Processes of Selective Grain Transport and the Formation of Placers on Beaches

Author(s): Paul D. Komar and Chi Wang

Source: The Journal of Geology, Vol. 92, No. 6 (Nov., 1984), pp. 637-655
Published by: The University of Chicago Press
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/30070498
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 PROCESSES OF SELECTIVE GRAIN TRANSPORT AND THE FORMATION
OF PLACERS ON BEACHES1

PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG

College of Oceanography, Oregon State Univ., Corvallis, Or. 97331

Shandong College of Oceanology, Qingdao, The People's Republic of China

ABSTRACT

Placers are found on many beaches of the Oregon coast. In the beach that is the focus of
principal placer minerals are ilmenite (22.0%), epidote (20.0%), garnet (18.7%), augite (15.5%
(8.1%), hornblende (5.8%) and zircon (2.0%), the "ilmenite" fraction actually being part
series of beach-face sand samples was obtained along a profile when sand was being eroded
beach and transported to offshore bars, since the processes of grain-selective sorting lead
formation were probably most active at such a time. The landward-most sample contai
minerals, being part of the placer. This concentration systematically decreased offshore t
mineral content in the seaward-most sample (54 m offshore). Determinations of individual
concentrations revealed that, although they all tended to become concentrated within the p
quartz and feldspar dominating the offshore transport, the sorting processes were most effec
trating the ilmenite (concentration factor = 1403) and least efficient in concentrating the hor
= 5). All of the minerals form a pattern of increasing efficiency of concentration within the
increase in grain density and decrease in mean grain size. Thus the sorting processes are m
concentrating the ilmenite, which is both the densest and finest-grained of the minerals presen
least efficient for the hornblende, which has the lowest density and is the coarsest of the
Measurements of grain settling velocities indicate that this parameter cannot account for
selective grain sorting. Instead, evaluations of the selective entrainment and transport rates
grains yield trends which exactly parallel their observed concentration factors within the plac
the probable dominance of these grain-sorting processes in placer formation. Shear sorting of
heavy minerals may also be an important process, but its role could not be determined in the

INTRODUCTION trasting settling velocities of light minerals

Placers within beach deposits often contain (principally quartz and feldspar) and heavy
valuable concentrations of minerals, yet the minerals. Subsequent studies, however, have
conditions which produce this heavy-mineral demonstrated the general inapplicability of
enrichment remain imperfectly understood. this concept; light and heavy minerals depos-
What are the physical processes responsible ited together do not generally have the same
for the grain-by-grain selective sorting lead- settling rates (Rittenhouse 1943; Lowright et
ing to a concentration of heavy minerals? Inal. 1972; Slingerland 1977). This casts doubt
developing the concept of hydraulic equiva- on the role of comparative settling velocities

lence, Rubey (1933, p. 5) hypothesized that in forming placer concentrations.

the various minerals would be transported More recent investigations, such as those

and deposited according to their settling ve- of Slingerland (1977, 1984), have focused on
locities, the assumption being that "whatever the role of processes of selective grain en-

the conditions may have been which per- trainment and transport in the formation of
mitted the deposition of quartz grains of a placers. This approach attempts to consider a

certain size, these conditions would also per- sediment of mixed grain sizes and densities,

mit the deposition of magnetite grains that evaluating which grains can be most-easily
had the same settling velocity." Under this entrained and transported. Accordiilgly, a
concept of hydraulic equivalence, one might placer forms because the heavy minerals are

envision that placers form due to the con-
1 Manuscript received February 6, 1984; revised
July 15, 1984.
[JOURNAL OF GEOLOGY, 1984, vol. 92, p. 637-655]
© 1984 by The University of Chicago. All rights
reserved.
0022-1376/84/9206-004$1.00
both denser and finer-grained than the quartz
and feldspar grains. The role of higher grain
densities in producing a placer lag is readily
apparent; the studies also indicate that the
smaller grain sizes of the heavy minerals per-
mit them to "hide" within the interstices
among the larger grains such that these
smaller grains are less-readily entrained by

637

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638 PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG

the flowing water. Also of potential import- must have been a relatively small transgres-
ance to placer formation is the "shear sort- sion of the shoreline within the past 2000-
ing" of the beach sand beneath the waves, a 3000 years. The placers found on the modern
sorting which often separates the finer- Oregon beaches, therefore, probably have
grained heavy minerals from the coarser had a long period of time in which to form.
quartz and feldspar according to a "disper- The placer of this study is best developed
sive equivalence" as formulated by Sallenger along the northern half of the beach, having
(1979). its maximum extent from Beverly Beach
Placer deposits are found within several State Park, about mid-way along this stretch
beaches on the Oregon coast, within sands of of shoreline, northward to the minor head-
the uplifted Pleistocene marine terraces, and land of Devil's Punchbowl at the town of Ot-
in deeper water on the continental shelf (Par- ter Rock. The extent of the placer is best seen
dee 1934; Twenhofel 1943, 1946; Griggs 1945; during the winter when much of the beach
Kulm et al. 1968; Luepke 1980). The terrace sand moves offshore, this beach undergoing
and beach deposits have been mined pe- the normal cycle of profile changes due to
seasonal variations in wave climate (Komar
riodically over the past century for their gold
and chromium and are also potential sources 1976, p. 289). At the study site this cycle has
for ilmenite, zircon, and garnet. The terrace been documented by the series of beach
and offshore placers are believed to have profiles obtained by Aguilar and Komar
formed within the nearshore environment. (1978), demonstrating vertical changes in
We therefore have undertaken the present in- beach-face level of some 80 cm at the placer
vestigation of placer deposits on the modern location. There is a dramatic change in the
beaches with the objective of better under- appearance of the beach between seasons
standing their formation. In this paper we in-due to this cycle. During the summer when
vestigate the selective transport of heavy and the maximum amount of sand is found on the
light minerals at one beach site where an ex- exposed beach berm, the beach has the nor-
tensive placer exists. The analyses focus on mal tan color of a quartz-feldspar sand. In the
the contrasting mineralogies of the placer and winter months this quartz-feldspar sand is
normal light-mineral rich beach sands, exam- transported offshore, exposing the black
ining the physical processes responsible for sands of the placer.
the selective transport which concentrates The sand samples analyzed in this study
the heavy minerals. were collected during a period of transition in
November 1982, when the quartz-feldspar
sand was actively moving offshore. It is prob-
BEACH LOCATION AND SAMPLING
able that the placer concentration processes
The placer involved in this study occurs are most active at such a time, the processes
within the 8-km long beach extending from operating selectively to leave the heavy min-
Cape Foulweather southward to Yaquina erals at the back of the beach while moving
Head on the mid-Oregon coast. Both head- the light minerals offshore. The samples were
lands extend into deep water, preventing by- obtained during one low tide along the beach
passing of the beach sand and making this in profile shown in figure 1A, at a location
effect a pocket beach. Although there is a which avoided the complicating effects of rip
seasonally reversing direction of longshore currents and appeared to show a simple pat-
sand transport, it averages out over the years tern of transport directly offshore. Sample lo-
to yield a zero net transport (Komar et al. cations extended from the top of the beach at
1976). Perhaps also important to the forma- the base of the sea cliff, to 54 m down the
tion of the modern beach placers is the tec- beach profile. At high tide this zone was dom-
tonic uplift of the Oregon coast, which appar- inated by wave-swash processes which com-
ently has nearly the same rate as the sea-level prise about the inner one-fourth of the total
rise (Hicks 1972) so that the beach environ- surf-zone width. Beyond the 54-m offshore
ment has remained relatively stable in posi- distance a longshore trough interrupted the
tion for a considerable period of time. Data smooth profile of figure lA. At sample loca-
on sea level obtained by Peterson et al. (1984) tions OR2 (5 m), OR3 (13 m) and OR4 (24 m),
from estuarine materials indicate that there a thin veneer of quartz-rich sand remained on

