L_____________ common Wshopscap

Onoclea sensiUlis L___________ ....^. sensitive fern

Osmunda regalis L _____________ . royal fern

Mitella nuda L__ _^__ . ____ ____ naked bishopscap 

1 Identified by the author.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 127

Prunus virginiana L ________________ common choke cherry 

Quercus alba L.*_ ______ white oak 

Rites americanum Mill ____. American black currant 

Smilacina stellata (L.) Desf______________ false Solomons-seal 

Thalictrum dasycarpum Fisch and All________ purple meadow rue 

Thuja occidentaMs L _ _________ arborvitae 

Tsuga1 canadensis (L.) Carr 1.. _ _____. Canadian hemlock 

Ulmus americana, L _ _________ American elm 

Viburnum trilobum, Marsh ____________. highbush cranberry 

Viola eriooarpea Schwein_____ _________ yellow violet

.* Identified by the author.

In order to understand how a peat bog is formed, comparative 

studies were also made of the large Bergen Bog 7 miles southeast of 

Manning. This bog, also underlain by Lockport dolomite, has been 

intensively studied as a marl bog in the process of formation by 

botanists and ecologists and is being preserved as a primitive area 

by study groups and societies. It has been described by Stewart 

and Merrill (1937) and by Muenscher (1946) as a late stage in the 

plant succession which results as an open-water area is gradually 

filledH

The areal plan of the Bergen Bog shows the center of the bog to be 

an open marl area that is under water most of the year. From this 

open marl outward are three concentric belts: The first is of dry 

marl which supports low-growing plants, the second is of peat in 

which 'conifers grow, and the outermost is of thick peat bearing a 

hardwood forest. Vegetation is sparse in the central marl area and 

consists of grasses and sedges although a few hummocks of ladyslippers and cattails dot its surface. From its periphery pioneer plants 

of sphagnum moss, shrubby cinquefoil, and creeping juniper encroach 

onto the dry marl belt and thus build up a thin layer of humus. The 

pH of the open marl is more than 7. In the dry marl belt grow low, 

shrubby tamaracks and arborvitae, Laborador tea, and huckleberries. 

The belt surrounding the dry marl has a thicker layer of humus which 

supports conifers pine and hemlock and a thick undercover of 

ferns and mosses. The pH of the coniferous belt is 6. In the outermost concentric belt the peat has become several feet thick and bears a 

hardwood forest of beech, maple, and elm.

Augered sections taken in the central part of the Bergen Bog consist only of marl and clay. Sections taken near the periphery of the, 

bog penetrate a peat layer of hardwood debris, then a coniferous peat, 

marl, and clay. The vertical sections taken on the Manning Muck 

indicate a similar history from open marl pond to hardwood forest 

cover. Pollen studies suggest that the species of each ecologic bog 

zone were similar to those observed in the Bergen Bog. All of the 

plants listed as occurring in the undrained swamps near Manning,
128 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL -PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

 which represent a late stage in ecological development, are found in 

the hardwood peripheral cover of the Bergen Bog. It is probable that 

the Manning Muck supported a type of vegetation similar at one time 

to that growing in the Bergen Bog today and that it contained no 

species which cannot be found in the area.

ACCUMULATION OF ZINC AND LEAD IN THE PEAT

The amount of zinc and lead in the Manning and neighboring peat 

bogs, estimated at several thousand tons, is probably too great to have 

been concentrated by accumulator plants); but rather has been concentrated by residual enrichment through decay of plant remains in 

the peat and by precipitation from the ground water.

Analyses of trees and ground-cover vegetation collected from undrained swamps, drained but uncleared bogs, and drained and cleared 

bogs, indicate that neither in the past nor present have the peat-forming plants been marked accumulators of zinc or lead. The results of 

these analyses are recorded in table 6 and show no marked accumulation of zinc among the original bog plants but suggest that conifers, 

especially the arborvitae and hemlock, may concentrate a higher 

percent of lead in the dry weight of the plant than is present in the soil.

A few plant samples were taken in the Bergen Bog for comparison 

of lead and zinc content with that of plants growing on the Manning 

Muck. The analyses are shown in'table 2. The aspen contains more 

ziric than the peat, and the arborvitae more lead than the peat. However, the values are not high in either the living trees or peat. In

fact, the marl in the central zone derived from the. Lockport dolomite 

contains more zinc than the peat.

TABLE 2. Soil and plant analyses from the Bergen Bog, in parts per million, dry

weight

. , ' Zinc Lead

Marl from central part of bog_______-___________-_______.; 180 2

Peat from arborvitae zone; composite sample of 100-square 

foot area through first foot of peat..-__-.._..-_ ...... 40 13

Leaves of plants growing in peat:

Thuja occidentalism L. arborvitae ____________________ 20 19

Acer rubrwm, L. red maple_-____--_.__-._-_-.--.---_-_ 24 7

Populus tremuloides, Michx. quaking aspen_______ ____ 140 n. d.

The accumulation of lead in the arborvitae may possibly be related

to the common belief among the Manning farmers tnat poisonous

substances from the arborvitae are responsible for the toxic areas of

the ^Manning MIoiols:. It is moi-e probable, lioAvever, ttxat tlae prevalence

ol arWvike on the toxic areas denotes areas of water-logged land 

that are in turn associated with mineralized springs and seeps around

the edge of the muck. In general, the ratio of zinc content in the dry 

weight of the plant to that of the soil in which the'plant is growing 

is only 1 to 30. This low ratio suggests that the metals were not origi-
: : RELATIONS. OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT. TO ,'LOCKPORT D.OLOMITE 129

nally concentrated by the swamp vegetation from which, the peat was 

formed. .':'. . . . , . ;. , . Evidence that the metals were precipitated, in the bog before'the 

bog was drained is fairly conclusive. . A.-peat sample from a shallow 

undrained bog northeast of the Manning Muck:tested 8,400.ppm of 

zinc and. 100 ppm of lead. A sample from a shallow undrained bog 

southeast of the Manning Muck tested 6,700.ppm of zinc and 26 ppm 

of lead. Although these are not comparable to the highest concentrations recorded for the Manning Muck, they come within .the range 

toxic to vegetation. ^; >.-

The peat contains a high proportion of zinc, lead, and other metals. 

A spectrographic analysis of the ash of a ziric'-bearing peat' sample 

from Manning Muck showed:

Percent

1+_________________________ Ca, Si, Zn, Mg, and Al 

O.X_____________________________________ P, Fe 

O.OX______________________ Ti, Mn, Ba, Sr, Zr, V, Cu, Ni, B 

O.OOX_________________________________1_ Pb, ,Co, Cr

The content of heavy metals in the ash of the peat in the Manning 

Muck correlates well with the content in the dolomite bed which underlies the peat. The content of calcium, magnesium, silica, alumina, 

titanium, and manganese in the peat is that of an average dolomite. 

The content of iron, lead, and chromium in both peat and dolomite 

is high. The content, however, of vanadium, zirconium phosphorus, 

boron, cobalt, zinc, copper, nickel, and barium in the peat is more 

than an entire order of magnitude greater in the peat ash than in the 

mineralized parts of the dolomite. This indicates a selective enrichment in peat of .those elements as compared to the amounts available 

in the dolomite. "This suite of metals corresponds closely with that 

listed by Goldschmidt (1937, p. 656) as being concentrated in coal.

Metals may be concentrated in a peat environment in one of four 

ways: by adsorption on the organic matter, as 'true organic compounds, as sulfides precipitated by bacterial 'action, and as sulfides 

reduced from sulfate waters by the direct action of the acid peat. 

When plants die, hydroxides, proteins, and humic complexes are retained partly by adsorption on the humus layer, and partly in the 

form of organic complexes (Rankama and Sahama, 1949, p'. 333). 

Bfemner, Mann, Heintze, and Leis (1946) suggest that the metals 

exist in an insoluble metallo-organic complex with soil organic matter in a nonexchangeable form. The precipitation of metal under 

highly reducing conditions in swamps has been demonstrated by 

Lovering (1927), whose laboratory .experiments indicate that copper 

may be precipitated in bogs through the action of amino acids and 

other bacterial waste products. Enrichment of the metal content of
130 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

the peat may be accomplished at a later date from mineralized ground 

waters by adsorption on the peat or reduction to sulfides through the 

action of carbon dioxide (Rankama and Sahama, 1949, p. 333).

Conclusive evidence concerning the original form of the lead and 

zinc in the peat of the Manning Muck and the possible effect of oxidation after the bogs have been drained is difficult to obtain. Staker 

(1942, p. 389) found that a large part of the zinc in the peat is acid 

soluble but only a small fraction of this amount is water soluble. The 

percent of component fractions present in three soils is reproduced in 

table 3.

TABLE 3. Water-soluble, replaceable, and nonreplaceable zinc in peat soils near 

Manning, N. Y. (taken from Staker, 194%)

Total 

exchange

Zn re- Nonre- capacity SaturaWater-sol- placeable placeable (mtili- tion with 

uble Zn with N/20 Zn equivalents Zn

Peat pH (ppm) HCKppm) (ppm) per gram) (percent) 

Copeland farm (station 1 on fig. 3).. 6.21 75 19,549 2,371 2,866 20.9 

Dolfy farm ... _ 6.52 39 15,771 2,269 2,974 16.1

Stymus farm (burned) (station 2 

on fig. 3).__. . ......... 7.19 195 52,532 48,873 2,306 69.7

Staker determined in 1944 that at least a part of the nonreplaceable 

zinc is present as zinc sulfide. He found that the ratio between sulfide sulfur and total zinc in 110 soil samples was 1 to 3. In highly unproductive soils, however, he found that the toxicity was due mainly 

to the soluble fraction. X-ray diffraction studies of one sample of 

peat from the Copeland property were made by S. B. Hendricks of the 

Department of Agriculture. The sample contained about 1 percent 

sphalerite, although neither sphalerite nor galena could be recognized 

in the peat under a high-powered microscope. From these determinations it may be concluded that the zinc was precipitated at least in 

part as finely divided zinc sulfide, and where the peat has been drained

and oxidized the metal is now predominantly in an exchangeable 

form.

Oxidation and eventual leaching of the metal are to be expected in 

peat Soils that are above the water-table level. According to Pluminer (1945), the organic matter in peat promotes the growth o± SOll 

bacteria that are active in the formation of sulfides and sulfur. When

the peat is buried or under water, oxygen is practically absent and th0

sulfides and sulfur remain in a reduced state. When the peat is aerated

or drained, the zinc sulfide reacts slowly with oxygen to produce

ZnSO*. This generation of sulf ate in the soil continues until the sulfides and surfur are completely converted. Rudolfs and HelbranneT

(1922) conducted experiments to demonstrate the oxidation of zinc

pUlfide to SUlf ate through bacterial action. They have shown, that a.

slow chemical reaction proceeds in tne absence of bacteria, but thai 

the change is greatly speeded by the introduction of sulfur bacteria 

and free sulfur.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 131

If zinc and lead are precipitated from solution in the ground water, 

then the distribution of zinc-rich areas in the peat is dependent upon 

and related to the proximity of the outcrop of mineralized zones in the 

Lockport and to ground-water conditions. A test made of peat from 

an undrained swamp south of Clarendon demonstrates the latter relation (table 4). The correlation of zinc-rich areas of the peat to mineralized parts of the underlying Lockport dolomite is shown in plate 2.

TABLE 4. Analyses of peat from an undrained swamp south of Clarendon, N. Y., 

in parts per million, dry weight

Zinc Lead 

Peat near entrance of ground water to swamp. ______ _______ 6, 700 26

Peat 500 feet from edge of swamD________________ 2,100 12

Although the occurence of zinc and lead in the Manning Muck at 

at the present time is near to the original source of the metal, a certain amount of movement and reconcentration have undoubtedly taken 

place: First, it is probable that, owing to oxidation, a considerable 

amount of the zinc as sulf ate is leaving the bog through the drainage 

ditches. It is certainly true that the outgoing drainage contains a 

greater percent of heavy metals, mostly zinc, than the incoming 

stream at the north end. If this condition persists, the toxicity symptoms should eventually disappear with the complete oxidation and 

removal of the metals through surface drainage. Second, the increased 

mobility of the metals resulting from oxidation since the draining 

of the muck, is undoubtedly responsible for a shifting of the concentrations, size, and shape of the toxic spots. Third, the metals 

in certain areas of the muck have been greatly concentrated by muck 

fires, at least one of which (on the Stymus farm) burned to a depth 

of 4 feet.

The amount of zinc that presumably has been extracted from the 

dolomites and deposited in the peat is large. By assuming a dry 

weight of 200 tons per acre-foot of peat and computing the zinc content of each zinc-rich area separately, it is estimated that there may 

be 1,000 tons of zinc in the peat of the Manning Muck and an appreciable quantity of zinc in the marl. In addition, there is a minimum 

of 500 tons of zinc in the zinc-rich parts of neighboring bogs. The 

muck south of Shelby is known to contain a considerable amount of 

zinc, and it is possible that there are other zinc-bearing bogs among 

those that have not yet been drained.

VEGETATION

When it is drained and aerated for farming, the zinc-rich peat 

becomes oxidized, and the crops develop toxicity symptoms. . Staker 

(1942) demonstrated that the availability of the zinc could be reduced 

by alkalizing the peat with calcium hydroxide at a rate of 4 tons to the

344641 55 8
132 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL-PROSPECTING FOR-MINERALS

acre. Copper sulfate is also reported to reduce the toxic effects of 

the zinc. It is necessary, however, to repeat the treatment each year, 

because the mineral content of the surface peat is renewed with the 

winter ground-water circulation. Farming on the toxic areas was 

abandoned after several years of experiment. . A zinc-rich area, when drained, eventually becomes barren of vegetation. The spring-fed area near the center of the Manning Muck 

is devoid of all vegetation and is encircled by a few weeds limited 

to a few very tolerant species. Their maximum zinc content is given 

in table 5. Although only that part of the plant 2 inches or more 

above the ground was collected, it is possible that a part of the zinc 

represents contamination by soil or airblown dtist.

TABLE 5. Zinc content of the above-ground part 1 of accumulator plants collected 

on the Manning Muck, in parts per million, dry weight

[H. W. Lakin, analyst]

Zinc

Amaranthus retroflexus L., red root pigweed_________________ 2,000 

Ambrosis elatior L., common ragweed_________ __:_ ____ 4, 800 

Solanum nigrum, L., black nightshade___-__________ ___ 10, 000 

Portulaca oleracea L., common purslane________ ___________ 10, 000 

Urtica dioica L., bigsting nettle____________ _ ___ __ 1,000

1 Except the 2 Inches directly above ground, which were discarded in order to prevent soil 

contamination.

Kagweed, purslane, and nightshade grow nearest the center of these 

barren spots, but nettles, the most noticeable weed on the muck, grow 

waist-high in patches along all drainage ditches. The potato, of 

the same genus as nightshade, is the most successful muck crop in 

zinc-rich areas.

These same weeds are also common in many zinc districts in the 

Eastern United States. Nettles grow in profusion in the old lead pits 

in the Schullsburg district of southwestern Wisconsin. Stunted ragweed in that area is confined to the piles of dirt thrown out of the 

pits. Nightshade is a common weed on old mine dumps at Franklin,

N. J. The presence of ragweed on the zinc slime ponds at Frieclens-.

ville, Pa., and the large amounts of zinc that ragweed can accumulate

have been reported by Eobinson, Lakin, and Reichen (1947).

A common physiological symptom induced in plants by an excess 

of zinc in the soil is chlorosis, or discoloration. In the early stages 

of chlorosis the plants are marked by a yellowing between the veins

of ike leaves. With an increase in zinc content, the leaves become

completely yellow and finally turn white near the top of the plant. 

Under extreme conditions the plants become very brittle and remain 

dwarfed and stunted.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 133

Experiments in the Geological Survey laboratory have confirmed 

these findings. Sweet peas, tomatoes, bluegrass, and violets were 

grown in nutrient solutions to which increasing amounts of copper, 

lead, zinc, and combinations of the three metals were added as copper 

sulfate and lead and .zinc acetate. Excessive amounts of copper and 

zinc in the solution produced the chlorotic effects just described and 

also caused white tips to appear on the roots. Excessive amounts of 

lead caused the violets and bluegrass to turn dark blue-green. All 

plants fed large amounts of lead developed brittle roots, and transpiration was restricted to a remarkable degree. When the amounts had 

been increased sufficiently to kill the plants, the part above ground was 

harvested and analyzed. Results indicated that all three metals were 

absorbed by the plants in amounts of several thousand parts per million. When lead and zinc were added in combination, the absorption 

of zinc was increased at the expense of the lead. Sweet peas that 

were grown in a lead-zinc solution with a pH of 7.6 absorbed 8,200 

ppm of zinc and 6,700 ppm of lead; sweet peas grown in a nutrient 

solution of the same pH but with no lead or zinc added contained 

only 61 ppm of zinc and 18 ppm of lead.

Results of similar studies are recorded in the literature (Jensch, 

1894). Hewitt (1948, p. 489) has published an authoritative study on 

the relation of other metals to the iron in plants. His experiments 

have shown that the intervenal chlorosis and necrosis which develop 

when zinc and copper are added in excess to the nutrient solution are 

directly connected to a failure in metabolizing the iron. Dwarfing, 

however, is a phenomenon due only to zinc toxicity and is not connected in any way to an iron deficiency. 

Discovery of sphalerite in the dolomite underlying the zinc peats 

was made by John Cooper and the author by tracing chlorotic symptoms of zinc toxicity on the Clarendon Muck. A yellow, or chlorotic, 

streak was clearly defined across a field of potatoes planted there. 

Nearly every chunk of weathered rock exposed by plowing the field 

contained visible crystals of sphalerite.

Word was later received from the agricultural agent of Orleans 

County that a Shelby Muck farmer 12 miles due west of Manning had 

similar trouble with his crops. The plants were yellowed and stunted. 

A sample of the muck was found to contain 5,100 ppm of zinc and 18 

ppm of lead. A large pile of dolomite boulders which had been plowed 

out of the muck were largely reef material conspicuously marked with 

white silicified calcareous algae and contained large crystals of sphalerite. It was possible to define the presence of the sphalerite zone in 

the meadows and fields of the farm, as well as on the muck, by the 

chlorotic condition of certain species of plants, and by the algae and
134

sphalerite showing in the boulders of the till. This discovery of a 

zinc-rich zone in a till- and muck-covered area was accomplished in 

less than half a day and is described here to emphasize the value of 

using chlorosis as a means of prospecting in an area in which the 

character of the mineral deposits is understood.

