Geol Rundsch (1994) 83: 212-232
R E. Potter
Modern sands of South America:
composition, provenance and global significance
Received: 17 December 1992/Accepted: 20 September 1993
Abstract Standard petrographic methods were used to
study 604 modern sands from South America, of which
351 came from rivers and 253 from beaches. In spite of the
wide geomorphic contrasts, these sands belong to only
three great families: (1) an immature Andean family of
lithic arenites rich in volcanic and metamorphic grains
that covers about 30% of South America; (2) a cratonic
association rich in quartz that covers about 62% of the
continent; and (3) a transitional, molasse association,
which occurs between these two and covers only about
8% of the continent. The grand arithmetic average
Q: F: Rf ratio for the entire continent is 60:11 : 29 and the
area-weighted, carbonate-free average Qa: Fa: Rfa is
68:10:22, a superior continental estimate, and the first
ever for an entire continent.
Rock fragments are the most informative of all the
provenance indicators and in South America they range
from tropical alterites of the cratonic family through the
dominant volcanic and metamorphic grains of the An-
dean family to biogenic carbonate in beach sands.
Carbonate grains are almost totally absent in modern
South American rivers because of present day tropical
weathering and a long geological evolution that has
favored sand production. They are present in many of the
beach sands, however, and are most abundant along the
tropical Brazilian and Caribbean coasts. Metamorphic
grains rival volcanics as earmarks of the Andean family
and survive tropical weathering far better than volcanic
grains.
There is a strong association between continental soil
types and the composition of river sand, but the ultimate
controls are tectonic history - the ancient landscapes
preserved on the Gondwana shields of South America
versus the tectonically young landscapes of the Andes
- and climate. Climate can either cause 'leaks' to a far
distant ocean where weathering is retarded by aridity or it
R E. Potter
Geology Department, University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati,
OH 45221-0013, USA
© Springer-Verlag 1994
can serve as a barrier to continental sand dispersion,
where tropical weathering eliminates unstable grains in
transit to the sea.
When provenance studies are conducted across an
entire, unglaciated continent, events in the far distant past
need to be considered when seeking fundamental expla-
nations of its contemporary, surficial sands.
Key words South America- Sands- Provenance. Clima-
tic influences
Introduction
What is the petrographic composition of all the modern
sands of South America, and what significance does it
have? Let us consider first the significance of this
question.
'Who cares? So what?' Short, irreverent and seemingly
impolite (Ginsburg, 1982), these are clearly key questions
because they highlight two main facts - such data do not
exist for any of the seven continents and, as a consequen-
ce, rarely have the possible uses of such data ever been
contemplated. In the following are several reasons why
a knowledge of the petrographic composition of the
modern sands of an entire continent is of scientific
interest.
A knowledge of how petrographic composition varies
across a continent, how its continental composition
relates to the climatic zonation of a continent and its kind
and distribution of tectonic elements - active, passive, or
transform margins and the size of its cratonic blocks
- has always been the fundamental goal of actualistic
petrology, using the petrology of modern sands to
interpret ancient sandstones. But what has been lacking is
even a generalized map of the composition of the modern
sands of a continent, a condition that is far different from
that of soil studies where continent-wide maps of soil
types have long been available. For example, between
1970 and 1981, the Food and Agricultural Organization
(FAO) of the United Nations and UNESCO published

19 sheets of soil maps covering all the continents except
Antarctica (FAO - UNESCO, 1970 - 81 ; 1971). Certain-
ly, only maps of the petrological composition of modern
sands can provide the basis for modeling the composition
of the sands of idealized continents, each having different
climates and different kinds and distributions of tectonic
elements. Directly related to such modeling, one could say
a key objective of it, is a better understanding of how to
infer the paleodrainage patterns of ancient sedimentary
basins or even of continents when only fragments can be
studied, as is usually the case. At issue here are questions
such as, 'Under what conditions can sand generated at an
active margin, one rich in volcanic and metamorphic
grains, be carried across a continent and be deposited on
a far distant passive margin and thus greatly alter our
perception of its distribution and kind of major tectonic
elements?' Or, conversely, 'What paleogeographies allow
quartz-rich sand to be carried far across a continent and
deposited along, say, a transform margin?' Surely there
are many more such questions to be asked, and answered,
if maps showing the continent-wide distribution of mo-
dern sand composition were available. For me, it is hard
to think of a more encompassing, a more significant
problem in petrographic studies of sands and sandstones
than the modeling of sand distribution across entire
continents and exploring its significance for the broad
goals of paleogeography, especially when our thinking
and analysis are based on actual maps of the petrographic
distribution of modern sands across a continent; see
Dickinson (1989) for a deductive appraisal of continent-
wide dispersion patterns.
A second broad reason for enhanced knowledge of the
composition of the modern sands of a continent is to
establish more meaningful baselines for key petrographic
variables reported from studies of ancient sandstones.
Here we think of averages and their variances rather than
of maps, models, and paleogeographies. Averages and
variances based on a continent-wide sampling of the
abundance of quartz, feldspar, feldspar types, the diverse
types of rock fragments, mica or even the abundance of
either ferricrete grains (tropical weathering) or calcrete
grains (aridity) could go far to help evaluate and judge the
meaning of the petrographic composition of ancient
sandstones. For example, have we ever asked the question
'How many standard deviations away from a continent-
wide average are the modal values reported for a particu-
lar sandstone? Does this sandstone have any composi-
tions that lie two, three, or even six standard deviations
(one occurrence in a million !) away from the average of
the modern sands of a large continental database?' From
still another point of view, an estimate of the composition
of the modern sands of a continent would provide a useful
starting point for later changes induced by burial diagene-
sis - for example, how does the albite content of the
modern sands of a continent compare with that of ancient
sandstones?
A third argument on behalf of a continent-wide
database is that the continents are our only lasting
storehouse of geological history and provide the largest
213
natural unit of study for all the terrigenous sands and
sandstones.
South America is an attractive continent for the study
of modern sands for several reasons: because it is largely
unglaciated; because it has both great rainforests and
deserts; it has the longest mountain chain in the world, the
Andes, along its Pacific and Caribbean margins; it has
two great shields, the Brazilian and Guyana; and because
of the great length of its eastern passive margin; see Sick
(1968), Schloten (1971) and Morello (1984) for summa-
ries of continental geomorphology. My study found that
from a continent-wide perspective, the modern sands of
South America belong to three great families: (1) an
Andean family of lithic arenites whose rock fragments are
principally volcanic and metamorphic grains; (2) a transi-
tional family of sands that occurs in rivers that flow
eastward from the Andes north of Argentina; and (3)
a quartz-rich family of modern sands associated with the
Guyana and Brazilian Shields. The relationship between
broad soil types, landscape and sand composition is
a remarkably close one in all of South America, and
similar relationships surely must have existed in all the
geological past. These relationships exist today in spite of
widely recognized climate (rainfall) variations in the
Pleistocene (Tricart, 1975; Bigarella, 1978).
This relationship provides the final - and to me the
strongest - argument for a study of the modern sands of
all the continent: South America was a major part of
Gondwana and hence was part of a supercraton until
about 100 million years ago. Since the break-up, and in
spite of a gradual rising freeboard, large fragments of
Mesozoic and Cenozoic landscapes, many with deep
tropical weathering, have survived. This continent-wide
study of South America's modern sands, especially its
river sand, surely provides the best model for sand
production in most of the geological past and can go far
to free sedimentary petrologists from a northern hemi-
sphere bias, where so much modern sand comes today
from cool/cold climates and glacially disrupted, young
landscapes (Squires, 1988) - the very home of 20th
century sedimentary petrology.
Landscape, climate and soils
South America is one of the smaller continents in the
world, but is rich in contrast and exceptional features
(Fig. 1 A). It extends from 12°N in the tropics to 55o S to
the edge of the southern subpolar region; it has the
longest mountain range in the world, the largest water-
shed in the world, the highest mountain in the western
hemisphere, the world's greatest jungle, it has intense
deserts and great contrasts in relief along its active margin
between the depths of the Chile Trench and the nearby
heights of the Andes - all of which produce great
diversity of landscape and soils. Rich (1942) displays
many low altitude, oblique aerial photographs and some
space images can be found in Short and Blair (1986). Both
214

