Dear Mrs. Edet,

everything mentioned above can be corroborated as far as the routine methods are concerned. Boulder clay is found in glacial till and as such you may find clay minerals used here synonymous with phyllosilicates along with a great deal of minerals pertaining to the silt and fine sand fraction. Therefore to get a full-blown picture of the mineralogical composition which is of utmost importance for the provenance and environment analyses, I would also use either thin sections or particulate sections, examining them under the petrographic microscope and the SEM/EDX/WDX (light and heavy minerals). It will also provide you with textural and structural information which is essential to constrain the way (and direction) of transport. Determining the chemical composition with XRF or using more highly sophisticated methods, such as IR or CEC analyses, depend upon whether you can avail yourself of a well-equipped laboratory and on the aim of your study.

Best regards and good luck!

Harald G. Dill

Dear Mrs. Edet,

I would recommend:

Take a sub-sample.

1- Weight it (W1)

2- Disaggregate it with Distilled Water , hands, shaker and ultra sound bath.

3- Add Calgon (dispersant)

4- Separate  the suspended materials by size with the centrifuge (there are determined times and velocities per each size) (set it for

you can refer to one book X-ray diffraction and the identification and analysis of clay minerals 1997