Whole-Rock Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Triassic Montney Formation, Northeastern British Columbia, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin

摘要

Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) was used to analyze chemical elements—major, trace and rare earth elements (REE) concentrations, augmented with quantitative X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis and thin-section petrography for mineralogical characterization of the Triassic Montney Formation in northeastern British Columbia, Western Canada Sedimentary Basin (WCSB). Results from this study indicate that integration of chemical elements with mineralogy shows affinity to the host lithologies. Evidently, chemical elements are the building blocks for minerals, thus, their significances in the interpretation of geological systems are unambiguous. Herein, major elements concentration such as Al, Fe, K, Mg, Ca, Mn in the samples analyzed from the Montney Formation are interpreted as: 1) indication of dolomitization and diagenesis; 2) trace elements—Rb, Th, U, and Cs are related to the organic matter—kerogen in the clay component of the Montney Formation source rock; and 3) transition metals—Sc, V, Co, Cr, Zn show strong affinity with diagenesis in the study interval.