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Fig. lA--D. Continent-wide maps. A Major physiographic
regions and drainage;B Atlanticand Caribbean drainageis the rule
for most of the continent(someareas of Andeancloseddrainagenot
shown); C simplified map of aridity (after Meigs, 1953); and
D major countries of South America
illustrate many of the landforms of South America and
show its great topographic and climatic diversity, key
controlling factors in the composition of its modern
sands.
The climate varies greatly across South America
(Schwertfeger, 1976). Rainfall ranges from as little as
2 cm/yr in the Atacama Desert to over 8 m/yr in north-
western Colombia in some of its coastal sierras (Fig. 1 C).
Vast areas have temperatures over 20 °C, some over 25 °C,
whereas parts of the southern Andes support permanent
ice fields and the Altiplano of Bolivia and north-western
Argentina has extensive ice-free areas with a mean annual
temperature of nearly 0 °C.
The drainage of the continent is strikingly asymmetri-
cal - only about 7% (Fig. 1 B) drains to the active Pacific
margin, all in short, steep gradient streams, whereas six
major, low gradient rivers - the Amazon, the Paranfi, the
Sao Francisco, the Tocantins, the Uruguay and Orinoco
- all drain to its passive Atlantic margin, and its seventh
largest river, the Magdalena, follows the strike of the
Andes into the Caribbean. Thus South America provides
the classic example of plate tectonic control on continen-
tal drainage pattern (Inman and Nordstrom, 1971). The
passive margin rivers carry mostly mud, silt and some
sand, whereas the short streams draining to the Pacific
carry much coarse debris.
Three broad physiographic regions occur in South
America: the Andean highlands, lowlands less than
200 m and cratonic uplands (Fig. 1A). These three
control, via relief, climate and rainfall, their soil types
and hence their sand types. Soil mapping is summarized
by Bennema et al. (1962), Beek and Bramao (1968),
Sick (1969), Schloten (1971) and F A O - U N E S C O
(1971 - 80). Much of this information is ably reduced and
presented in a series of small-scale, continent-wide maps
by Morello (1984).
The principal lowland areas are those drained by the
Amazon-Solim6es, Tocantins, Orinoco, Uruguay and
Paranfi Rivers, which together bring about 22% of the
world's freshwater to the ocean and the Amazon and
Paranfi together bring about half of all the riverine
discharge of South America to the ocean. A second,
small, narrow lowland area occurs along coastal Ecua-
dor, Colombia and into western Venezuela. The principal
lowland areas of the continent commonly do not exceed
200 m even when far from the ocean, although far western
Amazonas elevations are higher. A special subset of the
lowlands are those of Patagonia. Lowlands form about
38.8% of all of South America, and are chiefly underlain
by Tertiary, Pleistocene and minor Holocene deposits
except for some Precambrian and Paleozoic rocks in parts
of Uruguay and Argentina.
215
These lowlands include much of the vast tropical
rainforest of Amazonas, the savanna areas of the Llanos
in Venezuela and Colombia, the Chaco region of Peru,
Bolivia and Paraguay (Triondo, 1993), and semi-arid
regions in parts of Uruguay and Argentina. The soils of
this vast region vary with its rainfall and include both
tropical residual soils throughout most of the Amazonas
as well as soils typica1 of w e t - d r y savanna climates
(Llanos of Venezuela and Colombia and Chaco of
Paraguay) and semi-arid and arid soils in parts of
Argentina and Uruguay.
The residual tropical soils are enriched in iron and
alumina, are mostly reddish, very leached and belong
mostly to the oxisol group (laterite and reddish and
yellow brown latosols) that develop where the mean
annual temperature exceeds 25°C, the mean annual
rainfall exceeds 1.5 m, and where is no pronounced dry
season (Working Party Report, 1990, their Table 2.2;
Melfi and Pedro, 1977, their Fig. 3). Some ultisols
( r e d - brown podzols) are also present and thick saproli-
tes are common away from streams. Waterlogged histo-
sols (gley soils) prevail along most of the main stream of
the Amazon and the lower reaches of its tributaries. In the
Llanos of Colombia and Venezuela, ultisols are also
present, but because the rainfall is less, there are areas of
less leached soils.
The two major non-Andean uplands are the Brazilian
and Guyana shields, which together constitute about
39.1% of all of South America. The Brazilian upland area
is the larger, forming 32.7% of all of South America, and
is dominated by Precambrian rocks, although it also
includes several large Paleozoic cratonic basins and, in
south-western Brazil, wide areas of plateau basalts, the
Serra Geral Formation, extruded when South America
separated from Africa. This vast region has a radial, but
markedly asymmetrical, drainage pattern with a divide
surprisingly close to the South Atlantic Ocean south of
the watershed of the Sao Francisco River, where the Serra
do Mar (Fig. 1 A), over 1300 km long, forms one of the
world's great escarpments, comparable with that of the
Great Escarpment of southern Africa, the Western Ghats
in India and the Great Escarpment of eastern Australia
(Ollier, 1985; Summerfield, 1991, Fig. 42). Its deeply
eroded gneisses and high grade crystalline rocks have
spectacular relief, commonly in sight of the white sand
beaches of the Atlantic Ocean (Bigarella, 1978). The
highest elevation is about 2 300 m in Sao Paulo State, but
elevations near 1000 m are more common. Away from
the Serra do Mar, the main feature of the landscape of the
Brazilian Shield are widespread erosion surfaces at diffe-
rent levels, the oldest of which is believed to be of
Cretaceous age by South American and South African
geomorphologists; see Braun (1971) for a geomorphic
description of central Brazil. Thick oxisols are characte-
ristic of such surfaces, some with concentrations of iron
concretions. Typically, these soils are deep, reddish,
friable and dominated by gibbsite and kaolinite - the
products of long tropical weathering on a stable craton.
However, ultisols and spodosols (acid brown forest soils)
216

are also present on younger surfaces and, in far north-

eastern, semi-arid Brazil, some inceptisols supplement P r e v i o u s studies, d a t a b a s e and m e t h o d s
oxisols, as do mollisols and aridisols.
The smaller Guyana shield, covering 6.4% of South
This study adds 386 samples to 218 modern beach sands
America, is underlain by Precambrian rocks of wide
reported earlier by Potter (1986). The 386 samples include
variety, but the most famous is the Precambrian Roraima many new ones, mostly from South American rivers, as
Group of flat-lying sandstones, which forms spectacular
well as those studied earlier (Potter, 1978; 1984; Franzi-
tablelands and mesas, some at elevations above 2000 m; nelli and Potter, 1983; 1985 a; 1985 b; Savage et al., 1988;
o n e peak even exceeds 3 000 m. This region has at least
Savage and Potter, 1991). River samples total 351 and
four erosion surfaces (Zonneveld, 1985; Bricefio and beach sands 253 (Fig. 2). All the counts were made by
Schubert, 1990; Schubert and Huber, 1990), the oldest of Potter between 1974 and 1990.
which may be of Mesozoic age. The surface between 600 Others who have contributed importantly to our
and 700 m above sea level is associated with bauxite and understanding of the petrology of the modern onshore
iron ore deposits and with hard ferruginous and alumina- sands of South America include Johnsson (1990a) and
rich crusts and may be 2 0 - 60 million years old (Schubert Johnsson et al. (1988; 1991), who studied modern river
and Huber, 1990, their p.36) and probably belongs to the sands in Columbia and Venezuela; Blasi and Mariassera
'Sul American' planation event that affected much of (1989), who reported on the Rio Colorado in Argentina;
South America. Oxisols as well as ultisols are present. and DeCelles and Hertel (1989) who examined the
The Andes, one of the great natural regions of the World, modern sands of the Chaco region of Peru and Bolivia.
extend the length of SouthAmerica, form 18.0% of all of Scheidegger and Krissek (1982) also included some small
South America, and are notable for their sharp relief, Peruvian rivers in their larger study of modern sands of
snow-clad volcanoes, mountain glaciers in southern Chile the Peru-Chile Trench. All of these, in addition to the
and Argentina that extend into the sea, and high deserts and
salinas as well as densely forested western slopes in southern
Fig. 2. Distribution of modern sand samples
Chile. The present crest of the Andes averages about 2 700 m
and is as close as 160 km to the Pacific Ocean in Peru. In
their northern and southern parts the Andes consist of
multiple ranges that separate high plateaus. Volcanic peaks
abound - there are more than 130 active volcanoes (Simkin
et al., 1979), which belong to three clearly separated groups
(Fig. 1 A) and are commonly best developed above steeply
dipping segments of the subducting Pacific and Nazca
plates, where earthquakes are also most common. Through-
out much of the central Andes there are distinct western and
eastern cordilleras separated by the Altiplano, a closed
drainage basin over 800 km long, about 130 km wide and . +
about 3 500 m high, one of the larger interior mountain
basins of the world. Except for the Altiplano itself, the entire
region is one of intense erosion, because of uplift beginning
in the Miocene combined with heavy rainfall, along its east
central flank in Ecuador, Peru and Bolivia. Much of the
Pacific lowlands that border the Andes have thick alluvial
deposits derived from the Andes. Mass movements o n
a grand scale are common throughout much of the Andes
and contribute vast amounts of rubble and medium sized
sand directly to mountain streams.
A combination of high erosion rates, frequent ash falls
in and near the three volcanic zones, aridity and low
temperature cause Andean soils to be mostly immature ~_~ -4- River Sample
inceptisols, followed at lower elevations by mollisols ~ . O O Beach Sample

