Aluminosilicate cementation of saprolites,grits and silcretes in Western Australia

Amorphous to poorly crystalline aluminosilicates have been found as cementing agents within saprolites, hardpans and silcretes, particularly in granitic terrains in the Yilgarn Block, Western Australia. The cements range mineralogically from siliceous allophane to a kaolinite‐opal‐CT assemblage probably derived from the allophane. The allophane is non‐crystalline, with no distinctive X‐ray or electron diffraction patterns, and has close optical similarities to opaline silica. It is characterised by Al/Si ratios of 0.35–1.0, with small amounts of adsorbed iron and titanium. It occurs as colloform void and vein fillings, and permeating the kaolinitic matrix of saprolites. The kaolinite and opal‐CT have a similar occurrence, with the kaolinite oriented parallel to colloform and related banding. The aluminosilicate cements are found in saprolite, usually in the upper zones, and in overlying grits and silcretes. At Gabbin, in the central Yilgarn, the grits are up to 10 m thick and have aluminosilicate as the only cement. Although very hard when in situ, the grits tend to disaggregate on exposure and rarely, if ever, crop out. In profiles exposed in breakaways of the Barr‐Smith Range in the northern Yilgarn, the saprolite is overlain by silcretes with a quartz‐anatase‐zircon assemblage as cementing matrix, in turn overlain by alumino‐silicate‐cemented grits. The contact is gradational, and most silcretes and grits contain both types of cement, with the aluminosilicate increasing in abundance upwards. Kaolinitic spherules in sand plains are possibly derived from similar aluminosilicates.     

Titania in Australian massive silcretes

Selected silcretes formed by cementation of stream sediments and having >90 wt% SiO₂, have been examined optically and by scanning electron microscopy. Such silcretes have quartz framework grains cemented by a plasma of quartz and anatase. Both the plasma quartz and the anatase are euhedral where they line cavities in the silcrete. Such quartz is typically up to 5 µm in diameter; the anatase crystals are platy on (001) and 50–100 nm in diameter. Comparison of the SiO₂, TiO₂ and Zr content of 138 silcretes with that of 2345 Australian stream sediments suggests the source of titania in silcretes is endogenous. The morphology of the quartz and anatase leads to the conclusion that both precipitated in situ.     

Micromorphology and geochemistry of groundwater silcretes in the eastern South Downs, UK

Groundwater silcretes have been recognized recently as major terrestrial silicon sinks and yet their origins are poorly understood. This paper aims to further the understanding of the micro‐fabric, geochemistry and formation of groundwater silcretes, through detailed analyses of silcrete boulders from the South Downs, Sussex, UK. In‐depth petrological investigations of silcrete blocks identified three varieties of silcrete across the study area (saccharoid, hard and pebbly conglomeratic or silcrete breccia), similar to those elsewhere in England. Silcrete fabrics were universally simple and preserved host material structures. Optically continuous quartz overgrowths were the dominant cement and developed on framework grains in the absence of silt‐ and clay‐sized particles. Finer‐grained silica cements occurred in isolated patches and as vein‐ or cap‐like geopetal features. These caps and veins formed through the silicification of illuviated clay‐rich material that entered the host sediment prior to, or in the early stages of, overgrowth formation. Titanium contents were related to the amount of fine‐grained silica and appear to reflect variations in host material chemistry. Subsequent to silicification, the silcretes were altered by at least two phases of ferruginization, characterized by the ingress of iron minerals and partial fabric dissolution or replacement. The study reveals strong similarities in the micromorphology and geochemistry of groundwater silcretes in the study area and those developed in sandy host sediments in neighbouring parts of northwest Europe. Variations that do occur could be explained by differences in the host sediment, geological setting or tectonic history of the respective basins (or sub‐basins), suggesting that there may be a common mechanism for silcrete formation across north‐west Europe. Silcrete development appears to be related to the release of silica accompanying acid leaching of the host material or adjacent strata. In the South Downs, this probably resulted from oxidation of pyrite in the argillaceous and lignitic sediments overlying the host sands. It is envisaged that palaeoenvironmental conditions were of limited importance for silcrete development and that there was no specific ‘era’ of formation, with phased development accompanying landscape evolution through the Neogene into the Pleistocene.     

