Answer 1:
First off take a look at this.
geology-mt-rushmore
A migmatite is a type of metamorphic rock
that was once a mixture of a silicate liquid and
a restite of minerals. Migmatite means mixed
rock. Most migmatites form when a solid
metamorphic rock gets heated due to intrusion of
magma (often granitic magma). The granite magma
slowly cools and the heat flows into the
surround country rock; now, the heat flows in
and the metamorphic rock, initially ALL SOLID,
heats up and begins to melt! We call this
process PARTIAL melting. The liquid that forms
is light in color whereas the residue -the
minerals that remain in solid state and do not
melt- are generally dark in color. We call these
two parts of the migmatite (mixed rock) the
LEUCOSOME (light part) and melanosome (dark
part).
Eventually, the granite magma solidifies and
the migmatite cools and preserves the migmatite,
layering of white bands within a darker matrix,
the so called migmatite.
As far as Gold goes?
Well, while the granite is cooling and heat is
flowing into the rock surrounding the granite
magma, sometimes, if small amounts of water are
present, the water gets heated up and can
dissolve small amounts of Au. The Au is carried
in chloride complexes in solution like AuCl3,
etc.
The solutions move up, cool, and the gold is
precipitated from the watery solutions, often
with other minerals like quartz. This forms a
disseminated Au deposit where the rock, with
TINY flakes of Au is mined, crushed, and the Au
separated.
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Answer 2:
A migmatite is a rock body that has been
heated so much that some of the minerals in it
have started to melt and segregate from other
minerals with a higher melting temperature.
Migmatites are often found at the base of
crustal mountain blocks, where they have been
heated by the pressure of the overlying
mountains. The granite of Mt. Rushmore into
which the faces of former U.S. presidents has
been carved formed differently -- it is a
batholith, from the cooling and crystallization
of a large body of magma in the crust. There is
a currently a batholith forming beneath the
Cascade Volcanoes of Washington and Oregon.
Gold in the Black Hills include both placer
deposits (small gold particles interspersed in
stream sediments along the rivers draining the
mountains) and primary ore bodies found in the
bedrock. The biggest sources of gold in the
area were the ore bodies themselves, including
the 'Homestake' deposit. It has produced over
1.25 million kg of gold since it was first
discovered in 1876. The homestake gold is found
mainly in Precambrian (>540 million-year-old)
metamorphic rocks. There have been several
other stages of gold mineralization in the area,
most recently during magamatism in the Tertiary
(~50-60 million years ago). But the biggest
gold deposits formed as a result of hot, mineral-
rich waters moving through the metamorphic rocks
of the Homestake formation. Gold-bearing
minerals were deposited in large quantities
along the hydrothermal pathways.
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Answer 3:
Migmatite rock is a particular
metamorphic "facies." Assigning rock types to
facies are a way of categorizing the rocks
according to their specific patterning, which is
the result of how they initially formed. Usually
temperature and pressure are used to describe
how the rocks form. What this means is that
progressively increasing temperature and
pressure results in a "series" of metamorphic
facies, and this is a way to describe the
metamorphic process. So migmatite rock refers to
a particular type of rock in that series: rock
with intricate folding patterns. The folded
patterns occur because migmatite forms when
there is partial melting of pre-existing
rock.
This is related to the Mt. Rushmore granites,
and I think many granites in general. Granites
are igneous rocks that form from magma, which is
melted rock. Migmatite rock lies at the
interface between metamorphic and igneous rock.
What I mean by this is that migmatites are
metamorphic rocks formed via melting of rock --
but melted rock is magma -- and igneous rock
comes from magma. So in a way, migmatite is
a "stepping stone" on the path to granite.
Sorry, but I don't know how the Black Hills
Gold was deposited. Gold ore can typically form
in a variety of ways, including via plate
tectonic activity and sedimentary deposition.
I hope some of this helps!
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Answer 4:
I can't answer for Mt. Rushmore specifically
or for the Black Hills, but I can explain
migmatite: minerals rich in iron and magnesium
such as olivine and pyroxine have higher melting
temperatures than minerals rich in silicon and
oxygen like quartz and orthoclase. As a result,
it is possible to heat a rock to the point where
these lighter minerals melt, forming lenses of
granite-like material, but the heavier minerals
remain solid, forming gneiss-like bands. This
composite rock is called a migmatite.
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