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Occurrences and genesis of palygorskite/sepiolite and associated minerals in the Barzaman formation, United Arab Emirates

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 January 2018

Salah Draidia ,
Meriam El Ouahabi ,
Lahcen Daoudi ,
Hans-Balder Havenith  and
Nathalie Fagel
Salah Draidia*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Géorisques et Environnement, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium Department of Geology, AGEs, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Meriam El Ouahabi
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, AGEs, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Lahcen Daoudi
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Laboratory of Geosciences and Environment, University of Cadi Ayaad, Marrakech, Morocco
Hans-Balder Havenith
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, Géorisques et Environnement, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
Nathalie Fagel
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, AGEs, University of Liège, Liège, Belgium
*
*E-mail: sdraidia@ulg.ac.be
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Abstract

The Barzaman Formation exposed in the United Arab Emirates was deposited as a series of fluvial sediment sequences lying along the western margin of the Hajar Mountains, part of the Oman–UAE ophiolite. This formation consists of a sequence of rocks dominated by variably cemented and altered conglomerates comprising calcareous siltstones and calcareous clays deposited during the Miocene to Pliocene under a humid climate. The conglomerates are composed largely of ultramafic and lesser-mafic clasts. The present study was undertaken in order to understand the occurrence and genesis of palygorskite and sepiolite in relation to the environmental changes including evaporitic and sabkha environments.

Sediments were collected from two trenches and a drill hole of ∼22 m depth. Samples were analysed by optical petrograpy, X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. Pedogenesis occurred at the deeper level in well cemented conglomerate which constitutes the hard crust. Post-depositional erosion started in marine phreatic or vadose zones as shown by the neoformation of serpentine from the weathering of olivine as well as of calcite and dolomite. Neoformation of palygorskite, sepiolite, dolomite and halite occurred under evaporitic conditions on calcareous silty clay facies. Relatively hot, vadose and oxidizing environmental conditions affected the calcareous siltstone facies leading to the genesis of dolomite and palygorskite by direct precipitation from solution rich in Ca, Mg, Al, Fe and Si ions.

Keywords

Dubaipalygorskite/sepioliteneoformationpedogenesismineralogysabkha environnent
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 51 , Issue 5 , December 2016 , pp. 763 - 779
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2016

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