Significance of weathering and regolith/landscape evolution for mineral exploration in the NE Albany-Fraser Orogen,Western Australia

The Albany-Fraser Orogen (AFO), southeast Western Australia, is an underexplored, deeply weathered regolith-dominated terrain that has undergone complex weathering associated with various superimposed climatic events. For effective geochemical exploration in the AFO, integrating landscape evolution with mineralogical and geochemical variations of regolith and bedrock provides fundamental understanding of mechanical and hydromorphic dispersion of ore and pathfinder elements associated with the different weathering processes.In the Neale tenement, northeast of the AFO, a residual weathering profile that is 20-55 m thick was developed under warm and humid climatic conditions over undulating Proterozoic sheared granitoids, gneisses, schists and Au-bearing mafic rocks. From the base, the typical weathering profile consists of saprock, lower ferruginous saprolite, upper kaolinitic saprolite and discontinuous silcrete duricrust or its laterally coeval lateritic residuum. These types of duricrusts change laterally into areas of poorly-cemented kaolinitic grits or loose lateritic pisoliths and nodules.Lateritic residuum probably formed on remnant plateaus and was transported mechanically under arid climatic conditions over short distances, filling valleys to the southeast. Erosion of lateritic residuum exposes the underlying saprolite and, together with dilution by aeolian sands, constitutes the transported overburden (2-25 m thick). The reworked lateritic materials cover the preserved silcrete duricrusts in valleys. The lower ferruginous saprolite and lateritic residuum are well developed over mafic and sulphide-bearing bedrocks, where weathering of ferromagnesian minerals and sulphides led to enrichment of Fe, Cu, Ni, Cr, Co, V and Zn in these units. Kaolinitic saprolite and the overlying pedogenic silcrete are best developed over alkali granites and quartzofeldspathic gneisses, which are barren in Au and transition elements, and enriched in silica, alumina, rare earth and high field strength elements.A residual Au anomaly is formed in the lower ferruginous saprolite above a Au -bearing mafic intrusion at the Hercules prospect, south of the Neale tenement, without any expression in the overlying soil (< 20 cm). Conversely, a Au anomaly is recorded in the transported cover, particularly in the uppermost 3 m at the Atlantis prospect, 5 km southwest of the Hercules prospect. No anomalies have been detected in soils using five different size fractions (> 2,000 μm, 2,000-250 μm, 250-53 μm, 53-2 μm and < 2 μm). Therefore, soil cannot be efficiently applied as a reliable sampling medium to target mineralization at the Neale tenement. This is because mechanical weathering was interrupted by seasonal periods of intensive leaching under the present-day surface conditions and/or dilution by recently deposited aeolian sediments which obscure any signature of a potential Au anomaly in soils. Therefore, surface soil sampling should extend deeper than 20 cm to avoid dilution by aeolian sands and seasonal leaching processes. Regolith mapping and the distinction between the residual and transported weathering products are extremely significant to follow the distal or proximal mineralization.     

Sub‐Cambrian pedogenesis recorded in weathering profiles of the Arabian‐Nubian Shield

Altered crystalline rocks occur at the peneplain exposed in southern Israel and in other localities across North Africa and Arabia where they underlie an extensive blanket of Cambro–Ordovician sandstones. This study focuses on the petrography, mineralogy and geochemistry of top basement rocks of the northern Arabian‐Nubian Shield. The altered rocks are shown to be weathering profiles that can be subdivided into three horizons interpreted as apparently unweathered granite, or saprock, which grades upwards to a saprolite, topped by a thin clayey plasmic zone. The plasmic zone is enriched in iron and aluminium and is depleted in silicon, calcium, magnesium and potassium relative to the underlying saprolite. The chemical index of alteration increases upward, but does not exceed 90 and, therefore, lags behind values observed in strongly leached present‐day tropical soils. Petrographic examinations reveal iron mobility under local fluctuating redox conditions, similar to modern and Proterozoic soils. A variety of birefringence fabrics induced by shrinkage and expansion of clays during wetting and drying cycles and clay illuviation strongly indicate pedogenic processes rather than a post‐depositional alteration. Illite and ordered illite‐smectite phases coexist with smectitic illite‐smectite in the lower part of the saprolite and with kaolinite in the plasmic zone, in line with increasing chemical index of alteration. Observations are in accordance with the current profile being a remnant of a thick weathering profile whose top was truncated by fluvial incision just prior to deposition of the overlying Early Cambrian sequence. A previously documented Devonian thermal event reaching temperatures of at least 200°C overprinted the studied rocks. During burial diagenesis, illitization affected original smectite rather than kaolinite. However, in spite of the elevated temperatures, illitization was incomplete implying restricted potassium addition. The sub‐Cambrian weathering reflects warm and humid conditions in a tropical or sub‐tropical climate, in line with several plate reconstructions placing Israel at low latitudes during Cambrian time.     

