Abstract
River Forcados floodplain sediments were collected along Patani and environs from five locations at depths 0 m, 5 m, 10 m and 15 m in order to study their textures and mineralogy. Textural attributes were derived from grain size analysis using mechanical sieving and graphical determination of statistical parameters. Oxide analysis from the bulk chemistry using XRF was used to study the mineralogy of the sediments. The grain size range from very coarse sand to clay deposits with the modal class in the fine silt grade in all the locations. The sediment load represents traction, saltation and suspension modes of transportation deposited during several cycles of flooding by fluctuating high and low energy regimes. The average mean (M) is 4.89 (very coarse silt size grade), the average median is 5.27 (coarse silt grade), the average sorting (σ) is 1.86 (poorly sorted), they are negatively skewed on the average with a value of -0.29 and are very leptokurtic with an average value of 1.80. The sediment is enriched in SiO2, Al2O3, Fe2O3, K2O, TiO2, CaO and Cl with values 75.39%, 9.98%, 5.09%, 4.20%, 1.44%, 1.26% and 1.02% respectively. The SiO2/Al2O3 ratio has an average value of 8.281 which shows the sediment is rich in silica and has an acid igneous rock source. The enrichment in K2O also corroborates an acid igneous source. The mineral suite indicates the soil in the studied floodplain is rich in nutrients and is fertile for use by both plants and animals
Published Version
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