The Correlation of pre-Cambrian Granites by means of Heavy Mineral Analyses

1935 ◽  
Vol 72 (8) ◽  
pp. 341-350
Author(s):  
J. T. Stark ◽  
F. F. Barnes
Keyword(s):  
Field Studies ◽  
Difficult Problem ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Igneous Rocks ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Thin Sections ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Sawatch Range ◽  
Heavy Mineral Analysis ◽  
Experimental Stage

The correlation of isolated outcrops of igneous rocks where two or more similar intrusions are exposed is a difficult problem which is not always solved by thin sections or field studies. Such a problem was encountered in mapping the closely related Pikes Peak and Silver Plume granites of pre-Cambrian age in the Sawatch Range of central Colorado (Fig. 1). A comparison of the heavy minerals of the isolated outcrops with those of known granites was undertaken; and for this purpose large samples, suitable for crushing and heavy mineral analysis, were collected from various points within the areas of each batholith, and from the small outcrops whose age was in question. It was hoped that sufficient similarities in the heavy mineral assemblages might be established to be of value in making correlations. Furthermore, as work on the heavy minerals in igneous rocks is still in the experimental stage, a series of analyses from various parts of a given batholith should throw some light on the question of whether heavy minerals may be distinct and constant enough to be characteristic and so give a reliable means of correlation of isolated exposures.

scholarly journals The Use of Heavy Minerals in the Investigation of Barrier-Lagoon Coasts Development in Dapeng Peninsula, China

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (6) ◽  
pp. 347
Author(s):  
Jing Feng ◽  
Wei Wang
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
The Holocene ◽  
Sea Floor ◽  
Holocene Transgression ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Beach Sediments ◽  
Lagoon Sediments ◽  
Inland Rivers ◽  
Heavy Mineral Analysis

Typical barrier-lagoon systems are developed at Dongchong and Xichong on the southern coast of the Dapeng Peninsula of Guangdong, China. This paper studies the evolution of the barrier coasts of the peninsula, using the examples of the Dongchong and Xichong Bays. The Holocene stratigraphic records from borehole drilling on the coast of Dongchong and Xichong show that lagoon sediments are overlaid with beach deposits, indicating that the barriers migrated landward and climbed over the lagoon sediments when the shoreface retreated during the Holocene transgression, reaching the present positions after 7–8 ka BP. Heavy mineral analysis in this paper shows that: (1) the ancient beach sediments of the two bays have the same heavy mineral assemblages, which are different from those of modern beaches; (2) the present beaches of the two bays have different heavy mineral assemblages, even they are located less than 3000 m from each other on the same coast. This supports the hypothesis that the barriers originally came from the inner shelves during the Holocene transgression, but draws a new conclusion that the source of the beach sediments changed to inland rivers over the last thousand years because of a lack of sediment source from the sea floor.

Heavy minerals analysis on tsunami deposits from Misawa (Japan)

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Cascalho ◽  
Ana Abrantes ◽  
Pedro Costa ◽  
Piero Bellanova ◽  
Mike Frenken ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Tsunami Deposit ◽  
Mineral Analysis ◽  
Sediment Sources ◽  
Tsunami Deposits ◽  
Sediment Fraction ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Storm Deposits ◽  
Heavy Mineral Analysis

