TITLE:
Whole-Rock Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Triassic Montney Formation, Northeastern British Columbia, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin
AUTHORS:
Edwin I. Egbobawaye
KEYWORDS:
Geochemistry, Whole-Rock, Mineralogy, Montney Formation, Thin-Section, Petrography, Trace-Elements, ICP-MS, XRD, Dolomitization, Diagenesis, WCSB
JOURNAL NAME:
International Journal of Geosciences,
Vol.7 No.1,
January
29,
2016
ABSTRACT: Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass
Spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to analyze chemical elements—major,
trace and rare earth elements (REE)
concentrations, augmented
with quantitative X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and thin-section petrography
for mineralogical characterization of the Triassic Montney
Formation in northeastern British Columbia, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). Results from this study
indicate that integration of chemical
elements with mineralogy shows affinity to the host lithologies. Evidently,
chemical elements are the building blocks for minerals, thus, their significances in the interpretation of geological
systems are unambiguous. Herein, major elements concentration such as Al, Fe,
K, Mg, Ca, Mn in the samples analyzed from the Montney Formation are
interpreted as: 1) indication of dolomitization and diagenesis; 2) trace
elements—Rb, Th, U, and Cs are related to the organic matter—kerogen in the
clay component of the Montney Formation source rock; and 3) transition metals—Sc,
V, Co, Cr, Zn show strong affinity with diagenesis in the study interval.