Processes of heavy mineral concentration on the high energy coast of northeastern Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada.

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dc.contributor.authorOkoth, Fredrick Jared Guyaen_US
dc.date.accessioned2024-08-15T16:37:15Z
dc.date.available2024-08-15T16:37:15Z
dc.date.copyright1995en_US
dc.date.issued1995
dc.degree.departmentSchool of Earth and Ocean Sciences
dc.degree.levelMaster of Science M.Sc.en
dc.description.abstractBeaches on the eastern coasts of Queen Charlotte Islands are dominated by black sand deposits. This study is located within the intertidal zone between latitude 54°06.56' and 54°07.62'N. Accretion and erosion measurements, and wind speed and direction data were analyzed daily during the study period. A total of 51 samples for longshore (Ls), cross-shore (Cs), depth within sediments (Ds) and relict sediment samples (Rs) were collected and analyzed for heavy mineral content, mean grain sizes and degrees of sorting. Identification of individual heavy minerals were also performed on selected heavy mineral fractions. The heavy minerals within mature textured environments showed a general increase in bulk concentrations from fore-shore to back-shore, alongshore from south to north and with depth. The samples mean grain sizes consequently decreased for both longshore and cross-shore transects but increased with depth. Heavy mineral concentrations are enhanced within zones of accentuated erosion. Erosion was accentuated as a result of increased wave energy due to wave refraction, direction of approach of swell waves to the coast, beach profile and shoreline configuration. The heavy mineral fraction consists predominantly of the opaques (including magnetite}, amphiboles, garnet and epidote. The concentrations of magnetite, non-magnetic opaques and garnet showed similar trends as the bulk heavy minerals while the concentrations of ampiboles and epidote increased from back-shore to fore-shore relative to the bulk heavy mineral content. The sorting processes were more effective in separating magnetite, non-magnetic opaques and garnet from light minerals (quartz and feldspars) and least effective in epidote and amphiboles. Among the four processes of placer formation (Suspension, shear, entrainment and transport sortings), entrainment and transport are identified as the most significant processes resulting to these placer deposits. The formation of these placer deposits was most influenced by the densities and grain sizes of individual minerals.
dc.format.extent90 pages
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/1828/19208
dc.rightsAvailable to the World Wide Weben_US
dc.titleProcesses of heavy mineral concentration on the high energy coast of northeastern Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada.en_US
dc.typeThesisen_US

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