| The mineralogy and chemistry of the less than
20μm fraction of marine sediments at Morphou Bay, north-west Cyprus, are
presented to characterise fine-grained sediment supplies from basic and
ultrabasic rocks of the Troodos Massif within a typological setting. The
sediments comprise a mixture of smectite, illite, kaolinite and iron rich
chlorite. They also contain amorphous iron oxides/hydroxides, calcite (with some
magnesium substitution for calcium) and an amphibole. Spatial patterns in
mineralogy occur: the near-shore sediments are rich in smectite, chlorite,
amphibole and amorphous iron oxides/hydroxides, while the offshore sediments are
rich in illite and calcite. The sediments are calcium, magnesium, iron,
aluminium and potassium bearing, due to the presence of significant amounts of
calcite (for Ca), clay minerals and aluminium and iron oxides/hydroxides.
Potassium is present within the micaceous mineral illite, but it is also
contained within other phases that are difficult to pinpoint. Statistical
analysis reveals that the chemical composition of the sediments broadly follows
the mineralogy with the dominant feature being related to spatial changes in the
mineralogy. The patterns of change reflect a three component mix of clay-sized
sediment types: (1) localised lithogenous sources rich in smectite with
subsidiary amounts of amorphous iron oxides/hydroxides and amphibole, from
Cyprus, the Troodos in particular, (2) illite rich and smectite chlorite and
chlorite bearing material of lithogenous origin from other parts of the eastern
Mediterranean and (3) calcite, mainly of marine origin.
Keywords: smectite, illite, chlorite, kaolinite, calcite, sediments,
Morphou Bay, Troodos, Cyprus, Mediterranean, calcium, potassium, magnesium, iron,
silicon, phosphorus. |