scholarly journals Multimineral Fingerprinting of Transhimalayan and Himalayan Sources of Indus-Derived Thal Desert Sand (Central Pakistan)

Minerals ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 9 (8) ◽  
pp. 457 ◽  
Author(s):  
Wendong Liang ◽  
Eduardo Garzanti ◽  
Sergio Andò ◽  
Paolo Gentile ◽  
Alberto Resentini
Keyword(s):  
Relative Proportion ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Mineral Species ◽  
Provenance Analysis ◽  
Indus River ◽  
Mineral Concentration ◽  
River Sand ◽  
Desert Sand

As a Quaternary repository of wind-reworked Indus River sand at the entry point in the Himalayan foreland basin, the Thal Desert in northern Pakistan stores mineralogical information useful to trace erosion patterns across the western Himalayan syntaxis and the adjacent orogenic segments that fed detritus into the Indus delta and huge deep-sea fan throughout the Neogene. Provenance analysis of Thal Desert sand was carried out by applying optical and semi-automated Raman spectroscopy on heavy-mineral suites of four eolian and 11 fluvial sand samples collected in selected tributaries draining one specific tectonic domain each in the upper Indus catchment. In each sample, the different types of amphibole, garnet, epidote and pyroxene grains—the four dominant heavy-mineral species in orogenic sediment worldwide—were characterized by SEM-EDS spectroscopy. The chemical composition of 4249 grains was thus determined. Heavy-mineral concentration, the relative proportion of heavy-mineral species, and their minerochemical fingerprints indicate that the Kohistan arc has played the principal role as a source, especially of pyroxene and epidote. Within the western Himalayan syntaxis undergoing rapid exhumation, the Southern Karakorum belt drained by the Hispar River and the Nanga Parbat massif were revealed as important sources of garnet, amphibole, and possibly epidote. Sediment supply from the Greater Himalaya, Lesser Himalaya, and Subhimalaya is dominant only for Punjab tributaries that join the Indus River downstream and do not contribute sand to the Thal Desert. The detailed compositional fingerprint of Thal Desert sand, if contrasted with that of lower course tributaries exclusively draining the Himalaya, provides a semi-actualistic key to be used, in conjunction with complementary provenance datasets and geological information, to reconstruct changes in paleodrainage and unravel the relationship between climatic and tectonic forces that controlled the erosional evolution of the western Himalayan-Karakorum orogen in space and time.

Spatial distribution of U-Pb ages across a basement uplift in the Northern Andes and its implications for the interpretation of the detrital record in adjacent basins.

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Jose R. Sandoval ◽  
Nicolas Perez-Consuegra ◽  
Ricardo A. Gomez ◽  
Andres Mora ◽  
Mauricio Parra ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Sedimentary Rocks ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Foreland Basins ◽  
Provenance Analysis ◽  
The North ◽  
Basement Rocks ◽  
Amazonian Craton

<p>Foreland basins represent a unique record of the evolution of mountain building processes in the adjacent hinterland. In the southern Colombian Andes and the adjacent foreland basin (i.e. Caguán-Putumayo Basin) no detrital U-Pb and heavy mineral studies have been conducted. This is due to the fact that the geochronological characterization of the basement rocks is poor, complicating the interpretation of source areas for provenance analysis.  Here we present a complete provenance study using U-Pb and Heavy mineral data. In order to gain a better understanding of the spatial distribution of the different potential basement sources we planned a characterization of the different basement provinces west of the Caguan-Putumayo basin. Here we present results from samples of active sediments (N=21), basements (N=16) and sedimentary rocks (N=4) older than Cretaceous. This characterization allowed the identification of eight (8) different domains with different age ranges. (1) The southern part of the Central Cordillera with populations of 150 - 250 m.y., (2) Southern part of the eastern flank of the Eastern Cordillera with ages around 150 - 180 m.y., (3) south of the Garzón Massif with age ranges between 1000 - 1150 m.y, (4) north of the Garzón Massif where rocks of 1500 m.y. dominate, (5) Paleozoic sedimentary rocks above the basement to the north of the Garzón Massif and the Serrania de la Macarena with a distinct population of 1300 m.y, (6). The basement of the Serrania de la Macarena with ages between 1650-1800 m, (7). The Serranía de Lindosa with ages around 500 m.y and (8). Amazonian Craton with ages between 1500 - 2000 m.y. Additionally, the relationship between Epidotes and Garnets displays a special behavior in each area. The provinces related to the Garzon Massif have a high amount of Garnets and low amount of Epidotes. On the other hand, the behavior of the areas away from the Garzon Massif is different. Based on the U-Pb detrital signal and the Epidote/Garnet relationship, we suggest that the stratigraphic intervals where we observe ages between 1000 and 1150 m.y. for the first time and high Garnet contents reflect uplift peaks of the Garzon Massif.</p>