o%
• ,
(brown forest, chestnut and prairie soils), where rainfall is Volcano
greater and temperatures higher. Aridosols prevail in the
interior dry basins.
75 60 45
The coastline of South America varies markedly - about i I i = ] , , l , i
69 percent is dominated by either wave deposition or
erosion, about thirteen percent is dominated by riverine
* To obtain a list of all sample locations and the complete data
processes, thirteen percent by glacial processes (southern matrix, ask for Document D 02753, UMI Dissertation Publish-
Chile), and about five percent by biogenic processes along ing, Research Abstracts International, 300 North Zeeb Road,
the Caribbean coast (Inman and Nordstrom, 1971, Table 5). Ann Arbor, M148106, USA. Tel. 313761-4700, ext. 3872
 217

offshore studies by Maynard (1984) and Yerino and abundance in the separate count of rock type fragments
Maynard (1984), chiefly addressed the plate tectonic by the carbonate-free abundance of total rock fragments
significance of the light mineral fraction and its mineralo- in the framework fraction. Thus the weighted abundance
gical stability. Earlier studies of either the light or heavy of volcanic rock fragments was obtained by RfT x Rfv,
minerals of modern river sands in South America include where RfT is the percentage of total non-carbonate rock
those by Kiel (1955) and Krook (1969) in Surinam, fragments and Rfv is the percentage of volcanic grains in
Landim et al. (1978) for the Amazon, and Bercowski the separate count of kinds of rock fragments. This
(1978) and Pomar and Bertoldi (1980) for the Paran~t and weighted abundance provides an estimate of the true
Rio de la Plata in Argentina, plus Riezebos (1982) for the abundance of each type of rock fragment in the total
Magdalena in Columbia. Kroonenberg and Horn (1990) population of non-carbonate, detrital grains. A similar
studied the chemical composition of river sands in method was used to obtain the weighted carbonate
south-eastern Colombia, found systematic changes and abundance.
related them to weathering and reworking in transit. All
of these studies contribute significantly to a continent-
wide interpretation, but are not part of my database,
which was generated by myself using the procedures of
Mineral associations
Franzinelli and Potter (1983; their Table 1): 200 frame-
work grains were always counted plus 100 rock frag- The modern sands of South America belong to five major
ments, when present. Thin sections were made from loose mineral associations that span the entire continent - Pa-
sand impregnated with epoxy resin. The standard method cific, Argentine, Caribbean and Brazilian identified ear-
of counting rather than the Gazzi-Dickinson method lier (Potter, 1986), plus a new one termed Transitional
was used. Potter (1986; his Table 1) provided a summary (Fig. 4). These associations were defined by inspection
of earlier studies of the beach and bordering modem using mineral composition, landscape and climate. This
marine sands of South America. approach worked well, because there is generally a close
The strategy of this study is simple, direct, and correspondence between all three except for the Transit-
straightforward: count 18 petrographic variables in mo- ional Association, which has a composition broadly
dern river and beach sands in two independent data
arrays, classify them into five associations using a combi-
nation of major physiographic province and composi- Fig. 4. Continent-wide mineral associations
tion, and finally compute simple descriptive statistics for
each association (Fig. 3). All the analyses were recalcu-
lated on a carbonate-free basis to better compare river
and beach sands because there is very little carbonate in
river sands, whereas it is present in many of the modern
beach sands of the continent.
Rock fragments (Plate 1), when present, are the best
O-
and most definitive index of provenance. These are
reported in two ways: their abundance in a separate count
of 100 grains per sample and, for key discriminatory
fragments, as a weighted percentage of the entire frame-
work fraction. The latter was obtained by multiplying O-

STRATEGY
O-

BASIC DATA SET CLASSIFYING VARIABLES

Eighteen variables in two Environment -
independent arrays - modal beaches vs. rivers
composition and types of Geologic provinces -
3-
rock fragments (604 and 416 Pacific, Argentina, Caribbean
samples). Brazilian and transitional.

- -40
COMPUTATIONS -40 -
Compute means and variances of original, combined and derived
variables for each province and combinations thereof.
Weigh results by area of each province to obtain continental estimates.

Fig. 3. Strategy of continent-wide petrographic study and analysis 90 80 60 50 40 30

I I = I I I I
218

Plate 1. Rock fragments: A slightly laminated argillaceous silt- altered; F igneous rock fragment; G interlocking crystalline mosaic
stone; B glassy, partially devitrified volcanic grain; C molluscan of igneous rock; H coarse-grained siltstone with secondary micas
grain from beach; D coarse-grained plagioclase-quartz-rich between framework; I foliated mica schist; J two mica schist;
igneous rock; E composite feldspar grain, larger feldspar highly K metamorphic grain lacking foliation; and L metamorphic grain
 219

Table 1. Summary of carbonate-free modern sands by provinces: Averages, Standard Deviations and Samples
framework and feldspar (single provinces)

Province(s) Qa F. RP Fp/Ft Qm/Qt Samples

Pacific 21.2 ± 16.9 15.2 _+ 11.96 63.6 ± 20.4 0.80 ± 0.21 0.77 ± 0.20 119
Argentina 25.8 ± 14.5 18.2 ± 13.4 56.0 ± 19.0 0.77 ± 0.24 0.81 _ 0.15 57
Carribean 56.8 ± 26.5 12.8 ± 15.0 30.4 ± 22.8 0.58 ± 0.32 0.80 ± 0.16 75
Transition 61.1 ± 24.5 6.8 ± 6.2 32.1 ± 22.6 0.41 ± 0.34 0.86 ± 0.10 93
Brazil 86.2 ± 20.0 7.2 ± 11.2 6.6 ± 12.5 0.29 ± 0.31 0.90 ± 0.14 260
framework and feldspar (combined provinces)
Andean 32.9 ± 25.3 15.1 ± 13.3 52.0 ± 25.3 0.73 ± 0.27 0.79 ± 0.18 251
All South 60.1 ± 33.6 10.5 ± 12.2 29.4 ± 29.2 0.50 ± 0.36 0.85 ± 0.15 604
American
(unweighted)
Rock fragments (single province)
Plutonics and Volcanics Sedimentary Samples
Metamorphics
Pacific 45.3 ± 34.6 51.0 ± 38.4 3.7 ± 7.8 111
Argentine 26.4 ± 34.6 63.2 ± 39.4 10.4 ± 22.5 55
Caribbean 60.5 ± 39.7 8.7 ± 18.9 30.6 -L-_38.0 71
Transitional 63.9 ± 30.1 12.0 ± 24.4 24.1 ± 25.8 79
Brazilian 56.9 ± 34.9 3.5 ± 14.4 39.6 ± 34.0 100
Rock fragments (combined provinces)
Andean 45.4 ± 39.2 41.5 ± 40.5 13.3 _ 26.5 251
All South America 51.6 _+ 37.4 27.1 ± 37.4 21.3 ± 30.2 406
(unweighted)
* Ratios of quartz, feldspar and carbonate-free rock fragments. § Combined Pacific, Argentine and Carribbean provinces.
+ Ratio of plagioclase feldspar to total feldspar. II Rock fragments minus carbonate and renormalized to 100%.
* Ratio of monocrystalline to total quartz.

