Lithology and trace-metal content in till in the kuhmo granite-greenstone terrain, eastern Finland

Abstract

Rocks of the Archaean Kuhmo greenstone belt and the fine fraction (− 63 μm) of 236 till samples were analysed for Co, Cr, Cu, Mn, Ni, Pb, Zn and Fe mainly with the AAS method. The influence of bedrock upon the lithology and geochemistry of till is clear, and can be seen immediately at the proximal contact. Expected trace-metal contents for the fine fraction of till were calculated using the average metal contents of the rock types and the proportions of these rock types in the till (2–6 cm pebbles). The expected values were then compared with the measured values in the fine fraction of till at the same locality. This approach seems effective for lithological comparison between various grain-size fractions of till. In general, the measured metal contents are clearly lower than expected. This indicates that the proportion of the greenstone material in the fine fraction of the till is smaller than in the coarse fraction. Correlations between measured and expected values of individual trace metals as well as their correlation with the different rock types are low, in most cases indicating inconsistent variation in the lithology of the coarse and fine fraction of the till. Good positive correlations between the number of pebbles of mafic metavolcanics and contents of Cu, Co, Mn and Fe in the fine fraction of till show that the influence of these rocks on the trace-element geochemistry of the tills in the study area is most significant as might be expected.