Detrital zircon geochronology and heavy mineral analysis as complementary provenance tools in the presence of extensive weathering, reworking and recycling: the Neogene of the southern North Sea Basin

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-13
Author(s):  
Jasper Verhaegen ◽  
Hilmar von Eynatten ◽  
István Dunkl ◽  
Gert Jan Weltje
Keyword(s):  
North Sea ◽  
Chemical Weathering ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Mineral Analysis ◽  
Provenance Analysis ◽  
Detrital Zircon Geochronology ◽  
Southern North Sea ◽  
Variable Heavy ◽  
Mineral Data ◽  
Heavy Mineral Analysis

Abstract Heavy mineral analysis is a long-standing and valuable tool for sedimentary provenance analysis. Many studies have indicated that heavy mineral data can also be significantly affected by hydraulic sorting, weathering and reworking or recycling, leading to incomplete or erroneous provenance interpretations if they are used in isolation. By combining zircon U–Pb geochronology with heavy mineral data for the southern North Sea Basin, this study shows that the classic model of sediment mixing between a northern and a southern source throughout the Neogene is more complex. In contrast to the strongly variable heavy mineral composition, the zircon U–Pb age spectra are mostly constant for the studied samples. This provides a strong indication that most zircons had an initial similar northern source, yet the sediment has undergone intense chemical weathering on top of the Brabant Massif and Ardennes in the south. This weathered sediment was later recycled into the southern North Sea Basin through local rivers and the Meuse, leading to a weathered southern heavy mineral signature and a fresh northern heavy mineral signature, yet exhibiting a constant zircon U–Pb age signature. Thus, this study highlights the necessity of combining multiple provenance proxies to correctly account for weathering, reworking and recycling.

scholarly journals Multi-Proxy Provenance Analyses of the Kingriali and Datta Formations (Triassic—Jurassic Transition): Evidence for Westward Extension of the Neo-Tethys Passive Margin from the Salt Range (Pakistan)

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (6) ◽  
pp. 573
Author(s):  
Shahid Iqbal ◽  
Michael Wagreich ◽  
Mehwish Bibi ◽  
Irfan U. Jan ◽  
Susanne Gier
Keyword(s):  
Lower Jurassic ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Passive Margin ◽  
Indian Plate ◽  
Late Triassic ◽  
Indian Shield ◽  
Margin Setting ◽  
Salt Range ◽  
Mineral Data

The Salt Range, in Pakistan, preserves an insightful sedimentary record of passive margin dynamics along the NW margin of the Indian Plate during the Mesozoic. This study develops provenance analyses of the Upper Triassic (Kingriali Formation) to Lower Jurassic (Datta Formation) siliciclastics from the Salt and Trans Indus ranges based on outcrop analysis, petrography, bulk sediment elemental geochemistry, and heavy-mineral data. The sandstones are texturally and compositionally mature quartz arenites and the conglomerates are quartz rich oligomictic conglomerates. Geochemical proxies support sediment derivation from acidic sources and deposition under a passive margin setting. The transparent heavy mineral suite consists of zircon, tourmaline, and rutile (ZTR) with minor staurolite in the Triassic strata that diminishes in the Jurassic strata. Together, these data indicate that the sediments were supplied by erosion of the older siliciclastics of the eastern Salt Range and adjoining areas of the Indian Plate. The proportion of recycled component exceeds the previous literature estimates for direct sediment derivation from the Indian Shield. A possible increase in detritus supply from the Salt Range itself indicates notably different conditions of sediment generation, during the Triassic–Jurassic transition. The present results suggest that, during the Triassic–Jurassic transition in the Salt Range, direct sediment supply from the Indian Shield was probably reduced and the Triassic and older siliciclastics were exhumed on an elevated passive margin and reworked by a locally established fluvio-deltaic system. The sediment transport had a north-northwestward trend parallel to the northwestern Tethyan margin of the Indian Plate and normal to its opening axis. During the Late Triassic, hot and arid hot-house palaeoclimate prevailed in the area that gave way to a hot and humid greenhouse palaeoclimate across the Triassic–Jurassic Boundary. Sedimentological similarity between the Salt Range succession and the Neo-Tethyan succession exposed to the east on the northern Indian passive Neo-Tethyan margin suggests a possible westward extension of this margin.

scholarly journals Heavy Mineral Sands Mining and Downstream Processing: Value of Mineralogical Monitoring Using XRD

Minerals ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (11) ◽  
pp. 1253
Author(s):  
Uwe König ◽  
Sabine M. C. Verryn
Keyword(s):  
Quality Control ◽  
High Speed ◽  
Direct Analysis ◽  
Downstream Processing ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
X Ray Diffraction ◽  
Mineral Concentration ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Tio2 Anatase ◽  
Titania Slag