Conditions are extremely favorable for the absorption of ziric and 

lead by vegetation growing on the peat. In conjunction with Staker's 

study of zinc chlorosis in muck crops, many analyses of plant material 

were made specifically for zinc. He found that the tubers of potatoes 

have a higher zinc content than the tops, but that carrots and onions 

contain more zinc above ground than below. The presence of lead was 

not investigated by Staker. Table 6 shows Geological Survey analyses 

for both lead and zinc in plants growing in various types of muck. 

Analyses of vegetation growing on drained and undrained peat soils 

indicate that the oxidation has little effect on the absorption of lead 

but that the absorption of zinc is much greater on drained than undrained peats.

The absorption of lead by various plant species differs markedly. 

On a muck containing 250 ppm of lead, the ragweed, sedge, and burdock absorbed 50, 55, and 58 ppm respectively, while pigweed and 

nettles absorbed only 6 and 2 ppm; on a soil containing 71 ppm, an 

elm and a fern absorbed 36 and 30 ppm respectively, while a maple and 

a jewel weed absorbed only 3 and 14 ppm. Two evergreens were 

found to contain more lead in the dry weight of the plant than is 

present in the dried peat: the arborvitae absorbed slightly more than 

was present in the soil, and the hemlock contained four times that of

the peat.

Lead is probably not necessary or beneficial to plant growth, and it is 

not taken up normally by plants in large enough amounts to be harmful to the plant or to people. However, several of the plants named

above approach the content of 60 ppm set by the U. S, Food and

Drug Administration as being dangerous for human consumption.

Furthermore, this plant material was collected from above ground

only; and work by Bonnet (1922, p. 488), Hammett (1928, p. 183),

and Hevesy (1923, p. 440) has shown that lead is concentrated in the

roots of plants. A plant analyzed by Hevesy having 12 percent of

lead in the ash of the leaves had 38 percent in the ash of the roots. 

Perhaps further work would suggest that farming on the Manning 

Muck should be confined to aboveground crops..
. . RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 135

TABLE 6. Partial analyses of plants 1 and soils from the Manning area, in parts

per million, dry weight

[W. H. Lakln, F. N. Ward, L. Eelchen, Hy Almond, F. Qrimaldl, H. Bloom, analysts]

^ Lead Zinc . , .,., , Drained and cultivated muck

Portulaca oleracea L., common purslane _ _ 42 67 10, 000 26, 000

Solatium nigrum L., black nightshade _____ 10 67 10,000 26,000

Ambrosia elatior L., common ragweed_____ 8 67 4,600 26,000

Do_________. _____________________ 50 250. 4,800 88,000

Amaranthus retroflexus L., common pigweed. 6 250 2, 000 88, 000

Urtica dioica L., bigsting nettle _______ 2 250 1,000 88,000

Sedge____________-_______--___________ 55 250 600 88,000

Arctium minus Bernh., smaller burdock. ___ 58 110 390 4,200

Salix sp., Willow....... ______ _..___..._ 4 28 860 5,100

Populus tremuloides Michx., quaking aspen_ 4 110 860 4/200

Ditched but undisturbed swamp forest

Verbancum thapsus L., flannel mullein. ____ 6 30 150 1,600

Impatiens bi flora Walt., spotted jewelweed. 14 71 230 2, 700 

Ulmus americana L., American elm. ______ 36 71 80 2,700

Dryopteris cristata (L.) A. Gray, crested 

woodfern_____.__....__.__. __....____ 30 71 100 2,700

Acer rubrum L., red maple.___--__---_-__ 3 71 42 2,700

Undrained swamp

Dryopteris cristata (L.) A. Gray, crested

woodfern______________________-'..___ 8 12 34 2,100

Salix purpurea L., osier willow. __________ 6 26 .290 6,700

Acer rubrum L., red maple_____ __________ 6 12 ,71 2,100

Populus tremuloides Michx., quaking aspen. 5 100 140 8,400 

Equistum arvense L., field horsetail.. ______ 4 100 46 8, 400

Thuja occidentalis L., eastern arborvitae.___ 19 13 20 40 

Tsuga canadensis (L.) Carr., Canadian hemlock______. __________________________ 40 10 50 190

Quercus bicolor Willd., swamp white oak___ 10 70 60. 425 

Ulmus americana L., American elm. ______ 15 40 40 330

1 Leaves of the trees and aboveground parts of smaller plants except the 2 Inches directly above ground.

Some species of plants accumulate enough zinc under favorable conditions to reflect zinc-rich areas in the soil, as shown by table 6. Conditions on the Manning Muck are ideal for experimental "prospecting." 

The muck has been thoroughly tested for zinc by Staker although the 

zinc distribution has changed slightly as a result of changing drainage 

patterns, since his sampling. The amount of organic matter and clay, 

the pH, and the height of the water table at any one time are virtually 

constant. The surface of the muck is flat, and willow windbreaks are 

laid out in north-south and east- west rows. For these reasons the area 

was chosen as ideal for testing a field kit devised by Reichen and Lakin 

of the Geological Survey (1949) for determining zinc in plants. Reichen spent three weeks in the area and made about 150 analyses. Samples were taken by means of a leaf punch designed to cut a disk one 

square centimeter in area. A given number of disks were then ashed 

and analyzed.

The leaves of willows and nettles were used for sampling because of 

the distribution of these plants and their accumulative capacity. The 

field results for willow are shown on the map in figure 20. Compara-
136 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

ZINC CONTENT OF WILLOW LEAF

Gammas per 100 square 

centimeters of area 

Less than 50 

50 - I 25 

125-250 

250 -400 

400 - 500 

500-1250 

IE50-2500

Class 

No.

1

2

3

4

5

6

7

(I gamma = I microgram)

Analyzed L.E. Reichen

EXPLANATION

More than 0.4 percent (4000 parts 

per million) zinc in air-dried 

muck (after Stoker)

x4 

Class number of willows sampled

I Mile

FIQUBE 20. Diagram comparing the zinc content of willow leaves with that of the soil on

the Manning Muck.

tive analyses of willow and nettle made in the Washington laboratory

are given in table 7. The zinc content of the willows IS larger than 

that of the nettles. This is due in part to the fact that the nettles are 

rooted in near-surface soils and the willow roots reach the water table. 

Both plants contain more zinc in areas of higher metal content.

TABLE 7. Zinc content of nettles and willows from the Manning Muck, in parts per

million, dry weight 

[Laura Reichen, analyst]

AT««Z«I Willow i Remarks

70 270

80 370 Surface soil contains 100 ppm of zinc.

130 470

140 950

140 000

180 900

200 i, 100 Willow rooted in drainage ditch,

280 780

400 870 

570 930

1, 400 2, 400 Soil contains 2.6 percent of zinc at surface, 5.2 percent 

at 2-foot depth.

i Willow and nettle collected from the same locality.
' RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 137

Several other plants were tested in traverse sampling. Sumac and 

goldenrod proved to be unsatisfactory for field testing because the 

Yariations in zinc content were not consistent with those of the soil. 

Aspens were found to be satisfactory absorbers and were used in a 

traverse sampling to discover two mineralized zones in the underlying 

rocks. The first anomaly was in aspens rooted in till and the second 

in aspens rooted in undrained swamp muck; the zinc in both plant 

samples was about 400 ppm. The lowest zinc content in aspens on 

this traverse was 70 ppm.

Results of plant sampling indicate that plants growing on soils of 

high metal content absorb large quantities of zinc and lesser quantities 

of lead, but that lead may be a more useful element in prospecting 

for lead-zinc deposits than zinc. Discrepancies in absorption of zinc 

may be due either to differences in the base exchange capacity or pH of 

the soil, or to solution and migration of zinc from its place of origin. 

Results of botanical prospecting for zinc have been published by 

Warren and Howatson (1947), Warren and Delavault (1948), White 

(1950), and Webb and Millman (1951). Warren has found the zinc 

content of accumulator plants to be consistently higher near known 

zinc deposits and has based a method of botanical prospecting on this 

fact. Webb has found lead and silver to be preferred tracer elements 

in prospecting for zinc deposits by spectographic methods.

GEOCHEMICAL STUDIES IN THE TILL-COVEBED AREA 

SURROUNDING THE PEAT BOGS

TILrL AND BESIDUAL, SOILS

After preliminary sampling of the muck soils had established the 

relation of the zinc in the muck to the sphalerite in the underlying 

dolomites, about 50 samples of the till were taken throughout the area, 

wherever comparable samples could be obtained of well-drained till 

at about the same depth of weathering. The localities at which 

samples were collected and the zinc and lead contents of the sample 

are shown in plate 2. Their relation to the probable outcrop of mineralized zones in the dolomite is also shown. This relation can be 

seen most clearly from the cross section C-C''. Four zones of stratigraphic significance have been designated by number for ease of 

reference. Zone 1 is in the lower part of the dolomite series. The 

position of zinc-bearing soils and muck directly above mineralized 

zone 4 in the dolomite suggests that the large amounts of zinc present 

in the bog are of local origin.

The zinc content of the till is greater in low areas near the groundwater table than in well-drained soils of higher altitudes. Lead, however, remains close to the original source, and averages 10 to 50 ppm 

in the till over unmineralized rock, and 50 to 150 ppm in the till close
138 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

to mineralized outcrops. Also the mineralized till is not offset in the 

direction of glacial movement from the host rock. This suggests that 

either the till has not moved far from point of origin or there has 

been a migration of metals from bedrock into the till since the till 

was deposited. Therefore the analysis of till for lead can be an 

important tool in prospecting for mineralized areas of underlying 

dolomite.

SURFACE WATER

Surface water samples were collected from! Clarendon west to 

Shelby (pi. 1) and were analyzed for heavy-metal content. The 

average content is 0.005 ppm of heavy metals where the streams are 

not in actual contact with the Lockport dolomite but are flowing over 

glacial till. Where a stream flows over mineralized dolomite or 

through ditched and aerated zinc-bearing muck lands, the zinc content of the stream may be several parts per million.

The largest drainage system in the area is that of Oak Orchard 

Creek. The source of the main branch of this stream is a small 

undrained bog just north of the Manning Muck. At this bog the 

stream gave a negative test for heavy metals. Flowing south across 

the Lockport dolomite, it crosses zone 2 (pi. 2) at least twice and 

picks up 0.06 ppm of heavy metals. The creek then flows across the 

Manning Muck where it receives water from drainage ditches. The 

water in these ditches tested as high as 7 ppm, although the main 

stream leaves the artificial drainage system of the muck carrying only 

0.5 ppm. As the stream flows south from the Manning Muck to the 

Big Muck the content is lowered by dilution to 0.35 ppm, but it is 

raised to 0.61 ppm in the northwest corner of the Big Muck, where 

the stream crosses another zinc-rich area. Frbm this point on throughout the stream's meandering 12-mile course westward through the Oak

Orchard swamps, the heavy-metal content decreases to 0.1 ppm.

During the 6-mile northward course where it recrosses the Lockport 

dolomite, its content of heavy metals is constant at 0.08 ppm.

WELL

Ninety-five water wells have been tested in the Manning area for 

heavy-metal content (pi. 3). Samples from 30 of these wells were

taken in 1946 and specifically analyzed for zinc by the standard 

laboratory dithizone method. In 194T, 16 of these wells and 14 other

wells were testea by tKe Huff (1Q48) field test for total Keavy metals.

The amount of copper and lead present in the total heavy metals extracted from the water was very low and for all practical purposes

the heavy-metal content was a measure of the zinc in the water.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 139

According to Sergeev (1941), primary lead minerals in the soil 

normally weather to insoluble carbonates without going through a 

water-soluble stage. In 1 of the 3 waters tested specifically for lead, 

however, the water contained 0.2 ppm lead and 8.6 ppm zinc; the 

amount of lead is roughly one-fortieth of the total amount of zinc. 

In the other samples tested, the lead content is below the range of 

sensitivity of the test. In 3 well waters analyzed specifically for copper, none was detected.

Unless the water is completely saturated, the zinc content is greater 

if the .water passes through metal pipes before it is sampled than if it 

is taken directly from the well. The amount of zinc dissolved from 

pipes and fittings varies with the degree of saturation of the water, 

the pH, and the length of time water is allowed to stand in pipes; contamination was reduced to a minimum by collecting water samples at 

the well head whenever possible or by pumping for several minutes 

before taking the sample.

The results of this well-water study show that the zinc content of 

the ground water depends upon the type of rocks through which the 

ground water flows (pi. 3). Those wells that bottom in the Lockport 

dolomite contain more zinc than those that bottom in the Rochester 

shale or in older formations to the east of the Clarendon fault scarp. 

None of the latter wells contains more than 0.5 ppm of zinc. Shallow 

wells that bottom in till also contain very little zinc, and because they 

have no bearing upon the relation of zinc-bearing well waters to 

Lockport dolomite, they have been omitted from the illustrations.

Plate 3 and figure 21 indicate considerable variation of the zinc 

content within the Lockport dolomite. Figure 21 is a profile and 

graph of the wells along the east-west Manning road. Two areas of 

high content are shown on the graph, the larger being at Manning 

crossroads. The zinc content of the well water bears an apparent relation to the depth of the well. Because the wells are commonly cased 

to within 5 feet of the bottom, the source bed can be determined by 

plotting well depths on a stratigraphic cross section. Thus, zone 2 is 

the source bed responsible for the higher zinc content in some of the 

wells. Additional correlations are suggested by a study of a projection plane perpendicular to the strike of the beds. Zones of high zinc 

content correlate with the zinc-rich areas of the various mucks when 

they are projected to the surface and their lines of outcrop are traced 

on a topographic map of the area, as shown in plate 2. This apparent 

correlation of the well-water data with the distribution of zinc and 

lead in the till, peat bogs, and outcrops of dolomite has subsequently 

been proved by a study of 10 holes drilled in the area f oir geologic information.

344641- 6E
140 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING* FOR MINERALS

EXPLANATION -

600-

FIGOBB 21. Profile section along the east-west Manning road, with graph of 

approximate Heavy-metal content of well waters.

STRATIGRAPHY

Stratigraphic studies in Orleans County made as a part of this

investigation have been confined to the upper and lower parts of the 

Lockport dolomite of Magaran age. Surface studies of the dolomite

 where it is exposed through the till cover along stream channels and in

quarries have been augmented by a study of core from 19 holes drilled

for geologic information. The locations of these holes are shown in

plate 1.

The Lockport in New York State has been described at several positions along the strike. The Niagara Falls section was described by 

Grabau in 1901 and the Shelby section with its Guelph fossils in 1902 

by Clarke, Ruedemann, and Luther, and in 1903 by Clarke and Ruedemann. Chadwick in 1917 studied the Lockport in Rochester during
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 141

~~aian *~
142 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

the building of the barge canal and agreed with Williams of Ontario 

that the Eramosa and Guelph equivalents were present. A description 

of the complete section was not published until 1946 by Ailing. Gillette published in 1940 on the Lockport in the Clyde and Sodas Bay 

quadrangles and described a core from the Geneva area. Sections in 

eastern New York are described by Monahan (1928). These sections 

and all other information available have been studied carefully and 

compared in detail with the dolomites of Orleans County. A stratigraphic section across New York State is shown in figure 22.

The Guelph dolomite of Williams has been found to be equivalent to 

the upper part of the Lockport dolomite in New York State. There is 

a recognizable break in the dolomite sequence in the Lockport in New 

York State that can be correlated with the transitional Eramosa 

member of Williams. Although litho-facies and consequently the 

fauna change laterally from Canada to United States, the upper and 

lower parts of the sequence are mappable units having a distinct time 

break represented by the Eramosa member of Williams. Detailed 

studies of this unit suggest a period of reworking and solution of the 

lower dolomite with an unusual concentration of metals by residual 

enrichment. Furthermore, in two holes which cut through thicknesses 

of reef core or centers of reef activity, the reef material extends up 

from the base of the transition member into the upper part of the 

Lockport dolomite. For these reasons I have used the name of Oak 

Orchard member of Howell and Sanford (1947) as the lower unit of 

the upper part of the Lockport (Guelph of Williams) rather than 

Eramosa member of Williams (1919) andChadwick (1917, p. 172) as 

the upper unit of the lower part of .the Lockport.

The lower 30 feet of Lockport dolomite and the underlying Kochester shale, also belonging to the Niagara series, are well exposed just 

south of the town of Clarendon. Occasional outcrops and drill-core 

data provide information on the remaining part of the section. 

Specific Zones in the dolomites may be recognized and correlated with 

those of the Oak Orchard Creek and Niagara Gorge sections to the west 

and with the Rochester section to the east. A section compiled from 

outcrop study in the Manning area follows:

Composite section of the upper and lower parts of the Lockport dolomite exposed near

Manning, Orleans County, N. Y.

Upper part of Lockport dolomite:

Guelph dolomite of Williams: 

Erbded.-

Zone4;jeef flank bed; dolomite, darkbrown, porous, coarse-grained, containing gypsum and stylolites. Scattered crystals of sphalerite.

Thickness 

(feet)

Zinc 

(pprn) Outcrop locality

In fields, south of 

Manning; in pastures north of 

Big Muck.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 143

Qomposite section of the upper and lower parts of the Lockport dolomite exposed near 

Manning, Orleans County, N. Y. Continued

Upper part of Lockport dolomite Con. 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and

Sanford (1947):

Dolomite, dark-gray, fine-grained, 

containing occasional carbonaceous 

partings and scattered fossils. 

Favosites.

Zone 3; dolomite of reef material, 

dark-gray, coarsely crystalline, containing many stylolites, sand pockets, 

and fossils. Siliceous coating on 

algae. Fluorite, sphalerite, and celestite. Galena in white algal masses. 

Lower part of Lockport dolomite: 

Undifferentiated beds:

Dolomite of fossil fragments, fine,

carbonaceous.

Dolomite, dark-gray, fine-grained, containing scattered fossils.

Zone 2; reef flank bed; dolomite of reef 

sand, porous, bituminous, recrystallized, brown, containing gypsum, 

algal material, and Halysites corals. 

Surface blocks pitted with cavities. 

Sphalerite sparse.

Clastic sediments, fossiliferous, thinbedded, argillaceous. Zinc and lead 

sulfides occurring as groups of crystals in fine groundmass of one thin 

bed.

Silty beds, gray, thin, 3 to 5 inches 

thick, which weather to brown. 

Shale partings and stylolites. Sphalerite in white patches of dolomite.

