The heavy Minerals of the Recent Sediments of North Carolina Sounds and Estuaries In U.S.A

The heavy minerals of a barred estuarine and lagoonal sediments along the North Carolina coast have been studied with more than one hundred samples. Currents, salinity, and pH exhibit well-developed gradients from the upstream parts of the estuaries on the west toward the open ocean on the east. Twenty- four heavy minerals were identified in sediments of the study area. However, less than half of these occur frequently and the remainder exist only in minor quantities or trace amounts. Heavy minerals usually comprise less than 1% of the sample but vary from sample to sample. The maximum amount of heavy minerals in sediments of sounds and estuaries is 2.4% and in sediments of Outer Banks is 16.7%. Opaque minerals range from 10 to 85% of the total heavy mineral assemblage. Garnet and sillimanite are relatively more abundant in the eastern part than the western part in the area. Garnet more abundant in the northern part than the southern part, whereas sillimanite is more abundant in the southern part than the northern part, because the garnet source is in the northern part and one of the sillimanite source is in the southern part in the study area. The results of heavy mineral study indicate that the source of sediments is the Blue Ridge and Piedmont crystalline complex, and Coastal Plain formations. Some portions of sediments are transported from the Atlantic Ocean by the landward currents. They further indicate that the sediments of the Atlantic coast in the study area are transported mainly from the northern part to southern part by longshore littoral currents, and some portions of sediments are transported from the southern part to the northern part by the Gulf Stream.