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Using detrital garnets to determine provenance: a case study from the Vertiskos Unit (Serbomacedonian Massif, N. Greece)

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Abstract

Garnet single crystals of several millimeters in diameter were collected from the uppermost horizon of a soil profile developing immediately on the gneissic rocks of the Vertiskos Unit of the Serbomacedonian Massif in northern Greece. The garnets were analyzed for major elements by EDS analyzer mounted on a scanning electron microscope, and the obtained data were utilized to determine their source rocks. Bivariate diagrams, spider diagrams as well as statistical analysis were used in order to correlate and compare the garnet composition of the basement rocks of the Vertiskos Unit with the existing reference data. This case study demonstrates the difficulty in assigning a source rock to sediment, using only the chemical compositional of detrital garnet. Direct linking of the detrital garnets and the outcropping rocks is not always possible despite well documented outcrop lithologies. This is largely due to a complex metamorphic evolution that leads to overlapping compositions between garnets originating from different lithologies that have undergone similar metamorphic processes and alteration effects.

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Acknowledgments

The first author would like to thank the technicians G. Michailidis, D. Katsikas and the geologist N. Kipouros for the preparation of the thin sections. The first author is also grateful to the Research Committee of the Aristotle University of Thessaloniki for the financial aid. The critical remarks of the anonymous reviewers are thankfully acknowledged.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geology, Department of Mineralogy-Petrology-Economic Geology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, 541 24, Thessaloniki, Greece

    Ioannis K. Georgiadis, Antonios Koroneos, Lamprini Papadopoulou, Nikolaos Kantiranis & Ananias Tsirambides

  2. Institute for Structural Engineering, University of Natural Resources and Applied Life Sciences, 1190, Vienna, Austria

    Alexios E. Tamparopoulos

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  1. Ioannis K. Georgiadis
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  2. Antonios Koroneos
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  3. Lamprini Papadopoulou
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  4. Nikolaos Kantiranis
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  5. Alexios E. Tamparopoulos
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  6. Ananias Tsirambides
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Correspondence to Ioannis K. Georgiadis.

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Editorial handling: J. Kosler

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Georgiadis, I.K., Koroneos, A., Papadopoulou, L. et al. Using detrital garnets to determine provenance: a case study from the Vertiskos Unit (Serbomacedonian Massif, N. Greece). Miner Petrol 108, 187–206 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00710-013-0295-1

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