Zone 1; dolomite, thin-bedded argillaceous with lead sulfide and zinc 

sulfide in carbonaceous layer near 

top. Galena in poikiloblastic crystals.

Clastic dolomite, containing sphalerite 

in siliceous nodules of algal origin. 

Contains a patch reef of Halysites 

corals, crinoids, algae, etc.

Dolomite, laminated, argillaceous, 1 to 

4 inches thick, containing dolomite 

pebbles and a little white chert in 

fillings and lenses. 

Gasport limestone member:

Limestone, dolomitic, reef flank bed, 

massive, coarse-grained, light-colored; 

forms ledge containing a small patch 

reef of corals, algae, Stromatopora, 

and crinoids.

DeCew limestone member of Williams 

(1914):

Dolomite, medium-grained, porous, 

argillaceous, in 2- to 6-inch beds, 

with abundant stylolites. Sphalerite filling coral structure.

Same lithology as preceding bed______

Thickness 

(feet)

Zinc 

(ppm) Outcrop locality

Manning' road, 

ditch.

4 _____ Shepherd farm.

21

19

Do.

Inlet stream at 

north end of 

Manning Muck.

Northeast of Manning crossroads.

Do.

Stream ditch south 

of Albion.

Clarendon quarry.

Clarendon quarry 

and stream south 

of Albion.

106 Clarendon quarry.

53 Do.

104

2.6 52

Do.

Do.
144

Composite section of the upper and lower parts of the Lockport dolomite exposed near 

Manning, Orleans County, N. Y. Continued

Thick-

(feef)

Zinc 

(ppm) Outcrop locality

3.4

1.9

1.5

10.2

10.2

8.4

Clarendon quarry.

Do.

Do. 

Do. 

Do.

.5 

1.5

1.5

30

50

Lower part of Lockport dolomite Con. 

DeCew limestone member of Williams 

(1914) Continued

Dolomite, dark-gray, of reef detritus, 

with shaly partings, channeling, 

and crossbedding. Fine banding 

on weathered surface.

Organic dolomite or dolomitic shale, 

gray, fissile, with wavy seams of organic material.

Reef detritus, recrystallized and secondary White dolomite in single bed.

Dolomite, organic, containing irregular 

shaly seams and fissile partings.

Dolomite, fine-grained, laminated, crystalline, interbedded with dark impure 

dolomite in 1- to 4-inch beds. Laminar deposits fill shallow channels in 

the dolomite. 

Clinton group: 

Rochester shale:

Shale, fissile______________________

Dolomite, impure, in single massive 

bed; rounded grains. Irregular wavy 

markings on the weathered surface.

Dolomite, fine-grained, laminated, argillaceous, in 2- to 3-inch beds. 

Bryozoa abundant.

Covered.__________________________

Dolomite, fine, sugary, brown, in irregular beds with dolomite grains, 

rounded even on fresh fracture.

Dolomite of cemented rounded grains 

having shale partings and contemporaneous slump structures. Crossbedding in top bed.

LOWEB PART OF THE LOCKPORT DOLOMITE

The lower part of the Lockport dolomite is made up of gray, argillaceous, thin-bedded, dolomitic beds. They are typically even-bedded, 

Commonly laminated, and contain macerated fossil debris and Small 

patch reefs (Cloud, 1952, p, 2,127) of algal and coral material. The

series is difficult to separate into recognizable units and remains largely undifferentiated. The contact Of the Lockport dolomite with the 

Underlying Rochester shale is gradational and in most plaCGS difficult

to distinguish. General descriptions of the units follow.

DECEW LIMESTONE MEMBER OF WILLIAMS (1914)

The Lockport dolomite oVeriies the Rochester shale, and the lowermost member, or Williams' DeCew limestone member of the Lockport, 

contains a considerable amount of reworked Rochester shale. The 

bed represents a period of quiescence during which considerable solu14

27

Do. 

Do.

Do.

Do.

Do.
' RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 145

tion and reworking took place. Spectrographic analyses show the 

content of potasium, boron, barium, zirconium, gallium, chromium, 

copper, titanium, yttrium, ytterbium, and lead to be above that of 

average dolomite in the series. This enrichment in rare earths is 

particularly 'significant. According to Kankama (1949, p. 528), 

"Yttrium is notably concentrated in the insoluble residues formed 

during the solution of limestones and calcareous shells of marine organisms." Yttrium is also concentrated in the reworked bed at the 

base of the upper part of the Lockport dolomite.

A fine exposure of Williams' DeCew limestone member can be 

studied in the Clarendon quarry directly south of Clarendon. In the 

Manning area the beds are thin-bedded, argillaceous, and dolomitic. 

The DeCew limestone member of Williams is also exposed south of 

Shelby in Oak Orchard Creek which is 10 miles west of the area, and 

in Niagara Gorge.

GASPORT LIMESTONE MEMBER

Williams' DeCew limestone member is overlain in many places in 

western New York State by a porous buff limestone or dolomite of 

crinoidal reef detritus, called the Crinoidal of local usage or Gasport 

limestone member of the Lockport. In the Clarendon quarry the 

member is represented by a massive 5-foot bed of uniform, lightcolored, limestone composed of reef sand. This bed was also observed 

in core from drill holes Nos. 1-3 and 5 several miles west of the 

quarry. Its position in the section is marked in many cores by the 

presence of abundant gypsum. Copper, zinc, and strontium are concentrated in this reef detrital bed. The Gasport could not be recognized in the holes drilled to the south but the position in the section is 

occupied by beds similar to the DeCew limestone member of Williams 

in lithology and similarly enriched in potassium, barium, boron, iron, 

titanium, chromium, copper, gallium, and sodium.

UNDIFFERENTIATED BEDS

The next 60 feet of the lower Lockport dolomite remains undifferentiated in the literature. In general the dolomite is even-bedded, 

dense, fine-grained, and argillaceous. Ten to 12 feet above the Gasport limestone member, crystals of sphalerite are found in thin gray 

clastic dolomites, and galena occurs as poikiloblastic crystals and 

fossil replacements in the rock. These shaley beds, designated as zone 

1, are represented by a porous zone in drill hole 1 and can be recognized by sulfide content in several holes. At the same horizon, near 

Shelby, 10 miles west of Manning, 13 feet of zinc-bearing clastic 

sediments overlain by an algal zone can be traced in outcrop and drill 

core for more than a mile. In outcrop sphalerite is concentrated in
146 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

the porous algal masses which underlie and are responsible for the 

toxicity of the Shelby Muck. In drill hole 12 (shown on pi. 1), V/2 

miles south of the Shelby outcrop, an unexpected 18 feet of crinoidal 

coquina was found above the algal material.

A characteristic feature of deposition throughout the Lockport 

dolomite in this area and one that can be used locally for correlation 

purposes is the contact of clastic beds of macerated small fossil debris, 

enriched in lead and other heavy metals, with an overlying, porous, 

light-colored bed of completely recrystallized dolomitic reef sand containing large Stromatopora, algae, and corals. The latter commonly 

contains concentrations of gypsum, zinc, strontium, and barium compounds. Lowenstam's work on the reefs of Niagaran age (1950, p. 

461) suggests that the contact may be that of the quiet-water, interreef bottom muds with wave-controlled beds of reef qutwash. The 

recurrence of this depositional feature suggests reef building under 

turbulent conditions with the surrounding bottoms below effective 

wave base.

In the Manning area, such a fossiliferous clastic layer containing 

sulfides is identifiable in seven of the drill holes. The dense argillaceous dolomite appears to be more resistant to glacial erosion than 

the overlying porous recrystallized reef-sand dolomite and, therefore, 

forms a continuous land surface across much of the area north of 

Manning. The overlying bed of porous reef rock, designated zone 2 

for correlation purposes, is the most persistent marker in the lower 

part of the Lockport and is identifiable in all holes drilled in the 

Manning area. The bed contains considerable gypsum. In outcrop, 

4-foot blocks of this material, broken up originally by glacial action, 

are a prominent feature of the landscape. Halysites is the predominant fossil. The bed thickens greatly within iy2 miles to the west

(866 CrOSS Section of fig. 21) and also to the south as shown in plate 

2. In drill hole 6, 11 feet of reef material was penetrated. In drill

hole 10, near Elba, the bed attains a thickness of 20 feet.

The remaining part of the lower part of the Lockport dolomite, as 

exposed in both areas, consists of gray, compact dolomitic beds.

UPPER PART OF THE LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 

OAK ORCHARD MEMBER OF HOWELL AND SANFOKD <1947>

A change in lithology marks the contact between the dolomites of 

tlie lower and upper parts of the Lockport in western New York.

The transitional beds, called the Eramosa member by M. Y. Williams

< 1919, p- 1O5 114) and. Oak Orchard member by Ho-well and Stinford

(1947), are recognizable in the base of the upper part of the Lockport 

although the lithology is variable. The clastic beds were formed during a period of reworking and probably solution and appear to have 

formed the muddy unconsolidated substratum for widespread reef
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 147

building in late Lockport time. Mineralized beds formed in a restricted environment are exposed along Oak Orchard Creek. Here 

the'Oak Orchard member of .Howell and Sanford is 12 feet thick 

and at the base includes 4 ifeet of argillaceous dolomites that contain 

white chert nodules, sphalerite, galena, and a considerable amount of 

iron, weathered reddish on exposure. Spectrographic analyses show 

these beds to be enriched in a large suite of heavy metals. Delicate 

fossils of the Guelph type have been described from the chert nodules 

of these beds by Clarke and Euedemann (1903). Cup corals and other 

fossils are partially dissolved and commonly coated with cryptocrystalline quartz and with galena which also forms poikiloblastic crystals 

in the country rock.

Depositional features indicate a restricted humid environment as 

described by Krumbein and Garrels (1952). A partial stagnation of 

the bottom, a pH of 7, and a negative oxidation potential are characteristic of such an environment. Hydrogen sulfide and sulfur are 

present, and the calcium carbonate is converted to bicarbonate and 

carbonic acid. Ferrous iron and sulfides are precipitated. Deposits 

of similar environment in the Niagara series at the contact of reef 

flank and interreef bottoms have been described by Lowenstam (1950, 

p. 461).

Along Oak Orchard Creek, the beds described are separated from 

the overlying typical, coarsely crystalline reef rock by 5 feet of dense, 

fine-grained argillaceous dolomite. This dolomite is also present in 

the core near Manning crossroads but is absent in core from drill holes 

6 and 10. In both of these holes, a thickness of reef core is present 

in Howell and Sanford's Oak Orchard member and is continuous 

directly upward into the beds of the upper part of the Lockport dolomite or Guelph equivalent. The changes in lateral facies from reef 

core in hole 6 to reef flank beds in holes 1 and 7 are shown in figure 23. 

The presence of Cladopora coral beds in reef core sections and the restriction of crinoid debris to flank beds are particularly significant. 

Similar flank beds of crinoidal debris in Niagaran dolomites are described by Lowenstam (1950, p. 456). Galena and sphalerite are 

present in core from hole 10 from the Oak Orchard member of 

Howell and Sanford. Uncommon amounts of galena in the same bed 

are exposed south of the Manning Muck where the mineral is associated with a cryptozoan algal flora. This occurrence is described 

later.

An excellent section of a patch reef in the transitional member is 

exposed in the Penfield quarry 10 miles east of Rochester. The patch 

\reef is 5 to 6 feet thick and is composed of large masses of algal material containing sand pockets, recrystallized dolomite, calcite, and a 

considerable amount of sphalerite, all imbedded in blackish impure 

dolomite. The bed can be traced across the quarry.

344641 55 5
25'-

Rochester shale 

0 1 Mile

EXPLANATION

Recrystalllzed reef rock 

of low organic content 

Zii and Sr content high

Normal organic content; 

heavy-metal content low

Organic clastic.deposits formed 

- from bottom muds, cup corals.and 

.'small fossil debris. Pb, Cu, 

Ni, Cr, content high

. . FIGURE 23. Sketch of lateral reef and faunal changes in Lockport dolomite of the

Manning area.

GTJELPH DOLOMITE OF WILLIAMS

The dolomite beds of the upper part of the Lockport dolomite

(Guelph of Williams) are in general highly recrystallized and bituminous with less argillaceous material than the lower part of the 

Lockport dolomite. This indicates a period of warmer seas arid increased reef building. Toward the end of late Lockport time, the

seas became shallow and saline, reef building ceased, and gypsum was

precipitated in considerable quantity.

The porous brown dolomite of zone 4 forms the bedrock surface under the till and muck from the crossroads at Manning south to the Big

Muck (see pi. 2). Forty-seven feet of such material has been measured in drill hole 10, near Elba. This thickness of porous reedE rock, 

Witll ObSCUTed bedding) Contains considerable sphalerite and celestite 

and is probably reef core. At this locality Howell ana SaniOra S Oak 

Orchard member is a 10-foot bed composed of organic detritus which 

COntainS an appreciable amount Of galena and other heavy metals.

A section of reef core was also found in drill hole 6 where it extends 

upward from the base of the transitional member into the upper part 

of the Lockport dolomite (fig. 23). -
.RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 149

. The upper beds of the Lockport dolomite or Guelph equivalent 

are dense, argillaceous, and calcareous and grade conformably into 

the gypsiferous shale beds of the lower part of the Salina group. 

A thickness of 91 feet of the lower part of the Lockport dolomite and 

90 feet of the upper part of the Lockport dolomite was measured in 

drill hole 10, near! Elba; the hole was started in beds of the Salina 

group. Logs of the 17 holes, compiled by Kobert Stewart and the 

author, are given in the appendix.

FAUNAL CORRELATIONS

It should be emphasized that the correlation of the beds just discussed has been made purely on the basis of lithology and mineralogy. 

The various units and zones of the dolomite sequence can be traced 

from Canada into New York State and found in their proper sequence in the outcrops and drill cores in Orleans County. The well 

known "Lockport" and "Guelph" faunas, however, cannot be shown 

to be restricted to the lower and upper parts of the sequence, respectively, but their presence is probably due to f acies changes which recur 

at intervals throughout the upper part of the sequence.

Fossil forms belonging to the Guelph fauna of Ontario, Canada, 

were first found in New York State by A. L. Arey (1892) in the 

Nellis quarry in Rochester. These were finely preserved fossils occurring in siliceous nodules. Later Clarke and Ruedemann (1903, 

p. 12) described the same forms preserved in similar nodules at 

Shelby. Because these forms occur at two horizons separated by rocks 

carrying only the fossils of the Lockport fauna, Clarke and Reudemann concluded that the forms represented two periods of transgression by a northern sea. They named these units the."Upper and 

Lower Shelby dolomite." Remeasurement of this section by the present writer and review of Clarke's original field notes (Clarke, Ruedemann, and Luther, 1902) make it apparent that a 4-foot covered interval between Clark and Ruedemann's upper and lower Shelby dolomite was inadvertently exaggerated by 20 feet through a typographical error. The two units are found only 12 feet apart, rather than 32 

feet.

Nomenclature was further complicated by the publication of a 

paper by Howell and Sanford (1947) on the trilobites from the 

Shelby beds at Rochester. The specimens were collected many years 

ago by Clifton J. Sarle. Howell and Sanford have shown that the 

name Shelby had been used before, and they proposed to substitute 

for the upper Shelby the name Oak Orchard member, which member 

they placed above William's Eramosa member of the Lockport as 

equivalent to the lower Guelph. Because both Shelby zones are 

probably in the base of the upper part of the Lockport (or Guelph
150 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

of Williams), it would seem appropriate to drop the names upper, and 

lower Shelby and to use Howells and Sanford's Oak Qrchard member as the basal unit of the upper part of the Lockport dolomite.

It should be emphasized that the upper and lower parts of the 

Lockport dolomite in New York State are characterized by recurrent 

beds, composed of outwash from crumbling reefs, that occur at fairly 

regular intervals in the section and that seemingly can be traced over 

considerable distances. From the author's stratigraphic studies, it 

seems likely that the Guelph and Lockport faunas are not separate 

faunas developed in entirely different seas but represent different 

facies of the same period of deposition. The Guelph fauna consists of 

two types of forms: the heavy frame-building stromatoporoids, corals, 

mollusks, and calcareous algae; and the delicate fine forms that lived 

in protected areas of the reef. The Lockport fauna consists of the 

life common to the interreef parts of the sea floor. Work recently 

published by Lowenstam (1948a, 1948b, 1949, 1950) and by Cumings 

and Shrock (1928, p. 140) on .the Niagara series in the interior province 

west of the Cincinnati arch describes similar changes of f acies.

METALS IN SEDIMENTS

Both geochemical and geological data indicate a lithologic and mineralogic zoning that can be used for correlation purposes in the Lockport dolomite. Disseminated crystals of sphalerite and galena occur 

in the dolomite from Sherrill, N. Y., to Ontario, Canada, but are concentrated, along with increased amounts of chromium, nickel, copper, 

jttrium and iron, at particular breaks or changes. These concentrations probably result from diagenetic solution and selective preservation during periods of little or no deposition. Zinc and strontium are

also concentrated in recrystallized beds of reef flank material. 

Occurrences of sphalerite and galena in outcrop and drill core and

the relation of metals to specific zones in the Lockport dolomite are 

described.

OCCURRENCES or LEAD AND ZINC IN THE LOCKPORT DOLOMITE

Occurrences of sphalerite and galena in Orleans County have never

been reported although both sulfides have been described from the

Lockport dolomite in several other counties of New York State. Several mineral localities in the upper and lower parts of the Lockport

dolomite in and around Rochester have long been known to mineral

collectors and are'frequently reported in the literature (jensen, 1942,-

Beck, 1842, p. 47; Merrill, 1904, p. 186; and Giles, 1920). Sphalerite 

has also been reported near Sherrill, Rome, VerilOll, and ClilltOll,

(MonaJian, 1928) IB east&m Tfew York, To the west) sphalerite and

galena have been observed at several horizons at Shelby, Lockport,
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 151

and Niagara Falls (Grabau, 1901, p. 109) and two deposits have actually been mined in Ontario and Iowa. In Wiarton, Ontario, an open 

cut in the basal Guelph dolomite (equivalent to upper part of the 

Lockport dolomite in New York State) was worked for several years 

beginning in 1910, resulting in the shipment of a carload of ore (Williams, 1919, p. 102). A single pocket where the sphalerite has been reconcentrated by ground water in solution cavities of a former cephalopod assemblage yielded 110 pounds of zinc ore. Several tons of lead 

were also mined from rocks of Niagaran age in Iowa in the early days, 

according to Calvin (1895, p. 110). He reports that dolomites of 

Niagaran age in Iowa are all lead-bearing to a certain extent. Sphalerite is known to occur in the same sequence of rocks in Wisconsin 

and Illinois and has been reported from the limestones of Niagaran 

age in Ohio (Stout, 1941, and Rogers, 1-936, p. 93).

