Possibilities and restrictions of heavy-mineral analysis for the reconstruction of sedimentary environments and source areas
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Date
2013-05-20
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Wydawnictwo Naukowe UAM
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Abstract
The possible reconstruction of ancient sedimentary environments on the basis of heavy-minerals assemblages is pre-sented by means of discriminant lithogeodynamic diagrams that compare modern and ancient sedimentary environ-ments. 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.
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Keywords
Heavy-mineral assemblages, Sedimentary environments, ODP cores, Mesozoic folded belts
Citation
Geologos, 2013, vol. 19, 1-2, pp. 147-158.
ISBN
978-83-232187-4-6