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 PROCESSES OF SELECTIVE GRAIN TRANSPORT 639

A. Beach Profile and Samples

OFFSHORE DISTANCE (meters)

B. Heavy Mineral Percentage

C. Median Grain Diameters

OFFSHORE DISTANCE (meters)

FIG. 1.-Beach-face sampling at Otter Rock, Oregon, to examine selective grain transport leading to
placer formation. A. The beach profile and sample locations. B. The percentages of heavy minerals within
the upper 2-cm level of the beach. C. Changes in the median grain sizes (bsv) of the light- and heavy-mineral
fractions.

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640 PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG
the beach face, being only a few grains thick
at its landward end. This veneer was care-
fully sampled with a teaspoon. Otherwise,
laminations were only weakly or not at all
apparent, therefore not controlling the sam-
pling. Most samples represent the upper 1-cm
thickness of the sand at each sample location,
and in a few cases samples centered at 1, 1.5
and 2-cm depths within the beach face, these
samples representing about 0.5-cm thickness
of the deposit.
INITIAL ANALYSES
The initial analyses of the samples involved
standard separations of the light minerals
(quartz and feldspars) and heavy minerals us-
ing tetrabromoethane (specific gravity, 2.96)
and sieve analyses of these two components
using the small 8-cm diameter sieves because
of the low sample weights. Figure 1B shows
the pattern of heavy mineral percentages
within the 2-cm thick section of beach face;
samples representing the upper 1 cm have
been plotted at the 0.5-cm level. The highest
heavy mineral concentration in these samples
was 96%, obtained from the concentrated
placer at the top of the beach (sample loca-
tion OR1, 1.5 cm depth, fig. IB). This per-
centage, or one even closer to 100% heavy
minerals, represents the bulk of the placer
deposit, so it is apparent that the physical
processes have been very effective in sepa-
rating the heavy minerals from the quartz and
feldspar. Figure 1B also shows the thin ve-
neer of quartz-rich sand, the three surface
samples uniformly containing 32% heavy
minerals. At each of those locations the con-
tent of heavy minerals increases rapidly
downward within the beach face, but the 2-
cm thickness of our sampling did not reveal
the full placer deposit that is known to exist
at depth within this portion of the beach, hav-
ing been exposed during previous winters.
The samples representing the upper 1-cm
(plotted at 0.5 cm in figure 1B) are seen to
indicate a progressive offshore decrease in
heavy-mineral concentration, the seaward-
most sample (OR6) containing only 6% heavy
minerals, the remaining 94% being quartz and
feldspar. This pattern of heavy-mineral con-
centrations varying across and within the
beach face indicates that our sampling was
successful in recording a period of selective
grain transport.
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Figure 1C shows the median sieve diame-
ters () units) of the samples obtained from
the upper 1 cm. These demonstrate that the
placer sand is significantly finer-grained than
the remaining beach sand. Of particular inter-
est, this is the case for the light minerals re-
maining in the placer, not just the heavy min-
erals. The median grain sizes of both the
heavies and the lights are seen to increase
systematically in the offshore direction, the
changes of the heavies and lights closely par-
alleling one another. These patterns suggest
that selective transport by grain size as well
as by density has been important in the for-
mation of this placer.
Individual heavy minerals were identified
in the samples and counted using standard
microscopic procedures, 300 grains per sieve
fraction. Table 1A shows the resulting min-
eral percentages in the series of samples from
the upper 1 cm of beach face. The OR1 sam-
ple represents the placer deposit and is com-
posed principally of ilmenite (22.0%), epidote
(20.0%), garnet (18.7%), augite (15.5%), hy-
persthene (8.1%), hornblende (5.8%) and zir-
con (2.0%). Similar percentages have been
found in the other beach placers of the Ore-
gon coast (Twenhofel 1946). The "ilmenite"
fraction actually contains some chromite,
these two opaque minerals not having been
distinguished in most of the samples. A de-
tailed analysis of one sample of the placer
concentrate indicates that chromite consti-
tutes some 20% of the total opaques so that
this "ilmenite" fraction is, in fact, domi-
nantly ilmenite. A "magnetite" fraction was
removed from each sample with a weak mag-
net, and comprised at most 2.9% of the heavy
minerals and usually less than 1%. Luepke
(1980) has shown that this magnetic fraction
consists of both ilmenite grains covered with
a rim of magnetite and grains which are exso-
lution mixtures of magnetite and ilmenite. In
light of this and its small concentrations, thi
magnetic fraction was not included in the
subsequent analyses. The "others" category
of table 1, never very significant, includes
eleven additional heavy minerals identified in
the samples but found individually only in
trace concentrations.
A detailed examination of the mineral per-
centages in table 1A reveals that there was a
substantial offshore decrease in the propor-
tions of ilmenite, garnet and zircon, with
 PROCESSES OF SELECTIVE GRAIN TRANSPORT 641