In the Lockport dolomite of Orleans County the abundance of lead 

and zinc minerals varies with changes in the lithology of the dolomite. 

Three dolomitic facies were described by Chamberlain (1877, p. 368) 

and later by Cumings and Shrock (1928, p. 140-145), from the Niagaran series: 1. a compact, fine-grained, thin-bedded dolomite deposited 

as calcareous mud in quiet, deep water; 2. an irregular, brecciated, conglomeratic dolomite, forming obscurely stratified masses which probably represent reef core; and 3. a pure, porous dolomite of calcareous 

sand rock derived from reefs by wave action. Chamberlain states that 

the three facies intertongue and grade into each other laterally, features which indicate contemporaneous deposition. Each facies is recognized in the Lockport dolomite of New York State and contains a 

distinctive heavy-metal suite. In the first type of dolomite, sphalerite, 

galena, pyrite, and other sulfides occur as small crystals along stylolitic 

seams in the dolomite, in poikiloblastic crystals enclosing rhombic 

grains of dolomite, and as fillings in cup corals or other small fossils. 

The sulfides are abundant at specific horizons in the section and can be 

traced along the strike for considerable distances. In the second type 

of dolomite gypsum, zinc, strontium, lead, and barium compounds are 

concentrated in small patch reefs. In the third type, flank beds of 

reef sand, the same minerals are associated with isolated algae, 

Stromatopora, and corals. In the drill core studied, heavy-metal contents are commonly high in a recurring zone of reworked, partially 

dissolved, clastic dolomite of the first type immediately underlying a 

thickness of porous reef sand rock.

LOWER PART OF THE LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 

BASAL, BEDS

Twenty-two feet, of Lockport dolomite and 9 feet of Rochester 

shale were studied in detail in the Clarendon quarry. Fourteen channel samples were cut in the face of the quarry and analyzed for zinc.
152 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

The zinc content ranges from 5 to 106 ppm and appears to be highest 

at or immediately above a minor break or unconformity in the sedimentation. Sphalerite could be identified by hand lens in beds where 

the channel samples contained 104 ppm and 106 ppm zinc. The 

sphalerite occurred in siliceous nodules of organic origin characterized 

by a boxwork on the weathered surface.

Core from holes 2 and 10 drilled through the lower Lockport were 

spectrographed and analyzed chemically for lead and zinc. The lower 

beds of the DeCew limestone member of Williams contained unusual 

concentrations of lead, barium, boron, zirconium, gallium, chromium, 

copper, titanium, yttrium and ytterbium in a reworked clastic host 

rock. The overlying reef flank bed of the Gasport limestone member 

was present in hole 2 and contained 350 ppm of zinc, and was enriched 

in copper, strontium, and barium.

ZONE 1

Later stripping in the Clarendon quarry exposed both sphalerite 

and galena in a clastic bed 25 feet above the base of the Lockport. 

The galena occurred as poikiloblastic crystals in the rock. The bed is

called zone 1 of this report. It is also exposed in a drainage ditcK 

south of Albion, which carries water from an undrained bog into the 

West Branch of Sandy Creek. Sphalerite in this zone was observed 

in the core from several of the Manning holes, and sphalerite and 

galena were observed at the same position in the section in Niagara 

Gorge, at Lockport, and in the section exposed along Oak Orchard 

Creek near Shelby, 10 miles west of Manning. One-half mile west 

of the Oak Orchard Creek occurrence, an algal reef rock overlies tile 

sulfide-bearing clastic beds and crops out under a zinc-bearing peat. 

Considerable amounts of sphalerite are associated with, the calcareous

algae which are imbedded in a compact subcrystalline rock. The 

algal masses show as white patches and are completely silicified; the

outcrop of this reef can be traced over a considerable area. Two 

holes (nos. 11. and 12) intersect this zinc-bearing bed-along Oak 

Orchard Creek half a mile east of the outcrop. In hole 11, the bed

was 13 feet thick, fine-grained, fossiliferous, and. contained an estimated 0.1-percent zinc and a small amount of lead. Less than 3 feet 

of a similar rock was found a mile to the south, and a 1-foot sample 

of the core assayed 0.45 percent zinc and contained unusual amounts of 

copper, nickel, and iron. In both holes the mineralized bed was overlain by porous algal reef rock containing little or no sphalerite. The

latter appears to correlate with the algal bed which crops out under

the muck.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 153

ZONE 2

A second mineralized zone can be traced throughout the Manning 

area in surface exposures and drill core.. This zone is composed of 

a 4-foot bed of porous flank reef sand which is underlain by finegrained, clastic dolomite. In outcrop sphalerite occurs in isolated 

crystals in the reef rock and as asteroid groups of crystals at definite 

horizons in the fine-grained elastics. Galena crystals are visible in 

two of the cores at the same horizon, and analysis showed the clastic 

beds to be enriched also in chromium and copper.

On the Clarendon Muck, where zone 2 has been brought to the 

surface by faulting and crops out under the till and muck in an extensive area, a patch reef composed of large masses of Stromatopora 

and Gladopora coral is exposed. The Cladopora tubes are filled with 

dolomite, fluorite, and chalky quartz. Where overlain by peat soils, 

the rock has disintegrated either to a dolomitic sand or to porous, 

brown, soft dolomite in which the sphalerite crystals stand out.

UPPER >ABT OF THE LOCKPOBT DOLOMITE 

ZONE 3 (HOWELL AND SANFORD'S OAK ORCHARD MEMBER)

A fine example of sphalerite and galena in bedded deposits is 

exposed in Howell and Sanford's Oak Orchard member of the Lockport in the Oak Orchard Creek section at the stratigraphic position 

Of zone 3. Here sphalerite crystals occur in a dark impure dolomite 

fred;.-which is overlain by 4 feet of a similar dolomite which contains 

a concentration of galena. The galena occurs as poikiloblastic 

crystals disseminated in the rock, as fillings in small cup corals, and 

in silicified algal material. The galena-bearing beds contain a large 

amount of iron and turn red upon weathering. Six holes were drilled 

along Oak Orchard Creek to determine the lateral extent of the 

mineralized ground. Four feet of galena-bearing dolomite was 

penetrated in four holes and indicates an extension of the lead-bearing 

bed for a half mile in a north-south direction. Hole 12 drilled 1 mile 

south of this area penetrated a fossiliferous layer containing sphalerite but no galena. Analyses of samples from four holes are given 

in table 8. Sphalerite has been observed in the Niagara Gorge section 

in a corresponding zone, and a considerable concentration is present 

in an algal patch reef exposed in the Penfield quarry east of Rochester.
154 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

TABLE 8.-

Drill 

hole 

no.

13

14

15

16

-Lead and zinc content of core through zone 3 in holes drilled near 

Shelby, N. Y.

[H. Bloom, analyst]

Depth

(feet)

20. 9 22. 4

22. 4 23. 3

23. 3 24. 5

Thickness

(feet)

1. 5

.9

1. 2

Zinc

(percent)

0.021

.0055

.26

Lead

(percent)

0. 160

.015

. 210

11.0 11.9

11. .9 12. 8

12. 8 15. 0

8. 2 9. 6

9. 6 11.0

11. 0 12. 6

12. 6 14. 4

9. 8 10. 4

10. 4 11. 9

11. 9 13. 0 

13. 0 14. 2

3. 6

0. 9

. 9

2.2

4.0

1. 4 

1. 4 

1. 6 

1.8

6.2

0.6 

1. 5 

1. 1 

1. 2

4.4 

4. 55

» 0. 0188

0.076

.0025

.035

i 0. 0369

0.018

.004

.0085

.055

i 0. 0231

0.015

.0025

.016

.0125

i 0. 0103 

0. 0221

1 0. 1404

.400

.010

. 210

1 0. 208

.0575

.050

.0625

. 17

1 0. 859

.32 

.01 

.05 

.05

1 0. 034

0. 1109

i Weighted average.

The position of the Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford 

in the Manning section, as penetrated by hole 1, is marked by a vuggy, 

porous, sugary dolomite, which contains considerable amounts of 

gypsum, sphalerite, and galena. The bed is "replaced by a dense 

layer of fossil fragments within a mile both south and west of 

Manning. A comparatively fresh exposure was found near a small 

patch of isolated muck lying midway between the Manning Muck and 

the Big Muck to the south (pi. 2). Here a drainage ditch, blasted 

into 3 feet of rock, exposed the mineralized zone. The country rock 

is dense, dark, and fine-grained.; and the algal masses are almost pure 

white and have conspicuous concentric banding. J. Harlan Johnson 

(personal communication) places them in the cryptozoan group. 

These algal masses are closely associated with a considerable amount

of galena that occurs both as poikiloblastic crystals in the TOCk and 

immediately SlirrOlinding the algae, and as replacements in the banded

structure of the algae. Sphalerite is also present but is leSS closely 

associated than the galena with this particular algal form, 

in tKe Elba, drill hole, 10 miles south of Manning, the Oak Orchard

member of Howell and Sanford consists 0! 8 leet ol bituminous, 

medium-grained dolomite that contains silicined algae, sphalerite, 

and galena. The upper bed of nonmetalliferous, fine-grained dolomite which is persistent in the Manning area is absent in hole 10. The
KELATIONS OF ZINC-BE AEING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 155-

galena-bearing bed thus correlates with the lead-algal bed exposed 

in the drainage ditch just described near Manning. The analyses 

are given in table 9.

TABLE 9. Lead and zinc content of core in hole 10, penetrating zones S and 4f 

drilled S.S miles northeast of Elba

[H. Bloom, analyst]

Description 

Zone 4

170.8-218.1 ft. Dark gray-brown, coarse-grained, #Pfft Thickness Zinc . Lea* 

porous, recrystallized dolomite. No bedding. Vugs Ueet> Veet) (percent) (percent) 

of calcite-selenite, with zinc sulfide crystals..... ...... 170.8-173.7 2.9 0.15 o.nm

176. 6

179.6

182.6

185. 6

188.6

191. 5

194. 5

197.5

200.0

203.3

206.3

209.3

212.3

216.3

218.3

2.9

3.0

3.0

3.0

3.0

2.9

3.0

3.0

2.5

3.3

3.0

3.0

3.0

4.0

2.0

.04

.0025

.042

.055

.042

.33

.002

.028

.003

.021

.12

.043

.009

.024

.037

.001

.001

.001

.001

.001

.OOL

.001

.001

.001.

.001

.001.

.001

.001

.001

.005.

ZoneS

2UU-225.V It. Dark-gray, medium to fine-grained dolomite, with black carbonaceous partings. Algae. 

Bituminous ........... .... . ........ ... 218.3-221.3 3.0 .038 ' .001

225.7 4.4 .2 .015

54.9 1 0.0688 '0.0022; 

» Weighted average.

ZONE 4 (EQUIVALENT TO GUELPH DOLOMITE OF WILLIAMS)

Zone 4 forms the rock surface under much of the till from Manningsouth to the Big Muck, as shown in plate 2. Zinc-rich zones in the 

porous dolomite, which is composed of reef core, recur at intervals of 

about 18 feet, but the lead content is low throughout the thickness.. 

Variations in zinc content are shown in table 9. Although the zinc/. 

content of the individual zones is not great, the total amount of zincbecomes significant if the content of the zones can be considered to> 

remain constant for any distance along the strike.

PETROGRAPHY

The petrography of the sulfide-bearing rocks is known only from. 

study of a few thin and polished sections by John E. Cooper and R. S.. 

Cannon. From their notes certain inferences may be drawn on the^ 

petrographic characteristics of fossil algae and dolomitic country 

rock, the relations of sul fides in the textural fabrics of these rocks,. 

and the sequences of crystallization of the minerals.

Comparison of dark bituminous dolomite with white dolomitic 

algal material shows distinctive petrographic differences. Algal nodules that are well preserved consist of white, fine-grained, porous. 

magnesio-dolomite having radial structure and concentric banding.. 

The algal banding is brought out by variations in grain size and orientation of the radiating dolomite grains. Where algae are silicified,,
156 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

alternating bands are formed of clear mosaics of quartz and brownish 

bands of flamboyant chalcedony. The country rock is commonly 

dark dense dolomite, having a compact mosaic texture of equant sutured grains. In impure facies, euhedral rhombs of dolomite are 

embedded in a fine-grained matrix of clay minerals, silica, and 

carbonates.

A characteristic of the dolomitic country rock is the abundance of 

organic matter that appears as a pervasive brownish stain. Similarly, 

tiny crystals and aggregates of pyrite, generally less than 25 microns in 

diameter, are abundantly disseminated through the dolomite but are 

rarely found within the algae. Contacts between dolomitic rock and 

embedded algal nodules commonly are marked by stylolites. Sphalerite crystals are common, adjacent to stylolites in the dolomite, and in 

one thin section where the carbonaceous material of a stylolite splits 

and goes around both sides of a broken sphalerite crystal, the sphalerite evidently antedates the stylolite. At contacts free of stylolites, 

certain textural features were observed in several specimens. Along 

a typical contact the dolomite grains of the country rock have been 

enlarged 2 or 3 times normal size and protrude rhomb-shaped into 

the algal nodule. During the process of crystallization, the organic 

matter from this coarsened layer has been removed and concentrated in 

a band along its margin. The coarse dolomite crystals are euhedral 

against a contact filling of chalcedony, cryptocrystalline quartz, or 

sulfide, and in places against algal dolomite. It is noteworthy that the 

algal dolomite grains are not enlarged or euhedral against the contact 

silica minerals.

In certain specimens of reef material studied from zone 3, galena 

occurs along the algal contact and extends into the country rock in 

sharp-walled veinlets. In the veinlets the dolomite crystals have been 

enlarged and the galena is molded on the dolomite rhombs. Along 

the contact, galena is molded against euhedral dolomite of the country 

rock but is colloform and convex against chalcedony on the algal 

side. Sphalerite is molded against the dolomite grains but is eunedral

against quartz and galena. Borders of many sphalerite crystals are 

poikilitic and contain small brown dolomite rhombs. 

Conventional intepretation of these textural relations suggests that,

first, dolomite crystals were enlarged in the sediments immediately 

surrounding algal masses; second, sphalerite and then galena, were

crystallized; and, finally, the silica minerals, chalcedony and quartz, 

were formed, These relations do not establish whether the lead and

zinc originated in tne algal masses, in tke bituminous dolomite, or

were introduced from some other source, They do suggest, however,

that the Silica minerals, sulfides, and dolomite may have all crystallized 

during solution of the algal masses and possibly during the lithification of the sediments. The localizing of galena and sphalerite in and
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 157

around algae in the reef rock f acies implies that the algae, living or 

dead, may have effected sufficient change in the chemical environment 

to precipitate the lead and zinc.

ORIGIN OF SULFIDES IN THE DOLOMITE

Although an investigation of the origin of the sulfides was not a 

primary objective of this study, it is worth recording that certain features in the mode of occurrence and distribution of the lead, zinc, and 

other metals suggest that the metals may have been precipitated from 

sea water which contained uncommon amounts, possibly of volcanic 

origin. The metals are concentrated at periodic intervals throughout 

the sequence in clastic muddy-bottom sediments and in associated reef 

material. These metal-bearing beds or pairs of beds can be traced 

laterally for hundreds of miles. The abundance of elements in the mineralized and unmineralized parts of the Lockport dolomite are shown 

in table 10. Textural relations suggest that at least part of the sulfides 

crystallized early in the history of the rocks, possibly even during 

diagenesis of the carbonate muds. Furthermore, although there is 

evidence of post-Silurian structural adjustments in the area, no specific relation of metals to these faults could be detected nor is there 

any specific evidence that these metals were introduced at a later date. 

Therefore, it seems pertinent to review the conditions under which 

these metals could be precipitated in unconsolidated sediments.

TABLE 10. Abundance of elements in mineralized and unmineralized parts of 

Lockport dolomite from drill hole 10, in parts per million

[Amounts determined by semiquantitative spectrographic analyses by A. T. Meyers and P. J. Duncan

except as noted]

Elements in order

of relative

abundance

Mg

Ca

Si

Fe

Al

K

P

Na

Mn

Ti

Sr

Zn

Pb

Zr

B

Ba

V

Cr

Cu

Ni

Y

Unmineralized

Lockport

dolomite

±500,000

±500,000

5, 000-50, 000

±5,000

500-8, 500

<3, 000

<5, 000

500-1, 500

150-500

50-500

50-85 i 28

1 8

15-75

<20

2-15

±25

2-9

2-9

2-9

0

Mineralized

Lockport

dolomite

Same

Same

Same

± 15, 000

Same

3, 000-8, 500

Same

Same

Same

± 1, 500

500-5, 000

580 »

120 i

Same

25-65

15-50

Same

25-45

15-50

15-85

5-15

1 i Averages of chemical analyses made by H. Bloom.
158 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS 

CHEMICAL PRECIPITATION OF METAJJS

The stratigraphic distribution of sphalerite and galena has already 

been described and the implications are obvious. The widespread occurrence of metals at specific zones of the Lockport dolomite and 

Guelph equivalent from eastern New York to western Ontario strongly 

suggests a syngenetic origin. In these zones some metals have been 

selectively concentrated in bottom mud sediments and in .associated 

beds of reef origin.

Dolomite derived from reef material and thin-bedded elastics in 

the dolomites of Niagaran age of Ohio were analyzed by Eogers (1936, 

p. 133), who found that the pure dolomitic reef rock contains a proportionately large amount of Fe2O3 in contrast to the bottom mud 

dolomites which contain higher percents of FeO, FeSzj Na2 0, KaO; P, 

and SO3.

Spectrographic and chemical analyses in Geological Survey laboratories show an enrichment of lead, chromium, copper, nickel, iron, 

boron, potash, and yttrium in the bottom sediments, compared to a 

concentration of zinc, strontium, and anhydrite in the reef rock.

The average contents of zinc and lead in clastic and reef dolomite 

in two drill cores are shown in table 11. Within the clastic beds 

sphalerite is usually abundant in beds stratigraphically lower than 

those containing abundant galena. Within the reef detrital beds 

sphalerite is nearly always associated with forms of calcareous algae. 

