Beruflich Dokumente
Kultur Dokumente
Precambrian Research
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a r t i c l e
i n f o
Article history:
Received 2 November 2007
Received in revised form 23 April 2008
Accepted 27 April 2008
Keywords:
Ikorongo Group
Mudrocks
Geochemistry
Weathering
Provenance
a b s t r a c t
The Neoproterozoic Ikorongo Group, which lies unconformably on the late Archaean Nyanzian Supergroup
of the Tanzania Craton, is comprised of conglomerates, quartzites, shales, siltstones, red sandstones with
rare agstones and gritstones and is regionally subdivided into four litho-stratigraphic units namely the
Makobo, Kinenge, Sumuji and Masati Formations.
We report geochemical data for the mudrocks (i.e., shales and siltstones) from the Ikorongo basin in an
attempt to constrain their provenance and source rock weathering. These mudrocks are compositionally
similar to PAAS and PS indicating derivation from mixed macfelsic sources. However, the siltstones
show depletion in the transition elements (Cr, Ni, Cu, Sc and V) and attest to a more felsic protolith than
those for PAAS and PS. The Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA: 5282) reveal a moderately weathered
protolith for the mudrocks. The consistent REE patterns with LREE-enriched and HREE-depleted patterns
((La/Yb)CN = 7.338.3) coupled with negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.71 on average), which characteristics are similar to the average PAAS and PS, illustrate cratonic sources that formed by intra-crustal
differentiation.
Geochemical considerations and palaeocurrent indications suggest that the provenance of the Ikorongo Group include high-Mg basaltic-andesites, dacites, rhyolites and granitoids from the Neoarchaean
Musoma-Mara Greenstone Belt to the north of the Ikorongo basin. Mass balance calculations suggest relative contributions of 47%, 42% and 11% from granitoids, high-magnesium basaltic-andesites and dacites,
respectively to the detritus that formed the shales. Corresponding contributions to the siltstones detritus
are 53%, 43% and 4%.
2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
1. Introduction
In clastic sedimentary rocks, the trace elements such as rare
earth elements (REE) and Th are said to be relatively insoluble
and as a result their original compositions are not upset during
weathering, erosion and transportation from the parent rocks to
depositional environments (Taylor et al., 1986). Although, processes such as weathering, hydraulic sorting, and post-depositional
diagenesis have been reported to distort geochemical information about the source area (e.g., Nesbitt and Young, 1982), yet,
ratios of the immobile trace elements normally reect those of
the source rocks rather than the effects of sedimentary processes
(Taylor and McLennan, 1985). It is on this basis, therefore, that the
chemistry of ne-grained clastic sedimentary rocks has been long
utilized for making inference on source rock compositions, palaeo-
Corresponding author. Tel.: +255 784 77 56 56; fax: +255 222 41 00 78.
E-mail address: kcharls16@yahoo.com (C. Kasanzu).
0301-9268/$ see front matter 2008 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.
doi:10.1016/j.precamres.2008.04.007
202
Fig. 1. Generalized tectono-stratigraphic map of Tanzania (modied from ASGA/UNESCO, 1968). The regional setting of the study area shown in Fig. 2 is indicated in the inset
box.
gradual transition, by thick bedded, ne- to medium-grained crossbedded red sandstones of the Masati Formation. On the basis of
their geographical distribution, the rocks of the Ikorongo Group
were most likely derived from weathering, erosion and deposition
of rocks that constituted the exposed upper continental crust of the
Tanzania Craton during the late Proterozoic (Kasanzu, 2007).