TABLE 1

OREGON BEACH PLACER SAMPLES

Samples (Figure 1)

OR1 OR2 OR3 OR4 OR5 OR6

A. PERCENTAGES OF HEAVY MINERALS

"magnetite" 2.89 .56 .95 .52 1.35 1.52
ilmenite 21.97 2.43 2.26 .61 1.05 .26
zircon 1.96 .31 .18 .73 .02 .04
garnet 18.69 5.19 8.61 3.18 2.66 .92
hypersthene 8.07 13.52 12.24 9.90 11.26 4.44
epidote 20.50 23.56 25.96 23.74 23.64 24.62
augite 15.52 30.71 31.65 38.73 36.60 46.67
hornblende 5.81 18.22 11.40 15.92 16.53 21.34
others 4.59 5.50 6.75 6.67 6.89 .19

B. MEDIAN DIAMETERS (4b units)

ilmenite 2.80 2.68 2.71 2.80 2.67 2.72
zircon 2.85 2.40 2.82 2.43 3.06 2.74
garnet 2.53 2.42 2.39 2.42 2.42 2.07
hypersthene 2.44 2.38 2.38 2.39 2.37 2.26
epidote 2.33 2.27 2.24 2.24 2.23 2.09
augite 2.32 2.27 2.24 2.22 2.22 2.10
hornblende 2.32 2.27 2.24 2.21 2.24 2.14
quartz 1.97 1.92 1.87 1.87 1.76 1.78

C. MEDIAN SETTLING VELOCITIES (cm!sec)

ilmenite 2.65 2.8 2.8 2.65 2.8 2.75
zircon 2.6 3.1 2.6 3.1 2.3 2.7
garnet 2.75 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.9 3.4
hypersthene 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.9 2.9 3.0
epidote 2.85 2.9 3.0 3.0 3.0 3.2
augite 2.8 2.9 2.9 2.95 2.95 3.1
hornblende 2.7 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.8 2.9
quartz 2.9 3.1 3.2 3.2 3.5 3.5

offshore increases in the augite, epidote and feldspar. In that the ilmenite, garnet, and zir-
hornblende. These trends are presented con are unusually dense minerals, respec-
tively 4.75, about 4.0, and 4.65 g/cm3 (Berry
graphically in figure 2. Hypersthene is erratic
with no clear trend. It should be realized that and Mason 1959), whereas the augite, epi-
although table 1A and figure 2 show increases dote, and hornblende are respectively 3.5, 3.6
in the percentages of augite, epidote and and 3.2 g/cm3, we have an indication of the
hornblende offshore, these are percentages of possible importance of grain density in the
the heavy mineral fraction, not of the total sorting processes.

sample. In that the total content of heavies
decreases offshore (fig. 1B), it is apparent
that the bulk of these three minerals in fact
remained shoreward in the placer deposit, be-
ing left behind by the quartz and feldspar
which dominated the offshore movement.
What table 1A and figure 2 reveal is that
within the heavy-mineral fraction the sorting
processes were more effective in leaving the
ilmenite, garnet and zircon back in the placer, tributions of the augite, epidote, and horn-
moving almost none offshore, while they
were less efficient in separating the augite,
epidote, and hornblende from the quartz and
The grain-size distributions of the principal
heavy minerals in the samples from the upper
1-cm of the beach face were obtained from
the sieving analyses and their percentages
given in table lA. Their distributions in the
placer sample (OR1) are shown in figure 3
together with the distributions of the light
minerals from the same sample and from the
offshore OR5 sample. It is seen that the dis-
blende are nearly the same. In that their den-
sities are also nearly identical and shapes
similar, it might be expected that these three

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642 PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG

0 10 20 30 40 50 60
OFFSHORE DISTANCE (meters)

FIG. 2.-Changes in the percentages of four of the principal heavy minerals across the beach profile of
figure 1A.

minerals would have similar hydraulic behav- analysis of the sieving of the heavy-mineral-
iors. This seems to be the case in that, as seen rich sands of the present study, we found that
in table 1A and figure 2, these were the three the heavy minerals on average follow these
heavy minerals whose percentages increased same relationships based on quartz grains,
in the offshore, the physical processes not there being only very small departures due to
being as effective in separating them from the the shapes of the heavy minerals (Wang and
light minerals. In contrast, it is seen from Komar, in review). The median diameters
figure 3 that the ilmenite, zircon, and garnet given in table 1B as 4b values were obtained
have distinct grain-size distributions. Also of in this way and are preferred over ,sv sieve
interest, the distributions of all of the heavy sizes in that the intermediate grain diameter
minerals are closely Gaussian, having nearly is a more meaningful representation of the
straight-line cumulative curves. actual sizes of the grains and, as will be seen
The median diameters of the heavy
later,
miner-
is required in the evaluations of their
als obtained from their individual grain-size settling velocities.

distributions are listed in table lB. They are
given there as 4b values, that is, in terms of
their intermediate diameters, Db, rather than
in terms of sieve sizes, )sv and Dsv. In anal-
yses of the sieving of quartz sand grains,
Komar and Cui (1984) determined empirically
that Db = 1.32Dsv for the mean of the Db
intermediate diameters of grains captured on
the Dsv sieve size. In terms of 4 units, this is 2), as well as for the augite, epidote, and
equivalent to 4b = <sv-0.40. In a similar
In figure 1 C we saw that all of the heavy
minerals taken together increased in grain
size in the offshore direction, as did the
quartz grains. In table 1B we now see that
this pattern holds for the individual heavy
minerals as well. Of interest, this is true for
the ilmenite, zircon, and garnet, which were
found to decrease in percentage offshore (fig.
hornblende whose percentages increase off-

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 PROCESSES OF SELECTIVE GRAIN TRANSPORT 643

(b = -Iog(D,)

99.9

99

98

95

90

80

70

60

50

40

30

20

10

0.1

I 2 3 4 5

4sv = -
FIG. 3.-Cumulative grain-size distributions of the principal heavy minerals in the placer, compared with
the distributions of the light fractions in samples OR1 and OR5.

