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Mineralogy and geochemistry study of the Nyong River sediments, SW Cameroon: Implications for provenance, weathering, and tectonic setting

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Abstract

Texture, mineralogy, heavy minerals, and major and trace elements, including REE, from surface sediment samples collected along the Nyong River (NR) were analyzed in the current study to characterize and discuss the intensity of weathering, provenance, and tectonic settings of the source area and estimate the chemical features that reflect the parental rocks, known from literature. The sediments are mainly fine- and coarse-grained sands, and the mineralogy is predominantly composed of quartz, accompanied by kaolinite, illite, opaque oxides, kyanite, rutile, zircon, tourmaline, sillimanite, garnet, and hypersthene. Geochemically, the sediments are classified as Fe–shale, Fe–sand, and quartz arenite. The CIA, PIA, CIW, and the A–CN–K and (A–K)–C–N plots indicate the high intensity of chemical weathering. The values of SiO2/Al2O3, Al2O3/Na2O, K2O/Na2O, ICV, and the ZTR index indicate the maturity of many samples. Most of the sediment samples experienced recycling, as revealed by the Al2O3–TiO2–Zr plot. Several bivariate plots such as Zr vs TiO2 and Th/Co vs La/Sc, and the REE pattern and size of Eu, indicate derivation from a source area composed mostly of intermediate and felsic rocks and, in a lesser extent, of mafic source rocks. Tectonic discriminant diagrams based on major and trace elements indicate rift and passive margin settings, which is consistent with several tectonic history models of the Ntem complex and the Pan-African belt.

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Data availability

All the sediment samples for major, trace, including REE, and mineralogical analysis were performed at the geology and sedimentary environment laboratories (AGEs), University of Liège, Belgium.

Code availability

The XLSTAT software was used to determine the Pearson correlation coefficient.

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Acknowledgements

This work represents part of the ongoing Ph.D. of the first author. The authors are grateful to the University of Liege (Belgium) for XRD and geochemical analysis. We are also indebted to the anonymous reviewers for their thoughtful examination of the manuscript and their constructive comments that greatly improved its final version.

Funding

This research was partly supported by the Department of Earth Sciences, Faculty of Sciences, University of Dschang, Cameroon, through an internal project.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Dschang, P.O. Box: 67, Dschang, Cameroon

    Yannick Steve Ngagoum Kontchipe, Francis Temgo Sopie, Aristide Nadine Sonfack, David Guimolaire Nkouathio, Robinson Tchatchueng, Gatien Romuald Kenfack Nguemo & Théophile Njanko

  2. Department of Earth Sciences, University of Yaoundé 1, P.O. Box: 812, Yaoundé, Cameroon

    Gabriel Ngueutchoua

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  1. Yannick Steve Ngagoum Kontchipe
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  2. Francis Temgo Sopie
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  3. Gabriel Ngueutchoua
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  4. Aristide Nadine Sonfack
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  5. David Guimolaire Nkouathio
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  8. Théophile Njanko
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Contributions

Each author has made substantial contributions to the conception or design of the work or the acquisition, analysis, or interpretation of data, or have drafted the work or substantively revised it. Field and laboratory works were performed by Yannick Steve Ngagoum Kontchipe, Aristide Nadine Sonfack, and Francis Temgo Sopie. The first draft of manuscript was written by Yannick Steve Ngagoum Kontchipe.

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Correspondence to Gabriel Ngueutchoua.

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Ngagoum Kontchipe, Y.S., Temgo Sopie, F., Ngueutchoua, G. et al. Mineralogy and geochemistry study of the Nyong River sediments, SW Cameroon: Implications for provenance, weathering, and tectonic setting. Arab J Geosci 14, 1018 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-021-07145-9

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