The remainder of the rock is pure dolomite of low carbonaceous content. Possibly the masses of reef core below wave base and the reef 

flank beds were sufficiently oxygenated as to become purified of most 

organic matter and iron and other metallic sulfates.

TABLE 11. Average contents of zinc and lead in two cores of Lockport dolomite, in

parts per million

[H. Bloom, analyst] 

Core Zinc Lead Total

DRILL HOLE 10, 7 MILES SOUTH OF MANNING

Bottom mud dolomite: 114 ft. 247 128 375

Reef dolomite: 67 feet 386 13 399

Lockport dolomite: » 181 feet 298 85 383

DRILL, HOLE 2, 0.6 MILE NOKTH OF MANNING

Bottom mud dolomite: 52 ft. iso 29 159 

Reef dolomite: 8 feet 319 9 328

Lockport dolomite ;i 60 feet » 156 26 182

i Weighted average. 

nmnVfieaa' comparable section in core from drill hole 10 contained an average of 173 ppm of zinc and 42

Mortimer (1949, p. 354) has shown that an oxidizing layer whlCll 

contains positively charged insoluble ferric hydroxide normally exists 

on the surface of bottom muds. Ferric Lydimide not onlj adsorbs 

phosphate, silicate, and other negative ions, but forms complexes with
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

SPHALERITE-BEARING STROMATOPORA IM LOCKPORT DOLOMITE S
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

POLISHED SECTIONS OF STROMATOPORA CONTAIN
GEOLOGICAL SURVEY 

A. POLISHED SECTION OF STROMATOPORA CON. 

TAINING SPHALERITE

B. STROMA
KELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 159

negatively charged humus, in turn capable of adsorbing positive ions 

from solution. Thus the layer adsorbs both negative and positive ions 

from the water and, at the same time, blocks free exchange between 

the water and the lower layers of mud. Below the oxidation layer, 

the pH and oxidation potential (eh) are lower and the iron hydroxide 

is present in the ferrous state. All sulfates are reduced to sulfides, 

and all calcium carbonate is converted to bicarbonate and carbonic 

acid (Krumbein and Garrels, 1952). Such conditions are accentuated 

in interreef muddy bottoms below wave base during periods of quiescence and active reef building.

Thus whether the heavy metals are present in the sea water in ionic 

form or adsorbed to organic matter they may be concentrated in the 

bottom muds below wave base during periods of quiescence both by 

active precipitation and by solution of the dolomite; they may be released to the sea water again during periods of turbulence or during 

.aeration and oxidation of sediments above wave base.

BIOGEOCHEMICAL PRECIPITATION OF METALS

Where sphalerite and galena are found in beds of reef detritus and 

'biostrome dolomite, the crystals are most commonly found in algae, and 

less commonly in Stromatopora and corals. This is observed in outcrop 

and also in unweathered dolomite core. The implication that marine 

accumulator plants or animals may have first concentrated the lead and 

zinc needs to be considered. The observable algal structures preserved 

in this highly recrystallized rock are probably but a small part of the 

original flora. Algae are believed by Elias (1948) to be indispensable 

in the building of reefs. Subsequent processes of destruction and recrystallization tend to obliterate the original features and to produce 

unfossiliferous structural masses. The association of sphalerite and 

galena with algae bioherms has been described in a previous section. 

Southeast of Clarendon, headlike silicified Stromatopora are exposed 

in the rock like raisins in a pudding (pis. 4-6). More than one-third 

of these forms contain visible crystals of sphalerite on the weathered 

surfaces of the isolated heads, although no sphalerite could be detected 

in the country rock.

Many instances of association of metal with fossils are reported in 

the literature. One of the most interesting is that of concretionary 

masses from the Batesville district, Arkansas (Miser, 1941, p. 28) 

that have been reported by Ulrich to belong to the genus G-irvanella, a 

form of algal growth. These spherical buttons show concentric 

banding around centers of chert or clay which contain 5.85 percent of 

manganese, fine crystals of pyrite, barite, and galena. The galena 

also occurs as masses as large as a man's fist in cavities left by the 

solution of the fossils and as fine veins in the part of the limestone that 

still contain the Girvanella.
160 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOGHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

Van Ingen became interested in the association of metallic sulfides 

with reef deposits in lower Paleozoic rocks and proposed the theory 

that the reef-building organisms were directly responsible for the 

primary concentration of sphalerite and galena in limestone deposits 

of the Mississippi valley type (Van Ingen, 1915, p. 85; Van Ingen 

and Phillips, 1915, p. 193). As a result of this interest Van Ingen 

stimulated the research that Phillips carried out on the metal content 

of the modern marine invertebrates from the Tortugas. Phillips 

(1917, 1922) analyzed a large number of animals, including corals, 

for copper, zinc, iron, manganese, and lead, to test the hypothesis that 

reef-dwelling animals are responsible for significant accumulations 

of metals. No plants were included in the group. The greatest lead 

content reported was 2.5 ppm in the liver of a gastropod. As much as 

665 ppm of zinc oxide was reported from the livers of horseshoe crabs 

and various gastropods and as much as 125 ppm from corals.

Studies have also been made of calcareous or rock-forming algae. 

David E. White (Howe, 1932, p. 61) made a careful study of freshwater algae collected near Harpers Ferry, W. Va., that were concentrating not only calcium carbonate but also iron and manganese. 

The black crusts analyzed 12.3 percent Fe2O3 and 4.5 percent MnO 

from water testing only 0.1 ppm of Fe and 0.7 ppm of Mn. It was 

demonstrated that these elements were precipitated as a byproduct of 

photosynthesis in which C02 is absorbed and oxygen is given off. 

Concretions formed by the same genus (Roddy, 1915, p. 246) are being 

precipitated in Little Conestoga Creek of Lancaster County, Pa., 

which drains the area in which the old Bamford lead-zinc mine is located. Samples of these concretionary balls were taken by the present author near Millersville, several miles downstream from the mine, 

where the metal content of the stream had been diluted to 0.06 ppm 

of zinc. The concretions, however, analyzed 46 ppm of zinc and 7.5 

ppm of lead.

In order to test further the absorption of metals by algae, green 

filamentous algae of the Spiragyra type were collected from streams 

below the tailings of the Warren lead-zinc mine in New Hampshire

and Ely copper mine in Vermont and below a trench cut in vanadif erous and phosphatic shales, near Montpelier, Idaho. The results are

shown in table 12.

TABLE 12 Metal content of filamentous algae growing in mineralized stream water,

in parts per million

[H. W. Lakin and ~L. E. Reichen, analysts]

Locality pH Heavy metals Cu Pb Zn Ni Mo V

Warren, N. H..... .................. 3.5 16 920 6,600 2,900 n. d.i n. d. n. d.

Ely, Vt__........- ................. ...... 3 1,100 55 150 n. d. n. d. n. d.

Montpelier, Idaho. .....___....... _... _..... 43 <17 306 87 7 261

i No determination.
 RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 161

- The ash of similar algal material collected from a spring in a deposit 

of uranium carbonate near Wamsuter, Wyo., contained 39 ppm of 

uranium and 500 ppm of V2O5 although the water contained only 0.1 

to 0.4 ppm of uranium. Thus, living algae are capable of concentrating lead, zinc, and other metals from fresh water in appreciable 

quantities.

Marine noncalcareous algae have been shown by the work of other 

investigators to take up considerable amounts of heavy metals. The 

results have been reviewed by Vinogradov (1935, p. 63) and Black 

and Mitchell (1952) who have made many analyses of algal material. 

The ability of algae to concentrate metals from sea water is shown 

in table 12. For example, marine algae are capable of concentrating 

nickel, zinc, and titanium from sea water by a factor of 500 to 1,000 

times. The table shows also a close agreement between the relative 

abundance of elements in algae with that of an average limestone. 

The metal content of the entire section of Lockport dolomite, however, is high for nickel, lead, zinc, vanadium, chromium, and titanium, 

and low for strontium and barium when compared to both the relative abundance of elements in algae and also in an average limestone. 

The data do not exclude the possibility of the Lockport dolomite being 

largely of algal origin nor, on the other hand, do they intimate that 

the excess of lead, zinc, and other metals present in the Lockport 

dolomite is due to a preferential concentration of these metals by 

algae.

TABLE 13. Comparison of metal content in marine algae, in parts per million dry 

weight, with that of sea water and the Lockport dolomite

Co

Ni 

Mo

Pb

Rn

Zn 

V 

Tl

Or 

Sr

Ba 

Mn 

Cu

Abundance of 

elements in 

marine algae ' 

0.79

3.3 

.35

9 

1.1

68 

1.7 

19

1.1 

>1,472

43 

147 

8

Abundance of 

elements in 

seawaterfrom 

which algae 

were collected i 

<. 0003

.005 

.012

<.008 

<.005

.011 

.0025 

.008

.002 

9.5

<1.0 

<3.0 

<3.0

Abundance of 

elements in 

Lockport. dolomite 

n. f. 8

5 

n. f.

85 

n. f.

300 

20 

200

13

70

20 

400 

17

Abundance of 

elements in 

averagelime- stone* 

0

0

10

50 

10

2 

425+ 

765 

120 

385 

20

Ratio of 

metal content 

in dolomite to 

that of marine 

algae

2

9

4 

12 

10

13 

.05

.5 

2.5 

1.2

Patio of 

. metal content 

in Lockport 

dolomite to 

that of average 

limestone

6.0

8.0

6.0 

2.0+

6.5 

.1

.17 

1.0 

.85

1 Taken from Black and Mitchell, 1952.

»Taken from Rankama and Sabama, 1949, p. 226.

' Not found.

CONCENTRATION IN THE PRESENCE OF DECAYING ORGANIC MATTER

In addition to concentration of metals by living algae, metals are 

probably concentrated around decaying organic matter during, or 

soon after burial in the sea-bottom sediments. It is known that metals 

are readily adsorbed by organic matter in the oxidation layer of
162 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

the bottom muds and that hydrogen sulfide released from decaying 

matter in beds below the oxidation layer reacts with seawater to precipitate metallic sulfides. Also in oxygenated parts of reefs and 

reef detrital beds above wave base, reducing conditions are maintained 

in an environment of decaying organic matter although oxidation is 

proceeding at the same time in the rest of the reef detrital bed.

SUMMARY

A selective concentration of elements occurs at periodic intervals 

throughout the dolomite sequence. Lead, iron, chromium, copper, 

nickel, boron, potassium, and yttrium are enriched in the bottom mud 

jphase, and zinc, strontium, and anhydrite in the reef rock phase 

of the recurring mineralized lentils, or zones. The reef sediments 

may have undergone considerable oxidation and purification during 

which time the metallic elements may have been leached out and re- 

 deposited in and around algae and stromatoporoid forms. The metals 

were probably concentrated further by solution of the carbonates in 

the bottom muds during periods of quiescence and nondeposition. 

'This is suggested by the presence of yttrium and ytterbium in the 

mineralized beds of the Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford.

Periodic concentration due to a change in the rate of oxidation 

and without a changing source of metals is possible but does not 

alter the total amount of lead and zinc in the dolomite sequence. The 

amounts of lead and zinc present in the Lockport dolomite, particularly in the upper part of the Lockport (Guleph dolomite of 

Williams) are uncommon for an average dolomite in the earth's 

crust. Those elements in more than average abundance in the Lockport dolomite are iron, zinc, lead, vanadium, chromium, and nickel. 

The dolomites are lower than average in strontium and barium.

Algae are known to absorb large quantities of metals from a normal 

:sea water. The relative amounts of metals present in the Lockport

dolomite do not differ greatly from those to be expected if the dolomite were largely of algal origin, but are, in general, too high in lead,

vanadium, titanium, and chromium and too low in strontium and 

barium to be directly attributable to algal absorption. 

Many features of the dolomites thus suggest that the sulfide minerals

may have been deposited originally in sea bottom muds before the

.sediments were consolidated. An unusual source of these elements,

perhaps of volcanic origin, is implied.

CONCLUSIONS

In the Manning area three cycles of selective concentration of 

metals have taken place. First, specific facies of the Lockport dolomite are enriched in zinc, lead, and heavy metals so as to form miner-
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 163

alized zones of outcrop in the flat-lying dolomites beneath the surface 

till and peat. Second, zinc, lead, and other metals available in the 

ground waters have been selectively concentrated in a series of peat 

bogs in the area. Third, plants rooted in the peat have accumulated 

toxic amounts of zinc and lead.

Concentrations of zinc of as much as 10,000 ppm dry weight are 

found in purslane, nightshade, ragweed, pigweed, nettles, aspen, and 

willow growing on the drained muck lands. Lead is concentrated in 

hemlock, arborvitae, and ferns.

The contents of strontium, vanadium, zirconium, phosphorus, boron, 

cobalt, zinc, lead, copper, nickel, and barium are greater in the peat 

soils than in the underlying mineralized beds of dolomite. This list 

of elements corresponds closely to that given by Goldschmidt for 

enrichment in coal. The peat soils contain as much as 16 percent of 

zinc in areas where the zinc has been concentrated and there is a 

minimum of 1,500 tons of zinc in the peat bogs of the area.

It is believed that the zinc that occurs in large amounts in several 

of the local peat bogs has been precipitated from ground water by 

reducing reactions in the bog, and that the metal present in the ground 

water has been dissolved from mineralized beds in the Lockport 

dolomite immediately underlying or adjoining the peat bogs. These 

beds are shown to recur in a recognizable sequence that can be correlated over wide areas. The outcrop pattern of these zones, as developed from outcrop and drilling data, corresponds generally with 

the distribution of zinc-rich soils, surface waters, and plants.

Iron, potassium, lead, copper, chromium, and nickel were found to be 

concentrated in the clastic muddy bottom facies of the dolomite and 

zinc and strontium in the reef facies. All of these, with the exception 

of strontium, are present in the Lockport in greater abundance than 

in an average dolomite of the earth's crust.

It is believed that the metals present in the Lockport dolomite were 

precipitated from sea water containing uncommon amounts of metal 

and have been concentrated by solution and redeposition.

The study of the Manning area has lead to the recognition of a 

wide-spread dissemination of sphalerite and galena in flat-lying carbonate rocks in a region where there has been little igneous activity. 

The amounts of zinc precipitated in the Manning bog and seen in 

drill cores from IT exploratory holes indicate that there is a considerable tonnage of metal in the Lockport dolomite of Orleans County. 

There is no indication that these deposits contain minable thickness 

and grade in the region or that the metal content indicated by this 

study is uncommonly high as compared to other areas in New York 

State where concentrations have been noted. In general, the grade 

of material seen in outcrop and analyzed in the core has been low,
164 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

the best containing not more than 0.4 percent of zinc and QA of 

percent lead. The lead zone near Shelby may average 0.1 percent of 

lead through 4 feet of beds in an area one-half mile square. South 

of Manning an average of 0.07 percent of zinc is found in 55 feet of 

beds; the area of the beds is not known.

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Rochester Acad. Sci. Proc., v. 9, p. 5-63.

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Beck, L. C., 1842, Mineralogy of New York, 534 p., Albany. 

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Bonnet, E., 1922, Action des sels solubles de plomb sur les plantes: Acad. sci. Paris

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Bremner, J. M., Mann, J. G., Heintze, S. G., and Leis, H., 1946, Metallo-organic

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Calvin, Samuel, 1895, The geology of Jones County, Iowa; Iowa Geol. Survey

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Chadwick, G. H., 1917, Lockport-Guelph section in the Barge canal at Rochester,

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 1920, A large fault in western New York: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 31,

p. 117-120, 

Chamberlain, T. 0., 1877, Geology of eastern Wisconsin: Geology of Wisconsin,

v. 2, p. 91-405. 

Clarke, J. M., Ruedemann, R., and Luther, D. D., 1902, Contact lines of the upper

Siluric formations on the Brockport and Medina quadrangles: New York

 State Mus. Bull. 52, p. 517-523. 

Clarke, J. M., and Ruedemann, R., 1903, Guelph fauna in the State of New York:

New York State Mus. Mem. 6, p. 1-130.

Cloud, P. E., Jr., 1952, Fades relationships of organic reefs: Amer. AssoC. Petroleum Geologists Bull., v. 36, p. 2125-2149. 

Cumings, E. R., and Shrock, R. R., 1928, The geology of the Silurian rocks of

northern Indiana i Indiana, Div. Geology Pub. no. 75, 226 p.

Eckel, E. B., 1949, Geology and ore deposits of the La Plata district, Colorado :

U. S. Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 219. 

Eiias, Maxim, 1948, Algae in recent and ancient reefs: Nati. Research council

Rept. Comm. on Marine Ecology and Paleocology, no. 7, p. 73-76. 

Forrester, J. D., 1942, A native COpper depOSlt near Jefferson City, Mont.: Econ.

Geology, v. 37, no. 2, p. 126-135. 

'Giles, A. W., 1920, Minerals in the Niagara limestone of western New York:

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 Gillette, Tracy, 1940, GeOlOgy Of the Clyde and Sodus Bay quadrangles, New

York: New York State Mus. Bull. 320, 172 p. 

'Goldring, Winifred, 1931, Handbook Of palentology for beginners and amateurs t

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in minerals and rocks: Chem. Soc. London Jour., p. 656.

 1944, Rarer elements in coal ashes; Chemistry and Industry, no. 19, 

p. 176-177.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 165

<5rabau, A. W., 1901, Guide to the .geology and paleontology of Niagara Falls and

vicinity: New York State Mus. Bull. 45, 284 p. 

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191; v. 5, p. 135-141, 536-562. 

Hevesy, Georg, 1923, The absorption and translocation of lead by plants: Biochem. Jour., v. 17, p. 439-445. 

Hewitt, E. J., 1948, Relation of manganese and some other metals to the iron

status of plants: Nature (London), v. 161, no. 4091, p. 489-490. 

Howe, M. A., 1932, The geologic importance of the lime-secreting algae: U. S.

Geol. Survey Prof. Paper 170. 

Howell, B. F.,.and Sanford, J. T., 1947, Trilobites from the Silurian Oak Orchard

member of the Lockport formation of New York: Wagner Free Inst. Sci.

Bull., v. 22, no. 4, p. 33-40. 

Huff, L. C., 1948, A sensitive field test for heavy metals in water: Econ. Geology,

v. 43, no. 8, p. 675-684. 

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the zinc flora of Upper Silesia) : Zeitschr. angew. Ghemie, Jahrg. 1894,

p. 14-15. 

Jensen, D. E., 1942, Minerals of the Lockport dolomite in the vicinity of

Rochester, N. Y.: Rocks and Minerals, v. 17, p. 199-203. 