Feldspar Alteration and Diagenetic Characteristics of the Parsora Sandstones, Son Basin, India

Moderate to poorly sorted immature Parsora sandstones rich in K-feldspar show much of the feldspar during early diagenesis transformed to kaolinite after prolonged interaction with acidic pore solutions. The kaolinitic epimatrix formed and was later partially or wholly converted as an orthomatrix producing chert-phyllosilicate assemblage. Ferric oxide, bleached biotite, kaolinite and quartz cement denote an oxy-acidic early diagenetic environment. Late diagenesis involved neoformation of primary or secondary matrix, illitisation of montmorillonite and muscovite authigenesis. The high pressure-temperature regime required for these transitions resulted from tectonic activity during Triassic-Jurassic times. Carbonate-chlorite appeared late in the sediments denoting an alkaline-reducing condition at the late part of the diagenesis. Finally, the secondary porosity developed through carbonate dissolution was later filled up with allochemical ferric iron cement receiving ions from the percolating meteoric water.     

Mineral deposit formation in Phanerozoic sedimentary basins of north-east Africa: the contribution of weathering

The intra- and epicontinental basins in north-east Africa (Egypt, Sudan) bear ample evidence of weathering processes repeatedly having contributed to the formation of mineral deposits throughout the Phanerozoic.The relict primary weathering mantle of Pan-African basement rocks consists of kaolinitic saprolite, laterite (in places bauxitic) and iron oxide crust. On the continent, the reaccumulation of eroded weathering-derived clay minerals (mainly kaolinite) occurred predominantly in fluvio-lacustrine environments, and floodplain and coastal plain deposits. Iron oxides, delivered from ferricretes, accumulated as oolitic ironstones in continental and marine sediments. Elements leached from weathering profiles accumulated in continental basins forming silcrete and alunite or in the marine environment contributing to the formation of attapulgite/saprolite and phosphorites.The Early Paleozoic Tawiga bauxitic laterite of northern Sudan gives a unique testimony of high latitude lateritic weathering under global greenhouse conditions. It formed in close spatial and temporal vicinity to the Late Ordovician glaciation in north Africa. The record of weathering products is essentially complete for the Late Cretaceous/Early Tertiary. From the continental sources in the south to the marine sinks in the north, an almost complete line of lateritic and laterite-derived deposits of bauxitic kaolin, kaolin, iron oxides and phosphates is well documented.     

Diagenesis in the Middle Jurassic Khatatba Formation sandstones in the Shoushan Basin,northern Western Desert,Egypt

The Middle Jurassic Khatatba Formation acts as a hydrocarbon reservoir in the subsurface in the Western Desert, Egypt. This study, which is based on core samples from two exploration boreholes, describes the lithological and diagenetic characteristics of the Khatatba Formation sandstones. The sandstones are fine‐ to coarse‐grained, moderately to well‐sorted quartz arenites, deposited in fluvial channels and in a shallow‐marine setting. Diagenetic components include mechanical and chemical compaction, cementation (calcite, clay minerals, quartz overgrowths, and a minor amount of pyrite), and dissolution of calcite cements and feldspar grains. The widespread occurrence of an early calcite cement suggests that the Khatatba sandstones lost a significant amount of primary porosity at an early stage of its diagenetic history. In addition to calcite, several different cements including kaolinite and syntaxial quartz overgrowth occur as pore‐filling and pore‐lining cements. Kaolinite (largely vermicular) fills pore spaces and causes reduction in the permeability of the reservoir. Based on framework grain–cement relationships, precipitation of the early calcite cement was either accompanied by or followed the development of part of the pore‐lining and pore‐filling cements. Secondary porosity development occurred due to partial to complete dissolution of early calcite cements and feldspar. Late kaolinite clay cement occurs due to dissolved feldspar and has an impact on the reservoir quality of the Khatatba sandstones. Open hydraulic fractures also generated significant secondary porosity in sandstone reservoirs, where both fractures and dissolution took place in multiple phases during late diagenetic stages. The diagenesis and sedimentary facies help control the reservoir quality of the Khatatba sandstones. Fluvial channel sandstones have the highest porosities and permeabilities, in part because of calcite cementation, which inhibited authigenic clays or was later dissolved, creating intergranular secondary porosity. Fluvial crevasse‐splay and marine sandstones have the lowest reservoir quality because of an abundance of depositional kaolinite matrix and pervasive, shallow‐burial calcite and quartz overgrowth cements, respectively. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Late Tertiary ‘grey billy’ and the age and origin of surficial silicifications (silcrete) in South Australia

