Geochemical Studies of Clays from Coastal Red Sediments from Yerrapalem to Chepalakancheru, Vizianagaram District, Andhra Pradesh

Abstract

Geochemical studies were carried out for the clays of the coastal red sediments from Yerrayyapalem to Chepalakancheru to understand the distribution, sources and processes by which the major and minor elements are present in the clays of red sediments. Kaolinite, illite and montmorillonite are the clay mineral assemblage in the red sediments with decreasing abundance. Results show that iron is fixed as oxide coatings on clays while titanium is associated with the iron oxide coatings. Low sodium and potassium concentration in the red sediments indicates that the leaching of alkalies is complete in the source area.Low concentration of Ca and Mg in red sediments indicates that it is leached from the sediments and deposited as calcium in the red sediments itself. Manganese content is associated with oxide coatings in the red sand sediments.