Mineralogical, Elemental, and Spatial Variability of Volcaniclastics in
Fluvio-Coastal-Aeolian Sedimentary Systems and Their Insights for
Mineral Sorting on Mars
Abstract
This study investigates the mineralogical, elemental, and spatial
variability from source (proximal) to sink (distal) of Merapi
basalt-andesitic stratovolcano (Java, Indonesia) to better constrain
volcaniclastic mineral sorting in fluvial, aeolian, and coastal
environments. Merapi volcaniclastics are products of an active volcano
with an ongoing quadrennial eruption, which can provide insights to
constrain Mars’ older and more recent volcaniclastics by focusing on
anorthite, albite, and pyroxenes found on Mars’ crust. We collected
stream sediment samples across the Opak River that connects Merapi with
the Indian Ocean and acquired Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) surveys on
Parangkusumo Shoreface and a parabolic coastal sand dune. In addition to
grain size separation, all collected samples were subjected to X-Ray
Diffractometer (XRD) and X-Ray Fluorescence (XRF) to quantify their
mineralogical and elemental composition, respectively, like the
techniques used by the Curiosity rover on Mars to investigate the
geochemistry and mineralogy of geological units in the Gale crater. To
interpret the geochemical analysis, we applied multivariate statistical
analysis based on Principal Component Analysis (PCA) and Hierarchical
Clustering of Principal Component (HCPC). The quantitative assessment
shows that the provenance contains pyroclastic materials dominated by
plagioclase feldspars (albite and anorthite), followed by pyroxenes
(augite and enstatite), similar to the findings of basalt-andesitic
minerals on Mars’ Gale and Gusev Crater. Mineral sorting from Merapi
volcaniclastics shows a plagioclase feldspar sorting from proximal to
the proximal-medial interface, fault-influenced pyroxene sorting from
medial to distal, and pyroxene sorting in the aeolian-dominated
sedimentary system.