Mineral assemblage
Definition
The collection of mineral species present in a sample, and their proportions. Assemblages reflect the bedrock that eroded to produce the sediment, the weathering processes that modified it, and any anthropogenic additions. Two soils with different assemblages are geologically distinct.
Related terms
- Anthropogenic particles
- Particles with geological compositions that were created or modified by human industrial activity: coal fly ash, slag, concrete aggregate, crushed brick, and...
- Forensic petrology
- The application of petrological methods (rock description, thin-section analysis, provenance tracing) to forensic questions. A forensic petrologist might match a rock fragment...
- Locard's exchange principle applied to geology
- When a person contacts an earth surface, geological material transfers bidirectionally. The suspect carries material from the scene; the scene receives material...
- Pedology
- The scientific study of soil as a natural body, including its formation, morphology, and classification. Forensic soil science applies pedological methods; forensic...
- Reference population
- The set of samples representing the range of materials that could plausibly have produced the questioned sample, in the absence of the...
Explained in
- Scope, Boundaries, and the Geological ApproachThe collection of mineral species present in a sample, and their proportions. Assemblages reflect the bedrock that eroded to produce the sediment, the weatheri...