similar to that of the Caribbean Association. The Transit- All the rivers of the Pacific Association that drain to the
ional Association occurs in those parts of the Llanos and Pacific are short and have a low discharge because of both
Chaco bordering the eastern Andes and in rivers of the the drainage asymmetry of South America and because of
A m a z o n system - the main stem of the A m a z o n the great aridity of coastal Peru and northern Chile.
(variously called Amazonas, Solim6es and Marafion) and The median value of quartz in sands of the Pacific
in tributaries to it such as the Mad±era in Brazil, the N a p o Association is only 21% (Fig. 5) and the average Q : F : R f
and Caqueta in Ecuador, the Guaviare and Meta in ratio is 21:15: 64, very immature (Fig. 6), and typical of
Columbia and the Rio Ben± in Bolivia. The Transitional an active margin Dickinson (1989). The dominant petro-
Association can be considered as a 'molasse' association graphic type is a lithic arenite, although some arkoses are
deposited in a gigantic foreland basin. Below is a brief present. In terms of maximum values, one sand sample
description of each association (Table 1). has 96% rock fragments and another 44% feldspar. The
Fp/FT ratio of the Pacific Association has the highest
amount of plagioclase with a Fp/Fa- ratio of 0.80 (Fig. 7).
Pacific Association Its ratio of monocrystalline to total quartz QM/QT is 0.77,
one of the lowest in all of South America. Volcanic grains,
The Pacific Association extends from P a n a m a southward 51%, are mostly andesites and devitrified glass and are
along the coast to the southern end of Terra del Fuego. Its followed by metamorphic and some plutonic grains
eastern boundary is the border between Argentina and (Fig. 8). M a n y of the volcanic grains exhibit appreciable
Chile - the watershed divide between Argentina and
Chile as far north as Bolivia, where the eastern limit of the
association is placed at the base of the Andean escarp- Table 2. River and beach samples
ment overlooking the Chaco and Llanos as far north as
Association Rivers Beaches
the headwaters of the Magdalena River in southern
Colombia. Here its eastern limit is the divide, the Pacific 37 82
Sierrania de Bfiud6, that separates the Magdalena and Argentine 32 25
Atraco drainage from Pacific drainage. This association Caribbean 27 47
includes about 11.8% of South America. Transitional 93 0
Brazilian 162 99
There are 119 samples in the Pacific Association, of
which 82 are from beaches and 37 from rivers (Table 2). Total 351 253
220

PACIFIC ASSOCIATION 40|ARGENTINEASSOCIATION tion covers about 14.8% of South America. There are 57
40/ P9o=41 samples in the Argentine Association, of which 25 are
30J N 990= 48
3°1~ ~o-- 2~ from beaches and 32 from rivers. Because the Andean
/ III ~o=12 I rain shadow extends across most of Patagonia, virtually
all of these rivers have a low discharge and today, unlike
their Pleistocene precursors, carry little detritus to the sea.
09
0 .... ~,~,~,~,-, , . . . . . ~,N,N,~, , , As is true for many of the rivers in the arid parts of the
¢~ ~oTRANSITIONALASSOCIATION CARIBBEAN ASSOCIATION
Pacific Association, sand dunes commonly border or may
even temporarily block these low discharge streams,
161 Pg°=91 ~ 1 many of which are intermittent. The Argentine Associa-
cr~ 12j Pso=60 ~ ~ [ tion has a composition closely comparable with that of
5 8 P~°=25 the Pacific Association - its median value of quartz is
only 12% (Fig. 5), its average Q : F : R f ratio is 26:18:56
and almost all of its modern sands are lithic arenites
..... I .... dominated by volcanic rock fragments, which are even
BRAZILIAN ASSOCIATION ALL SOUTH AMERICA more abundant than those of the Pacific Association (63
Q- 80 4,
versus 51%). One sand has 86% rock fragments and

6°1
Pgo= 94 ~1 ~ = 98
3 another 44% feldspar. More than any other association,
~o-92 II ¢°==2 I the Argentine Association is dominated by volcanic
40 91°=51 2,
!°=1° 1 grains, 63%, even though appreciable metamorphic
20 1 grains are present (26 versus 45 % for the Pacific Associa-
tion). Its F p / F T ratio is also almost indentical to that of the
O"_ , _ ,_,~_,~,~,I1,/[ i
0 20 40 60 80 100 20 40 60 80 100 Pacific Association, 0.80 versus 0.77, as are the QM/Qa"
Percent Quartz ratios of 0.81 versus 0.77. Although published data are
not abundant, the clays of the Rio Colorado in Patagonia
Fig. 5. Histograms of carbonate-free quartz abundance plus median
and 90 and 10% percentiles
are probably representative of many Argentine rivers and
consist of smectite followed by 1 0 - 1 4 A interstratified
clay, by illite, chlorite and finally some kaolinite, mainly
low temperature hydrothermal, zeolite alteration. Sedi- with a volcanic provenance (Blasi, 1988).
mentary rock fragments form only about 4% of the
total.
Transitional Association

Argentine Association Ninety-three samples were obtained from this associa-

tion, which encompasses about 8.7% of South America.
The Argentine Association includes all of Argentina The main part of the association consists of lowlands
except portions of its northern provinces bordering the immediately east of the Andes (Llanos and Chaco) that
Paran/t and Pilcomayo Rivers. The Argentine Associa- extend from the Gulf of Paria in eastern Venezuela into

Fig. 6, Average values and 95% /~Monoquartz

confidence polygons of the
five South American mineral Total Q u a r t z / ~ / %
associations
BRAZILIAN
/tO ~RAZlUAN
c,.,o=,c /~ ou..z ~l/ - ~ /"/ \
,=~,o~ // \ CARIeeeAN \ I /\ \
=,,,=,,o,,,, "// \ // & , , \,3lcA=I;=E2,v,'~a \
,y /<o~= V / ,=A=.~,,,o " ',VA,/ ~ ~" ,RANSI.O,,,A,
,,,s,=,=, / Io,,,,c,%~-~ ~,'/ V ~ \ \

I I -~ /" ARC & ~ ~ \ARGENTINE ~ \

15 / / Lithics J I ~ i ~ \ "~::J:3 P A C I F I C

I I_~---- ~PA~C ..-" \ \

// ..- \.-- \ \
/ / / \ Lithics & Composite
/ / f / \ Quartz
Feldspar Lithics
 221

%
100f ANDEAN
~- 80~
Ii
~ ~ CARIBBEAN
50 O
o 50
(D C) m
Z
O O
Z
'-- 40
N
20 TRA ITIONAL

Fig. 7. Ratio of plagioclase to total feldsparin the five associations

and 95% confidenceintervals

SEDIMENTARY 50 PLUTONIC-METAMORPHIC
southern Bolivia almost to its border with Argentina. The
width of the association ranges from several hundred Fig. 8. Triangular diagram for rock fragments with 95% confidence
kilometers to more than 1200 km along the main trunk of polygons
the Solim6es, Ucaylai and Marafion Rivers, which drain
parts of Peru, Ecuador and Brazil. The northern part of
the association has a pronounced savanna climate and the than tributary sands derived from the Brazilian Shield,
portion along the Ucaylai and Solim6es Rivers has heavy have appreciable plagioclse feldspar and even have a few
rainfall, whereas southward into southern Bolivia there is unstable volcanic grains that survive to the Atlantic.
again a savanna climate that in northern Argentina Franzinelli and Potter (1983, their Fig. 3) mistakenly
changes into a semi-arid climate. attributed some locally derived quartz-rich sand as being
The other part of the association extends eastward representative of thalweg sand. Smectite and illite are the
along the Solim6es and Amazon Rivers, which carry sand dominant clay minerals present at the mountain front,
with an Andean petrographic signature across the conti- but kaolinite increases eastward.
nent to the Atlantic Ocean. The Maderia (Brazil), the Rio
Beni (its upstream name in Boliva) and the Rio Napo Caribbean Association
(Ecuador) are also part of the transitional association.
The Caribbean Association includes all those parts of the
These sands vary from those with a typical Andean
continent that drain to the Caribbean and is the smallest
composition in and near the Andes to more mature sands
of the five, covering only 3.4% of South America. It has
downstream. The median value of quartz in the Transitio-
one large river, the Magdalena. Seventy-five sand samples
nal Association is 60% (Fig. 5) and the average Q : F : R f
were studied, 48 from beaches and 27 from rivers. The
ratio is 61:7: 32. One sand of the Transitional Association
Caribbean Association has an overall petrographic com-
has as much as 90% rock fragments and another as much
position broadly similar to that of the Transitional
as 26% feldspar. The Fp/FT ratio is only 0.41 and the
Association: its median value of quartz is 62% (Fig. 5),
QM/QT ratio is 0.86. Rock fragments are dominated by
the Q : F : R f ratio is 57:13:30 and the Fp/FT ratio is 0.58.
metamorphic grains followed by volcanic grains, prob-
The QM/QT ratio is 0.80. One sand has as much as 95%
ably for two reasons - volcanic debris weathers more
rock fragments and another as much as 48% feldspar.
readily than metamorphic debris and, secondly, meta-
The dominant rock fragments are of metamorphic origin,
morphic rocks are more important in the eastern Andes
followed by sedimentary rock fragments. A major source
than volcanic rocks. Weathering during transit on tropi-
of the metamorphic grains are the metamorphic rocks of
cal flood plains, as well described by Johnsson et al.
the coastal Caribbean Mountains, where Caracas is
(1988), Savage and Potter (1991) and Johnsson et al.
located. Some volcanic grains are present, however,
(1991), plus contamination by more mature sand from
mostly carried by the Magdalena River and thus the
streams with a non-Andean cratonic source, help to dilute
dominant clay minerals carried in suspension are smectite
the initial Andean compositions. See Stallard et al. (1989)
and illite (Irion, 1983) derived from part of the northern
for full details.
volcanic zone of the Andes.
Nonetheless, the Andean petrographic signal is very
clear, because sands taken from the active channel of the
Brazilian Association
Amazon below Manaus and in its estuary have typical
Q: F: Rf ratios that range from about 68: 4: 28 to 76: 5:18. The Brazilian Association extends from the Rio de la
Such sands are far richer in metamorphic rock fragments Plata estuary all along the Atlantic coast to beyond the
222