<p>Heavy minerals in tsunami and storm deposits have been used to establish sediment sources and to infer the inundation and backwash phases (Morton et al., 2007). The abundance of these minerals is dependent on the hydrodynamic conditions that existed during transport and depositional stages. Overall, heavy mineral analysis allowed interpretations on sediment dynamics. Heavy mineral studies on tsunami deposits allowed the establishment of source-to-sink relationships thus, contributed to establish transport paths and inundation routes (Jagodzinski et al., 2012; Putra et al., 2013; Costa et al., 2015; Cascalho et al., 2016).</p><p>After the Tohoku-oki tsunami event, GeoSlicer were excavated and tsunami imprints were retrieved from the slices in Misawa coastal area (Japan). Heavy minerals from thirty-six samples were analyzed. Heavy minerals in the sediment fraction of 0.125-0.500 mm were separated by centrifugation in sodium polytungstate (2.90 kg/m<sup>3</sup>) and recovered by partial freezing with liquid nitrogen. An average of about 220 transparent heavy-mineral grains per sample were identified and counted under a petrographic microscope. Heavy minerals not mounted on glass slides were subjected to the ferromagnetic separation using a Frantz Isodynamic Magnetic apparatus to estimate the weight of magnetite in each sample.</p><p>Heavy-mineral weight in total sediment fraction presented a mean value of 31%, ranging between 18 and 59%. The magnetite weight percentage present in the heavy-mineral fraction has a mean of 26% ranging between 14 and 43%.</p><p>Considering the mean frequency of the transparent heavy minerals it was identified the presence of orthopyroxenes (67%), followed by clinopyroxenes (30%).</p><p>These results indicate that the main original source of heavy minerals are basic volcanic rocks. The wide ranges of variation of the total heavy mineral fraction and the magnetite present in that fraction provides useful information about the flow competence of the tsunami waves. The samples that reveal higher concentration in total heavy minerals tend to be richer in magnetite. These results could be used to pinpoint water flow conditions (velocity thresholds) promoting grain sorting leading to the formation of layers enriched in heavy minerals. Confirming previous cases, heavy mineral analysis in Misawa tsunami deposit seems to provide useful insights into tsunami-derived sediment dynamic. </p><p>      </p><p>Cascalho, J., Costa, P., Dawson, S., Milne, F. and Rocha, A. 2016. Heavy mineral assemblages of the Storegga tsunami deposit. Sedimentary geology, 334, 21-33.     </p><p>Costa, P.J., Andrade, C., Cascalho, J., Dawson, A.G., Freitas, M.C., Paris, R. and Dawson, S., 2015. Onshore tsunami sediment transport mechanisms inferred from heavy mineral assemblages. The Holocene, 25(5), pp.795-809.</p><p>Jagodziński, R., Sternal, B., Szczuciński, W., Chagué-Goff, C. and Sugawara, D., 2012. Heavy minerals in the 2011 Tohoku-oki tsunami deposits—insights into sediment sources and hydrodynamics. Sedimentary Geology, 282, pp.57-64.</p><p>Morton, R.A., Gelfenbaum, G. and Jaffe, B.E., 2007. Physical criteria for distinguishing sandy tsunami and storm deposits using modern examples. Sedimentary Geology, 200(3-4), pp.184-207.</p><p>Putra, P.S., Nishimura, Y., Nakamura, Y. and Yulianto, E., 2013. Sources and transportation modes of the 2011 Tohoku-Oki tsunami deposits on the central east Japan coast. Sedimentary Geology, 294, pp.282-293.</p><p>The author would like to acknowledge the financial support FCT through project UIDB/50019/2020 – IDL and by FCT OnOff project PTDC/CTAGEO/28941/2017.</p><p> </p>

scholarly journals Possibilities and restrictions of heavy-mineral analysis for the reconstruction of sedimentary environments and source areas

Geologos ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 147-158 ◽  
Author(s):  
A.N. Derkachev ◽  
N.A. Nikolaeva
Keyword(s):  
North Atlantic ◽  
Considerable Change ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Japan Trench ◽  
Sedimentary Environments ◽  
The North ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Primary Mineral ◽  
Heavy Mineral Analysis

Abstract The possible reconstruction of ancient sedimentary environments on the basis of heavy-minerals assemblages is presented by means of discriminant lithogeodynamic diagrams that compare modern and ancient sedimentary environments. This is exemplified by Mesozoic-Cenozoic deposits recovered from ODP cores obtained from the Philippine and Japan Seas, the Japan Trench and the North Atlantic, as well as by deposits from folded areas onshore. On the basis of the comparative analysis, it can be deduced that the main tendencies in mineral assemblages of modern deposits that depend on the structural-tectonic conditions, are fairly well preserved in Cenozoic deposits (including the deposits recovered by ODP drilling). On the other hand, the environmental reconstruction of folded and faulted pre-Cenozoic continental areas on the basis of their heavy-mineral assemblages, by comparing them with supposed modern analogs, is not always possible with much certainty. The main reasons may be either a considerable change in the composition of the initial (primary) mineral assemblages as a result of intralayer solution or the absence, at the time of deposition, of geodynamic environments that closely resembled modern ones.

