Geochemical studies of detrital heavy minerals and their application to provenance studies

Although heavy mineral analysis is a sensitive and well-proven technique for determining the provenance of clastic sediments, the interpretation of the data is considerably enhanced by determining the composition of individual detrital grains. Many heavy mineral species, including pyroxene, amphibole, epidote, staurolite, garnet, tourmaline, monazite, chloritoid and spinel, show significant variations in composition that are related to the conditions under which their parent rocks were formed. Thus, as well as giving greater confidence in identification, geochemical analysis of detrital minerals adds precision to the evaluation of the relative contributions of potential source lithologies. Furthermore, by concentrating on stable minerals, geochemical studies avoid, or at least minimize, the problems caused by diagenetic and hydraulic processes.