Heavy–mineral assemblages from fluvial Pleniglacial deposits of the Piotrków Plateau and the Holy Cross Mountains – a comparative study

Abstract

The heavy-mineral assemblages of Pleniglacial fluvial sediments were analysed for two river valleys, viz. the Luciąża River (at Kłudzice Nowe) and the Belnianka River (at Słopiec). These sites, on the Piotrków Plateau and in the Holy Cross Mountains respectively, are located in different morphogenetic zones of Poland that were affected to different degrees by the Middle Polish ice sheets. The study was aimed at determining the kind of processes that modified the heavy-mineral assemblages in the two fluvial sediments, at reconstructing the conditions under which these processes took place, and in how far these processes caused changes in the assemblages. The heavy-mineral associations of the parent material was taken as a starting point; this parent material were the sediments left by the Odranian glaciation (Warta stadial = Late Saalian). It was found that heavy-mineral assemblages in the Luciąża valley deposits are varied, particularly if compared with other fluvioglacial Quaternary deposits from the Polish lowlands, with a dominance of garnet. In the fluvial deposits of the Belnianka valley, zircon, staurolite and tourmaline dominate, with minor amounts of amphibole, pyroxene, biotite and garnet. This suggests that the deposits were subject to intensive and/or persistent chemical weathering and underwent several sedimentation/erosion cycles under periglacial conditions. In both valleys chemical weathering and aeolian processes were the main factors that modified the assemblages of the transparent heavy minerals; these processes were largely controlled by the climatic changes during the Pleistocene.

Heavy-mineral derived provenance study of Quaternary sediments of the Mazovian Lowland, Central Poland

“…6). Similar pattern has been observed in central Poland (Wachecka-Kotkowska, Ludwikowska-Kędzia, 2013). The mineral differences among fluvial sediments likely indicate their multiple sourcing, which may be similar to this observed in i.e.…”

“…Indeed, their compilation can be tested towards the applicability in the numerous sedimentary environments, such as coastal (Dill et al 2012;Järvelill et al 2015), marine (Derkachev, Nikolaeva 2013), tsunami (Jagodziński et al 2012), fluvial (Guedes et al 2011;Nascimento et al 2015;Weckwerth et al 2013), aeolian (Hamdan et al 2015;KasperZubillaga, Zolezzi-Ruiz 2007;Kilibarda, Blockland, 2011;Ugolini et al 2008), or glacial settings (Mahaney et al 2011), where the HM proxies are commonly used. Consequently, this correlates with the Polish HM research, of which numerous approaches and applications have been widely tested in the peculiar sedimentary settings in different regions of Poland (Ludwikowska-Kędzia 2013; Marcinkowski, Mycielska-Dowgiałło 2013;Pisarska-Jamroży et al 2015;Wachecka-Kotkowska, Ludwikowska-Kędzia 2013;Woronko et al 2013). This is partially due to an extensive and long-lasting drilling program and detailed geological mapping at 1:50 000 scale (Ber 2005), but also due to a previous study, which addressed the HM composition of some of the surficial sediments.…”

Multi-Tool (LA-ICPMS, EMPA and XRD) Investigation on Heavy Minerals from Selected Holocene Peat-Bog Deposits from the Upper Vistula River Valley, Poland

“…Analysis of heavy minerals in Quaternary sediments is used to determine local changes in transport direction e.g., [2,3], mode of sediment transport, as well as the depositional processes and the environment of accumulation [4][5][6][7][8]. For accurate interpretation of the heavy minerals present in Quaternary sediments, it is important to determine their resistance to chemical weathering and mechanical abrasion [9,10] due to the variable preservation of mineral grains [11][12][13][14].…”

Possibilities and restrictions of heavy-mineral analysis for the reconstruction of sedimentary environments and source areas

“…The deposits of sedimentary basins undergo commonly essential changes during diagenesis (see, among others, Pettijohn, et al, 1972;Van Loon, 1972/1973Kholodov, 1983;Morton, 1984;Berger, 1986;Mange & Maurer, 1992;Morton & Hallsworth, 1994, 1999Bateman & Catt, 2007;Van Loon & Mange, 2007). The extent of these changes depends on many factors, including the minerals' susceptibility to chemical weathering in situ (see also Van Loon, 2009;Ludwikowska-Kędzia, 2013;Marcinkowski & Mycielska-Dowgiałło, 2013;Morton et al, 2013;Wachecka-Kotkowska & Ludwikowska-Kędzia, 2013;Woronko et al, 2013).…”