Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-pftt2 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-01T03:00:46.127Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Authigenesis of Kaolinite and Chlorite in Texas Gulf Coast Sediments

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

J. H. Burton ,
D. H. Krinsley  and
K. Pye
J. H. Burton
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287
D. H. Krinsley
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287
K. Pye*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Arizona State University, Tempe, Arizona 85287
*
1Present address: Department of Earth Sciences, University of Cambridge, Downing Street, Cambridge CB2 3EQ, United Kingdom.
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core cuttings from numerous wells traversing Oligocene through Recent sediments of the Texas Gulf Coast were examined with a scanning electron microscope using the back-scattered electron imaging mode (BSE) to ascertain diagenetic changes in clays and associated minerals of mudrocks and of adjacent sandstones. Several occurrences of authigenic kaolinite and chlorite were noted, each characterized by a specific texture and a specific diagenetic microenvironment. In all occurrences kaolinite appears to have formed before chlorite, and in some the kaolinite appears to have precipitated directly from solution. Chlorite, ubiquitously an iron-rich variety, appears to have precipitated in some places directly from solution. It has also been noted pseudomorphous after kaolinite. A progressive decrease in the iron content of mixed-layer illite/smectite with increasing depth is believed to have released the necessary iron and to have driven the kaolinite-to-chlorite reaction.

Keywords

AuthigenesisBack-scattered electron imagingChloriteIllite/smectiteIronKaolinite
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , August 1987 , pp. 291 - 296
Copyright
Copyright © 1987, The Clay Minerals Society

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Ahn, J. H., Lee, J. H. and Peacor, D. R., 1983 Mineral-ogical and textural transition in phyllosilicates during burial diagenesis of Gulf Coast shales Geol. Soc. Amer. Abstr. Prog. 15 512.Google Scholar
Ahn, J. H. and Peacor, D. R., 1984 The smectite-to-illite transformation in Gulf Coast argillaceous sediments based on microstructure by TEM/AEM Program with Abstracts, 21st Annual Meeting of The Clay Minerals Society, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1984 22.Google Scholar
Ahn, J. H. and Peacor, D. R., 1985 Transmission electron microscopic study of diagenetic chlorite in Gulf Coast argillaceous sediments Clays & Clay Minerals 33 228 – 236.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berner, R. A., 1969 Migration of iron and sulfur within anaerobic sediments during diagenesis Amer. J. Sci. 267 19 – 42.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Borst, R. L. and Serratosa, J. M., 1973 Authigenic kaolinite crystals within microfossils of the Danian Limestone, North Sea Proc. Int. Clay Conf., Madrid, 1972 Madrid Div. Ciencias C.S.I.C. 41 – 48.Google Scholar
Curtis, C. D., Hughes, C. R., Whiteman, J. A. and Whittle, C. K., 1985 Compositional variation within some sedimentary chlorites and some comments on their origin Mineral. Mag. 49 375 – 386.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ehlman, A. J., Hulings, N. C. and Glover, E. D., 1963 Stages of glauconite formation in foraminiferal sediments J. Sed. Petrol. 33 87 – 96.Google Scholar
Galloway, W. E., Hobday, D. K. and Magara, K. (1982) Frio Formation of the Texas Gulf Coast basin: Depositional systems, structural framework, and hydrocarbon origin, migration, distribution, and exploration potential: Texas Bur. Econ. Geol. Rept. Invest. 122, 78 pp.Google Scholar
Hower, J., Eslinger, E., Hower, M. E. and Perry, E. A., 1976 Mechanism of burial metamorphism of argillaceous sediments: 1. Mineralogical and chemical evidence Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 87 725 – 737.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Iijima, A. and Matsumoto, R., 1982 Berthierine and chamosite in coal measures of Japan Clays & Clay Minerals 30 264 – 274.Google Scholar
Keller, W. D., 1978 Classification of kaolins exemplified by their textures in scan electron micrographs Clays & Clay Minerals 26 1 – 20.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Krinsley, D. H., Pye, K. and Kearsley, A. T., 1983 Application of backscattered electron microscopy in shale petrology Geol. Mag. 120 109 – 114.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Muffler, L. J. P. and White, D. E., 1969 Active metamorphism of upper Cenozoic sediments in the Salton Sea geothermal field and the Salton Trough, southeastern California Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 80 157 – 182.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nelson, B. W. and Roy, R., 1958 Synthesis of chlorites and their structural and chemical constitution Amer. Mineral 43 707 – 725.Google Scholar
Perry, E. and Hower, J., 1970 Burial diagenesis in Gulf Coast pelitic sediments Clays & Clay Minerals 18 165 – 177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollastro, R. M., 1981 Authigenic kaolinite and associated pyrite in chalk of the Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, eastern Colorado J. Sed. Petrol. 51 553 – 562.Google Scholar
Pye, K. and Krinsley, D. H., 1983 Mudrocks examined by backscattered electron microscopy Nature 301 412 – 413.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Velde, B., 1973 Phase equilibria studies in the system MgO-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O: Chlorite and associated minerals Mineral. Mag. 39 297 – 312.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Weaver, C. E. and Beck, K. C. (1971) Clay-water diagenesis during burial: How mud becomes gneiss: Geol. Soc. Amer. Spec. Pap. 134, 96 pp.Google Scholar