shore. It would thus appear that even when to leave the denser minerals in the placer
considering one specific mineral species, the (ilmenite, zircon, and garnet), and are less
coarser particles within its available sizes are efficient in separating the lower-density
selectively transported offshore. Especially heavy minerals (epidote, augite, and horn-
apparent in table 1B are the closely-parallel blende) from the light minerals. The sorting
changes in the grain sizes of the augite, epi- processes also selectively remove the coarser
dote, and hornblende, continuing that seen in grains toward the offshore, leaving behind a
their distributions in the concentrated placer fine-grained placer. This also acts to concen-
(fig. 3). trate further the ilmenite, zircon, and garnet
In summary, the analyses to this point have in the placer, these being the finer-grained
indicated that both grain density and size dif- heavy minerals. An interesting pattern
ferences may be important in the selective emerges, summarized in table 2. The princi-
sorting processes that led to the placer forma- pal minerals are listed in order according to
tion, a conclusion also arrived at in previous their densities. But with the minor exception
studies of placers in rivers and beaches. It of zircon, which constitutes only 2% of the
has been seen that the sorting processes tend placer, this also orders the minerals by in-

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644 PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG

creasing median grain size and decreasing

concentration factor in the placer. This "con-
Shear
centration factor" was computed as the per-
centage of the heavy mineral in the placer
sample (OR1) divided by its percentage in the
offshore sample (OR6). This concentration
factor includes the light-mineral fraction,
principally quartz, so that this computed ratio
becomes a direct evaluation of the degree to
which a mineral is concentrated in the placer.
It is seen that ilmenite is the most-heavily
concentrated, the sorting processes leaving
almost all of this mineral in the placer, mov-
ing very little to the outer surf zone. Zircon is
the next most concentrated in the placer, and
so on down the column until we come to au-
gite and hornblende which, although concen-
trated in the placer versus the offshore sam-
ple, have a factor of concentration of only 5
to 6. The quartz (light minerals) has a factor
less than unity since the bulk of it is moved
offshore, leaving almost none in the placer.
These factors of concentration in the placer,
ranging from 1403 to less than 1, show a strik-
ing parallel trend with the grain densities and
sizes (table 2), leading to the conclusion that
TABLE2

both of these grain parameters have been in-

SetlingEramcvTspo
volved in selective sorting leading to the
placer accumulation. Although it is tempting
to try to determine which of these parame-
SELCTIVORNGFPAM
ters, density versus size, is the more impor-
tant in the sorting, such a division is not pos-
sible and, as will be seen in the later analyses,
it can be expected that both play significant
roles in the formation of this particular placer
deposit.

SETTLING-VELOCITY MEASUREMENTS

The hydraulic equivalence concept of

Rubey (1933) as applied to the Oregon placer
requires comparisons of the settling veloci-
PsDbCone.WmItFlwr,7p2
ties of the various light and heavy minerals.
Rather than relying on past measurements of
(g/cm3)Fatorsedyn2105

settling rates of heavy minerals, such as those

of Briggs et al. (1962), it was decided to con-
duct a series of direct measurements of set-
tling rates of heavy minerals in our samples.
Fifty grains each of augite, hornblende, hy-
ilment4.751032689 zircon4.65139720 garnet4.017325698 hyperstn3.8142509 epidot3.61942850 augite3.520684197 hornbled3.20571948 quartz2.659104-73
persthene, and ilmenite were selected from
the sieve fractions, and their three axial diam-
eters were measured microscopically. The
settling rates were determined in a 4.5-cm di-
ameter, cylindrical glass tube, the grains set-
tling for 8 cm before being timed so as to

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 PROCESSES OF SELECTIVE GRAIN TRANSPORT 645

reach their terminal rates, and then timed
over a tube length of 25, 50, or 75 cm, the
distance depending on the rate. Times were
determined with a Hewlett-Packard 55 cal-
culator which contains a digital stopwatch
that measures time to 0.01 sec. The experi-
ments were successfully completed on the
augite, hornblende, and ilmenite, all dark
minerals that could easily be seen. There was
considerable difficulty in following the light-
colored hypersthene grains, and many were
lost. We initially intended also to measure
settling rates for garnet, but these small, clear
grains were virtually impossible to see.
Figure 4 compares the measured settling
rates, Wm, with the settling velocities of
equivalent spheres, Ws, which were cal-
culated from the power series of Davies
(1945) as described by Warg (1973). In figure
4A the calculation of ws is based on the
grain's intermediate diameter alone, an ap-
proach used successfully by Baba and Komar
(1981) in a similar analysis of quartz sand set-to settling rates. In this way the median 4b
tling rates. It is seen that the measurements
have a clear trend but are scattered. A least-
squares curve fitted to the data yields the em-
pirical relationship
wm = 1.59w0"47 [R2 = 0.51] (1)
the data for the different minerals agree for
the most part, there being no offsets due to
contrasting grain densities since the calcula-
tions of ws account for density differences.
The measurements were also analyzed to ex-
amine whether differences in mineral spheric-
ity markedly affect their settling rates. No
certain relationship to sphericity could be de-
termined, partly because the data are scat-
tered but also because the several minerals
have nearly the same average sphericity as
defined by the Corey Shape Factor (Wang
and Komar, in review).
Although equation (2) is obviously better
than equation (1) for predictions of settling
rates of the heavy minerals, equation (1) has
an advantage in requiring only a Db value for
the evaluation. In that sieving depends pre-
dominantly on the grain's Db value (Komar
and Cui 1984; Wang and Komar, in review),
equation (1) provides a means for the direct
conversion of sieving grain-size distributions
values in table 1B for the principal heavy
minerals were converted into the settling ve-
locities listed in table 1 C. In a similar fashion,
employing the settling-velocity equation ob-
tained by Baba and Komar (1981), the settling
rates of the quartz grains in the samples were
evaluated.

