K‐feldspar alteration to gel material and crystallization of glauconitic peloids with berthierine in Cretaceous marine sediments—sedimentary implications (Prebetic Zone,Betic Cordillera,SE Spain)

Glauconitic peloids from a Hauterivian condensed level in a hemipelagic unit of the Internal Prebetic (Los Villares Formation, eastern Betic Cordillera) have been studied by X‐ray diffraction (XRD), optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM) and high‐resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM) and analytical electron microscopy (AEM). The sediments forming the condensed level are characterized by abundant spherical to ovoid green glauconite peloids with radial cracks. Quartz, feldspar and muscovite are also abundant, whereas calcium phosphate is rarely detected. XRD analysis of the peloids reveals glauconite and small amounts of berthierine. SEM and HRTEM data show feldspar dissolution features, a Si–Al‐rich gel‐like substance filling K‐feldspar micropores and interlayering of well‐crystallized glauconite and berthierine packets. The last stage of the glauconitization process resulted in conversion of the smectitic precursor. Sedimentary and mineralogical features indicate an autochthonous origin for the glauconite. The depositional environment was a distal, hemipelagic ramp on the Southern Iberian Continental Palaeomargin. Low sedimentation rates lead to sediment condensation in a general transgressive context. The margin was affected by extensional tectonics, creating tilted blocks, resulting in lateral facies changes. The dissolution of K‐feldspars probably occurred after their deposition in the marine environment but predating the glauconitization. An influx of meteoric water is therefore required, probably related to subsurface fluxes from adjacent emergent areas (the higher parts of tilted blocks). Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.