Heavy mineral sands are the source of various commodities such as white titanium dioxide pigment and titanium metal. The three case studies in this paper show the value of X-ray diffraction (XRD) and statistical methods such as data clustering for process optimization and quality control during heavy mineral processing. The potential of XRD as an automatable, reliable tool, useful in the characterization of heavy mineral concentrates, product streams and titania slag is demonstrated. The recent development of ultra-high-speed X-ray detectors and automated quantification allows for ‘on the fly’ quantitative X-ray diffraction analysis and truly interactive process control, especially in the sector of heavy mineral concentration and processing. Apart from the information about the composition of a raw ore, heavy mineral concentrate and the various product streams or titania slag, this paper provides useful information by the quantitative determination of the crystalline phases and the amorphous content. The analysis of the phases can help to optimize the concentration of ores and reduction of ilmenite concentrate. Traditionally, quality control of heavy mineral concentrates and titania slag relies mainly on elemental, chemical, gravimetrical, and magnetic analysis. Since the efficiency of concentration of minerals in the different product streams and reduction depends on the content of the different minerals, and for the latter on the titanium and iron phases such as ilmenite FeTiO3, rutile TiO2, anatase TiO2, or the various titanium oxides with different oxidation stages, fast and direct analysis of the phases is required.

scholarly journals Granulometry, heavy mineral and geochemical studies of stream sediments around Bula, Dass District, Northeast Nigeria

2020 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 63-73
Author(s):  
C. I. Adamu ◽  
E.E. Okon ◽  
D.O. Inyang
Keyword(s):  
Trace Elements ◽  
Stream Sediments ◽  
Stream Sediment ◽  
Heavy Mineral ◽  
Geochemical Data ◽  
Provenance Analysis ◽  
Sediment Samples ◽  
Granulometric Analysis ◽  
Elemental Analyses ◽  
Geochemical Studies

Active stream sediments generally consist of broken-down fragments of pre-existing rocks by the action of river (stream) flow. This makes them target materials for routine geochemical surveys and provenance analysis. Fifteen (15) stream sediment samples were collected in some parts of Bula and its environs, northeastern Nigeria, in order to determine their textural characteristics, heavy mineral and elemental composition. The sediments were subjected to granulometric, heavy mineral and elemental analyses. The result of granulometric analysis show that the streamsediments are poorly to moderately well sorted, very platykurtic to leptokurtic, fine to medium grained and positively skewed. Zircon, rutile and tourmaline are the dominant heavy mineral species occurring in the sediments. The computed Zircon-Tourmaline-Rutile (ZTR) index values for the samples range from 59.18 - 83.53, indicating mineralogical maturity. The geochemical data of the stream sediment samples show that the mean contents of the trace elements [Ti (0.73 ± 0.74%), Fe (0.39±0.19%), Cr (816±639ppm), Ni (258±108ppm), Pb (48±12.37ppm) and Zn (502±126ppm)] were higher than their respective average crustal values except for Fe. Computed threshold values indicate possible mineralization containing Fe and Ti. The elements have variable spatial distribution. The study shows that the trace elements composition of the stream sediments is majorly lithogenic. Because mineralization in rocks and sediments are often characterized by considerable variation in their trace elements contents, the metal concentrations in these sediments are large enough for Ilmenite and Rutile mineralization to be suspected within the study area.

scholarly journals Post-LGM glacial retreat drives aggradation in the interiors of the Kashmir Himalaya

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Saptarshi Dey ◽  
Naveen Chauhan ◽  
Anushka Vashistha ◽  
Vikrant Jain
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Foreland Basin ◽  
High Elevation ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Kashmir Himalaya ◽  
Glacial Retreat ◽  
Valley Fill ◽  
Mean Grain Size ◽  
Exposure Ages ◽  
Semi Arid

Understanding the response of glaciated catchments to climate change is fundamental for assessing sediment transport from the high-elevation, semi-arid to arid sectors in the Himalaya to the foreland basin. The fluvioglacial sediments stored in the semi-arid Padder valley in the Kashmir Himalaya record valley aggradation during ~19-11 ka. We relate the valley aggradation to increased sediment supply from the deglaciated catchment during the glacial-to-interglacial phase transition. Previously-published bedrock-exposure ages in the upper Chenab valley suggest ~180 km retreat of the valley glacier during ~20-15 ka. Increasing roundness of sand-grains and reducing mean grain-size from the bottom to the top of the valley-fill sequence hint about increasing fluvial transport with time and corroborate with the glacial retreat history. Our result also correlates well with late Pleistocene-early Holocene sediment aggradation observed across most Western Himalayan valleys. It highlights the spatiotemporal synchronicity of sediment transfer from the Himalayas triggered by climate change.