3. Sampling and analytical methodology
Samples presented here include shales and siltstones (here
termed as mudrocks) collected from the Sumuji Formation in view
of the fact that ne-grained clastic sedimentary rocks are more useful in geochemical studies than the coarser ones (e.g., Taylor and
McLennan, 1985). Mudrocks are ne-grained siliciclastic rocks rich
in clay minerals (Yong, 2002). Clays preserve source rock chemical signatures due to the fact their mineralogy is rarely affected
during diagenesis and metamorphosis (Weaver, 1989). Fifty-four
mudrock samples collected after careful geological mapping were
trimmed to remove weathered surfaces and subsequently crushed
in a jig-saw crusher for size reduction. The particles were washed
and oven-dried at 70 C overnight. The dried samples were then
left to cool for 24 h. The samples were pulverized in an agate planetary mill to a grain size of <0.063 mm, homogenized and packed
into plastic bags. Five grams of aliquots of each powdered sample
were packed and sent to the Activation Laboratories Ltd. of Ontario,
Canada, for major and trace elements determination.
Major and trace elements were analyzed with a Thermo
Jarrell-Ash ENVIRO II Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission
Spectrometer (ICP-OES) and a PerkinElmer SCIEX ELAN 6000 Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometer (ICP-MS), respectively.
For ICP analyses, 0.25 g aliquots of each sample were mixed with
203
Fig. 2. Geological map of the study area showing the sample locations (modied from Kasanzu, 2007).
limits were 0.01 wt% for all major elements and 2 ppm for Sc. Calibration was performed using seven USGS and Canmet certied
reference materials. Loss on Ignition (LOI) was determined from
the weight loss after roasting the samples at 1050 C for 2 h. Totals
ranged between 98.4 wt% and 100.6 wt% for major elements. The
other aliquot of the sample solution was spiked with internal In and
Rh standards to cover the entire mass range, and further diluted
204
Siltstones (N = 13)
Mean
Mean
Mean
STDEV
STDEV
STDEV
SiO2
Al2 O3
FeO(T)
MnO
MgO
CaO
Na2 O
K2 O
TiO2
P2 O5
LOI
60.83
18.26
8.41
0.16
1.34
0.16
0.74
3.97
0.80
0.11
4.66
5.75
3.26
1.58
0.18
0.58
0.18
0.43
0.72
0.21
0.12
1.05
62.45
17.82
7.02
0.10
2.01
0.16
1.11
3.34
0.80
0.07
4.85
3.71
1.90
0.80
0.06
0.30
0.04
0.55
0.66
0.07
0.02
1.15
76.67
9.19
6.04
0.15
1.40
0.27
1.66
1.31
0.44
0.05
2.52
8.91
4.39
2.19
0.19
0.79
0.29
0.83
1.06
0.25
0.03
0.87
Total
CIA
99.44
75.60
0.56
3.63
99.73
75.67
0.69
3.14
99.70
66.71
0.71
7.27
19.57
88.67
159.67
19.50
59.31
15.60
207.57
104.50
23.83
119.57
12.13
7.95
1043.17
63.85
105.45
13.03
42.65
7.74
1.55
5.79
0.85
4.55
0.83
2.44
0.36
2.33
0.34
3.45
1.55
18.83
2.76
3.22
17.94
54.49
8.24
18.50
19.60
37.71
42.35
3.61
29.52
2.61
1.87
274.52
21.14
25.07
3.33
10.02
1.58
0.27
1.11
0.14
0.74
0.13
0.38
0.05
0.35
0.05
0.82
0.70
4.38
0.61
18.50
85.50
165.71
19.71
56.43
34.29
168.14
67.71
22.79
142.57
12.29
4.55
926.50
52.70
97.14
11.29
37.77
6.92
1.37
5.29
0.78
4.22
0.78
2.34
0.35
2.30
0.34
4.11
1.59
18.46
3.17
2.41
14.23
44.33
7.22
13.93
19.89
40.56
11.93
3.96
22.76
1.14
2.83
296.57
18.02
12.71
2.76
8.78
1.46
0.21
