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Testing High-Voltage Electrical Discharges in Disintegrating Claystone for Isotopic and Mineralogical Studies: An Example Using Opalinus Claystone

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Horst Zwingmann ,
Alfons Berger ,
Urs Eggenberger ,
Andrew Todd  and
Marco Herwegh
Horst Zwingmann*
Affiliation:
Division of Earth and Planetary Sciences, Graduate School of Science, Kyot University, Sakyo-ku, Kyoto 606-8502, Japan
Alfons Berger
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1+3, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
Urs Eggenberger
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1+3, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
Andrew Todd
Affiliation:
CSIRO Energy, 26 Dick Perry Ave, Kensington, WA 6151, Australia
Marco Herwegh
Affiliation:
Institute of Geological Sciences, University of Bern, Baltzerstrasse 1+3, 3012, Bern, Switzerland
*
*E-mail address of corresponding author: horst@kueps.kyoto-u.ac.jp
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Abstract

The radiogenic isotope systematics of clay minerals are complex because of the intimate mixture of minerals from different origins such as detrital and authigenic sources. An important aspect of dating clays is the primary sample preparation and disintegration method. In the present study, a sample of weakly deformed Opalinus claystone from the Mont Terri underground site (Switzerland) was investigated after disintegration by three different methods. The Opalinus Clay was sedimented in the late Toarcian and early Aalenian and reached maximum temperatures of ~85°C during burial in the Cretaceous. The present study reports data from a comprehensive investigation comparing the effects of disintegration by: (1) disc milling; (2) repeated freezing and thawing; and (3) high-voltage discharges. K-Ar age values of the finest clay (<0.1 µm) released by the different disintegration methods are indistinguishable, indicating that the high-voltage liberation method does not influence grains as small as 100 nm. The K-Ar age values of particle-size separates decreased with decreasing particle size. The age values of the 2–6 µm separates correspond to the Carboniferous Period, which reflects the dominance of Paleozoic detritus in that size range. The age values of the smallest separates (<0.1 µm), on average 213 ± 4 Ma, exceed the numerical age of the formation (~177−172 Ma), which show predominance of detrital grains over authigenic grains even in the finest illite. In summary, isotope geochronology data suggest that the high-voltage method can be applied reliably for disintegrating claystones.

Keywords

Disintegrtation MethodsK-Ar DatingOpalinus ClaySwitzerland
Type
Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 65 , Issue 5 , October 2017 , pp. 342 - 354
Copyright
Copyright © Clay Minerals Society 2017

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