Kindle, E. M., 1914, What does the Medina sandstone of the Niagara section

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Krumbein, W. C., and Garrels, R. M., 1952, Origin and classification of chemical

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Ijakin, H. W., Stevens, R. E., and Almond, Hy, 1949, Field method for the

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 1948b, Biostratigraphic studies of the Niagaran interreef formations in 

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 1949, Facies analyses of the Niagaran rocks in Illinois: Illinois Acad. 

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166 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

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 1948, Further, studies in biogeochemestry; Geol. Soc. America Bull.,

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57-82.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 167

DRILL, LOGS OF LOCKPORT DOLOMITE CORES FROM 

ORLEANS AND GENESEE COUNTIES, N. Y.

By Helen L. Cannon and R. H. Stewart

Drilling of the dolomites of Silurian age in Orleans and Genesee 

Counties, N. Y., in 1950 was proposed as a result of geochemical and 

geologic surface studies. The purpose of the drilling was to investigate 

further the distribution of lead and zinc in the Lockport dolomite and 

to acquire stratigraphic information about a flat-lying, till-covered 

area where there are few outcrops of Silurian rocks. Seventeen holes 

were drilled, totaling 1,900 feet.

Drill holes 2 and 10 cut a combined section from the lower part of 

the Salina group through the upper and lower parts of the Lockport 

dolomite and the Clinton group, to the Albion sandstone. Drill logs 

of the Lockport in these 2 holes and the complete-logs of the other 15 

holes are given in the following section, together with assay and spectrographic data. With the chemical methods used, lead values are 

probably high wherever zinc values are more than 400 ppm. The 

samples were analyzed for lead and zinc by Harold Bloom, and spectrographed by A. T. Myers and P. J. Duncan, all of the Geological 

Survey.

In the drill core examined, porous recrystallized dolomite beds of 

probable reef flank detritus recur at regular intervals that can be correlated over considerable distances. These beds thicken in general 

to the south. A hole drilled in Genesee County several miles south of 

the Manning area penetrated 4/T feet of reef-derived material which 

probably represents reef core. Analyses of metalliferous parts of core 

selected from several holes show a considerable quantity of disseminated sphalerite throughout the section. Galena appears to be concentrated largely along the contact of the upper part of the Lockport 

(or Guelph dolomite of Williams) and the lower part of the Lockport 

dolomite.
168 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

Drill hole 1, Gdylord property, southeast corner of Manning crossroads 

[Depth 125.7 ft, altitude of collar 686.1 ft, depth to water 35 ft]

Alluvium: 

Mottled reddish-brown and gray till of argillaceous 

sand and pebbles, with many large boulders. 

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Ouelph dolomite of Williams: 

Zone 4, reef flank bed; dark gray -brown, 

coarse-grained, porous dolomite, with 

quartz-filled and gypsum-filled vugs, stylolites, and algae with siliceous coating. 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: 

Gray, medium-grained dolomite less porous 

than overlying reef flank bed. Small 

crystals of sphalerite have replaced dolomite at 19.5 ft. Freshly broken core has 

bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with 

occasional black carbonaceous partings. 

Sphalerite a't 21.0 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Zone 3; dark-gray, coarse-grained dolomite 

with stylolites and many crinoid fragments. 

Bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, containing many fossils. Small crystals of 

sphalerite replacing dolomite at 30.0, 34.5, 

and 36.7 ft. Finely divided galena replaces 

dolomite at 36.3 ft. Vugs with gypsum at 

33-35 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Undifferentiated beds: 

Gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite. Sphalerite at 53.1 ft. 

Reef flank bed, zone 2; gray -brown, coarsegrained, porous dolomite, with some fossils 

and abundant gypsum. Bituminous odor. 

Gray, fine-grained dolomite composed almost 

entirely of fossil fragments. Cup corals and 

crinoids abundant. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with 

occasional black carbonaceous partings. 

Small crystals of sphalerite have replaced 

dolomite at 79.5 ft. Zone 1, reef flank bed; brown, coarsely crystalline, sacchoroidal dolomite, with stylolites. 

Gray, fine-grained dolomite, with black carbonaceous partings. Bituminous odor. 

Sphalerite at 87.0 ft; in quartz-lined vug at 

95.7 ft. 

Gasport limestone member: 

Reef flank bed of brown, coarsely crystalline, 

porous dolomitic limestone, with gypsum 

and a few black carbonaceous partings.

Bituminous odor.

DeCew limestone member of Williams: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense argillaceous 

dolomite, with many black carbonaceous 

partings and a few scattered fossils. Bituminous odor. 

Alternating thin beds of black shale and darkgray, fine-grained dolomite. Fetid bituminous odor. 

Clinton group:

Rochester shale:

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with 

some black carbonaceous partings. Fetid 

bituminous odor. Alternating thin beds of black shale and darkgray, fine-grained dolomite, with a few thin

calcareous fossiliferous layers. Fetid bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

0. 0- 10. 2 

10. 2- 19. 0

19.0- 21.0

21.0- 27.0 

27. 0- 30. 0 

30.0- 37.0

37. 0- 56. 0 

56. 0- 61. 0

61. 0- 64. 0 

64.0-80.6

80. 6- 82. 8 

82.8-96.2

96.2-101.8

101. 8-111. 8 

111. 8-114. 0

114. 0-115. 8

115.8-125.7

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

Lead 

(ppm) Other metals 1

These metals equal or exceed in amount arbitrarily CHOSCD ValUCS. The approximate

order of magnitude of these values, in percent, is: X.O for Ai and Fe; O.X for K and Na; 

O.OX for Sr and Ti; O.OOX for B, Cr, Cu, and Zr; O.OOOX for Ni and Y; and trace for Ag, 

Ga, and Yb. The asterisk indicates that analyses were made, but if the metals were present 

they were in amounts below these arbitrary values.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 169'

Drill hole 2, Kelsey farm, 0.6 mile north of Manning 

[Depth 297.0 ft, altitude of collar 666.1 ft, depth to water 16.0 ft]'

Alluvium:

Mottled reddish-brown sand and clay, with some

boulders.

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite:

Undiflerentiated beds:

Dark-gray to black, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with a few black carbonaceous

partings. A small crystal of sphalerite in

a vug at 13.2 ft. Bituminous odor.

No core recovery.. ...... 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with

cup corals in the uppermost 4 in. Sphalerite at 16.9 and 17.0 ft. Bituminous odor.

Zone 2, reef flank bed; dark gray-brown,

coarse-grained, porous dolomite, with many

small vugs lined with recrystallized dolomite. One small crystal of sphalerite in

dolomite-lined vug at 20.4 ft. The porosity

of this unit decreases with depth. Bituminous odor.

Medium-gray, fine-grained, clastic dolomite

bed of fossil fragments, largely crlnoid stems,

and cup corals. Sphalerite and galena.

Dark mottled-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomitic limestone, with black carbonaceous

partings. Abundant cup corals at 27.8,

38.2 and 39.0 ft. Small vugs lined with

crystalline quartz at 35.3 and 36.0 ft.

Sphalerite has replaced dolomite at 29.0 ft.

and in a cup coral at 38.2 ft. Bituminous

odor.

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with

many black carbonaceous partings. Small

crystals of sphalerite have replaced dolomite

at 49.2 and 52.8 ft. Bituminous odor.

Gasport limestone member:

Dark-gray at top, grading to light-gray at

base, coarse-grained dolomitic limestone, 

consisting of fossil fragments of corals and

crinoid stems, with a few black carbonaeous

partings. Small crystals of sphalerite occur 

in a Favosites coral at 55.7 ft. Bituminous

odor.

Light- to medium-gray, medium-grained,

porous algal dolomite, with abundant

black carbonaceous partings., The lowermost 2 ft consists of clastic fossil fragments;

a large Favosites coral head filled with

selenite at 60.4-60.9 ft. Bituminous odor.

DeCew limestone member of Williams:

Dark-gray, fine-grained, argillaceous dolomite, with abundant wavy black carbonaceous partings. Bituminous odor.

Clinton group:

Rochester shale (contact gradational):

Dark-gray, medium-grained, massive dolomite, with some areas of darker argillaceous

material. Some thin fossiliferous layers.

The shale content increases with depth.

Occasional partings contain a thin layer of

selenite. Bituminous odor.

Qrimsby sandstone of Williams (1914) (through its

base).

Depth 

(feet)

0. 0 11. 3

11. 3 15. 2

15. 2 16. 0

16. 0 17. 2

17. 2 22. 3

22. 3- 26. 0

26. 0- 31. 0

31. 0- 36. 8

36. 8- 41. 0

41. 0- 47. 0

47.0- 55.4

55. 4- 58. 3

58. 3- 62. 7

62. 7- 67. 7

67. 7- 73. 3

73. 3- 79. 6

79. 6-297. 0

Core analysis

Zinc

(ppm)

340

165

300

450

325

78

20

75

90

350

16

15

9

P 

Lead

(ppm)

18

15

5

124

25

19

15

18

17

16

15

37

20

Other metals '

Cu, Ba

*

*

K, Or Cu

K, Cr

Cu, Cr *

Cu

Cu

Cu

Ba, Sr, Cu

Ti, K, B. Ba,.

Cr, Cu, Ga, Y..

Yb, Zr Tp-4

Ti, K, B, Ba, Cr,

Cu, Y, Yb, Ga,

Zr

1 See footnote on p. 168.
170 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

Drill hole S, Harling farm, 1 mile west of Manning 

[Depth 115.4 ft, altitude of collar 661.1 ft, hole caved]

Alluvium:

Upper part of the. Lockport dolomite: 

Quelph dolomite of Williams: 

Zone 4, reef flank bed: dark -brown, coarsegrained, porous, vuggy dolomite. Bituminous, stylolitic, and fossiliferous. Algal 

material with silicipus coating; stylolites. 

Sphalerite has replaced dolomite at 11.8 and 

12.0 ft, in algae at 13.0 ft. Strong bituminous 

odor. 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: 

Dark-gray, medium-grained dolomite, less 

porous than overlying reef flank bed. 

Bituminous, stylolitic, and fossiliferous. 

Sphalerite, with selenite, at 19.2, 20.6, and 

20.8 ft. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, 

with many black carbonaceous partings. 

Strong bituminous odor. 

Zone 3; fossiliferous bed of dark-gray, finegrained, dense dolomite, with many black 

carbonaceous partings. Sphalerite, with 

selenite, at 27.5 ft has replaced dolomite at 

28.0 and 28.2 ft. Strong bituminous odor. 

Lower'part of the Lockport dolomite: 

TJndifferentiated beds: 

Medium-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, 

with occasional fossils, and many black 

carbonaceous partings. Sphalerite has replaced dolomite at 32.3, 33.4, 33.8, and 35.6 ft. 

Zone 2, reef flank bed; dark-brown, coarsegrained, porous dolomite, with few black 

carbonaceous partings. Corals. Sphalerite 

has replaced dolomite at 50.6, 51.2, 52.7, 

57.4 and 58.1 ft. Strong bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, coarsely crystalline breccia of 

fossil fragments and cup corals. Sphalerite 

in fossils at 59.8 ft. has replaced dolomite 

at 61 .Oft. Strong bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained dolomite, stylolitic, 

with some black carbonaceous partings. 

Strong bituminous odor.

Gasport limestone member: 

Dark-gray, calciferous coquina of crinoidal 

material, stylolitic, with some black 

carbonaceous partings. Strong bituminous 

odor. 

DeCew limestone member of Williams:

Dark-gray, fine-grained, laminated dolomite, 

with many black wavy partings and few

fossils. Thin argillaceous seams in the

base of the unit. Strong bituminous odor. 

Clinton group:

Rochester shale: (contact gradational) : Alternating thin beds of black dolomitic

shale and dark-gray, fine-grained, dense

dolomite, with a few calcareous fossiliferous layers. Strong bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

0.0- 9.0

9. 0- 11. 6 

11. 6- 14. 0 

14. 0- 16. 5 

16. 5- 19. 0

19.0- 21.0

21. 0- 27. 0 

27.0-30.0

30. 0- 51. 0 

51. 0 59. 5

59.5 71.0 

71. 0 90. 0

90.0-96.0

96. 0 109. 5

109.5-115.4

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

20 

1,500 

20 

320

2,000

Lead 

(ppm)

10 

14 

6 

12

<10

Other metals '

* 

* 

 

*

*

Drill hole 4, Mathesfarm, 0.5 mile west of Manning

[Depth 117.0 ft, altitude of collar 667.0 ft depth to water 16.0 ft]

Alluvium:

Reclcllsh-torown sandy clay, -witla large tooul<iers of

dolomite. 

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite:

Guelph dolomite of Williams: 

Reef flank bed, zone 4; gray-brown, coarsegrained porous dolomite, containing silicifled algae. 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained dense dolomite ......

Clastic bed of fossil fragments and gypsum ...

O. O- 0. 4

9.4- 14.2

14. 2- 23. 1

23. 1- 23. 5

........

1 See footnote on p. 168.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BE ARESTG PEAT TO LOCKPOBT DOLOMITE 171

Drill hole 4, Mathes farm, 0.6 mile west of Manning - Continued 

[Depth 117.0 ft, altitude of collar 667.0 ft, depth to water 16.0 ft]

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Unidentified beds: . Gray, fine-grained dolomite. Sphalerite has 

replaced dolomite at 46.2 and 47.5 ft; selenite at 38.2 ft. Strong bituminous odor. 

Zone 2, reef flank bed; gray-brown, coarsegrained, porous dolomite. Small crystals 

of sphalerite have replaced dolomite at 61.1 

and 65.3 ft. Strong bituminous odor. 

Fossiliferous clastic bed, with abundant cup 

corals. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with 

occasional black carbonaceous partings and 

fossils. Thin layers containing small cup 

corals at 59.3 and 63.4-64.4 ft. Galena has 

replaced part of a cup coral at 59.3 ft. 

Sphalerite in a cup coral at 60.2 ft has replaced dolomite at 63.2, 67.1, 69.0, 70.6, 84.3 

and 84.5 ft. Strong bituminous odor. 

DeCew limestone member of Williams: 

Dark-gray, fined-grained argillaceous dolomite, with abundant wavy black carbonaceous partings, and few fossils. A small 

amount of marcasite and pyrite at base. 

Strong bituminous odor. 

Clinton group: 

Rochester shale (contact gradational) : 

Alternating thin beds of black shale and darkgray, fine-grained dolomite, with fine black 

carbonaceous partings. Strong bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

23. 5- 49. 0 

49. 0- 55. 8

55.8- 57.0 

57.0-95.0

95. 0-105. 8 

105.8-117.0

Gore analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

Lead 

(ppm) Other metals >

Drill hole 5, Tony Cook farm, % mile northeast of Manning 

[Depth 82.5 ft, altitude of collar 657.3 ft, depth to water 7.5 ft]

Alluvium: 

Reddish-brown argillaceous sand 

Lockport dolomite: 

Lower part of the undiflerentiated beds: 

Zone 2, reef flank bed; dark gray-brown,

coarse-grained, porous, recrystallized dolomite. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with

occasional black carbonaceous partings and 

a few scattered fossils. Sphalerite has replaced corals at 26.0, 30.0, and 30.2 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Medium-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite,

with occasional black carbonaceous partings, few fossils. 

Gasport limestone member:

mitic limestone. 

DeCew limestone member of Williams: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense argillaceous

dolomite, with many wavy black carbonaceous partings. Bituminous odor. 

Clinton group: 

Rochester shale (contact gradational) : 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense massive dolomite.

shale and dark-gray, fine-grained, dense 

dolomite, with some thin calcareous fossiliferous layers. Strong bituminous odor.

0.0- 8.5 

8.5- 14.0

14.0-31.8

31. 8- 50. 2

60. 2- 54. 4

54.5-66.3

66.3- 69.7

69.7- 82.5

........ ........

1 See. footnote on p. 168.
172 [CONTRIBUTIONS.TO, GE.OCHEMICAL PROSPECTING. FOR MINERALS

Drill hole 6, Nick 'Cook farm, %,mile, south .of'Manning \. 

 [Depth 130.0 ft, altitude of collar 682.2 ft]

Alluvium: 

t Mottled reddish-brown and gray sand, gravel, and 

v clay. . . . . Upper part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Ouelph dolomite of Williams: 

Zone 4, reef core; dark gray-brown, coarsegrained, very porous dolomite. Sphalerite 

in a vug filled with celestite at 19.2 ft. 

Bituminous odor. Crypto-crystalline 

quartz coatings. 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: 

Reef core; dark, medium-grained, mottled 

dolomite of algal material, with abundant 

partings. 

Zone 3, reef core; mottled dark-gray and white 

dolomite of Cladopora coral, with abundant 

stylolites. Sphalerite in fossils at 27.1 and 

29.5 ft. Strong bituminous odor. 

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Undifferentiated beds: 

Dark-gray, flnergrained,. dense clastic dolomite, with many carbonaceous partings. 

Medium-gray, finely crystalline dolomite. 

Small crystals of sphalerite have replaced 

dolomite at 54.5, 54.6, and 55.6 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Fine-grained brown dolomite, with Cladopora coral. Selenite at 57.5 ft. . Zone 2, reef bed; brown, porous, coarsegrained dolomite. Stylolites and algae. 

Fine-grained gray dolomite of fossil debris. 

Abundant cup corals. Sphalerite has replaced cup coral at 69.0 ft. 

Fossiliferous dolomite, with cup corals. 

Small vugs filled' with amorphous gypsum 

at 70.5 and 73.2 ft. 

Dark, fine-grained dolomite. Sphalerite 

at 79.6 and 80.1 ft. 

Zone 1, reef bed; porous, coarse-grained, 

brown dolomite composed of white algal 

masses. 

Dark, fine-grained, dense dolomite. Selenite

at 94.1 ft. 

Gasport limestone member: 

Lighter colored, medium-grained dolomitic 

limestone, with many selenite partings. Bituminous odor. Gypsum at 107 ft. 

DeCew limestone member of Williams: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense, shaley do- lomite, with abundant wavy black CarbonaCeOUS partings. Strong bituminous odor. 

Clinton group: 

Rochester shale (contact gradational) : Dark-gray, medium-grained, dense dolomite 

With scattered fossils and occasional black

carbonaceous partings. Strong bituminous 

odor. 

