Characterization of glacial silt and clay using automated mineralogy

Glacial erosion produces vast quantities of fine-grained sediment that has a far-reaching impact on Earth surface processes. To gain a better understanding of the production of glacial silt and clay, we use automated mineralogy to quantify the microstructure and mineralogy of rock and sediment sampl...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Annals of Glaciology
Main Authors: Jeff W. Crompton, Gwenn E. Flowers, Brendan Dyck
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Cambridge University Press 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.45
https://doaj.org/article/d719891d3f284033870a4e01d5c45353
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spelling ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:d719891d3f284033870a4e01d5c45353 2023-05-15T13:29:30+02:00 Characterization of glacial silt and clay using automated mineralogy Jeff W. Crompton Gwenn E. Flowers Brendan Dyck 2019-12-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.45 https://doaj.org/article/d719891d3f284033870a4e01d5c45353 EN eng Cambridge University Press https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305519000454/type/journal_article https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055 https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644 doi:10.1017/aog.2019.45 0260-3055 1727-5644 https://doaj.org/article/d719891d3f284033870a4e01d5c45353 Annals of Glaciology, Vol 60, Pp 49-65 (2019) Glacial geology glacial sedimentology processes and landforms of glacial erosion subglacial processes subglacial sediments Meteorology. Climatology QC851-999 article 2019 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.45 2023-03-12T01:31:55Z Glacial erosion produces vast quantities of fine-grained sediment that has a far-reaching impact on Earth surface processes. To gain a better understanding of the production of glacial silt and clay, we use automated mineralogy to quantify the microstructure and mineralogy of rock and sediment samples from 20 basins in the St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada. Sediments were collected from proglacial streams, while rock samples were collected from ice marginal outcrops and fragmented using electrical pulse disaggregation. For both rock fragments and sediments, we observe a log-normal distribution of grain sizes and a sub-micrometer terminal grain size. We find that the abrasion of silt and clay results in both rounding and the exploitation of through-going fractures. The abundance of inter- versus intragranular fractures depends on mineralogy and size. Unlike the relatively larger grains, where crushing and abrasion are thought to exploit and produce discrete populations of grain sizes, the comminution of fines leads to a grain size, composition and rounding that is continuously distributed across size, and highly dependent on source-rock properties. Article in Journal/Newspaper Annals of Glaciology Yukon Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Canada Yukon Annals of Glaciology 60 80 49 65
institution Open Polar
collection Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles
op_collection_id ftdoajarticles
language English
topic Glacial geology
glacial sedimentology
processes and landforms of glacial erosion
subglacial processes
subglacial sediments
Meteorology. Climatology
QC851-999
spellingShingle Glacial geology
glacial sedimentology
processes and landforms of glacial erosion
subglacial processes
subglacial sediments
Meteorology. Climatology
QC851-999
Jeff W. Crompton
Gwenn E. Flowers
Brendan Dyck
Characterization of glacial silt and clay using automated mineralogy
topic_facet Glacial geology
glacial sedimentology
processes and landforms of glacial erosion
subglacial processes
subglacial sediments
Meteorology. Climatology
QC851-999
description Glacial erosion produces vast quantities of fine-grained sediment that has a far-reaching impact on Earth surface processes. To gain a better understanding of the production of glacial silt and clay, we use automated mineralogy to quantify the microstructure and mineralogy of rock and sediment samples from 20 basins in the St. Elias Mountains, Yukon, Canada. Sediments were collected from proglacial streams, while rock samples were collected from ice marginal outcrops and fragmented using electrical pulse disaggregation. For both rock fragments and sediments, we observe a log-normal distribution of grain sizes and a sub-micrometer terminal grain size. We find that the abrasion of silt and clay results in both rounding and the exploitation of through-going fractures. The abundance of inter- versus intragranular fractures depends on mineralogy and size. Unlike the relatively larger grains, where crushing and abrasion are thought to exploit and produce discrete populations of grain sizes, the comminution of fines leads to a grain size, composition and rounding that is continuously distributed across size, and highly dependent on source-rock properties.
format Article in Journal/Newspaper
author Jeff W. Crompton
Gwenn E. Flowers
Brendan Dyck
author_facet Jeff W. Crompton
Gwenn E. Flowers
Brendan Dyck
author_sort Jeff W. Crompton
title Characterization of glacial silt and clay using automated mineralogy
title_short Characterization of glacial silt and clay using automated mineralogy
title_full Characterization of glacial silt and clay using automated mineralogy
title_fullStr Characterization of glacial silt and clay using automated mineralogy
title_full_unstemmed Characterization of glacial silt and clay using automated mineralogy
title_sort characterization of glacial silt and clay using automated mineralogy
publisher Cambridge University Press
publishDate 2019
url https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.45
https://doaj.org/article/d719891d3f284033870a4e01d5c45353
geographic Canada
Yukon
geographic_facet Canada
Yukon
genre Annals of Glaciology
Yukon
genre_facet Annals of Glaciology
Yukon
op_source Annals of Glaciology, Vol 60, Pp 49-65 (2019)
op_relation https://www.cambridge.org/core/product/identifier/S0260305519000454/type/journal_article
https://doaj.org/toc/0260-3055
https://doaj.org/toc/1727-5644
doi:10.1017/aog.2019.45
0260-3055
1727-5644
https://doaj.org/article/d719891d3f284033870a4e01d5c45353
op_doi https://doi.org/10.1017/aog.2019.45
container_title Annals of Glaciology
container_volume 60
container_issue 80
container_start_page 49
op_container_end_page 65
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