The process of glauconitization: chemical and isotopic evidence

Sequential leaching experiments were made on Recent glauconies and clay fractions of the associated mud from off-shore Africa near the estuary of the Congo River. Analyses of major/rare earth elements (REE) and Nd isotopic compositions on the resulting leachate and residue pairs allow identification of at least three important and isotopically distinct components which contributed to the glauconitization process: (1) a detrital component with relatively high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr and relatively low ¹⁴³Nd/¹⁴⁴Nd isotopic ratios; (2) a phosphate phase rich in REE and Sr with sea water Sr and Nd isotopic characteristics; (3) a component rich in organic matter and Ca with a sea water Sr isotopic signature, a relatively low Nd isotopic composition and elevated Sm/Nd ratios. This latter component probably represents the suspended organic and carbonate-rich river load. The detrital and the river components were mixed up in the muddy off-shore sediment, ingested by worms, and integrated into faecal pellets. The resulting material has Sr and Nd isotopic signatures intermediate between those of the detrital and river components, and represents the precursor of the glaucony minerals. During the subsequent dissolution-crystallization process, the glauconitic pellets remain isotopically closed to any external supply, but expulsion of Sr and Nd with increasing degree of maturation is observed without any effect on the Sr and Nd isotopic compositions. At a higher maturation stage (K₂O>4.5%), the Sr and Nd isotopic compositions tend to decrease and increase, respectively, approximating the isotopic composition values of the phosphate-rich phase. Because the Sr and Nd concentrations decrease, the evolution of the glauconies toward lower Sr and higher Nd isotopic compositions can only be explained by expulsion of Sr and Nd of the detrital component with high Sr and low Nd isotopic signatures. Dissolution of the chemically unstable, wormdigested clay material from mud may be responsible for the liberation of these elements. Consequently, the phosphate-rich phase with sea water Sr and Nd isotopic signatures becomes increasingly important for the isotopic characteristics of the maturing glauconite grains, and sea water isotopic signatures can be reached during the stage of mature glauconite (K₂O>6.5%), without chemical exchange with the depositional environment.