1.24
0.13
0.68
0.14
0.38
0.06
0.37
0.05
0.54
0.48
2.21
0.47
8.00
46.62
63.85
17.62
26.15
11.54
67.69
42.92
19.62
216.23
7.62
3.19
399.62
31.23
66.43
7.26
25.59
5.31
1.09
4.42
0.68
3.62
0.68
2.02
0.30
1.99
0.30
5.83
0.89
15.06
2.50
4.86
23.21
29.02
11.35
22.56
12.14
50.14
24.05
7.97
263.45
3.82
2.85
380.50
15.87
34.57
3.67
12.36
2.27
0.35
1.56
0.24
1.30
0.25
0.85
0.15
1.05
0.18
7.18
0.53
11.39
1.50
6.90
3.26
1.08
8.87
1.11
0.71
5.26
1.99
1.20
0.89
0.23
3.27
0.58
0.03
0.90
0.27
5.87
2.92
1.01
9.05
1.08
0.71
4.72
1.85
0.61
1.23
0.13
2.65
0.39
0.04
0.51
0.18
5.89
4.98
0.61
4.99
1.44
0.71
3.68
1.98
1.14
3.71
0.27
1.88
0.88
0.06
0.64
0.74
256.27
50.83
211.34
16.68
150.93
73.77
Sc
V
Cr
Co
Ni
Cu
Rb
Sr
Y
Zr
Nb
Cs
Ba
La
Ce
Pr
Nd
Sm
Eu
Gd
Tb
Dy
Ho
Er
Tm
Yb
Lu
Hf
Ta
Th
U
Th/U
La/Sc
Sc/Th
Cr/Th
Co/Th
Eu/Eu*
(La/Sm)CN
(Gd/Yb)CN
TREE
TREE means total rare earth elements. STDEV means standard deviation.
205
Fig. 4. PAAS- and PS-normalized major and trace element diagrams for the Ikorongo mudrocks (PAAS data from Taylor and McLennan, 1985; PS data from Condie, 1993).
Symbols as in Fig. 3.
tion (silt or clay) and it has also been inferred that trivalent REE
readily are accommodated in most clay minerals (Asiedu et al.,
2000). The lower contents of REE in the siltstones highlight a
possible paucity of clays and/or quartz dilution effect caused by
sedimentary sorting. This argument is tied with the lower contents
in Al2 O3 , K2 O and the higher SiO2 compositions in the siltstones
(Table 1; Fig. 4).
On Chondrite-normalized REE diagrams (Fig. 5), all mudrock
samples display fractionated REE patterns ((La/Yb)CN that range
from 7.26 to 38.30; the subscript CN refers to Chondrite-normalized
abundances) which are characterized by relatively at HREE
((Gd/Yb)CN = 1.374.03), enriched LREE ((La/Sm)CN = 2.247.63) and
negative Eu anomalies (mean = 0.71) similar to PAAS and the average Proterozoic Shale (Eu*, calculated as in Taylor and McLennan,
1985). The close similarity between the Ikorongo mudrocks and
both PAAS and PS, strongly attests to a typical fractionated upper
crust source. In these plots, however, brown shales display variable
Ce* anomalies (Fig. 5a and b), suggesting variations in palaeo-redox
states during deposition (Kimura et al., 2003).
Mean La/Sc, Sc/Th, Cr/Th and Co/Th ratios in the brown shale
are 3.25, 1.08, 8.83 and 1.10, respectively. The corresponding ratios
in the green shales are: La/Sc = 2.92; Sc/Th = 1.01; Cr/Th = 9.05; and
Co/Th = 1.08 and are largely similar to those in the brown shales.
In general, both brown and green shales have higher La/Sc ratios
than PAAS and PS whose corresponding values are 2.81 and 2.23,
respectively. However, Sc/Th and Co/Th ratios are higher in PAAS
and (not shown) than those in the Ikorongo shales (PAAS and PS
ratios are from Taylor and McLennan, 1985; Condie, 1993, respectively). The siltstone samples, on the other hand, are characterized
by La/Sc, Sc/Th, Cr/Th and Co/Th ratios of 4.39, 0.66, 5.94 and 1.37,
respectively. When compared to shale samples, the siltstones have
higher La/Sc and Co/Th ratios, while Sc/Th and Cr/Th are lower, a
feature which is suggestive of minimal mac parentage.
