Joint 60th Annual Northeastern/59th Annual North-Central Section Meeting - 2025

Paper No. 22-35
Presentation Time: 8:30 AM-5:30 PM

THE MINERALOGICAL AND CHEMICAL COMPOSITIONAL COMPARISON OF THE GRANBY TUFF AND HOLYOKE BASALT


STESSMAN, Josiah, Geological Sciences, Bridgewater State University, 131 Summer St., 24 Park Avenue. Dana Mohler-Faria Science & Math Center, Bridgewater, MA 02325 and BRANDON, Christine M., Department of Geosciences, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 611 North Pleasant St, 233 Morrill Science Center, Amherst, MA 01003

The Connecticut River Valley is a Triassic rift basin, the opening of which emplaced several basalt flows, including the Holyoke basalt. Stratigraphically on top of the Holyoke basalt is the Granby tuff, which suggests that they formed around the same time, however, that assumption hasn’t been tested mineralogically or chemically. The main purpose of this research is to mineralogically and chemically characterize the composition of the Granby tuff and Holyoke basalt and perform a comparative analysis. Samples were collected from outcrops of each rock type, processed for XRF and XRD analysis, and thin sectioned for optical analysis. Results will allow comparison of the compositions of both sets of rock samples. This will aid in the correlation of Holyoke basalt and Granby tuff.