Figure 1.

Figure 2.

Figure 3.

Figure 4.

Figure 5.

Figure 6.

Figure 7.

LOI values and major element contents (wt_%) of chert and its associated sand from the studied area_
| SiO2 | TiO2 | Al2O3 | Fe2O3T | MnO | CaO | MgO | Na2O | K2O | LOI | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chert | ||||||||||
| C-1 | 97.05 | bdl | 0.04 | 0.41 | bdl | bdl | 0.01 | 0.005 | 0.01 | 0.80 |
| C-2 | 98.12 | bdl | 0.14 | 0.36 | 0.003 | 0.01 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-3 | 96.96 | bdl | 0.12 | 0.45 | 0.004 | 0.17 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-5 | 97.40 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 0.46 | bdl | bdl | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.01 | 1.28 |
| C-6 | 96.40 | 0.01 | 0.09 | 0.68 | bdl | 0.02 | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 1.50 |
| C-8 | 93.10 | 0.03 | 0.09 | 3.86 | 0.31 | 0.64 | 0.04 | 0.06 | 0.01 | 1.53 |
| C-9 | 94.38 | bdl | 0.05 | 2.70 | 0.20 | 0.29 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-10 | 91.27 | 0.04 | 0.05 | 6.10 | bdl | bdl | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 1.75 |
| C-12 | 96.10 | 0.03 | 0.11 | 0.89 | 0.01 | 0.32 | 0.05 | 0.06 | 0.01 | 2.03 |
| C-13 | 97.22 | bdl | 0.07 | 1.70 | 0.01 | 0.04 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-14 | 97.58 | bdl | 0.07 | 1.18 | 0.06 | 0.13 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-15 | 94.20 | bdl | bdl | 1.44 | 0.04 | 2.96 | 0.01 | 0.04 | 0.01 | 1.19 |
| C-17 | 96.60 | bdl | bdl | 0.47 | 0.004 | 1.55 | bdl | 0.03 | 0.01 | 0.58 |
| C-19 | 95.33 | 0.04 | 0.26 | 0.58 | bdl | 0.03 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 0.03 | 1.87 |
| C-20 | 96.73 | 0.01 | 0.05 | 0.80 | bdl | 0.12 | 0.01 | 0.005 | 0.01 | 0.40 |
| C-22 | 96.31 | 0.03 | 0.12 | 0.27 | bdl | 0.56 | 0.03 | 0.004 | 0.02 | 1.27 |
| C-23 | 90.42 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 5.07 | bdl | 1.44 | 0.05 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 1.80 |
| C-24 | 90.42 | 0.01 | 0.08 | 5.78 | bdl | 0.05 | 0.02 | 0.005 | 0.02 | 1.49 |
| C-25 | 89.44 | bdl | 0.13 | 4.74 | 0.38 | 0.61 | 0.07 | 0.04 | bdl | 2.30 |
| C-26 | 88.18 | 0.02 | 0.05 | 5.59 | bdl | 1.35 | 0.02 | 0.01 | 0.02 | 1.90 |
| C-27 | 94.08 | bdl | 0.08 | 1.26 | 0.17 | 0.14 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-28 | nm | bdl | 0.08 | 3.95 | 0.39 | 0.48 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-29 | 98.18 | bdl | 0.04 | 0.37 | 0.007 | 0.11 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-30 | 92.34 | bdl | 0.04 | 2.10 | 0.19 | 0.33 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-31 | 98.26 | bdl | 0.06 | 0.20 | 0.04 | 0.11 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| C-32 | 94.00 | bdl | 0.13 | 0.29 | 0.007 | 1.19 | nm | nm | nm | nm |
