Fine-sediment mineralogy of source rocks and suspended sediment,rother catchment,West Sussex

The clay and silt mineralogy of the Cretaceous bedrocks of the Rother drainage basin is restricted to seven minerals. The mineralogy of soils and alluvium is similar to the bedrock upon which they are developed although minor variations can be found. The mineralogy of bedrock, soils and alluvium is reflected to some extent in the suspended sediment of rivers draining over them, and three different mineral assemblage zones are identified. Subtle controls of mineralogical variation in suspended sediment may include the ratio of groundwater/surface runoff contribution to river flow, rate of reaction of soil and bedrock to precipitation, preferential settling of non-platy grains in quieter stretches of water, and the precipitation of material from solution as waters equilibriate with the atmosphere.