mouth of the Orinoco River in Venezuela and includes all

Granite outcrop _-~-~-~- - ~ - of Amazonia plus all of the Orinoco and Paranfi water-
v e n e e r e d with ---'--~~-~ ~ ~
quartz s a n d " " ~ ~----~- ~ ' sheds up to their western limit against the Transitional
Association. The Brazilian Association covers about
~ ~ ~ . - ~:.:.'~..,~-..-!-. 61.3% of South America and has 260 samples, of which
162 are from rivers. The Brazilian Association is very
mature, its median value of quartz is 92%, and its average
Q : F : R f ratio is 86:7:7. This average obscures the
presence of some of the world's purest modern sands,
~t~]~;::~ Rio Negro
because it also includes the less mature sands of semi-arid
north-east Brazil as well as sands from small streams that
drain the Serra do Mar and the highlands of the Guyana
Shield (Gran Sabana). These pure quartz sands occur in
Fig. 9. Pure quartz first cycle arenites overlie Precambrian granite in tropical rivers with watersheds either in PreCambrian and
the watershed of the Rio Negro. Reproduced with permission from Paleozoic rocks or in non-Andean watersheds draining
Potter and Franzinelli (1985, their Fig. 2) molasse deposits that form the Tertiary foreland basin of
the Andes (Franzinelli and Potter, 1983, their Table 3;
Savage and Potter, 1990, their Table 3). Typically, these
low relief tropical streams (Figs 9 and 10) are dominated

Fig. 10. Pure quartz dominates

the lowlands and beaches 48035 '
proximal to the crystalline rocks
of the Serra do Mar in Paranfi,
Brazil. Redrawn from Bigarella ¢/. • , . "t
/ . ,
(1978, Fig. 15-2). This land- -25°40 '
scape contains two great petro-
graphic contrasts: arkosic sands f f f l
4"
in the upper reaches of the f
f /
active streams that drain the / das
Serra do Mar and kaolinite-
gibbsite-quartz colluvium on
the lower slopes of the Pre-
cambrian massif of the Serra do
Mar in close juxtaposition PRAIA
to quartz-rich beach ridges. ?DE LESTE
Three nearby samples of
modern beach sands have an
average Q : F : R f value of Y 0
98:2:0. See Savage et al. (1988)
for an essentially similar land- b
scape and petrology \
.k

0
,-?
(,
0
J, MATINHOS
j8:35, ~'~ 48°30 ,
I

by subangular monocrystalline quartz with a QM/QTratio
of 0.90, and whose quartz grains have solution pits and
incipient fractures filled with iron oxides (Claisse, 1972;
Clearly and Connolly, 1971); see Johnsson et al. (1991)
for careful documentation of the pure quartz arenites in
the lower reaches of the Orinoco, in spite of the fact that
its headwaters drain the Andes and parts of the Guyana
Highlands. The dominant associated clays are kaolinitic
with some gibbsite. When present, the principal feldspar
is potash so that the Fp/FT ratio is easily the lowest in all of
South America, only 0.29. Another characteristic feature
of these sands is a scattering of ferricrete and related iron-
and aluminium-rich alterites (Franzinelli and Potter,
1983, p. 27; Johnsson, 1990b); see Millot (1964, p. 68) for
an informative schematic drawing illustrating the origin
of such grains from the tropical weathering of a low-lying
craton. Rock fragments total only about 7% and these
are dominated by plutonic and metamorphic grains
(57%), followed by sedimentary fragments (40%), and
only about 4% volcanics. The dominant clay mineral of
this association is kaolinite Orion, 1983). Three subre-
gions of this association are the limited subarkosic and
arkosic sands around the Guyana Highlands (Johnsson
et al., 1991, their Fig. 14), the subarkosic and sublithic
sands found in some of the rivers of north-eastern Brazil
and those along the foot of the Serra do Mar (Fig. 10). In
these subassociations one sand has as much as 20% rock
fragments and another as much as 20% feldspar. None-
theless, the Brazilian Association stands completely apart
from the Andean, Argentine, Caribbean and Transitional
Associations.
Special results
A careful count of the kinds of rock fragments, extreme
values of principal framework grains, and average feld-
spar abundance provided valuable insights into sand
production across all of the continent and yielded some
notable surprises.
Carbonate rock fragments
The distribution of carbonate rock fragments, both
extraclasts and bioclasts, is of great interest (Table 3) and
is controlled by both the present low latitude of South
America and its long past history as part of Gondwana.
Carbonate abundance is assessed in two ways: its
abundance in the rock fragment count of 100 grains and
by its weighted abundance. Weighted abundance is the
product of total rock fragments times the percentage of
carbonate grains in the rock fragment count, Rf x Ca.
Both measures show that there is little detrital carbo-
nate in the modern river sands of South America, whereas
there is appreciable carbonate in its warm water modern
beaches (Table 3). For example, in the Transitional
Association, which is entirely riverine (Table 3), carbo-
nate grains are essentially absent. This contrast is explain-
ed by three factors: (1) present day and Tertiary tropical
223
Table 3. Weighted carbonate abundance: means and standard
deviations (%)
Average No. of
samples
Rivers versus beaches
Rivers 0.5 _ 1.6 226
Beaches 8.8 ± 16.3 190
Province Averages
Pacific 8.5 ± 14.8 111
Argentine 3.7 ± 10.9 55
Transitional 0.1 ± 0.1 79
Caribbean 12.8 ± 21.6 71
Brazilian 8.3 ± 14.5 100
weathering; (2) a low latitude, cool climate, terrigenous
heritage from Gondwana; and (3) the great dominance of
terrigenous debris provided by the Andes since the
Neogene. Thus a combination of a flood of terrigenous
debris from the Andes plus tropical weathering on
a stable craton emerge as the prime onshore controls. To
me, the long heritage of both factors deserves special
thought - South America's high latitude position
throughout much of the Paleozoic precluded appreciable
development of limestone or dolomite in most of its
basins and, after break-up at low latitude in the Jurassic,
South America drifted westward through low latitudes so
that tropical weathering has long been a major factor in
sand production on the continent. In one sense then, the
lack of abundant carbonate rock fragments in the modern
river sands of South America has an explanation trace-
able to a very long span of Phanerozoic history. One
wonders if similar 'long lead time' explanations are not
the rule rather than the exception, when provenance
history is studied on a continental scale?
Carbonate abundance (Table 3) in the four provinces
bordering the oceans is almost totally controlled by its
abundance in their respective beach sands, except in the
Transitional Association, where the abundance closely
parallels that of all South American rivers. The greatest
abundance, 12.8%, is in the Caribbean beach sands
because warm, tropical, inshore water favors carbonate
productivity, followed by a lesser abundance in the
Brazilian and Pacific Associations, 8.3 and 8.5%, respec-
tively. The Argentine Association has much less, 3.7%
reflecting the cool, subpolar waters of its coastline. The
carbonate abundances shown in Table 3 are conservative;
when sampling the beaches of a continent for its typical
terrigeneous detritus, local high concentrations of carbo-
nate on a beach were avoided.
Volcanic rock fragments
What additional analyses can be made of the volcanic
debris across the entire continent? To address this ques-
tion, the Pacific coastline was divided into segments with
and without direct access to its modern volcanic zones
(Fig. 11) and the abundance of four variables considered:
224