In figure 4B, Ws is calculated with theThe evaluated settling velocities listed in

grain's
nominal diameter as approximated by Dn = table 1C reveal that, although there is a small
3DaDbDc, shown by Cui and Komar (inoffshore increase in settling rates of the min-
press) to provide an accurate evaluation of erals (about 9% between samples OR1 and
nominal diameters of natural sedimentary OR6), there are no distinct patterns that can
grains. Use of the nominal diameter is a pre- explain the differential sorting of the several
ferred measure of grain size in analyses of minerals. This is most apparent in figure 5,
settling rates as it by definition represents the where their concentration factors from table
diameter of a sphere having the same weight 2 are plotted against their respective settling
as the actual nonspherical grain. Dn also in- velocities; no apparent trend results. It would
cludes the grain's longest and shortest axial appear from this that differences in grain set-
diameters, not just the intermediate diameter, tling velocities were not the principal factor
so it is not surprising that the trend in figure in grain sorting leading to placer formation.
4B is better than that of 4A. Regression of the The ilmenite, zircon, and garnet, which pref-
data yields erentially remain onshore in the placer, have
nearly the same settling rates as the augite,

wm = 1.04w°'80 [R2 = 0.68] (2) epidote and hornblende which increased in

percentages offshore. The lack of sorting by
Note that in both approaches the measured settling velocities can largely be attributed to
settling rates are consistently less than the ws the small differences in settling rates of all
values for equivalent spheres, an expected minerals present on the beach (table IC). It is
result in that past studies have all shown that apparent that the higher densities but smaller
natural grain irregularities reduce settling sizes of the ilmenite, zircon, and garnet yield
rates from those of spheres. Also note that the same settling rates as the less dense but

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646 PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG

SETTLING RATE OF SPHERE, Ws (cm/sec)

0 I 2 3 4 5 6 7
SETTLING RATE OF SPHERE, Ws(cm/sec)

FIG. 4.-Measured settling velocities of the heavy minerals versus the settling rate
spherical grain. A. Relationship where ws is calculated with the grain's intermediate diameter, Db. B.
Relationship where ws is calculated with D, = 3 /DDbDc, a better approximation of the grain's nominal
diameter.

coarser augite, hornblende, and even the centration factors and settling rates of the
quartz grains. The inverse relationship be- grains (figure 5).
tween grain density and size given in table 2 It is interesting to speculate on the origin of
yields nearly identical settling velocities for this inverse relationship between grain den-
each of the several minerals, explaining thesity and size seen in table 2, and the present
resulting lack of correlation between the con-
conclusion that it yields nearly the same set-

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 PROCESSES OF SELECTIVE GRAIN TRANSPORT 647

GRAIN SETTLING VELOCITY, Wm (cm/sec)

FIG. 5.-The concentration factors of the principal heavy minerals in the placer versus their settling
velocities both in the placer and offshore samples (ORI and OR6), demonstrating little dependence.

tling velocities for the various minerals offerstion, this is at least the second cycle for this
a possible explanation. Although there may sand through a nearshore environment. The
be some source restrictions as to available principal source of the sand on the beach is
grain sizes of the several heavy minerals from sea cliff erosion, particularly the Pleis-
(Feniak 1944), it would appear from this tocene marine terrace sands which are for the
finding that the presence of the mineral grains
most part old beach deposits (some contain-
on the beach as a whole is governed by their ing placers). Similar sorting presumably took
settling rates. It is possible that the beach place on these ancient beaches, so that the
processes have acted to sort, in bulk, the present beach sand has gone through many
grains on the beach, removing to the offshorethousands of years of sorting, the product be-
continental shelf any grains with lower set-ing the inverse relationship of grain density
tling velocities, probably because they re- and size seen in table 2, yielding nearly the
main in suspension too long to stay within the
same settling velocities for the various min-
turbulent beach environment. The mineral erals.

grains left on the beach would thereby have One might conclude from this observed
essentially the same ranges of settling veloci- uniformity of grain settling velocities that,
ties, and as a result would have the observed taken as a whole, the beach deposit conforms
inverse relationship between density and with Rubey's (1933) concept of hydraulic
size. There has been sufficient time to permitequivalence, grains existing together in a de-
such a high degree of sorting. As indicated posit having the same settling rates. On the
earlier, the present shoreline is nearly stable other hand, this near uniformity of grain set-
in position, so that the nearshore environ- tling rates, even for such contrasting minerals
ment likely has been acting on the existing as ilmenite and quartz, effectively prohibits
beach sands for thousands of years. In addi- grain sorting within the beach due to differ-

