SEDIMENTS FROM BAY ST. GEORGE, NEWFOUNDLAND

Sediments cored to a depth of about 1 m in Bay St. George, Newfoundland, were examined for grain-size distribution and minerals. The sediments are light brown silty clays, the principal minerals of which are chlorite and muscovite mica. The scarce sand consists of fresh detrital grains of blue-green amphibole, biotite, epidote, zoisite, magnetite, garnet, hypersthene, apatite, chlorite, and scarce zircon. Quartz, plagioclase feldspar, and muscovite are abundant. These minerals are all present in the rocks of the adjacent land areas and have been deposited in the sediments with little alteration or change due to weathering. The clay minerals of the sediments are predominantly muscovite and chlorite with a slight admixture of vermiculite and montmorillonite. There is very little mixed-layering of these minerals. Montmorillonite may be due to diagenetic changes after deposition of these clays in the marine environment of the bay.