scholarly journals Heavy mineral assemblages in tills and their use in distinguishing glacial lobes in the Great Lakes region

1979 ◽  
Vol 16 (12) ◽  
pp. 2219-2235 ◽  
Author(s):  
Q. H. J. Gwyn ◽  
A. Dreimanis
Keyword(s):  
Great Lakes ◽  
Mineral Content ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Great Lakes Region ◽  
Adirondack Mountains ◽  
Magnetic Minerals ◽  
Grenville Province ◽  
Provenance Areas ◽  
Mineral Assemblages

Two main source areas of heavy minerals in tills have been defined in the Great Lakes region: a source in the Superior and Southern Provinces and another in the Grenville Province. The Superior–Southern source is typified by low heavy mineral content and high epidote percentage in contrast to the Grenville source which has a high content of heavy minerals of which garnet, tremolite, and to a lesser extent sphene and orthopyroxene are characteristic. The Huron lobe tills have a mineral suite characteristic of the Superior–Southern source. Two subsources can be distinguished in the Superior–Southern area; however, they are too limited in extent to be characteristic of major glacial lobes. Two other subsources have been identified in the Grenville provenance area: a western Grenville subsource containing abundant garnet and having a low purple–red garnet ratio; and an eastern Grenville subsource distinguished by high garnet and tremolite content and a garnet ratio generally greater than one. The western and eastern Grenville subsources are the provenance areas for the tills of the Georgian Bay lobe and the Ontario–Erie lobe respectively. A possible third Grenville subsource in the Adirondack Mountains is distinguished from other Grenville sources by a lower heavy mineral content and more abundant orthopyroxene and magnetic minerals. This assemblage may be characteristic of the southern portion of the Ontario–Erie lobe.

scholarly journals Heavy-mineral analysis in Polish investigations of Quaternary deposits: a review

Geologos ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 19 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 5-23 ◽  
Author(s):  
Bogusław Marcinkowski ◽  
Elżbieta Mycielska-Dowgiałło
Keyword(s):  
Chemical Weathering ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Mineral Analysis ◽  
Quaternary Deposits ◽  
Mineral Research ◽  
Distinctive Features ◽  
Depositional Processes ◽  
Stratigraphic Position ◽  
Heavy Mineral Analysis

Abstract The composition of heavy-mineral assemblages is one of the main textural features of sediments because they can have significant value for the interpretation of, among others, their depositional environment, their depositional processes, and their stratigraphic position. Distinctive features of heavy minerals include their resistance to chemical weathering and mechanical abrasion, their habit, and their density. These parameters are the most widely used in the heavy-mineral research of Quaternary deposits in Poland, as well as in such research in other countries conducted by Polish scientists. Several other heavy-mineral parameters can also be used in various types of interpretation. It is discussed whether heavy-mineral analysis is decisive in the evaluation of deposits or whether it plays mainly a role that may support evidence obtained by other types of analysis. The attention is mainly devoted to transparent heavy minerals; the significance of opaque heavy minerals for interpretational purposes is only mentioned.