Fig. l l . Pacific Association

separated into regions of direct
(shaded) and no direct (blank) 1ON
access to the contemporary
volcanism of the Andes. The COCOS
Atacama Desert of northern
Chile provides an effective
PLATE
barrier that prevents transport
of sand-sized volcanic grains
to the coast ION

Orinoco Drainage

I0~
PA CIFIC D R A I N A

Amazon Drainage
NAZCA
PLATE
2 0 ,~

30~ ":"."J VOLCANOES

Paran~ Drainage

40S~ • j

50S

0 500 1000
• km.

)OW 80W 6(

total rock fragments, weighted rock fragments, and the
Fp/FT and QM/QT ratios (Fig. 2; Table 4). In the Pacific
Association there are four coastal zones whose rivers have
direct access to the volcanic zones (Esmeraldas, Tacna,
Copiapo and Concepcidn) whereas in the Caribbean
province only the Magdalena River carries some volcanic
debris directly to the coast. Care was taken in northern
Chile to recognize the role of the closed basin of the
Atacama Desert in intercepting volcanic detritus before it
reaches the coast. Of the four variables studied, weighted
 225

Table 4. Carbonate-free indices of volcanism on Pacific coast
(means and standard deviations, %)
Volcanic Non-volcanic
(n = 40) (n = 79)
Total rock fragments in 70.2 4- 6.7 60.7 + 4.7
Q:F:Rf*
Weighted volcanics RFv 43.4 _+9.5 24.1 _+ 5.6
Fp/F~ + 0.85 ± 0.06 0.78 ± 0,05
Q,,/Q~* 0.81 + 0.18 0.76 + 0.21
* Q = quartz, F = feldspar, Rf = rock fragments.
+ Plagioclase/total feldspar.
* Monocrystalline quartz/total quartz.
volcanics, R f x Rfv, most effectively separates areas with
direct present access from those that do not have direct
access to the Pacific Association. Overall contrast is
probably reduced by two factors: volcanic grains recycled
from earlier deposits and possibly even by present day
eolian coastal transport (Gay, 1962). Thus the broad
conclusion seems to be that along a long active continen-
tal margin, sediment mixing owing to erosion of earlier
volcanic-rich deposits and longshore coastal currents will
tend to homogenize some of the volcanic signal; the major
volcanic arc can itself easily be identified, but a study of
light mineral provenance alone may have difficulty in
identifying major volcanic segments within the arc mar-
gin. A heavy mineral study, or the compositional varia-
tions of a single mineral, seem to be needed for additional
discrimination (Haughton et al., 1991, pp. 3 - 5).
Extreme values of principal framework grains
Maximum 'high end' values of quartz, feldspar and rock
fragments in the 604 studied modern sands of South
America reveal much about the extremes of sand genera-
tion everywhere.
In the Brazilian Assoziation there are many samples of
both river and beach sands that have quartz contents
between 97 and 99%. Few, if any, of these are derived
from pre-existing quartz-rich sedimentary rocks, but
rather come from old tropical latosols developed on
Precambrian rocks or from the tropical weathering of
coastal plain sands proximal to nearby Precambrian
massifs. Similar sand generation on tropical cratons must
have been c o m m o n in the ancient past and points to the
possibility that some ancient quartz arenites may have
had similar origins. Grain angularity would seem to be an
important discriminator between ancient recycled (well
rounded) and 'first cycle' (angular) quartz arenites.
High end values of rock fragments rival those of quartz.
The Pacific and Caribbean Associations include some
samples that consist of 96% rock fragments! Such extreme
values are most likely to occur in locally derived sands with
either a volcanic or metamorphic source. Boggs (1992,
p. 346) suggested that steep slopes are also important. The
maximum value of feldspar, on the other hand, is only 48 %,
which occurs along the Caribbean coast and is comparable
with, but lower than, the 5 0 - 60% range summarized by
Pettijohn etal. (1987, p. 1 5 3 - 1 5 4 ) for arkoses. These
smaller values of feldspar reflect its upper limit of abundance
in granitic rocks, in contrast with the almost total removal of
all grains except quartz in tropical weathering (or progressi-
ve recycling) or the fragmentation processes that yield sand
consisting almost totally of metamorphic or volcanic grains
given these two rocks as sources. This analysis also makes
clear that unusually high concentrations of rock fragments
in sandstones will tend to be much more local than high
concentrations of quartz - and far less c o m m o n in the
geological record.
Micas
How do the average values of single flakes of detrital
micas compare between the rivers and beaches of South
America? Traditional geological opinion holds that size-
grade-per-size-grade river sands are richer in detrital
micas than well washed beach sands. River sands average,

Fig. 12. Stepwise cumulative ] 00

curves of key petrographic
variables. Black bars indicate
maximum differences. Only 80
total weighted rock fragments
proved to be significantly °~
different between volcanic and 0~"
non-volcanic regions of the ~ 60
Pacific Association. The Ko- "~
t~
molgorv-Smirnov test (Siegal, "~
1956) was used to test for E 40
significance at the 0.95 level
O
20
~ G G E I S S I

20 40 60 80 100
Weighted Volcanics & Total Rock Fragments, %
226

on a carbonate-free basis, 1.0 _+ 2.2% mica in South I

6O s'0
I
4O
America, whereas beach sands average statistically less,
only 0.3 + 0.62. In river sands the maximum value of 10-

detrital mica is 16% versus a maximum value of only +

4.1% in beach sands. Thus this difference supports the +
-b
-k
q- ++
long held view that beach sands are among the world's
best sorted sands and the most likely to be free of clays 0-
and micas. -4- , + + +~,
-k f -5 -~
- 5 +d / / 5 + + (- + + ++
+
+ -+ -k
Three great families of modern sands and ÷ 10-
+f -I- _f//
their global significance
÷ +-,7+ -~
Three great families r q-
-5
+
+ + +
In broad overview, all the modern sands of South -4-- -4- -20 -
+ +
America belong to three great families (Figs. 13 - 15) that -5
largely reflect the three great physiographic divisions of %
ANDEAN -/-
South America (Fig. 1 A).
-30
The Andean family of sands, a combination of the -30 -
Pacific, Argentine and Caribbean Associations, covers Rio de la Plata
30.0% of South America and chiefly consists of lithic
arenites; most samples have an overwhelming abundance PROVENANCEOF SAND
of rock fragments, Q: F: Rf = 33 : 15: 52. Overall, weight- -40
Andean
ed volcanic rock fragments average 24.2% and are most -40

