nerc.ac.uk

Heavy mineral analysis by ICP-AES a tool to aid sediment provenancing

Mounteney, I.; Burton, A.K.; Farrant, A.R.; Watts, M.J.; Kemp, S.J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4604-0927; Cook, J.M.. 2018 Heavy mineral analysis by ICP-AES a tool to aid sediment provenancing. Journal of Geochemical Exploration, 184 (A). 1-10. 10.1016/j.gexplo.2017.10.007

Before downloading, please read NORA policies.
[thumbnail of Open Access Paper]
Preview
Text (Open Access Paper)
1-s2.0-S037567421730208X-main.pdf - Published Version
Available under License Creative Commons Attribution 4.0.

Download (1MB) | Preview

Abstract/Summary

Correlation and provenancing of sediments/sedimentary rocks can be achieved by several techniques; a common approach is through the identification and quantification of heavy minerals using a petrological microscope. This can be time consuming, the analysis of heavy minerals by inductively coupled plasma atomic emission spectroscopy offers a faster alternative, by determining key elements associated with specific heavy minerals. Here we outline a method for determining heavy mineral species though ICP-AES using high temperature fusion with a lithium metaborate flux to ensure complete dissolution of resistate minerals. The method was tested in a provenance study of desert sands from the United Arab Emirates. The results are compared with those derived from traditional optical microscopy. These show good agreement for minerals with specific geochemical signatures, whilst the overall geochemistry of the heavy mineral concentrate was diagnostic of potential sediment sources. This geochemical approach is capable of processing large numbers of samples rapidly and is advocated as a screening technique. A combination of geochemical and mineralogical data produced by these techniques provides a powerful diagnostic tool for studies of heavy mineral signatures in sediments frequently used in mineral reconnaissance, paleogeographic reconstruction and reservoir characterisation in the petroleum industry.

Item Type: Publication - Article
Digital Object Identifier (DOI): 10.1016/j.gexplo.2017.10.007
ISSN: 03756742
Date made live: 02 Nov 2017 13:53 +0 (UTC)
URI: https://nora.nerc.ac.uk/id/eprint/518201

Actions (login required)

View Item View Item

Document Downloads

Downloads for past 30 days

Downloads per month over past year

More statistics for this item...