S. K. Danuor, W. Dzirasah and J. E. Peck
The source and depositional environment of the top 2 – 8 cm of the sediments of Lake Bosumtwi in Ghana, West Africa, have been determined using x-ray diffraction (XRD) techniques. The sediment samples were collected at different locations in the lake using Ekman dredge. Oriented clay mineral studies using the XRD methods reveal clay mineralogies of smectite, vermiculite, chlorite, illite, kaolinite micas, and their interstratified derivatives, suggesting a warm wet climate with increased chemical weathering by hydrolysis. The presence of greigite at the central deep water part of the lake suggests sulphate reduction under anoxic conditions, which indicate deposition in deep water. This further supports the inference of a wet climate. Quartz, orthoclase, anorthosite, muscovite and illite, which emerged from powder XRD results, point to a probable Birimian Supergroup provenance, and therefore the source for these top sediments.
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