GEOC 10 - Unraveling the provenance of the North Sea muds in the Belgian coastal area using clay mineralogy
Zeelmaekers, E.; Vandenberghe, N.; Srodon, J. (2008). GEOC 10 - Unraveling the provenance of the North Sea muds in the Belgian coastal area using clay mineralogy. Abstr. Pap. Am. Chem. Soc. 235
In: Abstracts of Papers of the American Chemical Society. American Chemical Society: Washington. ISSN 0065-7727, more
Large amounts of mud are transported throughout the North Sea, causing the deposition of a considerable mudplate in the Belgian coastal area. Despite their impact on environmental and economical issues, the provenance of these muds remained unknown. As part of a large interdisciplinary project, the clay mineralogy of these muds – from suspension as well as from bottom samples - was analyzed and compared with the clay mineralogy of all the hypothesized source areas. The characterization of hundreds of such samples was carried out in a standardized way using pretreatments, qualitative and quantitative analysis of oriented slides in Ca-form, analysis of 06-reflections and Mg, K & Li saturations. The results made it possible to exclude some of the major potential source areas and give an insight into the provenance history of the muds, indicating mixed origins and underlining the complicated hydrodynamic and sedimentological setting of the nearby Scheldt Estuary.
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