Pyrite forms in recent peats and carbonates from the Florida Everglades
- Univ. of South Carolina, Columbia, SC (United States). Dept. of Geological Sciences
The modern sediments of the Everglades area of southern Florida demonstrate a variety of conditions for the syngenetic formation of pyrite. These conditions relate to the overall stratigraphy of the area, which is a transgressive sequence in which fresh water peats and carbonates are overlain by brackish and marine peats and marine carbonates. The pyrite observed in microtome thin sections of these sediments occurs in three general forms: framboidal aggregates, minute euhedral crystals (<2 micrometers) often in clusters, and solitary euhedral crystals (>2 micrometers, but not larger than 20 micrometers). The relative percentages and forms of pyrite vary in occurrence within any individual depth interval depending upon parameters such as the ratio of organic to inorganic constituents, the proximity to marine water, and the types of organic constituents present (i.e. roots, leaves, fungi, algae, etc.). The relationships between pyrite forms and the various organic and inorganic constituents demonstrate the importance of microenvironments to the formation of pyrite. Overall, the relative percentages of pyrite present do not show a direct correlation with depth, with the exception of the general scarcity of pyrite in the top 12 inches of the sediment, which likely represent a redox boundary in the sediment.
- OSTI ID:
- 6819605
- Report Number(s):
- CONF-9404221-; CODEN: GAAPBC
- Journal Information:
- Geological Society of America, Abstracts with Programs; (United States), Vol. 26:4; Conference: 43. annual meeting of the Southeastern Section of the Geological Society of America, Blacksburg, VA (United States), 7-8 Apr 1994; ISSN 0016-7592
- Country of Publication:
- United States
- Language:
- English
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