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Petrography of Sandstone
Petrography of Sandstone
Exercise #1 Just to get you started with the study of sandstone and other
siliciclastic rocks there are 12 samples, some with hand samples that you
should look over. Their features are characterized on the Key Sheet which
you should print out, examine and bring to lab. Budget your time, expect to
spend 5 minutes on each sample.
We will use modal analysis as the primary means to observe sandstone and
we will use the results of the modal analysis as the means to describe or
classify sandstone. The modal analysis that you must perform has to be
designed to meet these ends. In a past lab exercise you performed a modal
analysis where you simply counted mineral types; here we must go for much
more detail. The modal analysis must be done so that in the end we will be
able to differentiate between all the various types of detrital grains, all the
cements, matrix, authigenetic replacements, and the various pore types. This
is not a simple task but it does follow the same procedures as the simple
modal analysis that you did in last week's lab.
During your initial evaluation of a thin section you should note the various
grain types which from the framework of the sample and you should note what
occupies the space between these grains. Grain types include detrital mineral
grains (quartz, feldspars, micas, heavy minerals etc. which were derived from
pre-existing rocks) and rock fragments (bits and pieces of pre-existing rock
such as limestone, granite, slate etc). But you need more detail than that!
More specifically for detrital quartz there is:
If the rock fragments were derived from a volcanic source then they are
volcanic rock fragments (VRF); which would include basalt rock fragments. If
the source were metamorphic then you would apply the term metamorphic
rock fragment (MRF). These could be further subdivided into slate rock
fragment, schist rock fragments etc.. Fragments derived from phaneritic
igneous rock sources and some of the coarser metamorphic rock types like
gneiss generally are identified as feldspar grains unless you are working with
conglomerates then you could have igneous rock fragments (IRF) or more
specifically granite rock fragments, diorite rock fragments, and also then the
gneiss rock fragments. The whole trick is to identify the rock fragments down
to the most detailed type possible. However, you will at times be forced to use
the term rock fragment if identification is not possible. The closer that you can
get to identifying the rock fragment the closer you will be to knowing the
source area of the sediment.
Keep track of any fossils present; these are called bioclasts. They may be
calcite, calcitized aragonite, silicified aragonite, silicified calcite, dolomitized
calcite or aragonite, or carbon. Keep track of the different mineral types, don’t
just call then bioclasts. If you can identify the type of fossil do so.
What is between the grains? There could be
Pore spaces should be described and tallied in any modal analysis. Pore
types can be categorized into
If you do not know what to call it than apply the term pore. Most thin sections
will have little porosity and what there is may be difficult to see. Some thin
sections may have been impregnated with blue epoxy in which case the pore
spaces will be readily visible as blue areas.
Clay, when it occurs between grains is referred to as clay matrix. It may have
been deposited as clay size fraction material during the depositional event or
it may have formed as the result of a diagenetic process such as
devitrification of volcanic glass; hard to tell in thin section how it formed. Note
all the cements as pore filling material. The quartz outside of the dust rim on a
detrital quartz grain is authigenic quartz cement. Calcite, gypsum, anhydrite,
dolomite, and barite are all common cement minerals.
Don’t forget the unknowns and don’t forget to describe them (rule: length and
detail of description is proportional to abundance). Hey, we all have
unknowns; do your very best to figure out something but when everything fails
call it an unknown.
Well that takes care of space but also spend some time looking at the
boundaries between the various items in the thin section. Look for and make
note of concavo-convex grain to grain contacts (figure 2). microstyolite
contacts (figure 2), etched surfaces, euhedral surfaces, all clues to
diagenesis.
1. monocrystalline quartz
2. polycrystalline quartz
3. feldspar
4. plagioclase
5. calcite bioclasts
6. glauconite grains
7. phosphorite grains
8. unknown grain A
9. blocky calcite cement
10. microcrystalline calcite matrix
11. intergranular pore
Part of the craft of doing this is planning ahead. You do not want to do a 300
count modal analysis and then at some other time do it again counting
different items and you want your list organized to make it easy to use for
several different purposes. Look at how the above list is organized. Items 1-4
are detrital grains listed such that the most abundant type monocrystalline
quartz is first. Next follow all other types of detrital quartz grains. Then generic
feldspar followed by specific feldspar types. These are the types of material
that are used in many classifications of sandstone. Items 5-8 are accessory
grains. Items 9-11 are what fill the space between the grains. Always leave
open pore types last in the list. Now if I was to ask you what is the porosity of
the sample? All you would have to do is look to the end of the list and add up
the appropriate items (here just #11). If I were to ask what was the primary
porosity of the sample then you quickly add up items 9,10,11. Note that, with
the exception of the unknown, each has a mineral specified, that way you
could quickly work out a bulk chemical composition. Or quickly determine if
this were a limestone or a sandstone!
Sandstone Classification
What we will use here are classifications based on the results of modal
analysis or in other words classifications based on the various components
which make up the sandstone. A rule that I always go by and it would be a
good practice for you to do also is that whenever you are using a particular
classification you state somewhere just what classification it is that you are
using and then stick to it strictly. This way one avoids some miss
communication. Pick up any geology journal and look at the names in use and
you will discover quickly that the same name is applied differently by different
workers. In this lab exercise we will be working with the classifications of
Robert Folk and Robert Dott. Each uses the term 'quartz arenite' yet that term
means different things in each classification. If you were to describe a
particular sandstone as being a quartz arenite there would be some question
as to what you actually meant. But if you said quartz arenite in sensu Robert
Dott, 1964, well someone could look up Dott 1964 and see just what you
meant. If you are writing a paper or report always somewhere in the
Introduction or Methods state what nomenclature is being applied.
Folks Classification of Sandstone
Robert Folk’s classification of sandstone is based on the relative percentages
of the major components of sands. The scheme uses a trilinear or ternary
diagram (Figure 3).
• Q-pole: includes all types of detrital quartz grains (mono and poly crystalline)
except chert.
• F-pole: includes all types of detrital feldspar grains (mono and poly) plus any
granite and gneiss rock fragments.
• RF-pole: includes all other rock fragments: chert, limestone, basalt, slate,
volcanic, etc. (except granite and gneiss)
Dott’s classification, which is also widely used , differs some what from that of
Folk. The Folk classification ignored the presence of matrix whereas Dott’s
makes use of such. Dott like Folk uses trilinear diagrams but the definitions of
the poles differ slightly. Notably chert falls under the quartz or Q pole not
under the rock fragment or RF pole. Also the divisions and names differ
considerably. Look at your matrix percentage from modal analysis if it is less
than 15% then the rock is one of the arenites. If it fall between 15% and 75%
it is a wacke. If greater than 75% it is a mudstone. Note also from Figure 4
how the lithic arenites and lithic graywackes can be further subdivided like in
Folk’s classification.