Geochemistry of Lower Sandstone: Provenance Lithology, the Paleoclimate

The Adigrat Sandstone is found in the Blue Nile Basin, North Western plateau of Ethiopia. It was formed because of jurassic marine transgression came from the south-east (Daniell, 1974. It has been analyzed to determine their provenance composition, paleoweathering and paleoclimatic scenarios. Samples of this sandstone are slightly variable in composition and on QFL diagram; most o the samples are plotted in subarkose and lithic subarkose fields. The CIA, PIA and CIW values for this sandstone and the A?CN?K diagram agreeably suggest that source rocks experienced intense chemical weathering under hot and humid tropical to sub-tropical climate. Mineralogical evidence suggests that plutonic and metamorphic rocks were major contributing source rocks. However, recycling of the sediment is also an inevitable.