| Av. | 94.80 | 0.025 | 0.085 | 2.00 | 0.11 | 0.55 | 0.028 | 0.023 | 0.016 | 1.45 |
| Sand | ||||||||||
| S1 | 95.00 | 0.15 | 0.67 | 0.64 | 0.011 | 0.66 | 0.15 | 0.05 | 0.22 | 1.57 |
| S2 | 92.50 | 0.59 | 1.47 | 1.17 | 0.024 | 1.21 | 0.25 | 0.16 | 0.45 | 1.83 |
| S3 | 94.35 | 0.22 | 1.14 | 0.41 | 0.01 | 1.73 | 0.07 | 0.12 | 0.38 | 1.30 |
| S4* | 94.80 | 0.25 | 1.20 | 0.46 | 0.04 | 2.34 | 0.10 | 0.23 | 0.39 | nm |
| S5* | 94.85 | 0.41 | 1.59 | 0.75 | 0.07 | 1.12 | 0.11 | 0.13 | 0.48 | nm |
| Av. | 94.3 | 0.32 | 1.21 | 0.69 | 0.03 | 1.41 | 0.14 | 0.14 | 0.38 | 1.57 |
Trace element compositions (ppm) of chert and its associated sand from the studied area, along with average compositions of the chondrite and PAAS (see text for references)_
| Elements | Chert | Sand | Chondrite | PAAS | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| C-1 | C-5 | C-8 | C-10 | C-19 | C-20 | C-22 | C-26 | Av. | S3 | |||
| Sc | 0.043 | 0.042 | 0.090 | 0.042 | 0.238 | 0.194 | 0.107 | 0.087 | 0.10 | 0.640 | nr | nr |
| Y | 0.839 | 0.126 | 1.125 | 0.336 | 1.301 | 1.237 | 2.204 | 1.561 | 1.09 | 3.040 | 2.100 | 27 |
| La | 0.472 | 0.153 | 0.815 | 0.262 | 1.405 | 0.871 | 1.308 | 0.818 | 0.76 | 4.952 | 0.367 | 38 |
| Ce | 0.796 | 0.514 | 0.890 | 0.634 | 1.813 | 3.432 | 1.134 | 0.867 | 1.26 | 8.817 | 0.957 | 80 |
| Pr | 0.098 | 0.041 | 0.133 | 0.050 | 0.295 | 0.160 | 0.210 | 0.131 | 0.14 | 1.351 | 0.137 | 8.9 |
| Nd | 0.296 | 0.077 | 0.365 | 0.131 | 0.809 | 0.449 | 0.586 | 0.373 | 0.39 | 3.556 | 0.711 | 32 |
| Sm | 0.065 | 0.020 | 0.082 | 0.031 | 0.162 | 0.092 | 0.132 | 0.083 | 0.08 | 0.738 | 0.231 | 5.6 |
| Eu | 0.026 | 0.013 | 0.061 | 0.022 | 0.056 | 0.051 | 0.049 | 0.037 | 0.04 | 0.200 | 0.087 | 1.1 |
| Gd | 0.092 | 0.026 | 0.111 | 0.041 | 0.173 | 0.134 | 0.188 | 0.114 | 0.11 | 0.661 | 0.306 | 4.7 |
| Tb | 0.017 | 0.005 | 0.019 | 0.007 | 0.035 | 0.023 | 0.034 | 0.022 | 0.02 | 0.133 | 0.058 | 0.8 |
| Dy | 0.073 | 0.020 | 0.098 | 0.033 | 0.149 | 0.120 | 0.175 | 0.113 | 0.10 | 0.577 | 0.381 | 4.4 |
| Ho | 0.024 | 0.006 | 0.032 | 0.010 | 0.046 | 0.039 | 0.057 | 0.041 | 0.03 | 0.159 | 0.085 | 1.0 |
| Er | 0.055 | 0.013 | 0.078 | 0.024 | 0.107 | 0.103 | 0.139 | 0.094 | 0.08 | 0.358 | 0.249 | 2.9 |
| Tm | 0.010 | 0.003 | 0.014 | 0.005 | 0.019 | 0.018 | 0.026 | 0.017 | 0.01 | 0.064 | 0.036 | 0.4 |
| Yb | 0.069 | 0.018 | 0.079 | 0.033 | 0.110 | 0.106 | 0.148 | 0.097 | 0.08 | 0.381 | 0.248 | 2.8 |