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648 PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG
ences in settling rates. This would account
for the lack of patterns with respect to set-
tling rates of the various minerals which are
concentrated in the placer versus those that
are transported offshore (table 1C and figure
5). It must be concluded that differential sort-
ing according to grain settling velocities has
played little if any role in the formation of this quired to dislodge them.
Oregon beach placer.
SELECTIVE GRAIN ENTRAINMENT
AND TRANSPORT
Having concluded against a probable role
of grain settling velocities in producing the
sorting leading to placer formation, we must
consider alternative processes of grain selec-
tion which might account for the observed
patterns. These most likely involve processes
of differential grain entrainment and selective
transport as analyzed principally by Slinger-
land (1977, 1984), and possibly a shear-
sorting mechanism which can separate the
heavy minerals from the light fraction (Sal-
lenger 1979).
Observations of the beach at the study site
leave little doubt that selective grain entrain-
ment and transport must play a significant
role in the formation of the placer. Due to
the distinctive colors of the ilmenite (black),
garnet (pink), epidote (avocado green), and
quartz-feldspar (tan), sorting of these mineral
grains on the beach is readily visible. This
sorting occurs on all scales, visible on the
beach as a whole during the offshore trans-
port documented in this study, down to the
small-scale sorting of grains within backwash
ripples and rill marks eroded into the beach
face. In all cases it is apparent that the tan
quartz is most readily eroded and transported
at the highest rate, followed by the green epi-
dote, the pink garnet and finally the black
ilmenite, which typically remains as a lag.
This sequence of easily-identified minerals is
seen to conform with the sequence in table 2,
qualitatively explaining the relative concen-
tration factors of these minerals.
Such processes of selective entrainment
and transport have been analyzed by Slinger-
land (1977, 1984). His examination of grain
entrainment involved a modification of the
analysis of White (1940) who considered the
mechanical pivoting of the grain as it rotates
out of a bed of similar grains during its initial
movement. Slingerland's primary modifica-
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tion involved an extension of the analysis to
grains of nonuniform sizes. Of particular im-
portance to the processes of placer forma-
tion, this modified treatment permits an ex-
amination of the threshold of small grains
which are nestled down amongst larger grains
such that higher water-flow velocities are re-
A similar analysis has been undertaken in
this study, applied directly to the minerals
present in the Oregon beach placer. The gen-
eral approach here is the same as the analysis
of Slingerland (1977), although certain as-
sumptions made by Slingerland are not nec-
essary here since we determine a threshold
bottom stress rather than a flow velocity.
Considering the moments of the fluid-drag
force and grain weight about the pivot point
of the grain, at the critical instant of entrain-
ment these two opposing moments balance
and yield the relationship
Tt = k(ps - p)gD tanF (3)
where Tt is the flow bottom stress required to
entrain the grain of diameter D and density
ps. Derivations of this basic relationship can
be found in Rubey (1938) and White (1940),
and in textbooks such as Raudkivi (1976, p.
24). Of particular interest here is the angle a
contained in equation (3). In the pivoting
analysis it is the angle between the vertical
and the line which connects the center of the
grain to the pivot point. By this definition it is
conceptually the same as the angle of repose
for a granular medium, and for sediments of
near-uniform sizes it is generally set equal to
33°. For non-uniform mixtures, however, the
F value for a particular grain depends on its
size in comparison with the sizes of the sur-
rounding grains. This has been studied by
Eagleson and Dean (1961) and Miller and
Byrne (1966) who examined the problem the-
oretically as well as obtaining direct measure-
ments. Slingerland (1977) employed the
theoretical relationship for <c, but we have
opted for the empirical relationship in that it
shows much better agreement with the mea-
surements and is simpler mathematically to
use. This relationship as given by Miller and
Byrne (1966) is
C = 61.5 ( . (4)
K I/
 PROCESSES OF SELECTIVE GRAIN TRANSPORT
where D is the diameter of the grain being
entrained while K is the size of the surround-
ing grains, generally taken as the median
grain size of the entire sediment. Miller and
Byrne showed that the empirical coefficients
of this relationship depend on the degree of
sediment sorting and grain shape; the values
given in equation (4) were obtained using a
beach sand and so are appropriate to the
present application.
Equation (4) is the key to the selective en-
trainment of grains within a bed of mixed
sizes. Note that as D/K decreases the value
of 1 increases. The result in equation (3) is
that the required threshold stress It is in-
creased as well. This dependence of 1 on
D/K thereby accounts for small grains of di-
ameter D "hiding" within crevices between
the larger grains of diameter K so that they
become more difficult to entrain. In the oppo-
site direction, if D/K > 1 then the grain of
diameter D becomes easier to entrain since it
is perched in a position that is more exposed
to the flow and is easily tilted out of its resting of this fraction in sample OR6, assumed to
position.
In the present analysis the combined equa-
tions (3) and (4) were first compared with
measurements of quartz-grain threshold as
summarized by Miller et al. (1977). The graph
of threshold Tt versus D presented by Miller
et al. shows a change in slope at about D =
0.1 cm. The empirical fitting of equation (3) to
this data therefore shows a similar division:
1. For D > 0.1 cm;
Tt = 0.0215(ps - p)gD tan' (5A)
2. For D < 0.1 cm;
Tt = 0.00515(ps - p)gD0°568 tanF (5B)
In that the data for grain threshold were ob-
tained for near-uniform grain-size distribu-
tions, in the evaluation of ' from equation (4) the same reason.
it was assumed that D/K = 1. The empirical
fitting of equation (3) to obtain equation (5A)
involved only a determination of the k pro-
portionality factor; for D > 0.1 cm there is a
direct proportionality between 't and D as
predicted by equation (3). For D < 0.1 cm,
however, the slope of Tt versus D is lower,
requiring a change in the power to which D is
raised as seen in equation (5B). This change
in the dependence on D probably reflects the
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649
fact that as the grain size and the Tt bottom
stress decreases, the full turbulence of the
flow is less able to act on individual grains
which no longer shed eddies, eventually be-
coming buried within a viscous sublayer.
Equation (5B) is compared with the quartz
threshold data in figure 6 and is seen to yield
acceptable results, being very nearly the
same as the curve fitted to the data by Miller
et al. (1977).
Equations (5A) and (5B), together with an
evaluation of F with equation (4), now make
possible an examination of selective grain en-
trainment due to differences in grain sizes
and densities. In the application to the Ore-
gon placer, all of the mineral grains are
smaller than 0.1 cm so that equation (5B) is
employed. The results for the principal min-
erals found on the beach are shown as the
series of curves in figure 6. In computing
these curves it was assumed that the quartz
fraction dominates the deposit so that K =
0.290 mm = 0.029 cm, the median grain size
represent the beach as a whole. The required
rt threshold stresses for the several minerals
were then computed for a range of grain sizes
spanning their median diameters, thereby
providing the curves of figure 6, the x's on
these curves denoting the median grain sizes
of these minerals as determined from the
placer sample. Note that the median for the
quartz falls directly on the straight line of
equation (5B), this occurring because K in
the calculations was taken as the median
grain size of the quartz (i.e., D/K = 1). This
calculated curve for the complete quartz size
distribution slopes downward to the right, in-
dicating that the larger quartz grains within
the sand are more easily entrained than the
finer grains, this being the "hiding" or "shel-
tering" effect discussed earlier. The several
heavy minerals show similar trends (fig. 6) for
It should be recognized that the positions
of the curves in figure 6 for the various miner-
als result not only from their different densi-
ties, but also from their different grain sizes
as found within the beach sand. For example,
ilmenite requires the highest flow stress for
entrainment not only because it is very
dense, but also because it is the finest-grained
of the minerals. In addition, the ilmenite
within this mixed sand of generally larger
650 PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG

GRAIN DIAMETER, D (cm)

FIG. 6.-The flow stress rt required for threshold or entrainment of a grain of diameter D. The data poin
represent the threshold of quartz-density grains of near-uniform sizes, compiled by Miller et al. (1977). Th
curves for the several heavy minerals and for quartz were computed using equation (5B) with an evaluati
of 4 from equation (4), the x's being the median diameters of these minerals in the beach.