Heavy-mineral analysis as a tool to trace the source areas of sediments in an ice-marginal valley, with an example from the Pleistocene of northwest Poland

2015 ◽  
Vol 94 (2) ◽  
pp. 185-200 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Pisarska-Jamroży ◽  
A.J. van Loon ◽  
B. Woronko ◽  
B. Sternal
Keyword(s):  
River System ◽  
Middle Part ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
The South ◽  
Ice Caps ◽  
The North ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
The Difference ◽  
Heavy Mineral Analysis

AbstractThe ice caps that covered large parts of the continents of the northern hemisphere during the Pleistocene glaciations drained huge quantities of meltwater. In several places the erosive power of the meltwater rivers has led to the formation of ice-marginal valleys (IMVs). A much-debated question is whether sediments deposited in IMVs by proglacial and extraglacial streams can be distinguished on the basis of their heavy-mineral content. This question was assessed by an inventory of the heavy-mineral assemblages from the middle part of the Toruń-Eberswalde IMV in northwest Poland, two sandurs that supplied sediment from the north and the pre-Wisła river system that supplied sediment from the south; all these streams fed the IMV. The largely similar heavy-mineral compositions and sediments concentrations of the middle part of the IMV and sandurs suggest that the sediment in the IMV was supplied almost entirely by the streams on the sandurs but also that some sediments were eroded from the Miocene subsoil of the IMV itself and for a small part from the south by the pre-Wisła river system. The only heavy mineral in the pre-Wisła sediments for which the percentage is significantly different from those in the sediments of the sandurs and the IMV terrace is epidote. The difference, however, is not seen in the sediments of the IMV so it can be concluded that the sediment supply to the middle part of this IMV by streams from the south was insignificant. This is in contrast with what was hitherto commonly assumed.

Heavy minerals as a guide to turbidite provenance in the Lower Palaeozoic Southern Welsh Basin: a pilot study

1992 ◽  
Vol 129 (5) ◽  
pp. 573-580 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. C. Morton ◽  
J. R. Davies ◽  
R. A. Waters
Keyword(s):  
Pilot Study ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
The Other ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Mineral Analysis ◽  
Source Areas ◽  
Southern Area ◽  
Distinct Source ◽  
Lower Palaeozoic ◽  
Heavy Mineral Analysis

AbstractA pilot study has demonstrated that heavy mineral analysis is a useful guide to the provenance of Silurian turbidites in the Southern Welsh Basin. The results confirm the sedimentological evidence for two distinct source areas of coarse clastic detritus, one lying to the south and the other to the east. They also provide mineralogical criteria by which the two source areas may be distinguished. The southern area provided material with relatively low mineral diversity, and is characteristic in having low rutile/zircon ratios, whereas the eastern source provided more diverse assemblages, generally with high rutile/zircon ratios. The southern source shows variations in terms of apatite/tourmaline ratio, with the older Aberystwyth Grits Group tending to contain relatively low apatite compared with the younger Cwmystwyth Grits Group (Rhuddnant and Pysgotwr Grits formations). There is evidence for polycyclic material and volcanic detritus in both southerly and easterly derived samples; however, easterly-sourced sandstones apparently tapped a more lithologically-diverse terrain.

Statistical Methods in Sedimentary Petrology. Part I. Percentage Composition of Assemblages and their Graphical Study

1939 ◽  
Vol 76 (7) ◽  
pp. 297-309 ◽  
Author(s):  
Frank Smithson
Keyword(s):  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Mathematical Methods ◽  
Percentage Composition ◽  
Sedimentary Petrology ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Probable Effect ◽  
Final Composition ◽  
Do So

In recent years much work has been done in determining the quantitative—or more strictly “numerical”—composition of heavy mineral residues from sedimentary rocks in the hope of obtaining evidence as to whence the detritus was derived. It is clear that the petrological characteristics of the land mass whose erosion provides the detritus must always be an important factor in predetermining the percentage composition of the residue as we now find it. Yet the sorting action of the transporting agents (which tend to separate the heavy from the less heavy minerals) and of chemical agents (which, both before and after deposition, destroy some minerals and introduce new ones) may often be suspected of having a great or even a dominating influence upon the final composition of the residue. It is proposed in this paper to investigate by simple mathematical methods the probable effect of these processes and to do so along lines which have been suggested by the study of actual heavy mineral assemblages.