| Lu | 0.012 | 0.003 | 0.014 | 0.005 | 0.018 | 0.018 | 0.024 | 0.018 | 0.01 | 0.067 | 0.038 | 0.4 |
| ΣREE | 2.100 | 0.912 | 2.791 | 1.288 | 5.197 | 5.616 | 4.210 | 2.825 | 3.11 | 22.01 | 3.891 | 183 |
| LREE | 1.753 | 0.818 | 2.346 | 1.13 | 4.54 | 5.055 | 3.419 | 2.309 | 2.67 | 19.61 | 2.49 | 165.6 |
| HREE | 0.352 | 0.094 | 0.445 | 0.158 | 0.657 | 0.561 | 0.791 | 0.516 | 0.45 | 2.40 | 1.401 | 17.4 |
| LRRE/HREE | 4.98 | 8.70 | 5.27 | 7.15 | 6.91 | 9.01 | 4.32 | 4.47 | 6.35 | 8.17 | 1.78 | 9.52 |
| Y/Ho | 34.9 | 21.0 | 35.0 | 33.6 | 28.3 | 31.7 | 35.4 | 38.10 | 32.3 | 21.4 | 24.7 | 27.0 |
| PAAS normalized | ||||||||||||
| Ce/Ce* | 0.85 | 1.49 | 0.61 | 1.26 | 0.65 | 2.10 | 0.49 | 0.60 | 1.01 | 0.78 | - | - |
| Eu/Eu* | 1.55 | 4.02 | 2.99 | 2.90 | 1.56 | 2.07 | 1.45 | 1.77 | 2.29 | 1.34 | - | - |
Calculated ratios of some elements for samples listed in Table 1_
| Al/(Al + Fe + Mn) | Al2O3/TiO2 | Al2O3/(Al2O3 + Fe2O3T) | (Fe + Mn)/Ti | Fe/Ti | Fe2O3T/TiO2 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chert | ||||||
| C-1 | 0.07 | - | 0.09 | - | - | - |
| C-2 | 0.23 | - | 0.28 | - | - | - |
| C-3 | 0.17 | - | 0.21 | - | - | - |
| C-5 | 0.07 | 1.2 | 0.10 | 13.40 | 13.40 | 11.50 |
| C-6 | 0.09 | 9.0 | 0.12 | 79.30 | 79.30 | 68.00 |
| C-8 | 0.02 | 3.0 | 0.02 | 163.0 | 150.0 | 128.7 |
| C-9 | 0.01 | - | 0.02 | - | - | - |
| C-10 | 0.01 | 1.2 | 0.01 | 178.0 | 178.0 | 152.5 |
| C-12 | 0.02 | 3.7 | 0.11 | 34.60 | 34.60 | 29.70 |
| C-13 | 0.03 | - | 0.04 | - | - | - |
| C-14 | 0.04 | - | 0.09 | - | - | - |
| C-15 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| C-17 | - | - | - | - | - | - |
| C-19 | 0.25 | 6.5 | 0.30 | 16.90 | 16.90 | 14.60 |
| C-20 | 0.04 | 5.0 | 0.06 | 93.20 | 93.30 | 80.00 |
| C-22 | 0.25 | 3.6 | 0.30 | 10.50 | 10.50 | 9.000 |
| C-23 | 0.01 | 2.5 | 0.01 | 295.0 | 295.0 | 253.5 |
| C-24 | 0.01 | 8.0 | 0.01 | 673.0 | 673.0 | 578.0 |
| C-25 | 0.02 | - | 0.03 | - | - | - |
| C-26 | 0.01 | 2.5 | 0.01 | 326.0 | 325.0 | 279.5 |
| C-27 | 0.04 | - | 0.06 | - | - | - |
| C-28 | 0.01 | - | 0.02 | - | - | - |
| C-29 | 0.07 | - | 0.10 | - | - | - |
| C-30 | 0.01 | - | 0.02 | - | - | - |
| C-31 | 0.18 | - | 0.23 | - | - | - |
| C-32 | 0.25 | - | 0.31 | - | - | - |
| Av. | 0.08 | 4.20 | 0.11 | 171.0 | 170.0 | 145.9 |
| Sand | ||||||
| S1 | 0.43 | 4.47 | 0.51 | 5.0 | 4.97 | 4.27 |
| S2 | 0.48 | 2.49 | 0.56 | 2.4 | 2.33 | 1.98 |
| S3 | 0.67 | 5.18 | 0.74 | 2.3 | 2.20 | 1.86 |
| S4* | 0.65 | 4.80 | 0.72 | 2.3 | 2.13 | 1.84 |
| S5* | 0.60 | 3.88 | 0.68 | 2.3 | 2.13 | 1.83 |
| Av. | 0.57 | 4.16 | 0.64 | 2.86 | 2.75 | 2.36 |