The petrography of some Illinois pleistocene and recent sands

Abstract

Some Recent and Pleistocene sands of Illinois and the nearby Missouri River were separated into three groups by petrographic characteristics that reflect source material. The sands derived largely or entirely from the glacial material of Illinois and the upper Mississippi, Wabash, and Lake Michigan drainage basins contain types of feldspars and rock fragments that indicate derivation from the Precambrian metamorphic rocks of the Canadian Shield. The sands of the Ohio River at the southern boundary of Illinois contain relatively large amounts of polycrystalline quartz and nonfeldspathic rock fragments that may have been derived from Paleozoic sedimentary rocks largely of Appalachian derivation, from glacial drift of the eastern states, or from both sources. A significant portion of the Missouri River sands and the Mississippi River sands below the mouth of the Missouri River consists of feldspars and rock fragments derived from the Cretaceous and Tertiary igneous rocks of the western United States. The volcanic rock fragments are especially indicative of a western source. Petrographic characteristics of 23 samples of these sands were determined. The sources of the sands were interpreted principally from their rock fragments and light minerals, especially the feldspars, taking into account the variation in composition with changing grain size. Much of the plagioclase was untwinned, but certain varietal features proved useful in its identification.