Precambrian rocks in the Hanson Lake area occur in two main groups. The first (Lower Group) consists of quartz dioritic rocks, migmatites, and agmatites which occur in two large anticlinal complexes. These rocks are overlain by and concordant with a complicated sequence of supracrustal rocks which comprise the second group (Upper Group). The basal part of the Upper Group is basaltic and the rest is made up of basaltic, andesitic, dacitic, and rhyolitic fragmental metavolcanic rocks, dacitic metalavas, calc-silicate rocks, and graywacke-type metasediments. Other rocks in the area include several bodies of intrusive granite, one of which has a mass of magnetite – amphibole – epidote rock associated with it, a body of metapyroxenite, and a number of apparently intrusive amphobolite bodies. Both beryliferous and non-beryliferous pegmatites are abundant and occur mainly within the rocks of the Lower Group.An interpretation of the petrogenesis, consistent with the available petrographic, structural, and chemical evidence (46 new chemical analyses are presented), suggests that the Upper and Lower Groups were originally parts of a conformable supracrustal sequence. The lower parts of the sequence (Lower Group) were migmatized, partially melted, and mobilized during a complicated orogenic cycle.
Chemical analyses of rock samples collected in east-central Idaho during a study of mineralization in the northern Lemhi Range, Lemhi County, Idaho