sizes requires a higher threshold stress than at the site, discussed above, it can be con-
would a bed composed of uniform ilmenite cluded that selective entrainment has had an
grains where sheltering is not a factor. This is important role in concentrating the heavy
the case for all of the heavy minerals. minerals to form the Oregon beach placer.
The results from this analysis of selective Following entrainment, the differential
entrainment do much to explain the observed transport rates of the various minerals can
patterns of mineral variations on the beach lead to their further separation. Slingerland
of this study. The downward sequence of (1984) has analyzed the role of differential
threshold curves in figure 6 agrees with the transport in the formation of placers, em-
trend of placer-concentration enrichment, the ploying the transport-evaluation approach of
two being compared directly in table 2 which Einstein (1950, 1964). This approach actually
includes the computed results for zircon and incorporates selective entrainment as well so
hypersthene as well. This relationship of in- that the evaluated transport rates should in-
creasing placer enrichment with an increase clude the grain-threshold differences seen in
in the flow stress required for entrainment is figure 6, adding to them an evaluation of the
shown in figure 7, the six minerals involved in different rates of grain movement once trans-
the sorting forming a clearly defined trend, port is underway. Einstein's analysis for
the concentration factor covering five orders evaluating bed-load sediment transport also
of magnitude. Based on the results of this includes a correction factor for sheltering of
analysis and from the observations of sortingthe smaller grains between larger particles or

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 PROCESSES OF SELECTIVE GRAIN TRANSPORT 651

1 2 3 4 5 6 7

THRESHOLD STRESS, ZT (dynes/cm2)

FIG. 7.-The concentration factors of the principal heavy minerals in the placer versus the threshold
stress from figure 6 required for their entrainment, the systematic trend indicating that selective entrainment
must have played an important role in forming the placer.

within the viscous sublayer, a correction that the minerals increased as the flow stress in-
is of course particularly important to exami- creased. The three successive rates obtained
nations of selective grain transport. for the quartz, the rates utilized in normaliz-
The Einstein approach has been employed ing the values given in table 2, are 0.374, 2.76,
in the present study to evaluate the selective and 24.3 grams/cm-sec. Of greater interest
transport rates of the principal minerals here than the absolute rates are their com-
found in the beach of this study. The sand rates as given by the ratios listed in
parative
"sample" so analyzed involved a remixing of table 2. It is seen that at the highest flow
equal quantities of the placer and offshore stress, T = 100 dynes/cm2, there is little lag of
sand (samples OR1 and OR6). The results of the heavy minerals behind the quartz. Even
the calculations are given in table 2, having the ilmenite would undergo significant trans-
been performed for three flow stresses, T = port, its rate being 0.595 that of the quartz.
10, 25 and 100 dynes/cm2, which should cover The rates of the other minerals are even
those expected in the swash zone. The cal- closer to that of quartz, so it is apparent that
culated transport rates are normalized to the selective sorting by transport at this high flow
transport rates of the quartz fraction and stress
so and overall transport rate would not be
give a direct indication of the degree of lag very effective. The lowest stress evaluated,
behind the fastest-transporting quartz (which 7 = 10 dynes/cm2, should just exceed the
thereby has a value of 1.00). The calculations threshold of the ilmenite according to figure
were performed only for the median grain 6. Here the calculated transport rates, table
sizes of the minerals, not including their com-2, indicate a much greater degree of selective
plete grain-size distributions. sorting, one which parallels the trend of the
As expected, the transport rates of all of concentration factors of the minerals in the

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652 PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG

placer and also corresponds with the ob- lamination being inversely graded with higher
served relative transport rates of the quartz, concentrations of heavy minerals at the base
epidote, garnet and ilmenite as noted by their of the layer due to their generally finer sizes
colors on the beach. All of the minerals lag than the quartz grains (Clifton 1969; Sallenger
well behind the quartz, even the hornblende 1979).
whose transport rate is a factor 0.119 that of Although shear sorting initially produces
quartz. Progressively lower rates are found only a minor separation of the heavy and light
for the other heavy minerals as they increase minerals amounting to the few millimeters
in density and decrease in size. In the calcula- thickness of the lamination, it is possible that
tions of the transport rates of the ilmenite and by repeatedly shearing the sand as the beach
zircon at this low stress level, the rates were face is cut back, the heavies would be driven
too low to utilize the graphs provided by progressively downward and concentrated
Einstein and so are effectively zero in spite ofwhile the larger quartz and feldspar grains
the fact that threshold should have been ex-rise to the surface of the shear zone to subse-
ceeded according to figure 6. This result again quently be carried offshore. This model is
shows that the ilmenite and zircon will almostsupported by the common association of lam-
all remain in the placer, very little moving inations with a placer beneath [see fig. 13-14
with the quartz as it is transported offshore. in Komar (1976, p. 371)], although such an
The results of this analysis, therefore, indi- association was not readily apparent at the
cate that selective transport rates as well as beach site of this study.
differential entrainment were likely importantAlthough shear sorting might thereby pro-
in concentrating the heavy minerals in the
vide a plausible scenario for beach placer for
placer, moving the light minerals to the off-mation, it is difficult to undertake a more
shore. This conclusion agrees with the analy- quantitative assessment of its possible role in
sis of Slingerland (1984) and the many other forming the placers of this study. Sallenge
studies that have argued for an important role (1979) has formulated a "dispersive equiva-
of selective transport rates in placer forma- lence" condition for the grains within a shear
tion. The results of the present analyses are layer, based on the equations for grain disper-
further supported by experimental studies sive pressure deduced by Bagnold (1954). Ac-
such as those of Meland and Norrman (1966) cording to Sallenger, if the rate of shear is the
and Steidtmann (1982), which found that same for all of the grains, then it follows that
within bedload transport the large grains psD2 - constant. This analysis of "dispersive
move faster than smaller ones and light min-equivalence," however, is meant to apply
erals transport at higher rates than heavy only to the grains at different levels within the
minerals.
shear layer, that is, on the scale of a single
lamination. It is conceivable, though, that
SHEAR SORTING
grains which are dispersive equivalents
Another grain sorting mechanism which within a single shear layer will remain to-
could contribute to the placer formation is gether through successive shearing events. In
"shear sorting," a term coined by Inman et this case the heavy minerals would become
al. (1966) for a process analyzed principally concentrated in the placer, still as "disper-
by Bagnold (1954). When a granular material sive equivalents." It is apparent that the
such as sand is sheared, in the present appli- "dispersive equivalence" condition, psD2 -
cation by the swash of the waves, the grains constant, does imply an inverse relationship
interact to produce a dispersive grain pres- between the grain density and diameter, just
sure at right angles to the shear direction, that as found for the heavy minerals of the placer
is, normal to the sediment bed. Bagnold hy- (table 2). However, when the psD2 values of
pothesized that the dispersive pressure would the several heavy minerals are compared,
be higher on the larger grains than on the table 2, they are found to have a reasonably
smaller, and that this would cause the larger large spread of values, contrary to the sup-
grains to migrate toward the surface of the posed constant value for "dispersive equiva-
sheared layer, producing an inversely graded lence." A condition of nearly constant set-
bed. Shear sorting is thought to form the thin tling velocities for the various heavy
laminations observed in beach sands, each minerals, discussed earlier, provides a better

