--> ABSTRACT: Opaque Rock Fragments, by Abhijit Basu, Emanuela Molinaroli, and Jean Olson; #91038 (2010)

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Opaque Rock Fragments

Abhijit Basu, Emanuela Molinaroli, Jean Olson

We describe a new, rare, but petrogenetically significant variety of rock fragments from Holocene detrital sediments. Approximately 50% of the opaque heavy mineral concentrates from Holocene siliciclastic sands are polymineralic Fe-Ti oxide particles, i.e., they are opaque rock fragments. About 40% to 70% of these rock fragments show intergrowth of hm + il, mt + il, and mt + hm ± il. Modal analysis of 23,282 opaque particles in 117 polished thin sections of granitic and metamorphic parent rocks and their daughter sands from semi-arid and humid climates show the following relative abundances:

The data show that opaque rock fragments are more common in sands from igneous source rocks and that hm + il fragments are more durable.

We assume that equilibrium conditions existed in parent rocks during the growth of these paired minerals, and that the Ti/Fe ratio did not change during oxidation of mt to hm. Geothermometric determinations using electron probe microanalysis of opaque rock fragments in sand samples from Lake Erie and the Adriatic Sea suggest that these rock fragments may have equilibrated at approximately 900° and 525°C, respectively.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91038©1987 AAPG Annual Convention, Los Angeles, California, June 7-10, 1987.