Alternating thin beds of black dolomitic Shale

and dark -gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, 

with a few thin calcareous fossiliferous 

layers. Strong bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

0.0- 9.2 

9. 2- 19. 6

19.6- 27.0 

27.0- 41.0

41. 0- 50. 6 

50. 6- 56. 0

56. 0- 61. 3 

61. 3- 67. 5 

67. 5- 69. 5

69. 5- 77. 0

77. 0- 87. 5 

87. 5- 88. 0

88. 0-100. 0 

100. 0-105. 9

105. 9-117. 0

117. 0-118. 4 

118. 4-130. 0

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

8te-.'

W-" mr 

Lead 

(ppm) Other metals >

1 See footnote on p. 168.
.RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARIN(3 PEAT TO LOCKPORT "DOLOMITE 173

Drill hole 7, Blockowitz farm, % mile south of Manning 

.[Depth 120.6 ft, altitude of collar 658.0 ft, depth to water 9.1 ft]

Alluvium: 

Mottled reddish-brown, gray, and black glacial till, 

with many pebbles and boulders of dolomite. 

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Guelph dolomite of Williams: 

Zone 4, reef flank bed; dark gray-brown, 

coarse-grained, porous dolomite, with some 

silicifled algae. Bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, medium-grained, dense dolomite, 

with abundant fossils and many black 

carbonaceous partings and stylolites. 

Sphalerite and fluorite in small vugs at 

17.6-18.0 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, nonfossiliferous; some thin black carbonaceous 

partings. Sphalerite at 23.9 ft. 

Zone 3; dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, composed largely of fossil fragments. 

I^ower part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Undifferentiated beds: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, 

with fossils at 37.0-38.5 ft. Sphalerite with 

recrystallized dolomite and gypsum at 

38.6 ft. Strong bituminous odor. 

Zone 2, reef flank bed; dark gray-brown, 

porous dolomite, with many small vugs 

lined with recrystallized dolomite or filled 

with selenlte. 

Dark mottled-gray, dense dolomite, with 

many black carbonaceous partings, fossiliferous with cup corals. Sphalerite has replaced or filled some fossils at 79.0, 79.2, 

79.3, 79.8 ft, and occurs with selenite in 

vugs at 65.3 ft. Strong bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, banded dolomite. 

Nonfossiliferous, with many stylolites. 

Sphalerite at 88.7 ft. 

Oasport limestone member: 

Medium-gray, dense dolomitic limestone, 

with many wavy black carbonaceous partings. Fossiliferous, with small crystals of 

sphalerite and selenite in a Stromatopora at 

100.0 ft. Strong bituminous odor. 

DeCew limestone member of Williams: 

Medium-gray, dense, nonporous limestone, 

with many wavy black carbonaceous partings. Strong bituminous odor. 

 Clinton group: 

Rochester shale: 

Dark-gray to black, dense, massive dolomite, 

fossiliferous. Strong bituminous odor. 

Alternating thin beds of black dolomitic 

shale, and dark-gray, fine-grained, dense 

dolomite. Strong bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

0.0- 5.2

5. 2- 15. 0 

15. 0- 22. 0

22.0- 30.8 

30. 8- 34. 0

34. 0- 55. 8 

55. 8- 60. 5 

60. 5- 80. 0

80.0- 94.2 

94. 2-103. 4

103. 4-112. 5

112.5-118.5 

118. 5-120. 6

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

Lead 

(Ppm) Other metals '

1 See footnote on p. 168.
174 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

Drill hole 8, Campbell farm, 1 mile south of Manning 

[Depth 96.4 ft, altitude of collar 638.0 ft, depth to water 1.8 ft]

Alluvium: 

Black muck ______________ . 

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Guelph dolomite of Williams: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, containing algal material. Stylolitic and bituminous, with a few small crystals of sphalerite at 1.6 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Zone 4; reef bed; gray-brown, mediumgrained, recrystallized, porous reef-sand 

dolomite. Very fossiliferous. Sphalerite 

at 13.5 ft and in small vug lined with recrystallized dolomite at 14.8 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: 

Dark-gray, medium- to fine-grained, dense, 

thin-bedded dolomite, with black shale 

partings, very fossiliferous. Small crystals 

of sphalerite have replaced dolomite at 

20.9 ft. Bituminous odor.

Zone 3; gray, fine-grained fossiliferous clastic 

dolomite of cup corals, and other fossils. 

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Undiflerentiated beds: 

Gray, fine-grained, laminated, argillaceous 

dolomite.

Zone 2, reef flank bed; dark gray-brown, 

medium-grained, porous dolomite. Very 

fossiliferous. Bituminous odor.

Dark -gray, fine-grained, dense, thin-bedded 

dolomite. Bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense, thick-bedded 

dolomite. Fossiliferous, with bedding 

thinner toward base. Bituminous odor. 

Alternating thin beds of black dolomitic shale 

and dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, 

with occasional thin calcareous fossiliferous layers. Bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

0.0- 1.6

1.6- 11.1 

11.1- 19.8

19.8 21.0 

21.0 26.0

26.0 27.3

27. 3 44. 0 

44.0 46.4

46.4 55.5

55. 5 59. 0 

59.0 65.0

65.0 70.6 

70.6-82.0

82. 0 95. 4

. Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

Lead 

(ppm) Other metals >

Drill hole 9, Shepherd farnij 2.0 miles southwest of Manning 

[Depth 123.0 ft, altitude of collar 655.4 ft, depth to water about 5 ft]

Alluvium: Mottled reddisn-gray sand, clay, and boulders.... 

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite:

Guelph dolomite of Williams:

Zone 4, reef bed; dark gray-brown, mediumgrained, porous dolomite, with abundant 

slliclfled fossils. Bituminous odor.

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford;

stylolltes. Very fossiliferous.

Zone 3; dark, fine-grained, reef-detrital dolomite and large white algal masses. Sphal- erite, celestite, and Quartz in algal reef material at 16.9-17.6 and 18.6-19.2 ft. Bltuminous odor.

Ix>-wcr part of the Lockport dolomite: Undiflerentiated beds: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite,

with very few fossils, and some black 

carbonaceous partings. Sphalerite has

replaced alga at 27.6 ft; in silicified coral at 

33.8 ft. Small veinlets of sphalerite and 

dolomite at 34.6, 34.7 and 45.9 ft. Bituminous odor.

O. O- 3. 8

3.8-15.0

15.0-16.8

16.8-19.2

(16.8-18.8)

27.M7.2

........

1,300

........

50 K, Or, Ou, Al

Ba, Nl

1 See footnote on p. 168.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 175

Drill hole 9, Shepherd farm, 2.0 miles southwest of Manning Continued 

[Depth 123.0 ft, altitude of collar 655.4 ft, depth to water about 5 ft]

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite Continued 

Undifferentiated beds Continued 

Zone 2; reef flank bed; dark brownish-gray, 

medium-grained porous dolomite, with 

occasional black carbonaceous partings. 

Many fossil moulds lined with recrystallized dolomite. A small vug filled with 

celestite and dolomite at 47.6-47.7 ft. 

Bituminous odor. 

Fossil-fragment breccia of dark-gray, finegrained, dense dolomite, with many black 

carbonaceous partings. Cup corals abundant. 

Gray, fine-grained dolomite. Sphalerite has 

replaced dolomite at 79.4 ft; small aggregates 

of recrystallized dolomite at 80.7 and 86.6 

ft. Bituminous odor. 

DeCew limestone member of Williams: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, 

with very 'abundant fine wavy black 

carbonaceous partings. Bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, medium-grained, dense, massive 

argillaceous dolomite, with a few scattered 

fossils. Fine black carbonaceous partings. 

Marcasite and pyrite. Bituminous odor. 

Clinton group: 

Rochester shale (contact gradational) : Alternating thin beds of black dolomitic 

shale, and dark-gray, fine-grained dolomite, 

with a few calcareous fossiliferous layers. 

Bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

47.2- 57.0

67.0- 58.0 

68.0- 94.0

94.0-102.8 

102. 8-108. 2

108. 2-123. 0

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

Lead 

(ppm) Other metals >

Drill hole 10, Arnold farm, 8.S miles northeast of Elba 

[Depth 323.4 ft, altitude of collar 664.6 ft, depth to water 37.0 ft]

Alluvium:

Mottled brown and gray sand, clay, and pebble till,

with some boulders.

Salina group:

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite. -... 

Quelph dolomite of Williams (contact gradational: 

Dark gray-brown, thin-bedded dolomitic

limestone, with some black carbonaceous

partings and many selenite partings. Dolomite more porous in basal than upper bed. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, thin-bedded dolomitic limestone, with abundant black

carbonaceous partings. Selenite partings

abundant from 135.2-137.5 ft. Sphalerite

in a fine carbonaceous parting at 136.0 ft.

Pyrite or marcasite, with selenite, in a

small vug at 139.5 ft.

Dark-gray, fine-grained- thin-bedded, dense 

dolomite, with abundant black carbonaceous partings. All partings and bedding

dip at angle of 45°, indicating proximity to

reef core. Flowage indicated in the lower

0.7 ft of unit.

Dark-gray, medium-grained, dense, thinbedded dolomite, with abundant black

carbonaceous partings. Several thin zones

exhibit flowage structure. White selenite

partings.

Dark-gray, medium-grained, dense dolomitic

limestone, with black carbonaceous and

thin selenite partings, grading to dolomite 

at the base. Sphalerite has replaced limestone at 157.1 ft.

0.0-41.8

41. 8-129. 0 

129.0-132.5

132. 5-139. 5

139. 5-143. 3

143. 3-149. 5

149. 5-154. 5

164. 6-159. 6

159. 6-163. 8

163. 8-166. 3 

166. 3-171. 8

9

69

10

21

49

310

150

580 

180

15

26

30

35

560

16

100

60 

20

K, B, Or, Ba, Sr

K, B, Or, Ou, Ni

Sr, Ba

Na, K, B, Ba, Or,

Cu, Ni, Sr

Na.K.Ba, Or, Ou,

Ni.Sr

K, Cu, Sr

Ag, Ba, Sr

Sr

Ag, Sr

1 See footnote on p. 168.
176 'CONTRIBUf IONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PBOSPECTING FOR MINERALS

'Drillhole 10, Arnold.farm, 3:3miles northeast of Elba Continued 

[Depth 323.4 ft, altitude of collar'664.6 ft; depth to water 37.0 ft]

- ........... . :

Salina group Continued

Ouelph dolomite of Williams (contact gradational) Continued - - - ' 

Zone 4, reef core; dark gray-brown, coarsegrained, porous, recrystallized dolomite.

No clear bedding evident and few indications of fossils. Small vugs lined with recrystallized dolomite, selenite, fluorite, and 

calcite. Sphalerite as large and small

crystals in vugs at 171.2, 171.5, 171.8, 172.2,

173.0, 174.7, 174.9, 175.3, 175.7, 182.3, 184.4,

184.6, 187.0, 189.4, 189.7, 195.3, 195.8, 196.0,

196.9, 197.5, 202.7, 203.6, 204.3, 214.0, 216.5,

and 218.0 ft has replaced dolomite at 176.8

and 208.4 ft. Galena has replaced dolomite

at 174.7 ft. Bituminous odor.

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford:

Zone 3; dark -gray, medium-grained dolomite,

with many black carbonaceous partings.

Cladopora coral. Sphalerite, galena, and

selenite in silicifled fossils at 220.3, 221.2,

223.1, 223.4, 224.0, 224.5, 224.7, 225.0, and

225.7 ft. Bituminous odor.

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite,

with many black carbonaceous partings

and very few fossils. Sphalerite has replaced dolomite at 226.8 and 228.8 ft. Bituminous odor.

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite:

Undifferentiated beds:

Dark-gray, medium-grained, dense dolomite,

with black carbonaceous partings becoming . more numerous toward base of unit.

Sphalerite has .replaced dolomite at 235.5

ft; has filled minute fractures at 240.2 and

241.2 ft, and in a fossil at 242.5 ft. Bituminous odor.

Reef flank bed, zone 2;. dark gray-brown,

coarse-grained, porous dolomite, with

many small vugs filled with selenite,

gypsum, and some recrystallized dolomite.

Algal material, with white siliceous coat-

. ing. Sphalerite, with gypsum, in vugs at

251.0, 252.7, 255.7, 256.1, and 258.8 ft. Bituminous odor.

Dark-gray, fine, medium-grained dolomite,

,. with abundant black carbonaceous partings .and scattered fossils. Calcareous near 

base. Bituminous odor.

Dark-gray to black, fine-grained, dense

dolomitic limestone. Dark-gray, dense

argillaceous dolomite. Fossiliferous layers

containing several silicifled Favosites corals.

Sphalerite in silicified coral at 279.1 ft and

celestite in silicifled coral at 280.6 ft. Sphalerite has replaced some fossils at 285.0 and

290.0 ft, in a small vug at 276.3 ft, and in a

celestite filled cavity at 290.6 ft. Galena at

280.3 ft. Bituminous odor.

Oasport limestone member:

Dark-gray to black, medium-grained, dense

dolomite. Bituminous odor.

DeCew limestone member of Williams:

Dark-gray to black, fine-grained, dense argillaceous dolomite, with abundant wavy

black carbonaceous partings, and a few

scattered fossils. Black shale partings near

base. Bituminous odor,

Depth 

(feet)

171. 8-173. 7

173. 7-176. 6

176.6-179.6

179. 6-182. 6

182. 6-185. 6 

185. 6-188. 6

188. 6-191. 6

191. 6-194. 5

194. 5-197. 5

197. 5-200. 0

200. 0-203. 3

203. 3-206. 3

206. 3-209. 3

209. 3-212. 3

212. 3-216. 3

216. 3-218. 3

218. 3-221. 3

221. 3-225. 0

225. 0-228. 0

229. 9-234. 2

234.2-239.2

239. 2-243. 2

243.2-251.7

251. 7-256. 7

256. 7-263. 5

263. 5-269. 0

260.0-274.7

274. 7-279. 0

279. 0-284. 0

284. 0-289. 0

289. 0-294. 8

294. 8-298. 6

298. 6-304. 8

304. 8-309. 9

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

1,500

400

25

425

550 

420

3,300

20

280

30.

210

1,200

430

90

240

370

380

2,000

230

8

260

390

24

21

400

255.

500

35

430

200

230

13

9

16

Lead 

(ppm)

10

9

12

7

5

. -5

7

7'5

5

5

6

6

5

<10

' 50

<10

150

40

38

1,350

57

13

12

23

18

. 250

43

60

23

26

33

32

34

Other metals '

... r

*

Sr

Sr

,

ir

Sr

*

Cu

K, Ba, Cr

Cu

Or, Cu

Cu

*

*

*

Fe, Ti, Na, K, B,

Ba, Cr, Cu, Ga,

Ni, Zr

Na, K, Ba, Cu,

Ni

Ti, Na, K, B, Ba,

6r, Cu, Ga, Ni

Ti, Na, iK, |B, Ba

Or, Cu, Ga, Ni

.Na, K, B, Ba,

Cu, Ga, Ni

Na

Fe, Ti. Na, K, B,

Ba, Cr, Cu, NI,

Y, Yb, Zr

Fe, Ti, Na, K, B, 

Ba, Cr, Cu, Ni,

Y, Yb, Zr

Fe, Ti, Na, K, B,

Ba, Cr, Cu, Ga,

Ni, Y, Yb, Zr

1 See footnote on p. 168.
CREMATIONS'OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT' DOL'OMlTE 177

Drill hole 10, Arnold'farm, 3.3 miles-northeast of 'BZ&a-r-Cdntihued 

[Depth 323.4 ft, altitude of collar 664.5 ft, depth.to water 37.0 ft]

Clinton group:

Rochester shale (contact gradational) : 

Alternating thin beds of black dolomitic

shale, and dark-gray, fine-grained, dense

dolomite, with a few thin calcareous fossiliferous layers. Bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

309.9-313.5

313. 5-318. 5

318. 5-323. 4

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

13

24

180

Lead 

(ppm)

25

20

18

Other metals 1

. ;. . ..: , '!

Ti, Na;'K, E, Ba,

Cr, Cu, Qa, Ni,

Y, Yb, Zr

Al, Ti, Na, K, B,

Ba, Cr, Cu, Ga,

Ni, Y, Yb, Zr

Al, Ti, Na, K, B,

Ba, Cr, Cu, Ga,

Ni, Y, Yb, Zr

Drill hole 11, Hartrick farm, 1.35 miles south of Shelby 

[Depth 105.3 ft, altitude of collar 613.6 ft]

Alluvium:

river cha.nnel. 

Lower part o Lockport dolomite: 

Lead-bearing Oak Orchard member of Howell 

and Sanford eroded. 

Undiflerentiated beds:

minous dolomite, with thin black carbonaceous partings and some cup corals.

with occasional black carbonaceous partings, stylolites, and small vugs filled with , 

selenite or gypsum. Crystals of sphalerite 

have replaced dolomite at intervals from 

24.6-35.9, and 48.9-49.1 ft; in vugs lined 

with recrystallized dolomite or filled with 

selenite at 32.6, 36.4, 43.0, 46.0 and 46.2 ft. 

Freshly broken core has a bituminous odor.

algal dolomite, with some thin black carbonaceous partings at the top. Sphalerite 

has replaced dolomite at 49.7 and 51.2 ft. 

Bituminous odor.

dolomite, with many black carbonaceous 

partings; fossiliferous. Cup corals scattered 

sparsely throughout unit; more numerous 

near base. Small crystals of sphalerite 

have replaced fossil fragments at intervals 

from 51.4-64.5 ft; in a thin carbonaceous 

parting at 56.0 ft. Galena has replaced 

dolomite at 57.4 ft. An estimated 0.1 

percent zinc in this unit. Bituminous odor. 

Gaspprt limestone member:

minous dolomite, with abundant black 

carbonaceous partings and scattered fossils. 

Small crystals of sphalerite in thin black 

carbonaceous partings at intervals from 

65.5-68.3 ft; selenite has filled fossils at 

intervals from 67.1-70.3 ft. The total zinc 

content of this unit estimated at 0.1 percent. 

Fetid bituminous odor. 

DeCew limestone member of Williams:

dolomite, with a few black carbonaceous 

partings. Sphalerite has filled small fractures at 75.3 and 85.2 ft; has replaced dolomite at 77.1 ft. Very strong, fetid bituminous odor. 

Clinton group: 

Rochester shale (contact gradational) :

many black carbonaceous partings. 

Strong, fetid bituminous odor.