5. Discussion
As sediments sample a wide range of terranes, their chemical compositions are a net result of a number of factors. These
incorporate, among others, source rock composition, intensity of
weathering, mineral sorting, and nally diagenesis (Piper, 1974;
McLennan, 1989). It is, therefore, meaningful to evaluate each of
these factors before drawing conclusions on the provenance of sediments as inferred from the chemistry of clastic sediments (Roddaz
et al., 2006).
Because of the similarity in SiO2 contents between the Ikorongo
shales and PAAS (Fig. 4a), we can conclude that the abundances of
other elements are free of quartz dilution (e.g., McLennan, 1989).
The slightly higher SiO2 contents in the siltstone samples, when
compared to both PAAS and PS; highlight a possible quartz dilution
effect on other element compositions. Before deducing the nature
of source rock(s) for the Ikorongo Group, in the following section,
we rst evaluate the compositional features that may have resulted
from chemical weathering, diagenesis and mineral sorting.
5.1. Source area weathering and diagenesis
The chemical compositions in the samples represent their primary mineralogy, a feature which is, in most cases, subject to
the intensity of pre- and post-depositional chemical weathering
(Nesbitt and Young, 1984). Button and Tyler (1979) noted that
cations like Al, K, Mg, Cs, and Rb are often retained in weathering
proles while cations with smaller ionic radii, such as Na, Ca and
206
Fig. 5. Chondrite-normalized REE patterns for the Ikorongo mudrocks (normalizing values from Boynton, 1984). PAAS and PS patterns are included in each plot for comparison
(PAAS data from Taylor and McLennan, 1985; PS data are from Condie, 1993).
Al2 O3
Al2 O3 + CaO + Na2 O + K2 O
Fig. 6. Scatter plot of Al/Na ratios versus Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) for the
Ikorongo mudrocks. Note the increase of Al/Na ratios at nearly constant CIA values
suggesting post depositional loss of Na+ . Fields are from Servaraj and Arthur (2006).
Symbols as in Fig. 3.
ACN axis scattering towards the area between illite and muscovite
and, yet, dene an ideal trend for weathering of a primary source
with a granodioritic composition (e.g., Fedo et al., 1995). On the
contrary, shale samples cluster in a tight group near the AK axis
(Fig. 7), attesting to a uniformly weathered source. The fact that
the siltstone samples display variable CIA values (Fig. 6), coupled
with their scattering in the ACNK diagram, demonstrate that
these samples might have been affected by other processes than
weathering, most likely K-metasomatism (Fig. 7). Similar trends
have been reported in ancient weathering proles (e.g., Nesbitt
and Young, 1989) and in Archaean shales (e.g., Fedo et al., 1995),
and are interpreted to be caused by diagenetic modication of K by
metasomatism.
5.2. Mineral sorting
Of particular importance, sedimentary processes such as sorting
may modify the mineral abundances and consequently the abundance of specic elements. McLennan et al. (1993) used a Th/Sc
versus Zr/Sc plot to distinguish between the contrasting effects of
source composition and sedimentary processes on the composition of clastic sedimentary rocks. An addition of zircon by mineral
sorting and/or recycling to samples would result in an increase in
Zr/Sc ratios (McLennan et al., 1993). On the Th/Sc versus Zr/Sc dia-
207
Fig. 8. Th/Sc versus Zr/Sc diagram for the Ikorongo mudrocks (after McLennan et al.,
1993). Trend 1 represents sediments derived directly from igneous rocks that have
been least affected by sedimentary sorting and recycling. Heavy mineral accumulation by sediment sorting and recycling would result in Zr enrichment relative to Th
as dened by Trend 2. Symbols as in Fig. 3.
Fig. 7. Al2 O3 CaO* + Na2 OK2 O (Nesbitt and Young, 1984) diagram for Ikorongo
mudrocks. The scattering of the siltstone samples is suggestive of K-metasomatism.
Also included is the position for an original granodioritic source (from Fedo et al.,
1995). Plg: Plagioclase; Ksp: K-Feldspar.