A late‐Tertiary age, as well as the commonly accepted mid‐Tertiary age, is proved for widespread silcretes in S.A. This is demonstrated by stratigraphic relationships with palynologically dated sequences, and evidence of erosion of silcretes. The age limits are Early Eocene to Early Miocene and Medial Miocene to Early Pleistocene, probably Late Pliocene. The late‐Tertiary silcrete dominates the duricrusted landscape flanking the north of the Willouran and Flinders Ranges, and forms patches throughout the Tarkarooloo Lobe (Lake Frome area). Silica type varies according to the material cemented; chalcedony and opal are more common in finer grained, less permeable, clayey clastics, and micro‐ to crypto‐crystalline quartz ('grey billy’ or ‘terrazzo') in porous permeable arenites and regoliths.

‘Grey billy’ silcretes with pedogenic features resembling massive nodular calcretes were probably formed close to phreatic surfaces or in the soil zone, and result from deposition of silica and titania from surface waters near ground level. They can be used to mark unconformities. Those without such features were formed at depths of several to tens of metres in the phreatic zone, beyond the effects of a fluctuating groundwater table.

The varying composition of groundwaters and fluctuations of the phreatic surface probably occurred as the result of climatic changes from wet to arid to wet, causing alternate solution and redeposition of silica. Silcrete was essentially a late Mesozoic‐Cainozoic phenomenon, this being a time of general uplift of the Australian continent during intervals of climatic fluctuation. However, the time spans of Australian silcretes are not sufficiently known to make correlations with major climatic events, which are on a finer time‐scale.     

Opal and chalcedony speleothems on quartz sandstones in the Sydney region,southeastern Australia

Speleothems of silica are far rarer than those of calcite but occur in a range of types including stalactites, stalagmites and flowstones. This study has found a wider range and far greater number of silica speleothems on the quartz sandstones of the Sydney region than the small number of previous accounts had suggested. Speleothems on the Sydney region sandstones are composed of multiple layers of amorphous opal‐A and cryptocrystalline chalcedony. Silica slowly dissolved from detrital and diagenetic quartz and kaolinite clays of the host arenites is redeposited as opal‐A at the sandstone surface when groundwater evaporates. This amorphous silica converts over time by Ostwald‐type paragenesis to the cryptocrystalline form, but the expected intermediate opal‐CT phase has not been detected. The crystallisation of chalcedony at earth‐surface temperatures is generally believed to take an extremely long time and its presence makes these speleothems very significant, especially as it is reported in only a small number of silica speleothems elsewhere. Furthermore, a similar paragenetic silica‐‘ripening’ mechanism may also be involved in the low‐temperature earth‐surface formation of other crystalline silica deposits such as silcrete duricrusts and pedogenic quartz. Additional closely coupled laboratory and field investigations into the processes that control silica paragenesis under earth‐surface conditions are sorely needed.     

Lateritization processes of ultramafic rocks in Cretaceous times: The fossil weathering crusts of mainland Greece

The lateritic weathering crusts exposed in mainland Greece were developed on ophiolitic ultramafic lithologies during lower Cretaceous times. The lateritic profile consists of four zones: bedrock, saprolite clay (nontronite) and goethitic. The profiles show large variations in thickness, continuity, mineralogy and chemical characteristics. They are broadly similar to clay nickel laterite deposits. The uppermost gravelly ferruginous sector was eroded and the material reworked and redeposited partly on the lateritic crust. Silcrete layers, characteristic of groundwater silcretes, were formed into the clay and goethitic zones. Significant supergene nickel enrichments occur in the clay and saprolite zones, indicating that water moved downward to a very low water table. The structure and mineralogy of the weathering crusts indicates that environmental conditions were likely to have been dominated by alternating wet and dry periods.     