scholarly journals Těžké minerály rozsypových ložisek zlata vázaných na khantaishirský ofiolitový komplex poblíž měst Altaj a Khaliun (jihozápadní Mongolsko)

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (1-2) ◽  
Author(s):  
David Buriánek ◽  
Jiří Svatuška
Keyword(s):  
Source Region ◽  
Three Dimensional ◽  
Source Area ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Igneous Rocks ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Fluvial Sediments ◽  
Good Tool ◽  
Gold Particles ◽  
Ophiolitic Complex

Detailed morphological and chemical studies of heavy minerals from two localities fluvial sediments in the area of the khantaishir ophiolitic complex near the towns Altai and Khaliun (Southwestern Mongolia) allowed the interpretation possible source region for the gold. The heavy mineral spectrum from the sediments near the Altai town is dominated by magnetite (32 %), chromite (27 %), epidote (11 %), apatite (6 %), and clinopyroxene (5 %). We assume that these minerals come from the ultrabasic and basic igneous rocks in the Neoproterozoic khantaishir ophiolitic complex. The relatively undeformed and three-dimensional shape of gold particles indicating short distance their transport. Rare is native gold enclosed in dolomite or quartz, which indicates that potential gold sources are listvenite. The heavy mineral spectrum from the fluvial sediments in the small creek near the Khaliun town is different. The studied sample includes magnetite (31 %), amphibole (19 %), zircon (18 %), pyrite (13 %), apatite (5 %), epidote (4 %), titanite (4 %), clinopyroxene (2 %), monazite (1 %), ilmenite (1 %), garnet (1 %), and barite (0.1 %). Large variations in the mineral composition heavy mineral spectrum indicate a wide source area which includes basic to intermediate igneous rocks Cambrian-Ordovician Ikh-Mongol Arc System and medium-grade metamorphic rocks (metapelite). The subspherical rounded shape of the gold particles indicates fluvial transport. In the case of small and geologically simple drainage area as creek near the Altai town represents heavy minerals a good tool for determination of the origin of placer gold. There is a contrast between the heavy mineral spectrum from the localities near the Altai and Khaliun towns. The shape of gold particles as well as a simple heavy mineral spectrum from sediments near the Altai indicates short transport from the limited draining area (approximately 6 km2). Gold probably originating from the ultramafic rocks (listvenite), according to associated dolomite and simple spectrum of heavy minerals. Whereas the origin of gold from the placer deposits near Khalinun remains unclear and most probably could originate from the hydrothermal veins in intermediate or basic igneous rocks (presence of barite associated with abundant pyrite).

scholarly journals Sedimentuntersuchungen an unterpleistozänen Schmelzwasserablagerungen und Periglazialschottern im Riß-Iller-Gebiet, deutsches Alpenvorland

2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (3) ◽  
pp. 186-211 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andreas Gerth ◽  
Raimo Becker-Haumann
Keyword(s):  
Size Fraction ◽  
Crystalline Rocks ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Heavy Minerals ◽  
Systematic Change ◽  
Mineral Assemblages ◽  
Lower Pleistocene ◽  
Sand Size

Abstract. The Lower Pleistocene meltwater deposits at the contact of the Rhine- and Illergalcier (Baden-Württemberg, Bavaria) and the periglacial sediments occurring below them are described. The research is focused on the analysis of the petrography of the pebble-size fraction and of the sand-size heavy mineral assemblages of the Biber-, Donau- and Günz-age deposits. The results confirm that the periglacial sediments can be distinguished clearly from the glaciofluvial material by arguments of the petrography. However, a systematic change of the lithology also within the glaciofluvial material can be inferred from the high number of the investigated samples. Within the gravel fraction the amount of crystalline rocks, radiolarite and hornstone increases towards the younger accumulation units, whereas the content of calcareous components decreases. Concerning the heavy minerals the amount of instable minerals as Garnet and Hornblende decreases, while the portion of Staurolite increases remarkably towards the younger deposits. In the paper at hand these results are interpreted with respect to the paleogeography, in order to figure out the river development of the Riß-Iller-tract.

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