Authors / CoAuthors
de Caritat, P. | Cooper, M. | Mann, A. | Prince, P.
Abstract
The National Geochemical Survey of Australia (NGSA) was initiated in late 2006 and details of progress were published in Caritat et al. (2009). The ultra-low density geochemical survey was based on overbank sediment sampling at strategic locations in the landscape. Included in the analysis methods was a partial extraction by the Mobile Metal Ion (MMI) technique (Mann, 2010) of sediment sampled at the depth of 0-10 cm, air-dried and sieved to <2 mm. The MMI method is based on solubilisation of ions loosely adsorbed onto the surfaces of minerals and, where present, organic matter. Thus, MMI results can be indicative of elements that have moved relatively recently through the regolith, and these can reflect unusual element concentrations at depth, whether caused by lithology or mineralisation. Broad lithological types (sedimentary, igneous, etc.) appear to be reflected by the geochemical patterns of several elements as determined by MMI analysis. For example, sedimentary provinces such as the Great Australian Basin and the Murray-Darling Basin are commonly associated with elevated MMI Ba, Ga or Sr values. Felsic igneous intrusive rocks along much of the eastern seaboard of Australia and in south-western WA, are typically coincident with high MMI concentrations of La, Ce and other rare earth elements. Medium to high grade metamorphic rocks do not appear to be characterised by anomalously high concentrations of any element as analysed by MMI, but can be characterised by moderately elevated concentrations of Cs, K, Mo, Rb and W in the MMI data. The applicability of ultra low-density MMI data to exploration for commodities including Au, Cu, Pb, Zn, Ni and U has also been investigated. For example, the MMI Au concentrations .../...
Product Type
nonGeographicDataset
eCat Id
71637
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Cnr Jerrabomberra Ave and Hindmarsh Dr GPO Box 378
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Keywords
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- External Publication
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- regolith
- ( Theme )
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- geochemistry
- ( Theme )
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- mineral exploration
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- AU
- Australian and New Zealand Standard Research Classification (ANZSRC)
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- Earth Sciences
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- Published_Internal
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2011-01-01T00:00:00
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geoscientificInformation
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[-44.0, -10.0, 112.0, 154.0]
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