Petrographic and geochemical studies of Proterozoic sandstones of Patherwa Formation, Son Valley, India: implication for provenance and weathering history

• Published in: Arabian journal of geosciences Vol. 8; no. 4; pp. 1977 - 1991
• Main Authors: Ahmad, Abul Hasnat Masood, Agrawal, Ruchi, Irshad, Roohi
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01-04-2015
• Subjects: Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Original Paper; India; Patherwa Formation; Son Valley; Petrographic and geochemical studies; Sandstone; India
• ISSN: 1866-7511; 1866-7538
• DOI: 10.1007/s12517-014-1313-2

The petrography as well as major, trace, and rare earth element (REE) compositions of Mesoproterozoic Patherwa Formation sandstones have been investigated to determine provenance, and weathering history of the sediments. The sandstone is fine to coarse grained, moderately to well sorted, and subangular to rounded. The sandstones are mineralogically mature and mainly quartzarenitic to subarkosic in composition. The A-CN-K ternary plot and CIA values suggest that the source rocks suffered from moderate chemical weathering. Various geochemical discriminants, elemental ratios like La/Sc, Th/Sc, Th/Cr, (Gd/Yb)n and negative Eu anomalies indicate granite source for these sandstone with a minor contribution of granodioritic and volcanic input in a passive margin setting.