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Authors
Affiliations
1 Alagappa Government Arts College, Karaikudi - 630 003, IN
2 Fortesque Metals Group, Perth, AU
3 National Institute of Oceanography (Council of Scientific and Industrial Research) Dona Paula - 403 004, IN
4 Sri Sairam Group of Institutions, Chennai, IN
Source
Journal of Geological Society of India (Online archive from Vol 1 to Vol 78), Vol 77, No 1 (2011), Pagination: 26-34
Abstract
Quartz grain surface micro textures of 12 samples collected from the beach were examined under scanning electron microscopy to understand the role of coastal processes on their transportation and deposition. The study area has been divided into three sectors on the basis of drainage, geomorphology and nature of the beach and shelf topography. Surface textures of the northern sector display an array of mechanical features like conchoidal fracture, V marks and impact pits, indicating the dominance of mechanical processes. However, silica precipitation in the form of globules indicates an added influence of chemical processes in the Northern sector. The presence of chemical features in northern sector, where energy level is high, corroborates the addition of quartz grains from paleo-sediments, from the nearby Tertiary and Cretaceous formations. Central sector quartz grains display the signatures of chemical and mechanical processes. The presence of step like furrows in southern sector is an indicator of fluvial low energy conditions, and supplements the role of littoral currents in depositing the quartz grains along the coastal region.
Keywords
Surface Texture, Quartz, SEM, Central Tamil Nadu Coast.