0.0- 18.7

18. 7- 24. 1

94 1- 40 7

40 7- RI A

51. 4- 65. 0

65. 0- 74. 0

74. 0- 85. 2

1 See footnote on p. 168.
178 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS 

Dritt hole 11, Hartrick farm, 1.35 miles south of Shelby Continued

[Depth 105.3 ft, altitude of collar 613.6 ft]

Clinton group Continued 

Bochester shale (contact gradational) Con. 

Alternating thin beds of black shale and 

dark-gray, fine-grained dolomite, with a 

few thin calcareous fossiliferous layers. At 

102.3 ft the drill struck a fracture containing 

natural gas that flowed for about an hour 

until the pressure was lowered.

Depth 

(feet)

95. 3-105. 3

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

Lead 

(ppm) Other metals '

Drill hole 12, Sheetrumfarm, 2.6 miles southwest of Shelby 

[Depth 131.2 ft, altitude of collar 609.6 ft, depth to water 0.5 ft]

Alluvium: 

Mottled reddish-brown and gray sand, gravel, and 

clay. 

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Quelph dolomite of Williams: 

Zone 4, reef bed; dark, gray-brown, mediumgrained, porous dolomite, containing many 

small vugs lined with secondary dolomite, 

calcite, and some sphalerite. Small crystals 

of sphalerite, in vugs with recrystallized 

dolomite at intervals from 14.6-15.6 and 

28.8-30.6 ft, have replaced dolomite at 18.8 

ft and filled small fracture at 26.4 ft. Porosity of the dolomite decreases with depth. 

Freshly broken core has a bituminous odor. 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: 

Zone 3 dark-gray > fine-grained, dense dolomite, with some black carbonaceous 

partings and small fossils. Four thin 

porous zones at intervals from 40.0-46.1 ft. 

Crystals of sphalerite in vugs lined with 

recrystallized dolomite at 37.4 and 38.5 ft. 

Strong bituminous odor. 

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite:

Undiflerentiated beds: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite. __

Reef flank -bed; light blue-gray, very coarsegrained, very porous, crinoidal- coquina. 

The dolomite in the crinoid fragments 

shows calcite twinning. Fetid bituminous 

odor.

Medium blue-gray, medium-grained, porous 

dolomite, very fossiliferous. Fossils as 

moulds lined with recrystallized dolomite.

Fetid bituminous odor. 

Zone 1; algal bed; medium blue-gray grading downward to dark-gray, fine-grained, algal 

dolomite. Silt content increases downward. Black carbonaceous partings. Fetid 

bituminous odor.

Dart-gray mottled frith yrbHv, wgillaeeovis 

dolomite; very fossiliferous, containing 

algae, Stromatopora, brachiopods, and 

corals. Abundant thin black carbonaceous 

partings, some with thin layer of selenite. 

Sphalerite in fossils, fractures, and disseminated dolomite at 81.8, 84.2 and 87.0, 88.2 

ft. Fetid bituminous odor.

Gasport member and DeCew limestone member 

of Williams: 

Dark-gray, medium to fine-grained, dense dolomite, with abundant wavy black carbonaceous partings and a few scattered

fossils. Small crystals of sphalerite, with 

recrystallized dolomite, at 95.8 ft. Fetid 

bituminous odor. 

Clinton group: Rochester shale (contact gradational) :

Alternating Mn beds of black dolomitic 

shale and dark-gray, fine-grained dolomite, 

with a few calcareous fossiliferous layers. 

Fetid bituminous odor.

0.0- 8.8 

8. 8- 31. 7

31. 7- 46. 1 

46. 1- 50. 6

50. 6- 68. 7

68.7-74. 4

74. 4- 78. 8

 78. S- 01. O

(86. 8- 88. 1) 

91. 9-109. 5

109.5-131.2

4,500 25 K, Ba, Cu, Ni

1 See footnote on p. 168.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 179

Drill hole 18, Grimes property, 1.5 miles south of Shelby 

. . [Depth 32 ft, altitude of collar 615.0 ft]

Alluvium:

Glacial lake deposits of mottled brown and gray,

laminated, fine sand and clay.

Glacial till of mottled reddish-brown and gray

sand, clay, and boulders.

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite:

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford:

Zone 3, dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with many black carbonaceous partings and stylolites. Small crystals of

sphalerite have replaced a branching type

of coral at 17.3 ft, are found in a stylolite

at 18.4 ft. and have replaced dolomite at 

20.1 ft. Freshly broken core has a bituminous odor.

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with

abundant black carbonaceous partings and 

some fossils. Small amounts of galena have

replaced, or filled fossils at 21.0, 21.2, and

22.5 ft. Disseminated galena at 21.8 ft.

Sphalerite has replaced dolomite at 23.1 ft.

Small vug at 25.3 ft lined with scalenohedral

crystals of calcite and some quartz. Bituminous odor.

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite:

Undiflerentiated beds:

Dark-gray, medium-grained, slightly porous,

fossiliferous dolomite, with black carbonaceous partings and stylolites. Many fine

fractures with random orientation. Small

crystals of sphalerite have replaced dolomite at 26.3, 30.9, and 31.0 ft. and lined a

vug at 31.1 ft. Sphalerite and galena in

small vug lined with recrystallized dolomite at 30.9 ft. Bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

0. 0- 12. 0

12. 0- 17. 1

17.1- 20.9

20. 9- 22. 4

23.3

24.7

24. 7^ 27. 0

27. 0- 29. 5

29. 5- 32. 0

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

210

55

260

100

230

190

Lead 

<ppm)

1,600

150

2,100

360

15

15

Other metals !

Fe, K,'Ba, Or, Ou

Y , « 

Fe, Ou JCr, Y :

Fe, K, Ba, Or, 'Ou,

; Ni, Y

Or

*

*

Drill hole 14, Moule farm, 1.5 miles south of Shelby

[Depth 26.0 ft, altitude of collar 609.0 ft]

Alluvium:

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: 

Zone 3; gray, medium-grained, dolomite, with 

abundant fine black wavy carbonaceous 

partings. Galena has replaced a coral at 

11.2 ft, disseminated through dolomite at 

11.4 and 11.6 ft. A small crystal of sphalerite has replaced dolomite at 11.7 ft. 

Freshly broken core has a bituminous odor. 

Black, coarse-grained, dense dolomite, with 

many cup corals and other fossils. Disseminated galena at 11.9 ft. Bituminous 

odor. 

Medium-gray, medium-grained, dense dolomite, with many black carbonaceous 

partings; some cup corals and other fossils. 

Sphalerite has replaced dolomite at 13.6 

ft in a small vug; recrystallized dolomite 

and quartz at 14.0 and 14.5 ft. Disseminated galena at 14.4 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Undiflerentiated beds:

rous dolomite, with many small vugs filled 

with recrystallized dolomite and selenite. 

Sphalerite with selenite at 16.5 ft; has 

replaced dolomite at 16.6 ft. Bituminous 

odor.

dolomite, with many black carbonaceous 

partings, and a few cup corals. Stylolites 

common throughout. Small crystals of 

sphalerite have replaced dolomite at 22.2, 

23.7, and 26.0 ft and are associated with 

recrystallized dolomite at 24.8 ft. Bituminous odor.

0. 0- 11. 0

11.0- 11.9

11.9- 12.8 

12. 8- 14. 9

14.9- 18.2

18. 2- 26. 0

760

25 

360

4,000

100 

2,100

Fe, K, Cu

Fe, Cu, Y 

Fe, K, Cu

1 See footnote on p. 168.
180 CONTRIBUTIONS TO GEOCHEMICAL PROSPECTING FOR MINERALS

Drill hole 15, Zarwell property, 1.4 miles south of Shelby 

[Depth 24.4 ft, altitude of collar 609.5 ft, depth to water 4.0 ft]

Alluvium: 

Mottled gray sand and gravel. 

Upper part of the Lockport.dolomite: 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: ' 

Zone 3; medium to dark brownish-gray, medium-grained dolomite, with small vugs 

as large as 1 in. in diameter, many black 

carbonaceous partings and stylolites. Crystals of sphalerite in vugs lined with recrystallized dolomite at intervals from 4.0-7.1 

ft. Freshly broken core has a bituminous 

odor. 

Black, coarse-grained, dense dolomite, with 

many cup corals. Disseminated galena at 

9.3 and 9.8 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, 

. with many wavy black carbonaceous partings. Sphalerite in a small .vug, with recrystallized dolomite, at 11.0 ft. Disseminated galena at 11.6, 13.0, and 14.2 ft; 

replaces a cup coral at 12.9 ft. Open vug 

lined with crystalline galena at 12.7 ft. 

Bituminous odor. 

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Undifferentiated beds: 

Dark gray-brown, medium-grained, moderately porous dolomite, with many black 

carbonaceous partings and stylolites. 

Sphalerite at 18.7 ft. Small vugs filled 

with recrystallized dolomite. Bituminous 

odor. 

Medium to dark gray, fine-grained, dense 

dolomite, with many black carbonaceous 

partings and stylolites. Sphalerite with 

recrystallized dolomite at 20.1, 20.3 ft. 

Bituminous odor. .

Depth 

(feet)

0.0- 3.8

3. 8- 8. 2 

8.2- 9.6

9.6-11.0

11. 0- 12. 6 

12. 6- 14. 4

14. 4- 19. 6 

19. 6- 24. 4

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

180

40

85 

550

Lead 

(ppm)

575

500

625 

1,700

Other metals »

Cu

Fe, Cu, Y

Fe, K, Ba, Or, Cu 

Fe, K, Ba, Cr, 

Cu, Y

Drill hole 16, Best farm, 1,3 miles south of Shelby 

[Depth 26.7 ft, altitude of collar 610.7 ft, depth to water 5.0 ft]

Alluvium: 

Mottled reddish-brown sand, gravel, and clay.... Upper part of Lockport dolomite: 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford:

dense dolomite, with occasional black stylolites and black carbonaceous partings.

Few scattered fossils. Small crystals of 

sphalerite replace dolomite at intervals 

from 4.9-9.6 ft. Disseminated galena at 9.7 ft. Freshly broken core has a bituminous odor.

Black, coarsely crystalline dolomite, with

many cup corals. Black carbonaceous 

partings. Bituminous odor. 

Dark-gray, medium-grained, dense dolomltlc

limestone, with many wavy black carbonaceous partings, and some bituminous ma- terial. Gelena disseminated through the dolomite at intervals from 12.2-13.8 ft.

One small crystal of sphalerite has replaced

dolomite at 14.0 ft. Bituminous odor. 

Lower part of the Lockport dolomite:

Unuiflerentiated beds;

what porous dolomite,- with occasional

black carbonaceous partings, and stylolites. Small crystals of sphalerite have 

replaced dolomite at 19.4, .19.8, 20.5, 21.0 

and 21 .9 ft. Bituminous odor.

0.0- 4.2 

4.2- 9.8

9.8-10.4 

10.4- 11.9

11.9- 13.0

13.0-14.2

14.2-26.7

........

150 

25

160 

25

........

320 

100

500 

500

Fe, K, Ba, Cr, Cu 

FeCii

Fe, K, Ba, Cu, Zr

Fe, K, Ba, Cu

1 See footnote on p. 168.
RELATIONS OF ZINC-BEARING PEAT TO LOCKPORT DOLOMITE 181

Drill hole 17, Shepherd farm, 2 miles southwest of Manning 

[Depth 30.0 ft, altitude of collar 652.2 ft, depth to water about 5 ft]

.Alluvium:

Upper part of the Lockport dolomite: 

Guelph dolomite of Williams: 

Reef flank bed, zone 4; dark brownish-gray, 

coarse-grained, porous dolomite, with 

many black caroonaceous partings and 

stylolites. Many vugs lined with recrystallized dolomite and calcite. Occasional 

siliclfled fossils, very poorly preserved. 

Small crystals of sphalerite in vugs at 6.3, 

7.5, 8.1, and 14.6 ft. No galena present. 

Oak Orchard member of Howell and Sanford: 

Dark-gray, fine-grained, dense dolomite, with 

many black carbonaceous partings. Sphalerite in a fracture, with secondary quartz 

and dolomite, at 17.2 ft. Bituminous odor.

Depth 

(feet)

0.0- 5.2

5. 2- 15. 5 

15. 5- 30. 0

Core analysis

Zinc 

(ppm)

Lead 

(ppm) Other metals >

1 See footnote on p. 168.

INDEX

Page

Accumulator plants... 128, 132, 134, 135 

Acknowledgments ___________ 120-121

Algae, calcareous, metal content. 145.

146,152,156,159,160

filamentous, metal content.. 160

marine, metal content____ 161

B

Bacterial action, oxidation of zinc

sulfide..._____ 130

Bergen Bog, description........ 127

zinc and lead in soil and

plants________ 128

Blake, S. F., plants identified. __ 126

Bog, description.____________ 127

ecology...-.______ 124-128 

formation.-.. __________ 127

soils...--_._..__. 122-124, 128

Cannon, R. S., cited___^_______ 155

Chlorosis, as a guide to prospecting.. .......... 133-134

causes and symptoms._____ 132

C?ddopora_-____-__.,-.__ 147, 148, 153

Cooper, John R., cited_______ 133, 155

Crinoida^ coquina, in Gasport

limestone member. 170 

in undiff erentiated lower .; 

part of Lockport 

dolomite _..__._ 146,178

' "' D

DeCew limestone member of

Williams.... 144-145, 152 

Ditbizone tests for heavy met-

.als_____-_. r _L__ 121-122 

Drill logs and core analyses. _ 167-181

E 

Eramosa member._________ 142,146

See also Oak Orchard member.

Page 

Faulting. ____________________ 121

Fauna, correlations.___________ 149

Fieldwork... _.______. __;____ 120

Flora. See Plants.

G .

Galena, occurrence________ 150-151,

153, 154, 156

Galena. Also see under metals in 

individual beds.

Gasport limestone member, described___.___ 145

Geology and geography of area.. 121

Ground water, content of zinc

and lead...__ 138-140 

movement______________ 124

Guelph dolomite of Williams.. 148-149

H-K

Halysites, in zone 2____________ 146

Hendricks, S. B., cited____.. 130 

Hermann, F. J., plants identified. 126 

Johnson, J. Harlan, cited.______ 154

Knox, Arthur S., pollen studies. 124-125

Lakin, W. H., cited_.__-_-_.__ 135

Lead, absorption by plant species. 134 

effect on plant growth_____ 134

in waters___ ._ __ _ 138-139 

toxic effect on plants._____ 13$

 ' See also under zinc. 

Lockport dolomite, abundance of

elements. _-__.___ 157, 

161, 162, 168-181

composite section__.___ 142-144 

facies, metals in___________ 158

described!--..._______ 151

general features and correlation... _______ 140-142

land surface conforms to

dip_.____________ 121

/ 183
184 INDEX

Lockport dolomite Continued Page 

lateral reef and faunal

changes._________ 148

lower part, described. ___ 144-146 

occurrences of zinc and

lead---.-.--.-. 150-151 

section across New York... 141 

upper part____________ 146-149

M

Manning Muck, comparison of 

zinc in willow leaves 

andsoil_.______ 136

favorable features for prospecting.- --_--__ 135

profile section_____________ 123

Metals, biogeochemical precipitation____ 159-161

chemical precipitation. _ 158-159

comparison of amounts in 

mineralized and unmineralized dolomite_---_-___--_- 157

concentration around decaying ' organic 

matter_____ 161-162

cycles of concentratiqn_____ 162

methods of concentration in

peat_____________ 129

occurrence. See Drill logs 

of Lockport dolomite cores.

origin in the dolomite. __ _ 157

revealed by spectrographic 

analysis of Manning Muck.. 129 

Muck, defined. _______________ 122

 Also see Bog.

o

Oak Orchard member of Howell

and Sanford.-.- 146-147

Patch reefs.,-..-.______ 144,147

Peat, correlation of zinc-rich with

specific beds------ 122

metals found by analysis of

zinc-bearing

sample...-------- 129

methods of concentration of

metals.---.-___ 129 

zinc and lead in undrained.- 131 

Also see Bog and Muck.

Petrography of sulfide-bearing Page 

rocks,_________ 155-157

pH of bog soils______________ 127

Plants, accumulator- 128, 132, 134, 135 

present cover listed______ 126-127

tested for prospecting_._ 135-137 

zinc and lead contents, Manning area_____-___ 13ft

zinc as a cause of chlorosis.- 132

Pollen studies of the mucks_ 124-126

Prospecting, chlorosis as a

guide.______ 133-134 

geochemical methods..-. 121-122 

importance of till___-. 137-138 

plants tested_____-_-_..__ 137 

use of willow and nettle

leaves______ 135-136

Purpose of study ______.__-..__ 120

R

Rare earths, in DeCew limestone

member, __ _______ 145

Reef core beds.__-__.--_ 147, 148- 

Reef flank beds_-------- 147, 148, 153

Reichen, L., cited________---__ 135

Rochester shale, partial section. _ 144

S

Shelby dolomite__--_______-_ 149-

Soils, zinc and lead contents,

Manning area___ 135

Sphalerite occurrence_..._. 150-151 

See also under metals in individual beds.

Staker, E. V., cited________ 130 

Stromatopora. _ 146, 153, 159, pis. 4, 5, 6

Sulfides, origin in the dolomite. _ 157

: oxidation_________________ ,131

Surface water.---...- - 13&

T-Y

Till, sampled for zinc and lead. 

Yttrium, concentration_____.

137 

145-

Zinc, causes chlorosis of plants. 132-135

concentration by groundWater circulation __ 124

content in surface water _ 138

content of willow and nettle

leaves_... 136

estimated amounts . in peat 

and marl of Manning Muck_. _____ 131
INDEX 185

Zinc Continued Page

in composite section of Lockport dolomite. __ 142-144

maximum content in plants 

growing in drained 

areas__.______ 132

oxidation and leaching in

peat soils_______ 130

soluble and nonreplaceable

fractions in peat.__ 130

toxic effect on plants__ 132-133 

Zinc and lead, content of certain

substances___.__ 122

content of ground waters. 138-140

content of Manning Muck.. 123

Zinc and lead Continued

content of peat and marl

compared. _______ 128

content of plants compared. 128 

occurrences in Lockport dolomite......---.. 150-151

partial analyses of contents 

in plants and soils 

from Manning area 135 

till sampled for___._.___ 137 

Zone 1, description__________ 145, 152

metals____-_--_--_-._____ 152

Zone 2, description.___________ 146

metals_-_____---_--.___._ 153

Zone 3, description and metals. 153-155 

Zone 4, description and metals. _ _ 155

o