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 PROCESSES OF SELECTIVE GRAIN TRANSPORT 653

explanation for the inverse relationship of
grain density and size of the placer minerals
than does the "dispersive equivalence" con-
cept. This conclusion, however, should not
be interpreted as ruling out any role of the
shear sorting process in the formation of the
Oregon or other beach placers. Separation of
the light and heavy minerals by shear sorting
remains a likely process in the formation of
placers, but its importance compared with
the other sorting mechanisms can only be
properly assessed by examining within-
lamination sorting as performed by Sallenger
(1979).
SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION
A series of samples were obtained across a
profile of an Oregon beach at a time when
sand was being eroded from the upper beach
and transported offshore to the outer surf
zone, this being the time when the sorting
processes leading to placer formation are
probably most active. Analyses of the heavy-opment. The importance of these processes is
borne out by direct observations at the
mineral contents of the samples show that the
beach, the sorting of the several minerals be-
degree of concentration of the minerals in the
placer, the concentration factors of table 2,
exactly parallels the trends of increasing
by the flowing water to become entrained
while the quartz is most easily entrained.
This results because entrainment depends
both on the grain density and size; in a bed of
mixed grains, it is the densest and finest
grains that are most difficult to entrain, the
small grains "hiding" between the larger
grains. Due to such effects, it was found
(table 2 and fig. 7) that there is a clear trend
between the concentration factors of the min-
erals in the placer and the stress required for
their entrainment, indicating that selective
entrainment is undoubtedly an important pro-
cess leading to formation of this placer. Cal-
culations of the relative transport rates of the
various minerals, utilizing the approach of
Einstein (1950, 1964), demonstrate that once
transport is underway, the quartz will be
transported at the highest rate and so on
down to ilmenite which moves at the lowest
rate. Thus, selective transport as well as en-
trainment could be important in placer devel-
ing readily visible due to their contrasting col-
ors.

grain density and decreasing size. Ilmenite The formation of placers on beaches ap-
pears to occur mainly within the inner surf
was thereby most effectively concentrated in
the placer (concentration factor = 1403) zone. There the wave swash on the beach
while the efficiency of concentrating the face acts much like a miner's panning for
hornblende was lowest (factor = 5). The gold, the lower-density, coarser-grained min-
quartz-feldspar light minerals continue this erals (principally quartz and feldspar) being
trend, the concentration factor being less carried away by the water oscillations, leav-
than 1.0 since they are selectively trans- ing an enriched concentration of heavy min-
ported offshore. The grain-sorting processes erals. On a beach this concentrating process
leading to placer formation were therefore may continue for thousands of years. Its
most efficient in concentrating the denser, ocurrence is most favorable when the beach
finer-sized grains in the placer, transporting face is receding as this permits the light frac-
offshore the less dense, coarser grains. tion to be carried away. On the Oregon beach
In examining the possible sorting pro- of this study, this beach-face erosion was part
cesses, it was concluded that the grains are of the annual cycle of profile changes, so that
not sorted by their comparative settling ve- the quartz-feldspar sand subsequently re-

locities, no distinct trends being found be-
tween this parameter and the concentration
factors of the various minerals (fig. 5). The
lack of sorting according to their settling rates
undoubtedly results from the near uniformity
of the settling velocities of the minerals, pro-
duced by their inverse relationship between
density and grain size (table 2). An analysis of
the selective entrainment of the various
grains in the placer showed that the ilmenite
requires the highest bottom stresses exerted
turns to cover over the black sand of the
placer. A net long-term erosion of a shoreline
can also lead to placer accumulation so long
as the erosion is not so vigorous to carry
away the heavy minerals as well. A good ex-
ample of placer formation produced by
shoreline erosion is documented in the study
of Rao (1957) on the east coast of India.
The present analysis, table 2, indicates that
placer formation is enhanced by low flow
stresses, by T values that are sufficient to re-

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654 PAUL D. KOMAR AND CHI WANG

move the quartz and feldspar grains but swash energy at incident-wave periods. The
insufficient or barely able to entrain the energy of the infragravity motions is in-
heavy minerals. At high T levels the heavy creased during a storm, and this in part
minerals are more actively transported and causes the erosion of the beach face, but this
their separation from the light minerals islong-period
less oscillation is also ideal for the
efficient or does not occur at all. This require-
"panning" of the heavy minerals in the
ment for low stresses would at first appear to zone.
swash

conflict with the need for some beach face

erosion. However, recent studies of swash on ACKNOWLEDGMENTS.-We would like to
beaches (Guza and Thornton 1982; Holman thank P. E. Potter, A. H. Sallenger and R.
and Sallenger, in press) have shown that on Slingerland for their comments in reviewing
beaches of low slope, the swash is dominated this paper. This work is a result of research
by infragravity water motions (probably edge sponsored by NOAA Office of Sea Grant,
waves) rather than by the incident waves, Department of Commerce, under grant
most of the spectral energy having periods NA81AA-D-00086 (Project No. R/CP-20).
greater than 20 seconds. When there is a The U.S. Government is authorized to pro-
storm which increases the energy of the duce and distribute reprints for governmental
breaking waves, the waves break further purposes notwithstanding any copyright no-
offshore and so have little direct effect on the tation that may appear hereon.

REFERENCES CITED

AGUILAR-TUNON, N. A., and KOMAR, P. D., 1978, southern part of the coast of Oregon: U.S. Geol.
The annual cycle of profile changes of two Survey
Ore- Bull. 945-E, p. 113-150.
gon beaches: The Ore Bin, v. 40, p. 25-39. GUZA, R. T., and THRONTON, E. B., 1982, Swash
BABA, J., and KOMAR, P. D., 1981, Measurements oscillations on a natural beach: Jour. Geophys.
and analysis of settling velocities of natural Res., v. 87, n. Cl, p. 483-491.
quartz sand grains: Jour. Sed. Petrol. v. 51, p. HICKs, S. D., 1972, On the classification and trends
631-640. of long period sea level series: Shore and Beach,
BAGNOLD, R. A., 1954, Experiments on a gravity v. 40, p. 20-23.
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