Microtextures on quartz grains from the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Pacific coastal sediments:Implications for sedimentary processes and depositional environment

Microtexture analyes on quartz from coastal sediments of the Gulf of Mexico and the Mexican Pacific Coast reveal 35 and 30 types of microtextures,respectively,which were grouped into mechanical,mechanical/chemical and chemical categories based on their mode of origin.Microtextures of chemical origin are rarer in the El Carrizal than in the Manzanillo beach sediments of the Mexican Pacific Coast.Microtextures of mechanical origin like straight and curved scratches,pits,broken edges,and V-shaped marks indicate high energy,fluvial to marine depositional environments.The scarcity to absence of chemical features suggest that the energy level was higher at the Mexican Pacific coast than on the Gulf of Mexico coast.V-shaped marks are common in the Gulf of Mexico sediments,whereas they are abundant in the quartz grains from the Mexican Pacific coast.Increased frequency and density of V-shaped marks are produced by exceedingly high wave velocity during storm events or tsunamis.Abundance of V-shaped marks with fresh surfaces of quartz grains from the Mexican Pacific coast indicate an extremely high-energy impact event.Many quartz grains from the El Carrizal beach of the Mexican Pacific coast have abundant closely spaced Vshaped marks with fewer fresh surfaces.Such high frequency of V-shaped marks is mainly linked to grain-tograin collision,typically associated with high-energy sub-aqueous conditions with a large volume of sedimentary particles in the water column that are produced during a tsunami or storm events.In contrast,many quartz grains from the Gulf of Mexico have large fresh surfaces with moderate percentages of V-shaped marks that might have been produced by high-energy waves with low sediment concentrations during storm events.

Surface textures of quartz grains from a core at the Prydz Bay,Antarctica

In this paper, shapes and surface textures of quartz grains in 13 layers of a core (NP95 1) collected from a continental slope at the Antarctic Prydz Bay were quantitatively and statistically analyzed. The quartz grain surfaces exhibit the characteristics caused by intense glaciation and a weaker chemical solution precipitation, indicating the sediments are mainly morainic debris under a low energy marine environment. The obtained quantitatively statistical results of the assemblages of surface textures caused by the chemical solution precipitation are well correlated to the analytical results of micropaleontologic analysis and can be used to better explain the changes of sedimentary environment and paleoclimate occurred in the marine zone concerned.

S. E. M. analysis of quartz sand grains from selected Hong Kong and Chinese littoral environments

This pilot study attempts to demonstrate some underlying scanning electron microscopy themes of quartz grain surface textures. A variety of textural patterns and individual features are described for grains selected from various littoral environments. An attempt was made to differentiate samples on surface textures alone, but limitations of using this technique in sedimentological isolation were apparent. Statistical analysis of checklist data and photographic evidence revealed some of the more important feature combinations used in environmental diagnosis. The use of discriminant analysis provided quantitative sample separation.

Quantitative identification and distribution of quartz genetic types based on QemScan:A case study of Silurian Longmaxi Formation in Weiyuan area,Sichuan Basin

As a key factor restricting the fracturing effect of shale reservoir,the origin and content of quartz components have always been the focus of academic and industrial circles.Due to the great influence of diagenesis process,the accuracy of trace element determination to identify the origin of quartz is not good,which can not meet the increasingly accurate research requirements.In this paper,mineral quantitative analysis technology(QemScan)is used to identify quartz components by two-dimensional quantitative scanning,and the content data of quartz components with different grain sizes are extracted.The results show that the size of quartz particles is obviously controlled by the difference of sedimentary water and sedimentary environment,that is,quartz particles less than 30 mm are mainly concentrated in Long112 and Long114 layers,which is the normal oxygen environment under the background of medium retention in deep water environment;quartz particles larger than 20 mm are mainly concentrated in Long111 and Long113 layers,which is the poor oxygen environment under the background of strong retention in deep water environment.In shallow water environment,the stronger hydrodynamic conditions make the strata rich in terrigenous clastic quartz particles with larger grain size,and oxygen poor environment is conducive to the enrichment of authigenic quartz with smaller grain size.