Provenance of Quaternary sands on Flemish Cap, offshore Island of Newfoundland

The objectives of this study were (a) to determine if Flemish Cap has a distinctive heavy mineral assemblage that would allow turbidites from Flemish Cap to be distinguished in Flemish Pass; and (b) to evaluate the role of local erosion versus ice-rafting in the evolution of the heavy mineral assemblages in the widespread sands on Flemish Cap. Heavy minerals were separated from four widely spaced surface sands on Flemish Cap and from one ~16 ka turbidite sand in Flemish Pass. Heavy minerals were identified from polished thin sections using a scanning electron microscope with energy dispersive spectroscopy. The dominant source of heavy minerals in the sand ridge fields of Flemish Cap is from ice-rafting from the Canadian Shield and Greenland. Erosion of Avalonian basement rocks on the Flemish Cap shoals was the dominant source of sand on the rocky shoals. Erosion of Tertiary and Cretaceous sandstones was not a significant source for heavy minerals based on the rarity of zircon, monazite, tourmaline and spinel/chromite. The 16 ka turbidite sand in eastern Flemish Pass has a similar varietal heavy mineral assemblage as the sand ridge fields of Flemish Cap.