红土型金矿床综述(英文)

近二十年来 ,热带地区普遍存在的红土型风化作用及其对矿床与矿化带的影响引起了普遍的关注。红土型风化壳的主要矿物成分是以铁铝的氧化物及氢氧化物和粘土矿物为主 ,如针铁矿、赤铁矿、铝土矿、高岭石及石英等 ,与其未风化的母岩相比 ,含有相当高的铁和铝。红土型风化过程中 ,易溶元素均不同程度地被淋滤 ,而难溶元素则相对富集。红土型金矿床就是在这样强烈的风化作用中由原生的金矿化带进一步富集而成 ,并可形成极富的矿体。金矿体常常赋存于风化壳的上部 ,易于露天开采。目前 ,在澳大利亚、巴西、巴布亚新几内亚、印度以及非洲的一些国家均发现了红土型金矿床。红土型风化剖面一般可分为 5个特征带 ,由上而下为 :表土带、铁质带、斑点带、浅色带、腐岩带 ,下面即为未风化的母岩 ,金矿体主要赋存于铁质带和斑点带中。红土型风化壳厚度变化很大 ,薄则几米 ,厚可达数百米。金在风化过程中往往向矿化带两侧运移 ,矿体常呈上宽下窄状。次生金常呈自形晶、树枝晶、浑圆状及不规则状产出 ,并常常与铁质结核共生。一般地说 ,次生金的成色很高 ,因为红土型风化作用常常是在氧化并且酸性的地球化学环境中进行 ,金和银主要以氯化物的形式运移 ,局部地球化学环境的变化可导致金的沉淀 ,而银的氯化物则较稳定 ,?     

Diagenetic processes in cretaceous sandstones from occidental Brazilian Equatorial Margin

Despite a great interest in Brazilian Equatorial Margin exploration, very little was published on the diagenesis of sandstones from that area. A wide recognition petrographic study was performed to identify the major diagenetic processes that impacted the porosity of Lower Cretaceous sandstones of the Pará-Maranhão, São Luís, Bragança-Viseu and Barreirinhas basins. Arkoses from the Pará-Maranhão Basin show neoformed or infiltrated clay coatings, mica replacement and expansion by kaolinite and vermiculite, and precipitation of grain-replacive and pore-filling quartz, kaolinite, albite, chlorite, calcite, dolomite, siderite, pyrite and titanium oxides. Compaction, quartz and calcite cementation were the main porosity-reducing processes. Barreirinhas Basin lithic arkoses and subarkoses display clay coatings, compaction of metamorphic fragments into pseudomatrix, and precipitation of grain-replacive and pore-filling kaolinite, quartz, albite, chlorite, calcite, dolomite, TiO₂ and pyrite. The main porosity-reducing processes were calcite cementation in the subarkoses, and compaction and quartz cementation in lithic arkoses. Quartzarenites from this basin were early- and pervasively cemented by dolomite. Arkoses and lithic arkoses of the São Luís and Bragança-Viseu basins show clay coatings, pseudomatrix from mud intraclasts compaction, and precipitation of pore-filling and grain-replacive kaolinite, vermiculite, smectite, quartz, albite, chlorite, illite, calcite, dolomite, hematite, TiO₂ and pyrite. Compaction of mud intraclasts and dissolution of feldspars and heavy minerals were the main porosity-modification processes. These preliminary results may contribute to the understanding of the spatial and temporal distribution of the diagenetic processes and their impacts on the porosity of the sandstones from these basins.     

