Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Petrographic Criteria For The Recognition Of 'Magadi-Type' Cherts, Kathryn A. Schubel

Honors Papers

The Magadi cherts, inorganic lacustrine deposits from the Lake Magadi area, Kenya, are widely used as a modern analog to explain the origin of ancient inorganic cherts. Formed in a highly alkaline lake, as the result of a transformation from the sodium silicates minerals, magadiite and/or kenyaite, to quartz, the Magadi cherts possess a distinctive set of textural characteristics that allow them to be distinguished from cherts of different origin with only a limited number of samples. Textural characteristics that are diagnostic of the Magadi cherts and that can be used as a test for the occurrence of ancient 'Magadi-type' …