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Chemical Changes and Genesis of Secondary Minerals During the Alteration of Biotites from Ignimbrites in the Tazzeka Mountain (Morocco)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2024

Jean Dejou ,
Christian De Kimpe ,
Jean-Jacques Macaire  and
Alain Perruchot
Jean Dejou
Affiliation:
1, rue des Raux, 15250 Jussac, France
Christian De Kimpe
Affiliation:
Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, Research Branch, Sir John Carling Building, 930 Carling Avenue, Ottawa, Ontario, Canada K1A 0C5
Jean-Jacques Macaire
Affiliation:
EA 2100—Laboratoire de Géologie des Environnements Aquatiques Continentaux, Université François Rabelais, Parc de Grandmont, 37200 Tours, France
Alain Perruchot
Affiliation:
EP CNRS 1748, Université de Paris-Sud, Bâtiment 504, 91045 Orsay Cedex, France
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Abstract

The Tazzeka Mountain, located approximately 20 km south of Taza, eastern Morocco, is composed of a Westphalian volcano-sedimentary complex. It contains rhyolitic ignimbrites with the following minerals: quartz, potassium feldspar, oligoclase-andesine, and biotite. The ignimbrites are extensively altered because of a dense network of fractures in the massif. Alteration has resulted in the formation of spheroidal rocks and saprolite, the thickness of which depends on local topography. The evolution of the biotites in the ignimbrites was investigated by microprobe analysis of the mica crystals. This technique provides data that are not accessible through classical analytical methods. Biotites are transformed into secondary clay minerals, mainly chlorites and illites; intermediate stages are related to the degree of alteration of biotite, the latter being expressed by the K2O content which decreases progressively from 7.3 to 1.3%. Next come protochlorites and chlorites sensu stricto, in which the K2O content is 0.3%. Several processes including retrodiagenesis, hydrothermal activity, fumarolic activity, and geochemical weathering contributed to the transformation of the biotites at Tazzeka.

Keywords

AlterationBiotiteChloriteIgnimbriteIlliteStructural Formula
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 47 , Issue 2 , April 1999 , pp. 144 - 155
Copyright
Copyright © 1999, The Clay Minerals Society

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