Pore water evolution in sandstones of the Groundhog Coalfield,northern Bowser Basin,British Columbia

The succession of sandstone cements in chert and volcanic lithic arenites and wackes from the northern Bowser Basin of British Columbia comprises a record of diagenesis in shallow marine, deltaic, and coastal plain siliciclastic sediments that pass through the oil window and reach temperatures near the onset of metamorphism. The succession of cements is consistent with seawater in the sandstones mixing with acid waters derived from dewatering of interbedded organic rich muds. Sandstone cement paragenesis includes seven discrete cement stages. From earliest to latest the cement stages are: (1) pore-lining chlorite; (2) pore-lining to pore-filling illite; (3) pore-filling kaolinite; (4) oil migration through some of the remaining connected pores; (5) chlorite dissolution; (6) quartz cement; and (7) calcite cement. These seven cement stages are interpreted as a record of the evolution of pore waters circulating through the sandstones after burial. The earliest cement stages, as well as the depositional environments, are compatible with seawater as the initial pore fluid. Seawater composition changed during transport through the sandstones, first by loss of Mg²⁺ and Fe²⁺ during chlorite precipitation (stage 1). Dewatering of interbedded organic-rich mudstones probably added Mg²⁺ and Fe²⁺ to partially buffer the loss of these cations to chlorite. Acids produced during breakdown of organic matter are presumed to have mixed into sandstone pore fluids due to further compaction of the muds, leading to reduction of initial alkalinity. Reduction in alkalinity, in turn, favours change from chlorite to illite precipitation (stage 2), and finally to kaolinite (stage 3). Pore waters likely reached their peak acidity at the time of oil migration (stage 4). Chlorite dissolution (stage 5) and quartz precipitation (stage 6) occurred when pores were filled by these hydrocarbon-bearing and presumably acidic fluids. Fluid inclusions in fracture-filling quartz cements contain petroleum, high-pressure methane, and methane-rich aqueous solutions. Homogenization temperatures from primary two-phase inclusions are consistent with quartz cementation during progressive heating between approximately 100 and 200°C. Following quartz precipitation, alkaline pore waters were re-established, as evidenced by late-stage calcite cement (stage 7).     

Depositional environment, sand provenance, and diagenesis of the Basal Salina Formation (lower Eocene), northwestern Peru

The Basal Salina Formation is a lower Eocene transgressive sequence consisting of interbedded shales, siltstones, and conglomeratic sandstones. This formation occurs in the Talara basin of northwestern Peru and is one of a series of complexly faulted hydrocarbon-producing formations within this extensional forearc basin. These sediments were probably deposited in a fan-delta complex that developed along the ancestral Amotape Mountains during the early Eocene. Most of the sediment was derived from the low-grade metamorphic and plutonic rocks that comprise the Amotape Mountains, and their sedimentary cover. Detrital modes of these sandstones reflect the complex tectonic history of the area, rather than the overall forearc setting. Unlike most forearc sediments, these are highly quartzose, with only minor percentages of volcanic detritus. This sand is variably indurated and cemented by chlorite, quartz, calcite, and kaolinite. Clay-mineral matrix assemblages show gradational changes with depth, from primarily detrital kaolinite to diagenetic chlorite and mixed-layered illite/smectite. Basal Salina sandstones exhibit a paragenetic sequence that may be tied to early meteoric influx or late-stage influx of thermally driven brines associated with hydrocarbon migration. Much of the porosity is secondary, resulting from a first-stage dissolution of silicic constituents (volcanic lithic fragments, feldspar, and fibrous quartz) and a later dissolution of surrounding carbonate cement. Types of pores include skeletal grains, grain molds, elongate pores, and fracture porosity. Measured porosity values range up to 24% and coarser samples tend to be more porous. Permeability is enhanced by fractures and deterred by clay-mineral cements and alteration residues.     

Palaeo‐climate controlled diagenesis of the Westphalian C & D fluvial sandstones in the Campine Basin (north‐east Belgium)

