Petrographical Investigation of the Salt Wash Sediments

Book excerpt: This report represents an attempt to use quantitative petrography to elucidate criteria for differentiating ore-bearing from barren sediments in the Salt Wash member of the Morrison formation of the Colorado Plateau. The main premise upon which this approach is based is that the factors which determine whether a sediment contains ore or not is a function largely, if not solely, of the characteristics of the sedimentary rock. It follows that if this premise is true, then the petrographic characteristics of a sediment containing ore should differ from those of the sediments which are barren.