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Palaeogeographic controls on palygorskite occurrence in mid-Cretaceous sediments of Morocco and adjacent basins

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

T. Pletsch ,
L. Daoudi ,
H. Chamley ,
J. F. Deconinck  and
M. Charroud
T. Pletsch
Affiliation:
Geologisches Institut, Olshausenstr. 40-60, D-24118 Kiel, Germany
L. Daoudi
Affiliation:
Géologie, Université Cadi Ayyad, Faculté des Sciences et Techniques Marrakesh II, BP 618, Marrakesh, Morocco
H. Chamley
Affiliation:
Geologisches Institut, Olshausenstr. 40-60, D-24118 Kiel, Germany
J. F. Deconinck
Affiliation:
Sédimentologie et Géodynamique, URA 719 CNRS, Université de Lille 1, 59655 Villeneuve d'Ascq, Cedex, France
M. Charroud
Affiliation:
Géologie, Faculté des Sciences de Fès II, Fès-Saïss, Morocco
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Abstract

Palygorskite has been identified as a major constituent of the clay fraction in mid-Cretaceous deposits of the Meseta, the Middle Atlas, and the Rif in central and northern Morocco. Two types of palygorskite are differentiated, based on the morphology of crystallites, bio- and lithofacies associations of the containing sediments. Type 1 occurs in sections of the Meseta and the Middle Atlas, where the mineral displays bundles of long fibres under the electron microscope and is associated with shallow marine carbonate and evaporite facies. Type 2 was found in the Rif, where palygorskite occurs mostly as bundles of shorter fibres in turbiditic sediments of a supposed deep-marine environment. Associated microfossils indicate reworking of the palygorskite-bearing sediment from shallower parts of the basin. Palygorskite apparently grew authigenically in the chemically restricted environments of the Meseta and the Middle Atlas, whereas it is of a detrital origin in the Rif section. We consider that sediments containing authigenically formed palygorskite (type 1) could be the source of detrital palygorskite (type 2). Type 1 deposits on the North African shelf were probably partly reworked and responsible for the supply of palygorskite to mid-Cretaceous Atlantic basins, where the mineral is well known from several DSDP sites. As in the case of various Recent deep-sea palygorskite occurrences, aeolian transport may have significantly contributed to palygorskite supply to the ocean basins.

Resume

Resume

L'étude de la minéralogie des argiles des sédiments albo-cénomaniens du Rif, de la Meseta et du Moyen-Atlas (Maroc) montre la présence fréquente de fortes proportions de palygorskite. Dans la Meseta et le Moyen-Atlas, ce minéral s'est formé sur place dans des milieux chimiquement confinés (origine autochtone = type 1). En revanche, dans le Rif, la palygorskite associée à des dépôts gravitaires semble remaniée depuis des milieux de plates-formes peu profonds (origine allochtone = type 2). Sous des conditions climatiques favorables, la présence de minéraux fibreux dans les bassins marocains paraît principalement contrôlée par les paléomorphologies continentales, l'activité tectonique des marges, les vitesses d'érosion et sédimentation, et le confinement plus ou moins prononcé des environnements de dépôt. Les nouvelles données présentées montrent que les palygorskites des bassins côtiers marocains constituent une des sources potentielles des palygorskites océaniques qui, comme dans diverses séries récentes, résultent parfois d'un transport éolien.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 31 , Issue 3 , September 1996 , pp. 403 - 416
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1996

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