Geochemistry Of Sandstones Research Articles

Geochemical signature of provenance in sand-size material in soils and stream sediments near the Tobacco Root batholith, Montana, U.S.A.

Trace-element geochemistry of sandstones are being used to determine provenance. We have conducted preliminary and limited experiments to determine to what extent daughter sands retain the geochemical signature of parent rocks. Six sets of first-order stream sediments, soils from adjacent slopes, and a variety of parent rocks were collected from southwestern Montana, U.S.A. Sampling in a low-relief area ensured that climate and residence time of soils on slopes could be eliminated as variables. Sand-size fractions of stream sediments and soils, and the corresponding parent rocks (granodiorite, quartz monzonite, granite gneiss, biotite-tonalite gneiss and amphibolite) were analyzed for most major elements and selected trace elements. Petrologic modal analysis of the parent rocks and the 0.25–0.50-mm fraction of each sand was done to monitor major mineralogic control, if any, on chemical compositions of the samples. Our data show that the abundances of the Si and Al in sediments do not discriminate provenance. Abundances of Ca, Mg, Fe and Ti may broadly distinguish between sands derived from metamorphic and igneous source rocks, at least in the area studied. Differences in abundances of the Ba and Th, and the ratio of La/Lu between granitic, tonalitic and amphibolitic parent rocks are preserved in the daughter sediments that we studied. However, the size of the Eu anomaly in the REE patterns of different daughter sediments is not diagnostic of parent rocks. Abundances of Co and Sc distinguish between sediments derived from felsic and mafic rocks. A better provenance discrimination is obtained if the ratios La/Sc, Th/Sc, La/Co, Ba/Sc and Ba/Co are used. Petrologic modal data show that mineral contents and chemical compositions of parent rocks are compatible with each other. The chemical composition of the sands may be roughly correlated to the petrological modal data but the abundances of some minor and trace elements of sediments cannot be inferred from modal mineralogy. This is expected because these elements may concentrate in accessory minerals and/or may weather out into aqueous or clay mineral fractions; it is also compatible with conclusions of previous studies that some of these elements do not reside in sand-size fractions of siliciclastic sediments.