abundant in and near the three volcanic zones of the [ - ~ Transitional

Andes. Somewhat surprisingly, however, metamorphic
rock fragments are the second most abundant type almost
everywhere in this province and average 15.7%, whereas
all other types individually average less than 2%. This
abundance of metamorphic grains is probably caused by
the widespread presence of metamorphic rocks along the
entire Andean chain, in contrast with its three well
defined, but restricted, contemporary volcanic zones,
which provide a veneer of volcanic debris and flows.
Feldspar averages 15.2% and the ratio of plagioclase to
total feldspar is high and averages 0.73, typical of the
andesite-diorite igneous rock clan of an active margin.
The presence of the Andean sand family on Argentina's
passive margin is primarily the result of three factors: the
semi-arid climate of much of Argentina; the rapid
narrowing of the continent south of the Rio de la Plata
estuary; and also because much of it is probably relict
from Pleistocene meltwater rivers. Such 'over-printings'
are surely something to reckon with in the study of
ancient basins.
The other great family of modern sands in South
America is the Brazilian family, a cratonic or shield
family, which covers 61.8% of South America and has an
average Q : F : R f ratio of 86:7:7. Quartz is dominant
because all of the area, except for a narrow band of
deposits related to the Solimoes/Amazon Rivers, has long
been a stable shield with tropical weathering. As expres-
sed well by Bennema et al. (1962), the soils, and conse-
quently the supermature sands washed from them, of the
Brazilian and Guyanan highlands are the products of
a long history of landscape evolution that dates back to
the break-up of the Gondwana. In other words, many of
the present day soils of these highlands far predate the
r~ Brazilian
90 80 - ¢~ 60 50 40 30
I I ~ I [ I J
Fig. 13. Distribution of three great families of modern sands across
South America; the Caribbean, Argentine and Andean associations
are combined into one superfamily
Neogene uplift of the Andes (see Jordan and Gardeweg,
1989). Here many modern sands consist almost of 100%
quartz in tropical rivers that drain either crystalline rocks
or weathered Tertiary molasse. Except for carbonates of
biogenic origin, quartz also predominates in the beach
sands of this family. Some subarkosic and sublithic sands
do occur, however, in semi-arid north-east Brazil and in
the streams draining the Sierra do Mar, an old uplifted
Precambrian massif that extends along much of the coast
of south-eastern Brazil. The ratio of plagioclase to total
feldspar, Fv/FT, in these sands averages only 0.29, a value
characteristic of mature sands derived from the tropical
weathering of a stable shield.
Intermediate between these two great families, a much
smaller family of transitional modern sands covers about
8.7% of South America and occurs along the proximal
Llanos bordering the Andes in Venezuela and Colombia,
in parts of the Chaco near the Andes, and along major
east-flowing streams such as the Solimoes, Amazon and
the Maderia, whose volume and rapidity of transport
preclude appreciable in situ weathering as can occur
where supply is less along the Orinoco drainage. The
sands of the transitional family of the Amazon thus carry
an Andean petrographic signal to a far distant passive
margin even though the river crosses a great tropical
 227

Fig. 14. Triangular diagrams of avera- Quartz

ge values and 95% confidence polygons
of three continent-wide families:
the Caribbean, Argentine and Andean
associations are combined into one BRAZILIAN
superfamily as in Fig. 13 : (A) Q: F: Rf
and (B) rock fragments

ARITHMETIC A V E R A G E / \
ALL SOUT~ f A M E R I C ~ T'RANSITIONAL

AQRUEA~ITZ~9~BUTH
I~C \ / " ~ ~ \..~50
\

Feldspa? 50 RockFragments
Feldspar Rock Fragments

lowland. Even though the western tributaries of the
Paranfi River head in the Andes (Pilcomayo in Argentina
and Paraguay), near its mouth the sands of the Paranfi are
quartz-rich just as are those of the Orinoco.
Is there a broader significance to these three families?
M y answer is a strong 'Yes'! To see why, simply replace
Andean by 'alpine' and be not concerned if this associa-
tion has volcanic debris or not, because in every case it
will be overwhelmingly lithic-rich. With this simple
change, South America's three great families become
Fig. 15. Weighted abundance of key rock fragments
o ~ E
o
dC
three world-wide families: debris characteristic of an
active/suture margin (Andean), debris typical of a conti-
nental, molassic apron (Transitional Association), and
a cratonic (passive margin) association, which will always
be quartz-rich and dramatically so, if in the tropics.
Changes in continental tectonics or climate leading to
reorganization of continental paleoslopes, development
of a continent-spanning embryonic rift, drift of a conti-
nent into another climatic zone, or rejuvenation of a great
transcontinental arch, can all change continental distri-
bution patterns but will leave the arithmetic averages of
these great families largely intact. Thus these three South
American families should have a universality far beyond
South America itself.

E c E
-- 0~ 0 (D Estimating a continental average composition
¢-
~D The generalized family map of Figure 13 is used to
O calculate an area-weighted average composition of the
modern sands of South America (Tables 5 and 6). This
n_
area-weighted average of Qa: Fa: Rf, = 68:10:22 is richer
ID
in quartz and has almost identical total feldspar, but is
¢-
impoverished in rock fragments compared with the
1233 arithmetic continental average of 60:11 : 29 (Tables 1 and
ID 5), all the result of the great area of the cratonic
quartz-rich association. Because it is area-weighted, the
ratios 68:10:22 are much more meaningful than the
arithmetic average. How does the actual modal composi-
tion differ from these ratios? On a carbonate-free basis,
ID CRATONIC,92 not very much (Tables 5 and 6). Again the area-weighted
>
<
composition is richer in quartz and deficient in rock
228

Table 5. ContinentalAverage composition: Normalized Ratios Let's suppose

Q:F:Rf Area % Qa: Fa: Rf,
The striking tectonic asymmetry of South America and
Andean 32.9:15.1:52.0 31.8 10.5 4.8 10.5 the simplicity of its three great families of modern sands
Transitional 61.1:6.8:32.1 6.4 3.9 0.4 2.1 invites several questions of this general form, 'For
Brazilian 86.2:7.2:6.6 61.8 53.3 4.5 4.1 a constant tectonic setting, how would orographic diffe-
Average 60.1:10.5:29.4" 67.7 9.7 22.7+
rences affect sand composition and production?' For
* Arithmetic mean. example, what would sand distribution be if the present
÷ Area-weightedmean.
tectonic configuration of South America were retained,
but its orientation changed - if the continent were
Table 6. Continental average composition: average carbonate-free rotated east-west and the Andes placed along the
model compositions
equator? Or if the continent were rotated east-west and
QT FT RfT M C HM the Andes placed at 40 ° S latitude in the 'roaring forties'?
Or finally, suppose South America were turned 'upside
Arithmetic mean 58.8 9.7 24.4 0.7 0.5 5.8 down'? Although other possibilities exist, these three
Area-weighted mean 66.4 9.1 18.4 0.5 0.5 5.1
seem to provide starting points with maximum contrast.
For all three, the present atmospheric and oceanic
circulations in the southern hemisphere are assumed to
fragments because of the great influence of the quartz- prevail.
rich cratonic family. For both, the average sand is Consider first an Andes parallel to and at the equator
a sublithic arenite, one in which rock particles are about (Fig. 16A). Add an annual rainfall of 2 - 3 m, and even
twice as abundant as feldspar. It should also be noted that perhaps 4 - 5 m locally, as well as a winterless climate, to
the average composition of the Transitional Association the Andes throughout its entire 9 000 km length and the
is almost identical to that of the arithmetic continental result would be staggering weathering and sediment
average, 61:7:32 versus 60:11:29. production on both its oceanic and continental sides with
How do the values of Table 5 compare with other vast consequences for continental sand composition.
petrographic averages of modern sands? The grand Inboard there would be far-ranging alluvial fans capping
average of feldspar in modern sands (Pettijohn et al., thick foreland basins so that the present limits of the lithic
1987, their Table 2-1) is 15.3% and almost identical to the arenite apron would extend further onto the craton and
average of North American sandstones, 14.4%, and to rapid sedimentation would still probably leave most of
those of the Russian platform, 15.3% all higher than the Patagonia covered by lithic arenites, although down-
average for South America. These higher values, both stream compositional change probably would be greater
modern and ancient, may reflect sampling of a cooler than that of today, because of a wetter climate. However,
climate, northern hemisphere setting that dominated the greatest difference would be that most of the present
continents after the post-Gondwana break-up. South American shield would lie between 15° and 30°S
And how does the area-weighted average value com- latitude in the zone of dry, high pressure so that its climate
pare with the composition of the 'average sandstone'? would be semi-arid to arid, perhaps even a small Sahara
Clarke (1924, p. 3), using chemical analyses, estimated Desert, and consequently its sands would be much less
that the average sandstone consists of 66.8% quartz, mature than today; certainly richer in feldspar and
11.5% feldspar, 11.1% carbonate and 10.6% other possibly even subarkosic. In short, quartz arenites would
minerals. Recalculating on a carbonate-free basis, these no longer be the dominant petrographic type of the shield
values become 75.1% quartz, 12.9% feldspar and 11.9% as is largely true today. And, finally, because the Amazon
'other', in which only the feldspar content is comparable in its lower course would flow through a much drier
with the area-weighted 10% estimated for modern South region like that of the Nile today, more immature Andean
American sands. Ronov et al. (1966, Table 2), averaged debris would reach the passive margin.
actual sandstone compositions for the Russian platform Now consider an Andes centered about 40 ° S latitude in
and obtained, when recalculated on a carbonate-free the roaring forties (Fig. 16B). In this scenario, sediment
basis, 74.9% quartz, 16.5% feldspar and 2.8% rock production and weathering everywhere would be much
fragments; more quartz and more feldspar and signifi- less than if the Andes were centered along the equator
cantly fewer rock fragments. Although we can but and, in addition, alpine glacial erosion would be intense
speculate, it may be that rock fragments were underesti- and piedmont glaciers would be widespread. Again,
mated in the analysis of Russian sandstones. Although however, there would be an Andean apron of lithic
these differences cannot be resolved easily, it seems clear arenite and much of the South American shield would lie
that the method of area-averaging of an entire continent under the high pressure zone and have a semi-arid to arid
is the best way to estimate the composition of not only its climate, all except the northernmost corner which would
modern sands, but also for a world-wide modern sand have a tropical climate and generate quartz arenites
average. It also is clear that changing the areas of the three instead of the subarkosic sands found in its rivers today.
great families is how to change the average surficial sand The third possibility, a South America 'upside down'
composition of a continent. (Fig. 16 C), would have a Patagonia with sand probably
 229

