Hostname: page-component-8448b6f56d-t5pn6 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-04-24T17:34:24.262Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Clay mineral-grain size-calcite cement relationships in the Upper Cretaceous Chalk, UK: a preliminary investigation

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  27 February 2018

C. V. Jeans ,
N. J . Tosca ,
X. F. Hu  and
S. Boreham
C. V. Jeans*
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK
N. J . Tosca
Affiliation:
Department of Earth Sciences, University of St Andrews, St Andrews, KY16 9AL, UK
X. F. Hu
Affiliation:
Editorial Office of Journal of Palaeogeography, China University of Petroleum (Beijing), 20 Xueyuan Road, P.O. Box 902, Beijing 100083, China
S. Boreham
Affiliation:
Department of Geography, University of Cambridge, Downing Place, Cambridge, CB2 3EQ, UK
*
*E-mail: cj302@cam.ac.uk
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The idea is tested that the evolution of the Chalk’s clay mineral assemblage during diagenesis can be deduced by examining the relationships between its clay mineralogy, particle size distribution pattern, and the timing and trace element chemistry of the calcite cement. The preliminary results from five different examples of cementation developed at different stages of diagenesis in chalks with smectite-dominated clay assemblages suggest that this is a promising line of investigation. Soft chalks with minor amount of anoxic series calcite cement poor in Mg, Fe and Mn are associated with neoformed trioctahedral smectite and/or dioctahedral nontronite and talc. Hard ground chalk with extensive anoxic series calcite cement enriched in Mg and relatively high Fe, Mn and Sr are associated with neoformed glauconite sensu lato, berthierine and dioctahedral smectite, possibly enriched in Fe. The chalk associated with large ammonites shows extensive suboxic series calcite cement enriched in Mg, Mn and Fe that show no obvious correlation with its clay mineralogy. Nodular chalks with patchy suboxic series calcite cement enriched in Fe are associated with neoformed dioctahedral smectite, possibly enriched in Al, and berthierine. Regionally hardened chalk with extensive suboxic calcite cement and relatively high trace element contents contain pressure dissolution seams enriched in kaolin and berthierine. Laser-based particle-size distribution patterns suggest that each type of lithification has a typical complex clay mineral population, indicating that subtleties in mineralogy are not being identified and that there could be some control on the size and shape of the clay crystals by the different types of cementation.

Keywords

chalkUpper Cretaceousclay mineralsgrain sizecalcite cementtrace elementsneoformationdiagenesis
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 49 , Issue 2 , April 2014 , pp. 299 - 325
Creative Commons
Creative Common License - CCCreative Common License - BY
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2014 This is an Open Access article, distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution license. (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits unrestricted re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2014

