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Beach morphology and the inferences from heavy mineral assemblage of Mandapam to Kanyakumari coast, southeast coast of India

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Title Beach morphology and the inferences from heavy mineral assemblage of Mandapam to Kanyakumari coast, southeast coast of India
 
Creator Angusamy, N
Rajamnickam, G Victor
 
Description 283-294
On the basis
of heavy mineral distribution, the southern coast of Tamil
Nadu has been
divided into five blocks namely Mandapam, Valinokkam, Tuticorin, Manappad, Kanyakumari
blocks. The heavy mineral concentration by wt % varies from 2 to 87%. Zircon, colourless
garnet, pink garnet, chlorite and biotite are the predominant minerals. The abundance
of these minerals varies in each block.Chlorite,
sillimanite, mica , few hornblendes and kyanite are characteristic of Mandapam block
while biotite and glaucophane for Valinokkam block, euhedral zircon, hypersthene,
tourmaline for Tuticorin block, broken zircon, andalusite and topaz for
Manappad block and rounded zircon, rutile and monazite for Kanyakumri block. Chlorite,
mica and other flaky minerals are dominant in Mandapam and Manappad blocks, whereas
in Kanyakumari and Valinockam block, minerals like zircon, garnet and other denser
heavy minerals are abundant. Granular minerals like zircon and garnet, are presumed
to have been derived from the recycled sediments. However, the immediate
hinterland has not shown any presence of ancient sedimentary formations which are
likely to be the source for recycled sediments. The minerals, not specified under
recycled sediments, are expected to have been originated from the rocks of igneous
and metamorphics of the hinterland. On the other hand, the presence of prolific
flaky minerals mainly from the derivatives of green schist facies point out the
presence of metamorphic rocks in the hinterland. However, the hinterland is primarily
occupied by Quaternary

sediments. Such incompatibility
of heavy mineral assemblage of Kanyakumari, Manappad and Mandapam blocks, enables
to infer the deposition of sediments primarily by littoral transport, in addition
to the terrigenous contribution. This is well supported by the presence of well
rounded garnets, zircons and strongly etched flaky minerals. The source for the
heavy mineral assemblage is attributed to a mixture of low-grade metamorphic rocks,
reworked sediments, charnockite, granite and granite gneiss. This inference is also
supported by the results of Q-mode factor analysis.
 
Date 2014-01-13T05:11:21Z
2014-01-13T05:11:21Z
2000-12
 
Type Article
 
Identifier 0975-1033 (Online); 0379-5136 (Print)
http://hdl.handle.net/123456789/25493
 
Language en_US
 
Rights CC Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India
 
Publisher NISCAIR-CSIR, India
 
Source IJMS Vol.29(4) [December 2000]