Copyright by Nysha Chaderton 2009 - The University of Texas at ...
Copyright by Nysha Chaderton 2009 - The University of Texas at ...
Copyright by Nysha Chaderton 2009 - The University of Texas at ...
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DISCUSSION<br />
Although many <strong>of</strong> the samples from this study appear to be poorly sorted when<br />
visually inspected in outcrop, thin section examin<strong>at</strong>ion shows them to actually range from<br />
moder<strong>at</strong>ely to well sorted. <strong>The</strong> sorting and measurement <strong>of</strong> grain sizes is affected <strong>by</strong> the<br />
presence <strong>of</strong> deform<strong>at</strong>ion bands, which can cause larger quartz grains to be broken into<br />
smaller fragments. In addition several samples showed fractured quartz grains th<strong>at</strong> were<br />
not associ<strong>at</strong>ed with deform<strong>at</strong>ion bands. Where possible, grains th<strong>at</strong> appeared to be part <strong>of</strong><br />
a larger whole were visually reconstructed and considered a single grain in an effort to<br />
maintain the integrity <strong>of</strong> the grain size measurements.<br />
<strong>The</strong> Scotland Form<strong>at</strong>ion samples range lithologically from quartz arenites to<br />
arkoses. <strong>The</strong> quartz arenites and subarkoses samples were all obtained from the channel-<br />
fill sandstones. One subarkose and one arkose sample were obtained from the finer-<br />
grained channel mouth sandstone <strong>at</strong> Inner Turner’s Hall Ridge (ITR). <strong>The</strong> more distal<br />
facies <strong>at</strong> ITR were not only more feldspar rich but also finer grained as one would expect<br />
in an unconfined setting. Pudsey (1982) observed th<strong>at</strong> the feldspar content in the Scotland<br />
Form<strong>at</strong>ion deposits decreased with increasing distance from the Lesser Antilles Island<br />
Arc, suggesting th<strong>at</strong> the feldspar was derived from the volcanic island arc. It is possible<br />
th<strong>at</strong> there was increased volcanic activity when ITR channel mouth sands were deposited<br />
and th<strong>at</strong> resulted in an increased amount <strong>of</strong> feldspar.<br />
<strong>The</strong> preserv<strong>at</strong>ion <strong>of</strong> K feldspar in these samples suggests th<strong>at</strong> the rocks <strong>of</strong> the<br />
Scotland Form<strong>at</strong>ion have not undergone deep burial. K feldspar normally undergoes<br />
extensive dissolution during burial diagenesis (Milliken et al., 1989; Harris, 1992;<br />
Wilkinson and Haszeldine, 1996; Wilkinson et al., 2001). In rift and passive margin<br />
settings, K feldspar preserv<strong>at</strong>ion is commonly absent in rocks th<strong>at</strong> been buried more than<br />
four kilometers. In volcanic arc or strike-slip basins, high K+/H+ r<strong>at</strong>ios, high SiO2<br />
activity or a lack <strong>of</strong> illite-smectite clay mineral assemblage in the mudrocks may enable<br />
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