Distribution and origin of quartz in the sediments of the Indian Ocean

X-ray diffraction study of 300 samples of surface (Holocene) sediments from the Indian Ocean shows high quartz abundances in areas adjacent to continents as is the case in other oceans. Quartz in the Indian Ocean sediments is thus mainly continent-derived. Our data further suggest that, because of increased continental aridity and/or increased intensity of winds, higher mounts of quartz were transported in the form of atmospheric dusts from the Arabian and Australian deserts into the adjacent ocean during the Last Glacial.