HG 187.45-187.65 Thin Section

Coarse grained sediment with fine grained domains throughout. The clasts in the coarse grained domain range from sub-angular to sub-rounded. Short distance lineations are present throughout the sample. Organic rich domains (darker) are prevalent alongside fractured grains.

HG 225.15-225.25 Thin Section

Dark brown sediment with sub-angular to sub-rounded grains, that range from small to medium in size. Lineations with fractured grains are abundant, and grain crushing can also be seen. Minor rotation can also be seen.

HG 427.45-427.55

Brown sediment with grains ranging from small to large. The clast shape of this sample ranges from sub-angular to sub-rounded. Grain crushing can be seen in large amounts, and commonly involves the larger grains. Many of the larger grains are also fractured. Lineations and comet structures can also be seen.

HG 437.50-437.55

Light brown sample with clasts ranging from small to large. The clast shape ranges from sub-angular to sub-rounded. Grain crushing is common in this sample and mainly involves the larger clasts. Many grains are also crushed into one another. The larger grains are also fractured. Lineations and faint water escape structures can also be seen. This sample also contains a finer grained domain, darker in colour.

HG 28.75-28.90

This sample contains clasts that range from small to large. A few fractured grains can be seen. The grain shape ranges from angular to rounded. Rotation structures can be seen throughout the sample along with some edge-to-edge grain crushing.

HG 168.50-168.60

Brown sediment with three main domains; two different fine grained domains and one coarse grained domain. The fine grained domains can be distinguished based on the abundance of organic material (darker). Both domains contain lineations. The coarse grained domain contains clasts ranging from small to medium in size and angular to rounded in shape. Rotation structures, lineations and comet structures can be seen in this domain. It also contains some fractured grains.

HG 176.10-176.20

Dark brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to large in size. Clast shape ranges from angular to sub-rounded. Lineations and rotation structures can commonly be seen throughout the sample. Comet structures, grain crushing, and fractured grains can also be seen in minor amounts.

AB1-2

Brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to large in size. Clast shape ranges from sub-angular to sub-rounded. Many grains are fractured throughout the sample. Some lineations can be seen. The sample contains well dispersed clasts.

Determining rotational direction of rotation structures using prolate shaped grains within till

Micromorphology is used to analyze a wide range of sediments. Many microstructures have, as yet, not been analyzed. Rotation structures are the least understood of microstructures: their origin and development forms the basis of this thesis. Direction of rotational movement helps understand formative deformational and depositional processes. Twenty-eight rotation structures were analyzed through two methods of data extraction: (a) angle of grain rotation measured from Nikon NIS software, and (b) visual analyses of grain orientation, neighbouring grainstacks, lineations, and obstructions. Data indicates antithetic rotation is promoted by lubrication, accounting for 79% of counter-clockwise rotation structures while 21 % had clockwise rotation. Rotation structures are formed due to velocity gradients in sediment. Subglacial sediments are sheared due to overlying ice mass stresses. The grains in the sediment are differentially deformed. Research suggests rotation structures are formed under ductile conditions under low shear, low water content, and grain numbers inducing grain-to-grain interaction.

Spectral Reflectance Characteristics of Kimberlite Indicator Minerals and Other Selected Mineral Grains

High chromium content in kimberlite indicator minerals such as pyrope garnet and diopside is often correlated with the presence of diamonds. In this study, kimberlite indicator minerals were examined using visible light reflectance spectroscopy to determine if chromium content can be correlated with spectral absorption features. The depth of absorption features in the visible spectral region were correlated with the molecular percentage of chromium and other first series transition metal elements obtained by electron microprobe data. In the visible part of the spectrum, chromium is evident by 3 absorption features in the pyrope reflectance spectrum; one isolated and narrow feature at the wavelength 689 nm was used to correlate with the chromium mol %. The isolation of this feature in the pyrope spectra is advantageous since it is not directly affected by other proximal absorption bands that could be caused by other transition metals. Analysis of the feature indicates that as grain volume increases the depth of the absorption feature will also increase. Clustering grain volumes into fractions yields better correlation between absorption depth and mol % chromium. Other types of garnet (almandine, grossular, spessartine) and kimberlite indicator minerals (olivine, diopside, chromite, ilmenite) were analyzed to determine if other absorption features could be used to predict the proportion of specific transition metal elements. Diopside in particular illustrates the same isolated chromium absorption feature as pyrope and may indicate mol percent but needs further study with larger sample sets.

HG 186.9-187.0 D.E-3

Fractured and weathered grains throughout the section. Lineations and grain stacks throughout the section.

HG 244.40-244.50-A Thin Section

Dark brown sediment with sub-angular to sub-rounded clasts. Rotation structures and lineations are common. Clasts ranging from small to large in size. Many large grains are fractured. Minor amounts of grain stacking and crushing can be seen. A few clay and organic rich domains can be seen.

HG 264.30-264.45

Coarse grained sample with clasts that range from small to large in size. The clast shape ranges from angular to rounded, and many grains are fractured. Grain crushing is present in large amounts. This includes edge-to-edge crushing as well as grains that are crushed into one another. Rotation structures are also common among the clasts that are sub-rounded to rounded. Areas of finer sediment can also be seen.

HG 276.80-276.95 Thin Section

Coarse grained sample, with grains ranging from small to large in size. Shapes range from angular to rounded. This sample is abundant in lineations, and rotation structures can also be seen around larger aggregates. Many large grains are fractured and minor grain stacking can also be seen.

HG 3.75-3.85

Dark brown sediment with clasts ranging from small to large. The clasts range from angular to sub-rounded in shape. The sample mainly contains edge-to-edge grain crushing and rotation structures. Many grains are fractured and a few necking structures can also be seen.