208
Fig. 9. Plot of Th/U versus Th for the Ikorongo mudrocks. The grey box shows the
typical range of upper crustal protoliths. The arrow stands for an idealized weathering trend for sediments derived from upper crust (McLennan et al., 1993). Symbols
as in Fig. 3.
McLennan, 1985; McLennan et al., 1993). As shown above, nonetheless, these processes can only be responsible for minor variations
in major and trace element contents in the Ikorongo mudrocks and
rather the chemical characteristics reect the composition of the
sources.
The major and trace element compositions for the brown and
green shales (Table 1; Figs. 4 and 5) are highly comparable and are
suggestive of a similar protolith. However the depletion in TiO2 ,
Al2 O3 and the transition trace elements particularly Co, Ni, Sc and
V, which are normally enriched in mac rocks (Rollinson, 1993), in
the siltstones, could probably indicate relatively more felsic detritus
than that for the shales.
The Th/U ratios are very useful in determining the source characteristics of clastic sedimentary rocks (Roddaz et al., 2006). The
present day average crust has Th/U ratios of 4.254.30 whereas the
values for upper and lower mantle are 2.6 and 3.8, respectively (Paul
et al., 2003 and references therein). Although sometimes higher
Th/U ratios have been related to oxidative weathering and removal
of U, yet, clastic sedimentary rocks derived from the upper crust
are characterized by ratios equal to or greater than 4 whereas
ratios lower than 4 have been related to a mantle contribution
(e.g., Roddaz et al., 2006). The Ikorongo siltstones, brown and green
shales show mean Th/U ratios of 5.71, 6.90 and 5.86, respectively,
which characteristics are suggestive of upper crustal parentage.
These ratios are, however, higher than the values for PAAS (4.70)
and PS (4.21) (Taylor and McLennan, 1985; Condie, 1993). The elevated Th/U ratios in the Ikorongo mudrocks could be attributed
to either increased weathering intensity or variation in oxidation
state during deposition which would permit U mobility (Roddaz et
al., 2006 and references therein). On the Th/U versus Th diagram,
all mudrock samples from the Ikorongo basin follow the idealized
weathering trend (McLennan et al., 1993) expected for sediments
derived from the upper crust (Fig. 9).
The geochemical variations between elements such as Th and La
(indicative of a felsic source) and Sc (indicative of a mac source)
have been used to distinguish between felsic and mac provenances by various authors (e.g., McLennan et al., 1980). Th/Sc ratios
are useful indicators of source rocks processes and are unaffected by
sedimentary processes (Taylor and McLennan, 1985). The Th versus
Sc plot (Fig. 10), adopted from McLennan et al. (1993), reveals two
dominant source areas, a continental source with Th/Sc ratios near 1
for siltstones and an almost 5050 mix of continental and intermediate component for both brown and green shales (Fig. 10; see silt-
Fig. 10. Th versus Sc diagram indicating felsic and mac provenance for the Ikorongo
mudrocks. Note the siltstone samples demarcated by dotted line. Symbols as in Fig. 3.
Fig. 11. Ternary plot of LaThSc concentrations (after Taylor and McLennan, 1985)
for the Ikorongo mudrocks. Symbols as in Fig. 3. UC = upper crust (data from Taylor
and McLennan, 1985). Symbols as in Fig. 3.
209
Fig. 12. Major greenstone domains of the Nyanzian Supergroup showing the setting of possible provenance regions (modied from Borg and Shackleton, 1997).
