Subglacial comminution in till — evidence from microfabric studies and grain-size distributions

• Published in: Journal of Glaciology
• Main Author: Chaolu, Yi
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Cambridge University Press (CUP) 1997
• Subjects: Earth-Surface Processes; Journal of Glaciology
• Online Access: http://dx.doi.org/10.1017/s0022143000035073; https://www.cambridge.org/core/services/aop-cambridge-core/content/view/S0022143000035073

Abstract Quartz, feldspar and chlorite, the principal minerals in a basal till from the Halasi River catchment in the Altay Mountains, northwestern China, are present in approximately equal concentrations in the coarse fraction of the till, 1.0-0.125 mm. Quartz concentrations are significantly higher than those of the other two minerals in the 0.125-0.016 mm size range. Feldspar and chlorite concentrations are higher than those of quartz in the finest fraction. Quartz has a strong preferred mode at 0.063-0.032 mm. Feldspar and chlorite have two weak modes in the silt-size range, one between 0.063 and 0.032 mm and the other between 0.016 and 0.004 mm. Thin sections of oriented impregnated samples were used to study crushing and abrasion. Over 2700 daughter particles were identified as products of comminution of 925 parent grains. Quartz and feldspar are most likely to be broken into two particles of roughly equal size, as are fine chlorite grains. However, owing to their weakness and cleavage, larger grains of chlorite tend to he split into more than two daughter particles. Sizes of the daughter grains were measured and sizes of the original parent grains were estimated. Mean parent grain-sizes for quartz, feldspar and chlorite are 0.129, 0.078 and 0.059 mm, respectively, whereas mean daughter grain-sizes are 0.068,0.041 and 0.024 mm, respectively. The greater percentage reduction in the size of chlorite reflects its tendency to break into more than two daughter particles. Most grains tend to be crushed. Only a few large particles seem to have suffered from abrasion.