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Zeolitization of tuffs at Quinamávida, central southern Chile

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Sophía Bascuñan ,
Ursula Kelm ,
Vilma Sanhueza  and
Guillermo Alfaro
Sophía Bascuñan
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología Económica Aplicada, Universidad de Concepció n, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
Ursula Kelm*
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología Económica Aplicada, Universidad de Concepció n, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
Vilma Sanhueza
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología Económica Aplicada, Universidad de Concepció n, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
Guillermo Alfaro
Affiliation:
Instituto de Geología Económica Aplicada, Universidad de Concepció n, Casilla 160-C, Concepción, Chile
*
*E-mail address of corresponding author: ukelm@udec.cl
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Abstract

Tuffs of the Tertiary Colbún Formation near Quinamávidain central southern Chile have been mapped and their mineralogy analyzed. The pyroclastic rocks present a maximum outcropping thickness of 120 m and are dominated by vitreous lapilli and minor lithic tuffs, the products of active volcanism nearby. About 10% of the tuffs consist of lenses of fine banded tuffs with a high leaf content that were deposited in shallow lakes during quiescent periods between periods of volcanic activity. This tuff sequence is pervasively transformed to clinoptilolite/heulandite and mordenite with variable amounts of plagioclase, minor quartz and smectite. Factors thought to have influenced this conversion to zeolites are a humid climate following deposition combined with a slightly elevated heat flow. Local hydrogeological conditions have modified the cation-hydrogen ion ratios across the study area favoring the formation of clinoptilolite/heulandite and mordenite with medium-minor smectite in the center and south, and a more abundant presence of smectite in the north of the study area.

Keywords

ChileHeulanditeClinoptiloliteMordeniteTuffZeolite
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 55 , Issue 5 , October 2007 , pp. 524 - 533
Copyright
Copyright © 2007, The Clay Minerals Society

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