The Westphalian C and D fluvial sandstones in the Campine Basin (north‐east Belgium) are potential reservoirs for the sequestration of CO₂ and interesting analogues of the hydrocarbon reservoirs in the Southern North Sea. Although these sandstones were deposited in a relatively short period of time, their reservoir properties and mineralogical compositions are very different. A petrographic study complemented with stable isotope analyses, fluid inclusion microthermometry and X‐ray diffraction analyses of the clay fractions of the sandstones, which were sampled from deep boreholes (>1000 m) in the Campine Basin, revealed that these differences are related mainly to the climate at the time of deposition. The most important eogenetic processes affecting the Westphalian sandstones were the generation of a pseudomatrix by physical compaction of Al‐silicates and lithic fragments that were strongly altered by extensive meteoric leaching, kaolinitization of unstable silicates and precipitation of siderite. These processes had a detrimental influence on the reservoir properties of Westphalian C sandstones, but their impact on the Westphalian D sandstones was minimal. The difference is assumed to be related to the climate at the time of deposition, which changed from tropical humid in the Westphalian C to semi‐arid/arid during the Late Westphalian D. Both the Westphalian C and D sandstones were affected by similar mesogenetic processes. Mesogenetic quartz cementation resulted from chemical compaction and illitization of kaolinite, K‐feldspar and smectitic clays. Illitization of kaolinite was controlled by the available quantities of co‐existing kaolinite and K‐feldspar and mainly affected the Westphalian D sandstones. Illitization of K‐feldspar was controlled by the K‐feldspar content. It had a much larger impact on the reservoir properties of the Westphalian D as, in these sandstones, K‐feldspar was less affected by eogenetic alteration. The illitization of smectitic clays resulted in illite, quartz and ankerite cementation in both reservoirs. This process had a more important impact on the Westphalian C reservoir, since cementation here also resulted from smectite to illite conversion in the interbedded and underlying shales. The effect of mesogenetic alterations on the reservoir properties was much less drastic than the impact of eodiagenesis. Mesogenetic alterations do exert a significant control on the properties of the Westphalian D. The vast impact of eodiagenesis on the Westphalian C sandstones made them less susceptible to mesogenetic alteration. The effect of telogenetic processes on the porosity and permeability of the Westphalian sandstones was small and restricted to the top reservoir intervals that directly underlie the Cimmerian Unconformity. No significant telogenetic alterations related to the Variscan Unconformity were observed.     

Estuarine clay mineral distribution: Modern analogue for ancient sandstone reservoir quality prediction

The spatial distribution of clay minerals in sandstones, which may both enhance or degrade reservoir quality, is poorly understood. To address this, clay mineral distribution patterns and host‐sediment properties (grain size, sorting, clay fraction abundance and bioturbation intensity) have, for the first time, been determined and mapped at an unprecedentedly high‐resolution in a modern estuarine setting (Ravenglass Estuary, UK). Results show that the estuary sediment is dominated by illite with subordinate chlorite and kaolinite, although the rivers supply sediment with less illite and significantly more chlorite than found in the estuary. Fluvial‐supplied sediment has been locally diluted by sediment derived from glaciogenic drift deposits on the margins of the estuary. Detailed clay mineral maps and statistical analyses reveal that the estuary has a heterogeneous distribution of illite, chlorite and kaolinite. Chlorite is relatively most abundant on the northern foreshore and backshore and is concentrated in coarse‐grained inner estuary dunes and tidal bars. Illite is relatively most abundant (as well as being most crystalline and most Fe–Mg‐rich) in fine‐grained inner estuary and central basin mud and mixed flats. Kaolinite has the highest abundance in fluvial sediment and is relatively homogenous in tidally‐influenced environments. Clay mineral distribution patterns in the Ravenglass Estuary have been strongly influenced by sediment supply (residence time) and subsequently modified by hydrodynamic processes. There is no relationship between macro‐faunal bioturbation intensity and the abundance of chlorite, illite or kaolinite. Based on this modern‐analogue study, outer estuarine sediments are likely to be heavily quartz cemented in deeply‐buried (burial temperatures exceeding 80 to 100°C) sandstone reservoirs due to a paucity of clay grade material (<0·5%) to form complete grain coats. In contrast, chlorite‐enriched tidal bars and dunes in the inner estuary, with their well‐developed detrital clay coats, are likely to have quartz cement inhibiting authigenic clay coats in deeply‐buried sandstones.     

Alterations of cretaceous siltstones and sandstones near basalt contacts (Nûgssuaq,Greenland)

