On the provenance of monazite and ilmenite from the Sea of Azov coastal placers in Novopetrivka, Berdiansk Region, Zaporizhzhia Oblast, Ukraine

Abstract

The primary source of economically important coastal sand minerals has been identified. Monazite and ilmenite, which occur in the vicinity of Berdiansk city on the northern coast of the Sea of Azov in Ukraine, and determine the possibility of their practical use. The chemical and mineral composition of the placer minerals, their textural characteristics and radiometric ages help in determining their origin. Monazite from the coastal black sands of Novopetrivka is of Paleoproterozoic age. Thorium-bearing monazites of this age are a typical accessory mineral of the Anadolskyi, Saltychanskyi and Kamianomohylskyi granitoid complexes of the Pryazovskyi Megablock of the Ukrainian Shield. The ilmenites are of various origins. The deposits of both monazite and other minerals of the black sands, common in the beach zone near the village of Novopetrivka, were predominantly formed from terrigenous material brought earlier by rivers from the Pryazovskyi Megablock area. The monazites examined from the northern zone of the Sea of Azov are characterized by significant neodymium, samarium, europium, gadolinium, terbium and dysprosium contents, reaching up to 14 wt.% (as oxides). Apart from monazites, ilmenite, garnet and fine-grained quartz can be good economic targets.