Geochemical dataset of Pit sediments in the Mbiame floodplain (NW Cameroon): Implication for provenance, Paleoweathering, and maturity.
Description
The research is aim at using geochemical data of major, trace elements performed from inductively couple plasma atomic emission spectrometry (ICP-AES) and inductively couple plasma mass spectrometry (ICP-MS) . Heavy mineral separation was performed on about 2g of the concentrate using bromoform liquid and the retained heavy minerals were mounted and observed under a petrographic microscope for optical properties identification. The heavy minerals identification is a very important tool for mineral exploration and assist massively in tracing the source rocks of sediments and their associated minerals. 100 g of each of the 12 bulk sediment samples were pulverized in mild steel pulverize and analyzed for major, and trace elements. The geochemical analysis was done at Acme Analytical Laboratories Ltd., Vancouver, Canada, using a combination of Inductively Coupled Plasma Emission Spectrometry (ICP-ES) for major oxides and Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) for trace elements. 0.2 g of sample was mixed with lithium metaborate/tetraborate (LiBO2/Li2B4O7) flux in crucibles and fused in a furnace. The cooled beads were then digested in ACS grade nitric acid before being analyzed by ICP-MS. Loss on ignition (LOI) was determined by igniting a sample split at 1000 °C then measuring the weight loss. The elements (Major, and Trace) reveals by the above method can be used to determine the provenance of the sediments, determine the weathering intensity of the source area and their maturity. The identification of the source rock composition for the sediments and gemstone was done by plotting binary diagrams from elements ratios of La/Sc, Th/Sc, Cr/Th, Th/Cr and plots of Al2O3 vs TiO2, and TiO2 Vs Zr. The determination of weathering intensity of source rocks and maturity of the sediments was done using weathering indexes (CIA, CIX PIA and PIX ) and index compositional variation (ICV).