Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Detrital Tourmaline As An Indicator Of Provenance: A Chemical And Sedimentological Study Of Modern Sands From The Black Hills, South Dakota, David Brent Viator

LSU Master's Theses

Detrital tourmaline has proven useful as a provenance indicator mineral of ancient sedimentary/metasedimentary units due to its presence in many rock types, chemical responsiveness to environments of formation, complex and variable chemical compositions, high resistance to chemical and mechanical weathering, and stability through diagenesis and metamorphism. This study further establishes detrital tourmaline as a provenance indicator mineral by examining the chemical and sedimentological relationships between modern detrital tourmalines in the sediments of the Black Hills, South Dakota, USA, and in situ tourmalines from southern Black Hills’ tourmaline-bearing metasedimentary rocks, granites, and rare-element enriched pegmatites. Results show that detrital tourmaline is …