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
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.