210
Table 2
Range of some elemental ratios for the Ikorongo mudstones in comparison with possible source rocks from the Musoma-Mara Greenstone Belt and Kilimafedha Greenstone
Belt
Lithology
La/Sc
Sc/Th
Range
Rhyolites
Dacites
Gabbro
K-Granites
Na-Granitoids
Rhyodacites
Mean
Cr/Th
Range
Mean
High-magnesium basaltic-andesite
Co/Th
Range
Mean
2.9127.5
7.3128
6.1230.68
Basaltic-andesites
Basaltic-tranchyandesites
0.441.64
0.641.46
Basalts
10.03
23.68
13.68
0.0412.05
0.030.32
0.070.54
0.67
0.11
0.23
1.26
1.15
2.286.93
2.425.27
3.48
3.23
Range
0.190.31
0.28
2.3321.78
8.63
18.34665.40 140.99
0.060.95
48.47
0.235.68
2.01
0.4029.43
5.54
10.55166.52
Tonalite-Trondjemite-Granodiorites
Biotite granites
Calcic granites
48.47
01.80
0.12
5.3091.61
4.715
19.4
7.9
61.221850
608.5
Source
Mean
Manya (2005)
Manya (2005)
Manya (2005)
Manya (2005)
Manya (2005)
Manya (2005)
Manya (2005)
0.202.94
0.020.17
0.040.72
0.88
0.08
0.24
5.4111.48
5.129
6.91
6.2
Messo (2004)
Messo (2004)
110.2265
160.5
Mtoro (2007)
2.516
0.441.1
2.81
2.23
0.051.2
2025
1.27
1.18
0.57.7
22100
7.94
8.04
0.221.5
7.18.3
1.59
1.25
Brown shales
Green shales
Siltstones
2.025.20
2.097.06
2.1013.84
3.25
2.92
4.39
0.741.58
0.751.22
0.091.11
1.08
1.01
0.66
5.0517.68
6.4314.19
1.3918.24
8.83
9.05
5.94
0.282.64
0.421.79
02.78
1.11
1.08
1.37
This study
This study
This study
Also included are ratios for PAAS, PS and sands derived from mac and felsic protoliths.
mij
Mj
Mj .
Therefore, for a given element, i, the proportion of fj of the phase
n i
m /M0 (all equaj is such that: fj = Mj /M0 and C0i = mi0 /M0 =
j=1 j
tions adopted from Albarede, 2002).
The high-magnesium-basaltic-andesites (HMBA), granitoids
and dacites comprise major part of the exposed crust in the MMGB.
Based on their aerial distribution and geochemical afnity to the
j=1
Table 3
Representative REE compositions of possible source rocks located in the MMGB and the Ikorongo mudrocks
HMBA (N = 13)
Granitoids (N = 33)
Average shale
Average
STDEV
Dacites (N = 27)
Average
STDEV
Average
STDEV
Average
STDEV
Average siltstone
Average
STDEV
La
Ce
Pr
Nd
Sm
Eu
Gd
Tb
Dy
Ho
Er
Tm
Yb
Lu
28.79
60.75
7.22
29.00
5.31
1.44
4.55
0.65
3.61
0.73
1.87
0.29
1.93
0.28
7.29
14.88
1.73
6.85
1.12
0.25
0.75
0.08
0.33
0.07
0.19
0.03
0.19
0.03
48.10
96.93
10.94
41.39
6.53
1.58
5.17
0.60
2.93
0.54
1.33
0.20
1.33
0.19
19.22
38.01
4.14
15.69
2.43
0.58
1.71
0.20
0.99
0.18
0.46
0.07
0.47
0.07
52.34
100.96
11.04
39.16
6.12
1.11
4.78
0.63
3.28
0.64
1.67
0.26
1.83
0.27
21.38
41.76
4.54
15.52
2.41
0.36
2.01
0.28
1.47
0.30
0.76
0.12
0.75
0.11
57.42
100.19
11.97
39.48
7.22
1.46
5.45
0.81
4.35
0.80
2.36
0.35
2.28
0.33
57.74
26.06
23.61
14.51
7.26
3.45
3.77
2.56
2.02
1.59
1.57
1.45
1.42
1.34
36.58
69.02
7.59
26.71
5.59
1.24
5.18
0.76
4.03
0.75
2.26
0.34
2.19
0.34
13.68
29.77
3.15
10.65
1.96
0.32
1.40
0.22
1.20
0.22
0.76
0.13
0.91
0.16
Eu/Eu*
(La/Yb)CN
(La/Sm)CN
(Gd/Yb)CN
0.90
10.15
3.41
1.91
0.05
2.73
0.25
0.13
0.83
24.31
4.63
3.13
0.04
3.80
0.19
0.05
0.64
20.38
5.18
2.07
0.02
5.60
0.10
0.02
0.71
15.20
5.02
1.95
0.03
2.06
0.42
0.02
0.71
11.14
4.11
1.91
0.05
2.7
0.86
0.45
211
Fig. 13. Comparison of the Chondrite-normalized REE patterns of the Ikorongo mudrocks with those of possible source rocks from MMGB. Other symbols as in Fig. 3.
