Mineral Evolution Database
Created and maintained by the Mineral Evolution Project in partnership with RRUFF and mindat.
Mineral locality data provided by mindat.org



The Mineral Evolution database is currently under development.

The goal of this page is to present localities at which the mineral is found, and estimates of the oldest possible geologic age of the minerals at these localities.


Locality Name:
Calamity Mesa, Uravan District, Mesa Co., Colorado, USA

Oldest recorded age at locality: 500
Youngest recorded age at locality: 80

mindat Locality ID: 277648
mindat URL: http://www.mindat.org/loc-277648.html

Tectonic Settings:

Total number of sublocalities beneath "Calamity Mesa, Uravan District, Mesa Co., Colorado, USA": 6
Total number of bottom-level sublocalities: 6

Number of Child Localities: 6
Child Localities:
Arrowhead Group
Cottonwood Claims (Little Girl; Pretty Boy)
Matchless Mine
May Day Mine
Small Spot Mine
Tarzan Claims 1 - 20

Latitude: 38°35'55"N
Longitude: 108°50'21"W
Decimal Degree (lat, lon): 38.598611111111,-108.83916666667

AThis mineral is Anthropogenic.
GThis mineral is directly dated.
BThis mineral is reported as having this age.
YThis mineral is using an age reported as an element mineralization period.
OThis mineral is using an age calculated from all data at the locality.
RThe age displayed for this mineral originates from a different, non-child locality.
PThe age displayed for this mineral is the range of ages for this mineral at all of this locality's children.
This mineral's age has not yet been recorded.

This Mineral list contains entries from this locality, including sub-localities. Minerals in bold are reported by mindat.org as occurring directly at this locality, and do not occur at any children (sublocalities) of this locality.

Elements at this locality, including sub-localities: Al Ca Fe H K Na O S Si U V 

Elements from minerals reported directly at this locality: 

Structural Groups for minerals in this locality: 
AjoiteDiasporeFluoriteFritzscheiteGypsumHewettiteNoneStraczekiteZircon

14 IMA Minerals at location:
Carnotite  (*)Coffinite  (*)Corvusite  (*)Doloresite  (*)Gypsum  (*)
Hewettite  (*)Metahewettite  (*)Metatyuyamunite  (*)Montroseite  (*)Navajoite  (*)
Rauvite  (*)Sherwoodite  (*)Steigerite  (*)Uraninite  (*)
Mineral nameStructural GroupsIMA FormulaMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)# of Sublocalities containing mineralLOCALITY IDs, not mindat ids# of localities containing mineral
Carnotite  (*)NoneK2(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O11923921184
Coffinite  (*)ZirconU(SiO4)·nH2O96804192387,192388,192389,192391566
Corvusite  (*)Straczekite(Na,Ca,K)1-x(V5+,V4+,Fe2+)8O20·4H2O119239179
Doloresite  (*)NoneV4+3O4(OH)496802192387,19238923
Gypsum  (*)GypsumCa(SO4)·2H2O2192390,1923916890
Hewettite  (*)HewettiteCaV5+6O16·9H2O119239158
Metahewettite  (*)HewettiteCaV5+6O16·3H2O9680119238956
Metatyuyamunite  (*)FritzscheiteCa(UO2)2(VO4)2·3H2O2192390,192391129
Montroseite  (*)Diaspore(V3+,Fe2+,V4+)O(OH)96801192389136
Navajoite  (*)Ajoite(V5+,Fe3+)10O24·12H2O2192387,19239111
Rauvite  (*)NoneCa(UO2)2V10O28·16H2O2192387,19239132
Sherwoodite  (*)NoneCa5.5(AlV4+V5+12O39)·28H2O9680119238920
Steigerite  (*)NoneAl(VO4)·3H2O119239110
Uraninite  (*)FluoriteUO211923882718



3 Ages assigned to this locality:

Excel IDMax Age (Ma)Min Age (Ma)Age as listed in referenceDating MethodAge InterpretPrioritized?Sample SourceSample NumRun NumAge from other LocalityDated MineralMinerals explicitely stated as having this ageAge applies to these ElementsMinDat Locality IDDated Locality (Max Age)Location as listed in referenceReferenceReference DOIReference IDAge Notes
Giersdorf_00000608808080238U-206UAge is applied to the primary U minerals at this localitycoffiniteSS187  CoffiniteCoffinite 115884Matchless Mine, Calamity Mesa, Uravan District, Mesa Co., Colorado, USAMatchless MineMiller et al. (1963)10.1130/0016-7606(1963)74[609:IEOTOO]2.0.CO;2GSAB74_609U238-Pb206 Age given by the USGS for the Morrison Formation found at the Matchless Mine
Giersdorf_00000609969696235U-207PbAge is applied to the primary U minerals at this localitycoffiniteSS187  CoffiniteCoffinite 115884Matchless Mine, Calamity Mesa, Uravan District, Mesa Co., Colorado, USAMatchless MineMiller et al. (1963)10.1130/0016-7606(1963)74[609:IEOTOO]2.0.CO;2GSAB74_609U235-Pb207 Age given by the USGS for the Morrison Formation found at the Matchless Mine
Giersdorf_00000610500500500207Pb-206PbThe Pb207-Pb206 age given for these samples is described as being highly erroneous due to the systematic sensitivity of the analytic methodslowcoffiniteSS187  CoffiniteCoffinite 115884Matchless Mine, Calamity Mesa, Uravan District, Mesa Co., Colorado, USAMatchless MineMiller et al. (1963)10.1130/0016-7606(1963)74[609:IEOTOO]2.0.CO;2GSAB74_609Pb207-Pb206 Age given by the USGS for the Morrison Formation found at the Matchless Mine


SampleSource LocalityReference URL


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