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Title Sulfidization of Witwatersrand black sands: From enigma to myth
Creator/Author Reimer, T.O. (Bernhard-May-Strasse, Wiesbaden-Biebrich (Germany, F.R.)) ; Mossman, D.J. (Mount Allison Univ., Sackville, New Brunswick (Canada))
Publication Date1990 May 01
OSTI IdentifierOSTI ID: 6314499
Other Number(s)ISSN0091-7613; CODEN: GLGYB
Resource TypeJournal Article
Resource RelationGeology ; Vol/Issue: 18:5
Subject580000 -- Geosciences; GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS-- MINERALOGY;IRON OXIDES-- SULFIDATION;TITANIUM OXIDES-- SULFIDATION;WITWATERSRAND-- GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS; BRANNERITE;CONGLOMERATES;DISTRIBUTION;EROSION;GEOLOGIC HISTORY;ORIGIN;PYRITE;RUTILE;SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
Related SubjectACTINIDE COMPOUNDS;CHALCOGENIDES;CHEMICAL REACTIONS;IRON COMPOUNDS;IRON SULFIDES;MATERIALS;MINERALS;MOUNTAINS;OXIDE MINERALS;OXIDES;OXYGEN COMPOUNDS;RADIOACTIVE MATERIALS;RADIOACTIVE MINERALS;ROCKS;SEDIMENTARY ROCKS;SULFIDE MINERALS;SULFIDES;SULFUR COMPOUNDS;THORIUM COMPOUNDS;THORIUM MINERALS;THORIUM OXIDES;TITANIUM COMPOUNDS;TITANIUM OXIDES;TRANSITION ELEMENT COMPOUNDS;URANIUM
Description/Abstract Reassessment of the nature and distribution of iron-titanium oxide minerals vs. pyrite in several South African Archean arenaceous sequences and conglomerates shows that in rocks of the Swaziland, Pongola, and Witwatersrand Supergroups, (1) pyrite of allogenic and/or authigenic origin is the predominant heavy mineral; (2) iron-titanium oxides generally take the form of very fine grained, dispersed retile-leucoxene replacements after earlier black-sand minerals; (3) iron-titanium oxides constitute 1%-6% of the total heavy minerals; and (4) the phenomenon of sulfidization of iron-titanium oxide minerals is evident only on a very local scale.^Exceptions to points 1 and 3 occur in conglomerates of the Dominion Group, which were derived from a largely pegmatitic terrain.^The lack of macroscopically visible iron-titanium oxide minerals in the Witwatersrand conglomerates is a result of a combination of two factors.^First, recycling of older sedimentary material was critical to the genesis of the conglomerates; older sedimentary material was critical to the genesis of the conglomerates; about 60% of the source area consisted of arenaceous sequences.^Iron-titanium mineral grains from this source had been altered to rutile-leucoxene prior to erosion, and thus did not contribute fresh iron-titanium minerals to the conglomerates.^Second, those minerals derived from the remaining 40% of the source area were altered and decomposed to rutile-leucoxene in the Witwatersrand conglomerates.^Furthermore, much of the resulting finely dispersed material helped to form brannerite, an important titanium sink.^There is no need to invoke widespread sulfidization of black sands to sands to account for the supposed lack of iron-titanium minerals and abundance of pyrite in the Witwatersrand conglomerates and ores.
Country of PublicationUnited States
LanguageEnglish
FormatPages: 426-429
System Entry Date2001 May 13

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