scholarly journals An Innovative Approach to Minimizing Uncertainty in Sediment Load Boundary Conditions for Modelling Sedimentation in Reservoirs

Water ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (10) ◽  
pp. 1411 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sardar Ateeq-Ur-Rehman ◽  
Minh Bui ◽  
Shabeh Hasson ◽  
Peter Rutschmann
Keyword(s):  
Boundary Conditions ◽  
Sediment Load ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Coefficient Of Determination ◽  
Computational Time ◽  
Indus River ◽  
Sediment Deposits ◽  
Subsequent Decrease ◽  
Delta Formation ◽  
Near Future

A number of significant investigations have advanced our understanding of the parameters influencing reservoir sedimentation. However, a reliable modelling of sediment deposits and delta formation in reservoirs is still a challenging problem due to many uncertainties in the modelling process. Modelling performance can be improved by adjusting the uncertainty caused by sediment load boundary conditions. In our study, we diminished the uncertainty factor by setting more precise sediment load boundary conditions reconstructed using wavelet artificial neural networks for a morphodynamic model. The model was calibrated for hydrodynamics using a backward error propagation method. The proposed approach was applied to the Tarbela Reservoir located on the Indus River, in northern Pakistan. The results showed that the hydrodynamic calibration with coefficient of determination (R2) = 0.969 and Nash–Sutcliffe Efficiency (NSE) = 0.966 also facilitated good calibration in morphodynamic calculations with R2 = 0.97 and NSE = 0.96. The model was validated for the sediment deposits in the reservoir with R2 = 0.96 and NSE = 0.95. Due to desynchronization between the glacier melts and monsoon rain caused by warmer climate and subsequent decrease of 17% in sediment supply to the Tarbela dam, our modelling results showed a slight decrease in the sediment delta for the near future (until 2030). Based on the results, we conclude that our overall state-of-the-art modelling offers a significant improvement in computational time and accuracy, and could be used to estimate hydrodynamic and morphodynamic parameters more precisely for different events and poorly gauged rivers elsewhere in the world. The modelling concept could also be used for predicting sedimentation in the reservoirs under sediment load variability scenarios.

Provenance analysis of Cretaceous peripheral foreland basin in central Tibet: Implications to precise timing on the initial Lhasa-Qiangtang collision

2020 ◽  
Vol 775 ◽  
pp. 228311 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yaofei Chen ◽  
Lin Ding ◽  
Zhenyu Li ◽  
Andrew K. Laskowski ◽  
Jinxiang Li ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Foreland Basin ◽  
Provenance Analysis ◽  
Precise Timing ◽  
Central Tibet

Long-term history of sediment inputs to the eastern Arabian Sea and its implications for the evolution of the Indian summer monsoon since 3.7 Ma

2018 ◽  
Vol 157 (6) ◽  
pp. 908-919 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mingjiang Cai ◽  
Zhaokai Xu ◽  
Peter D. Clift ◽  
Boo-Keun Khim ◽  
Dhongil Lim ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Clay Minerals ◽  
Summer Monsoon ◽  
Indian Summer Monsoon ◽  
Arabian Sea ◽  
Sediment Supply ◽  
Deccan Traps ◽  
Indus River ◽  
Eastern Arabian Sea ◽  
Monsoon Intensity ◽  
History Of

AbstractWe present a new set of clay mineral and grain-size data for the siliciclastic sediment fraction from International Ocean Discovery Program (IODP) Site U1456 located in the eastern Arabian Sea to reconstruct the variabilities in the continental erosion and weathering intensity in the western Himalaya, elucidate the sediment source-to-sink processes and discuss the potential controls underlying these changes since 3.7 Ma. The clay minerals mainly consist of smectite (0–90%, average 44%) and illite (3–90%, average 44%), with chlorite (1–26%, average 7%) and kaolinite (0–19%, average 5%) as minor components. The compositional variations in the clay minerals at IODP Site U1456 suggest four phases of sediment provenance: the Indus River (phase 1, 3.7–3.2 Ma), the Indus River and Deccan Traps (phase 2, 3.2–2.6 Ma), the Indus River (phase 3, 2.6–1.2 Ma) and the Indus River and Deccan Traps (phase 4, 1.2–0 Ma). These provenance changes since 3.7 Ma can be correlated with variations in the Indian summer monsoon intensity. The siliciclastic sediments in the eastern Arabian Sea were mainly derived from the Indus River when the Indian summer monsoon was generally weak. In contrast, when the Indian summer monsoon intensified, the siliciclastic sediment supply from the Deccan Traps increased. In particular, this study shows that the smectite/(illite+chlorite) ratio is a sensitive tool for reconstructing the history of the variation in the Indian summer monsoon intensity over the continents surrounding the Arabian Sea since 3.7 Ma.

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