Provenance of minerals in the Assi river sediments, Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, India

Grain size analysis and mineralogical characterization are important sedimentological tools to interpret the depositional environment, source, hydrodynamic conditions, and mode of transport of river sediments. Clays derived from chemical weathering are an important group of minerals found in various sedimentary environments such as rivers, estuaries, and ocean. In the present study, mineralogy of Assi river sediments was investigated with the help of Fourier Transform Infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM). Results revealed that the sediments are dominated by sand and mud. Further, the sediments were found to be abundant in quartz with subordinate amount of feldspars, kaolinite, illite, chlorite, and montmorillonite. Abundance of these minerals suggests that the Himalayan and Vindhyan sedimentary rocks are the primary source for the Assi river sediments.