Ir 10 j / ~ j / " ......./- - , ,10 i , , I I

/ 0
__ "":'" :.; ~:.~..:;~..:~.~.~:.~ .~.~.:~v::..:~..:.~:.~: :~.:~..~:~..;~.~:. "~
l ....... .....:...::....... • .; .:. !..'.-

io .... .: ) ,., 10

A • _ 30
30
A 40°

I Greatly ~ N ~, " "

I ;g=d S ..... 3 t /

oj ~ Andes

I ~ ~ ' ' " ~ "~ " ~ 4°°"I I~)ii~i:;!:)i';}~i;i}~iLithic

i:i'!ii)] arenite
B 5o-[ ~ Prevailingwinds
Fig. 16. Suggested distribution oflithic arenitesin a South America fying factors in continental sand distribution and type
with different orientations, but identical configuration of tectonic - even when tectonic elements and activity remain
elements
constant across a continent.

comparable with that of Fig. 16B, and, in addition,

a South America 'upside down' would produce the largest Conclusions
of all deserts - a strong rain shadow in Patagonia, one
east of the Andes in Columbia and Peru and a semi- 1. Three great families of modern sands dominate both
arid/arid region under the southern high pressure zone the rivers and beaches of South America: (1) an
across much of cratonic South America. The result would Andean family oflithic arenites rich in both volcanic
be a vast arid region, exceeding the present Sahara. In and metamorphic grains; (2) a cratonic association
addition, the Amazon would be greatly reduced in rich in quartz; and (3) a transitional, molasse
volume and possibly be a braided stream, carry immature association that separates the two.
debris to its mouth, and probably have a volume less than 2. The continent-wide arithmetic average composition
that of the present day Nile. is Q: F: R f = 60:11 : 29, whereas the continent-wide,
At least three broad conclusions applicable to sand weighted-average composition of 68 : 10:22 is richer
genesis everywhere emerge from this analysis. First, the in quartz and poorer in rock fragments, because the
present day orientation of South America seems to cratonic association covers about 61% of the conti-
maximize its production of quartz arenites, because it nent.
provides the maximum rainfall over a stable craton. 3. The composition of the Transitional Association,
Secondly, the present configuration seems to be the most 61:7:32, is almost identical to that of the grand
favorable for the giant size of the present Amazon. And arithmetic average for the entire continent,
finally, soils and climate emerge again as essential modi- 60:11:29.
230
4. 'High end' values of quartz of 9 8 - 99% are com-
m o n in the cratonic family of sands, the maximum
value of rock fragments is 96% in the Andean family
and the maximum value of feldspar o f 48% also
occurs in the Andean family along its Caribbean
coast.
5. There is a close, continent-wide association between
landscape, soils, and modern sand composition
across all of South America, one that has its origins
both in ancient landscapes that are preserved in the
shields of South America and in the tectonically
young landscapes of the Andes.
6. Climate is a key variable in determining the compo-
sition of sand across a continent along with the
distribution and activity of major continental tecto-
nic elements.
7. Climate can cause 'leaks' when weathering is re-
tarded by aridity or it can serve as a barrier when
tropical weathering eliminates unstable grains in
transport to the sea. In addition, it seems possible
that aridity on a continental scale may even lead to
far reaching eolian dispersion independent of pa-
leoslope.
8. Carbonate grains are almost totally absent in the
modern river sands o f South America for three
reasons: first, during much of the Paleozoic Gond-
wana lay at low latitudes so Brazilian basins were far
richer in terrigenous debris rather than carbonates;
secondly, because of long tropical weathering after
the break-up of G o n d w a n a ; and, thirdly, because of
the great dominance of terrigenous debris provided
by the uplift of the Andes. This suggests that when
provenance studies are undertaken on a continental
scale, events far in the past need to be considered
when seeking explanations of even only its contem-
porary surficial sands.
9. Carbonate grains in beach sands are most abundant
along the Brazilian and Caribbean coasts of the
continent, have moderate abundance along the
Pacific coast and are least abundant along the
Argentine coast.
10. Metamorphic grains rival volcanic grains as an
earmark in the Andean family of sands and in the
Transitional Association of the Solimoes and Ama-
zon Rivers metamorphic grains far exceed volcanic
grains probably for two reasons: metamorphic
source rocks far outweigh volcanics in the Andes as
a whole and, secondly, mica quartz schists are more
stable under tropical weathering than volcanic
grains.
11. The Andean petrographic signal of metamorphic
rock fragments and plagioclase that is present in the
estuary of the A m a z o n shows that thoughtful
consideration and caution are always needed when
making tectonic inferences based on the sandstone
petrology of Paleozoic and older basins. This obser-
vation becomes even more important when we
recognize the possibility (some would say the prob-
ability) that before the Miocene, ancestral Amazo-
nas drainage was to the Pacific rather than to the
Atlantic.
12. The present position of South America seems to
maximize both its production of quartz arenites and
the great size of the A m a z o n River, because the
present position provides the greatest tectonically
stable area with the highest rainfall.
13. When counting only a few hundred grains per slide,
the use of a weighted rock fragment abundance
seems to be an effective technique, one that deserves
more consideration in future studies.
Acknowledgements My interest in South America has had a long
history starting with an initial invitation from the Universidade de
Sao Paulo in 1974.
In the subsequent 18 years I have received help from many
supportive organizations and individuals in South America: in
Brazil, PETROBRAS, Universidade de Amazonas, UN1SINOS,
Universidade Estadual de Maringfi, Universidade Estadual de Sao
Paulo and Universidade Federal de Forteleza; in Uruguay, the
Universidad de la Republica; in Argentina the Universidad de la
Plata, the Universidad de Juy-Juy, Universidad de la Pampa, the
Universidad de Cordoba, the ServicioNaeional de Geologia and the
national oil company, YPF, Esso Argentina, and Total Austral.; in
Chile, the Universidad de Autofagasto, the Universidad de Santi-
ago, the Universidad de Concepci6n and the national oil company,
ENAP; in Peru, Occidental Peruana; in Ecuador US AID and
Instituto Oceanographica; in Colombia SERGEOMIN; and in
Venezuela the Universidad de Caracas and the oil company,
INTEVEE The US National Science Foundation supported my
initial study of beach sands around South America beginning in
1981.
Individuals deserving special mention include Elena Franzinelli
and Vicente Fulfaro, plus many friends at PETROBRAS, all of
Brazil. Others include Juan Carlos Riggi and Martin Iriondo of
Argentina; Jose Ferrar, Nicholas Munoz and Andreina Isea of
Venezuela; R Moyna of Uruguay; and Manuel Suarez of Chile. In
the USA, Daniel Peterson, Mark Carrozza and the late Roger
Steubing, all of the University of Cincinnati, provided many hours of
patient and vital computational support, as did Charron Kirkland,
who typed the many needed letters and the manuscript. Early
readers included J. B. Maynard and David Nash of the University of
Cincinnati, Sam Boggs, Jr of the University of Oregon and Arthur
Bloom of Cornell University.
The above organizations and individuals and unmentioned others
provided essential help during the 18 years &this hobby project. To all,
in both Portuguese and Spanish South American, 'Muito obrigado/
muchas gracias' !
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