Table 4
Results of mixing and mass balance calculations and comparison between original and calculated parameters
Proportions (%)
Model shale
Model siltstone
HMBA
DCT
GRD
42
43
11
4
47
53
Model shale
Average shale
%Variation
Model siltstone
Average siltstone
%Variation
La
Ce
Pr
Nd
Sm
Eu
Gd
Tb
Dy
Ho
Er
Tm
Yb
Lu
41.98
83.63
9.43
35.14
5.82
1.30
4.73
0.64
3.38
0.67
1.72
0.27
1.81
0.26
57.42
100.19
11.97
39.48
7.22
1.46
5.45
0.81
4.35
0.80
2.36
0.35
2.28
0.33
27
17
21
11
19
11
13
21
22
17
27
24
20
21
42.04
83.51
9.40
34.88
5.78
1.27
4.70
0.64
3.41
0.67
1.74
0.27
1.85
0.27
36.58
69.02
7.59
26.71
5.59
1.24
5.18
0.76
4.03
0.75
2.26
0.34
2.19
0.34
15
21
24
31
3
3
9
16
16
10
23
20
16
20
(Eu/Eu*)
(La/Yb)CN
(La/Sm)CN
(Gd/Yb)CN
0.77
16.52
4.38
2.12
0.71
15.20
5.02
1.95
9
9
13
9
0.76
16.14
4.40
2.04
0.71
11.14
4.11
1.91
7
45
7
7
212
Fig. 14. Comparison of Chondrite-normalized REE patterns between (a) average shale and model shale, and (b) average siltstone and model siltstone.
Eu
Eu
La
Yb
Gd
Yb
b
c
a
0.71
0.9 0.83 0.64
=
b = 15.2
10.2 24.31 20.4
1.91
3.13
2.07
1.95
shale
6. Conclusions
Source rock weathering and provenance of the Ikorongo Group
have been assessed using geochemical studies. Major element compositions suggest that the Ikorongo mudrocks were derived from
moderately weathered protoliths. Th/U ratios coupled with Th versus Sc and LaThSc plots suggest an upper crustal protolith for
the Ikorongo mudrocks similar to the PAAS and PS protolith. The
fractionated REE patterns and the negative Eu/Eu* anomalies of
the Ikorongo mudrocks further attest to an upper crust provenance
typical of a craton interior. Based on palaeocurrent measurements,
the source rocks for the Ikorongo Group lies to the north of the
basin suggesting that the MMGB, which comprises of older felsic
and mac igneous rocks, is a possible source terrane. The REE patterns and elemental ratios such as La/Sc, Sc/Th, Cr/Th and Co/Th
of the studied mudrocks reveal that the source rocks include magmatic rocks from the Tarime and Suguti segments of the MMGB.
Based on mixing and mass balance calculations, the shale detritus can be modeled by a mixture of 47% granitoids, 42% HMBA
and 11% dacites. The siltstones, on the other hand, were derived
from a rather more felsic protolith which corresponds to mixing
of 53% granitoids, 43% HMBA and 4% dacites (all proportions by
wt%).
Acknowledgements
This research was nancially supported by Sida/SAREC through
the project Geology and mineralization of Archaean greenstone
belts in the Lake Victoria Goldelds of the Faculty of Science, University of Dar es Salaam. The Reviewers Roser Korsch and Hugh
Rollinson are acknowledged for their constructive comments that
improved the output of the paper.
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WR
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