Sand(stone)s Quantitative Provenance Analysis

Dear Colleagues,

A basic quantitative element of sand-sized sediments and sedimentary rocks is composition, and the parent lithologies of eroded orogenic systems rest on the petrographic analysis of terrigenous sediments’ detrital modes. In fact, on the scale of global dispersal systems, the development of sand(stone) petrology has provided evidence for interpreting tectonic setting models, insights into (paleo)climatic conditions of the source areas, (paleo)current patterns, facies relationships of stratigraphic units, and the overall clastic unit volumes of the basins’ fill.

This Special Issue invites contributions that are concerned with the petrography of modern sand-sized sediments and ancient sandstones of the Earth record, aimed at constraining potential source rocks and the pre- or post-burial control factors (i.e., weathering efficiency, transport dynamics, recycling, and diagenetic processes) that may further obscure the original detrital composition. Since sand and sandstones comprise a wide mixture of source grains, their quantitative provenance analysis is often best tackled using petrographic microscopy encompassing the full spectrum of sand(stone) types (framework or QFL compositions, non-opaque heavy mineral associations, exploration of the opaque detrital phases, specific detrital mineral compositions used as petrogenetic tracers in volcaniclastic sequences, or providing petrogenetic constraints on high-pressure source rocks’ provenance, authigenic minerals, etc.). Moreover, the use of sand grain petrography as a tool within the Earth sciences is also expanding in environmental and criminal geoforensics, as accounted for by studies published in the past. Most of these studies, which contributed to both civil and criminal forensic investigations, demonstrated that the petrographic analysis of sand grains, determined accurately with a standard petrographic microscope, assisted in the location of their possible geographical source area. Thus, reviews or research papers addressing the potential forensic use of sandy particle petrographic approaches are also highly appreciated.

Prof. Emilia Le Pera
Dr. Consuele Morrone
Guest Editors

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