The influence of the intrusion of basaltic dykes and sills was investigated on sandstones and siltstones of the Atane Formation (Turonian-Coniacian) from the Sarqaq area (Nûgssuaq peninsula, central West Greenland).In the unaltered rock sequence, the siltstones are dominated by kaolinite, quartz and feldspar. No cementation was observed. The sandstones which are prevalent in this formation are arkoses and lithic arkoses with quartz/feldspar ratios of about 1, with variable contents of rock fragments and with minor amounts of matrix. The matrix consists mainly of kaolinite, less frequently of illite-muscovite and smectite or interstratified illite-smectite. Cement minerals include calcite, Fe-calcite, both mainly in concretions, and subordinate Fe-oxide hydrates.The porosity of the sandstones and siltstones indicates a former maximum depth of burial of 1000 m in the Sarqaq region.Adjacent to thin dykes and sills (1–2 m) the above-described rocks are altered as follows. In sandstones albite (fibrous), quartzine, smectite, goethite were all formed at the expense of kaolinitic matrix, and aragonite cement. In siltstones, interstratified illite-smectite, illite, smectite and low-cristobalite replaced kaolinite. These minerals, especially smectite, exclude temperatures above 200°C; they were probably formed during a cooling period.Adjacent to thicker basalt intrusions—only sills, over 5 m thick, and no dykes are known from this area—the following alterations are observed. In sandstones two textural types of albite were formed in addition to: (1) fibrous albite mentioned above; (2) undulose lath-shaped albite; (3) coarse-twinned non-undulose replacement albite. Moreover, brownish luminescing undulose quartz, muscovite, chlorite, epidote, nontronite and anatase occur. In siltstones the mineral association muscovite-chlorite-pyrophyllite-albite occurs, suggesting temperatures in the range of 250–500°C. Additionally a 22–26 Å mixed-layer mineral (chlorite-muscovite?) formed. At the contacts of thick as well as thin basalt intrusions the detrital grains directly adjoining the basalt are partly fractured; potassium feldspar grains show also a chemical disintegration.The temperatures calculated by application of a cooling model are higher than those indicated by the mineral alterations observed. Convective heat transfer by pore water is suggested as an explanation.     

Sodic metasomatism in a dacite weathering profile in Pinxiang, Guangxi, China

The Pinxiang weathering profile is well developed on Early Triassic dacite lavas of the Baisi Formation. At the top of the profile is developed a red clay zone which is characterized mineralogically by kaolinite, iron oxide minerals, quartz, and a small amount of illite, montmorillonite and vermiculite. In going downwards the red clay zone gives way to a saprolite zone in which plagioclase pseudomorphs have been well preserved although replaced by kaolinite. Beneath the saprolite zone is the saprock zone characterized by less weathering for dacite. At the bottom of the weathering profile is the parent material, dacite, which is composed mainly of plagioclase, quartz, K-feldspar and biotite which have been largely altered into chlorite owing to submarine extrusion of dacite lavas. Some layers in the weathering profile show obvious sodium enrichment and potassium depletion relative to others. In the Al2O3-(CaO* Na2O)-K2O triangular diagram, the weathering trends of these layers in the middle stage are remarkably deviated from normal ones. Both mineralogy and micro-morphology of these layers indicate such deviation resulted from sodic metasomatism of orthoclase.     

Geochemistry and mineralogy of saprolite in Finnish Lapland

An ancient saprolite has developed on the Palaeoproterozoic granulite, granite gneiss and amphibolite bedrock of the Vuotso–Tankavaara area of central Finnish Lapland. The present day climatic regime in Finnish Lapland lies within the northern boreal zone and so the saprolite there can be regarded as fossil. Cores of saprolite were collected from 4 sections (42 samples) and analyzed chemically and mineralogically. In the study area, progressive weathering of the rocks has been marked by gradual enrichment in Al, Fe and Ti; and depletion of Na, K and Ca. The higher concentration of Fe(III) and water and reduced Na and Ca in weathered bedrock in the 4 sections are indicative of oxidation, hydration and leaching processes involved during weathering. The primary minerals in the saprolite are plagioclase feldspar, K-feldspar, quartz, garnet (almandine) and hornblende; the common secondary minerals are kaolinite, halloysite, and vermiculite in addition to minor amounts of sericite. Intense weathering is indicated by: (1) the presence of kaolinite and halloysite in 4 sections of different bedrock types, and (2) the comparatively lower SiO₂/Al₂O₃ (wt.%) ratio (2.30) of weathered granulites (3 sections) as compared to fresh granulite (4.33) and that of weathered amphibolite (2.68) as compared to fresh amphibolite (3.56). In general, kaolinite and halloysite have formed through the weathering of feldspars, garnet, and biotite. Vermiculite is the most probable alteration product of biotite. The formation of kaolinite and halloysite in Finnish Lapland indicates wetter and warmer climatic conditions during the time of their formation than at present. The possible time for formation of the saprolite is early Cretaceous–early Tertiary into Middle Miocene.