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Reflected-light microscopy of uraniferous bitumens

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2018

P. A. Eakin  and
A. P. Gize
P. A. Eakin
Affiliation:
Dept. of Geology, Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast BT7 1NN, U.K.
A. P. Gize
Affiliation:
Dept. of Geology, The University, Manchester M13 9PL, U.K.
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Abstract

Uraniferous bitumens from Great Britain, Scandinavia and South Africa have been studied by oilimmersion reflected-light microscopy and categorised into those formed either by replacement of preexisting uraninite and pitchblende or by complexation/reduction mechanisms in pre-existing hydrocarbons. The former are characterised by displaying normal replacive textures, and containing high concentrations of non-mineral-bound uranium, or later, occasionally exotic, uraniferous fracturefilling phases. Uraniferous bitumens formed during complexation/reduction reactions display monotonous mineralogies and ordered mineral-inclusion distributions.

Radiolytic alteration of uraniferous bitumens induces both chemical and mechanical alteration. Early alteration is marked by the generation of mobile hydrocarbons during 'cracking reactions' with subsequent within-sample migration to form globular bitumens and dendritic interspersions of mineralrich and -poor uraniferous bitumen. Mobile hydrocarbons may act as lubricants during mechanical deformation. Advanced organic alteration is characterised by well-documented increased reflectance around uraniferous grains, and by fracturing of the bitumens.

Keywords

bitumensuraniumreflected-light microscopyhydrocarbons
Type
Research Article
Information
Mineralogical Magazine , Volume 56 , Issue 382 , March 1992 , pp. 85 - 99
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2014

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Footnotes

*

Present address: UG Isotech Ltd., Aston Way, Middlewich, Cheshire CW10 0HT, U.K.

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