TIR hyperspectral interpretation of quartz crystallinity and composition within silicate bearing rocks

Thermal infrared (TIR) spectroscopy and related remote sensing of quartz and silicates has traditionally been focused on developing methodologies to interpret their content and chemical composition. This study investigates the relationship between TIR spectral signatures, quartz crystallite dimension, and inferred crystallinity, as a means to discriminate sources of quartz within different lithologies and their associated formation origins. A diverse range of quartz forms, and also quartz bearing igneous, metamorphic and sedimentary samples were used to examine their classification according to various band parameter indices based on the quartz secondary reststrahlen feature. Scherrer analysis using X-ray diffraction (XRD) of a subset of these samples indicated an approximate logarithmic relationship with the band parameters attempted. This study suggests that the quartz crystallite dimension, inferred crystallinity and potentially its formation source, may be interpreted by TIR band parameters using either proximal hyperspectral TIR measurements or remote sensing techniques.