References

Brigatti, M.F. (1983) Relationships between composition and structure in Fe-rich smectites. Clay Minerals, 18, 177–186.10.1180/claymin.1983.018.2.06CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brindley, G.W. & Wan H.-M. (1974) Use of long spacing alcohols and alkanes for calibration of long spacings from layer silicates, particularly clay minerals. Clays and Clay Minerals, 22, 313–317.10.1346/CCMN.1974.0220402Google Scholar
Deconinck, J.F. & Chamley, H. (1995) Diversity of smectite origins in Late Cretaceous sediments: Examples of chalks from Northern France. Clay Minerals, 30, 365–379.10.1180/claymin.1995.030.4.09Google Scholar
Drits, V.A. & McCarty, D. (1996) A simple technique for a semi-quantitative determination of the trans-vacant and cis-vacant in 2:1 layer contents in illites and illite-smectites. American Mineralogist, 81, 852–863.10.2138/am-1996-7-808Google Scholar
Drits, V.A., Lindgreen, H., Salyn, A.L., Ylagan, R. & McCarty, D.K. (1998) Semiquantitative determination of trans-vacant and cis-vacant 2:1 layers in illites and illite-smectite by thermal analysis and Xray diffraction. American Mineralogist, 83, 1188–1198.10.2138/am-1998-11-1207Google Scholar
Drits, V.A., Lindgreen, H., Sakharov, B.A., Jakobsen, F. & Zviagina, B.B. (2004) The detailed structure and origin of clay minerals at the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary, Stevns Klint (Denmark). Clay Minerals, 39, 367–390.10.1180/0009855043940141Google Scholar
Gallois, R.W. (1994) Geology of the country around King’s Lynn and the Wash. Memoir of the British Geological Survey. Sheet 145 and part of 129 (England and Wales), 210pp.Google Scholar
Greene-Kelly, R. (1957) The montmorillonite minerals (smectite). Pp. 140–164 in: The Differential Thermal Analysis of Clays (R.C. Mackenzie, editor). Monograph of the Mineralogical Society, London.Google Scholar
Hu, X.F., Jeans, C.V. & Dickson, J.A.D. (2012) Geochemical and stable isotope patterns of calcite cementation in the Upper Cretaceous Chalk, UK: Direct evidence from calcite-filled vugs in brachiopods. Acta Geologica Polonica, 62, 143–172.10.2478/v10263-012-0007-xCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hu, X.F., Long, D. & Jeans, C.V. (2014) A novel approach to the study of the development of the Chalk’s smectite assemblage. Clay Minerals, 49, 277–297.10.1180/claymin.2014.049.2.08Google Scholar
Jeans, C.V. (1968) The origin of the montmorillonite of the European Chalk with special reference to the Lower Chalk of England. Clay Minerals, 7, 311–329.10.1180/claymin.1968.007.3.05Google Scholar
Jeans, C.V. (1980) Early submarine lithification in the Red Chalk and Lower Chalk of eastern England: a bacterial control model and its implications. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society, 43, 81–157.10.1144/pygs.43.2.81Google Scholar
Jeans, C.V. (2006) Clay mineralogy of the British Cretaceous. Clay Minerals, 41, 47–150.Google Scholar
Jeans, C.V., Hu, X.F. & Mortimore, R.N. (2012) Calcite cements and the stratigraphical significance of the marine d13C carbonate reference curve for the Upper Cretaceous Chalk of England. Acta Geologica Polonica, 62, 173–196.10.2478/v10263-012-0008-9Google Scholar
Kawano, M. & Tomita, K. (1991) Dehydration and rehydration of saponite and vermiculite. Clays and Clay Minerals, 39, 174–183.Google Scholar
Lindgreen, H., Drits, V.A., Sakharov, B.A., Jakobsen, H.J., Salyn, A.L., Dainyat, L.G. & Krøyer, H. (2002) The structure and diagenetic transformation of illitesmectite and chlorite-smectite from North Sea Cretaceous-Tertiary chalk. Clay Minerals, 37, 429–450.10.1180/0009855023730055Google Scholar
Lindgreen, H., Drits, V.A., Jakobsen, F. & Sakharov, B.A. (2008) Clay mineralogy of the central North Sea Upper Cretaceous-Tertiary chalk and the formation of clay-rich layers. Clays and Clay Minerals, 56, 693–710.10.1346/CCMN.2008.0560610Google Scholar
Mackenzie, R.C. (1970) Simple phyllosilicates based on gibbsite- and brucite-like sheets. Pp. 497–537 in: Differential Thermal Analysis (R.C. Mackenzie, editor), 1. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Mackenzie, R.C. (1972) Differential Thermal Analysis, 2. Academic Press, London.Google Scholar
Moore, D.M. & Reynolds, R.C. Jr.(1997) X-ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals. New York: Oxford University Press.Google Scholar
Perrin, R.M.S. (1964) The analysis of Chalk and other limestones for geochemical studies. Pp. 208–221 in: Analysis of Calcareous Materials. Monograph of the Society of Chemical Industry (London), 18, 481 pp.Google Scholar
Reynolds, R.C. Jr. & Reynolds, R.C. III (1996) NEWMOD for Windows. The calculation of one dimensional X-ray diffraction patterns of mixedlayered clay minerals: Hanover, NH.Google Scholar
Wolters, F. & Emmerich, K. (2007) Thermal reactions of smectites – relation of dehydroxylation temperature to octahedral structure. Thermochimica Acta, 462, 80–88.10.1016/j.tca.2007.06.002Google Scholar
Wolters, F., Lagaly, G., Kahr, G., Kueesch, R. & Emmerich, K. (2009) A comprehensive chacterization of dioctahedral smectites. Clays and Clay Minerals, 57, 115–133.10.1346/CCMN.2009.0570111Google Scholar
Wright, C.W. (1935) The Chalk rock fauna in East Yorkshire. Geological Magazine, 72, 441–442.10.1017/S0016756800094498Google Scholar
Young, B.R. (1965) X-ray examination of insoluble residues from the Chalk. Appendix D in: The Leatherhead (Fetcham) Borehole (D.A. Gray). Bulletin of the Geological Survey of Great Britain, 23, 110–114.Google Scholar