Hostname: page-component-77c89778f8-vsgnj Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-22T18:56:05.608Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Illite-smectites and the influence of burial diagenesis on the geochemical cycling of nitrogen

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

P. A. Schroeder  and
A. A. McLain
P. A. Schroeder
Affiliation:
University of Georgia, Department of Geology, Athens, GA 30602-2501, USA
A. A. McLain
Affiliation:
University of Georgia, Department of Geology, Athens, GA 30602-2501, USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Fixed nitrogen in illite-smectites (I-S) has been measured for Miocene shales from a Gulf of Mexico oil well. Fixed N values for the <0.2 µm fraction increase with depth from 150 ppm (1000 m) to a maximum of 360 ppm (3841 m). This increase is coincident with illitization from 41% I in I-S to 75% I in I-S. Below 3841 m, fixed N values decrease to 190 ppm (4116 m) while I-S is maintained with a slight increase from 77 to 82%. The changes in fixed N with increasing illitization are consistent with the notion that illitization proceeds via both transformation and dissolution/ precipitation reaction mechanisms. The trend of decreasing fixed N in illitic I-S is compatible with surface-controlled crystal growth and Ostwald ripening mechanisms for illitization. The trend may also be linked to the timing of maximum NH] release from kerogen maturation during oil generation. The changing rate of NH+4 liberation from organic matter and multiple illitization reaction mechanisms can result in complex N geochemical cycling pathways throughout early diagenesis to metamorphism.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 33 , Issue 4 , December 1998 , pp. 539 - 546
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1998

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aller, R.C. & Benninger, L.K., (1981) Spatial and temporal patterns of dissolved ammonium, manganese and silica fluxes from bottom sediments of Long Island Sound, U.S.A. J. Marine Res. 39, 295–314.Google Scholar
Bailey, S.W. (1984) Crystal chemistry of tire tree micas. Pp. 13-60 in Micas (Bailey, S.W., editor). Mineralogical Society of America, Reviews in Mineralogy, 13, Chelsea, Michigan.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Baronnet, A. (1982) Ostwald ripening ion solution, the case of calcite and mica. Estudio Geol. 38, 185–198.Google Scholar
Bebout, G.E. & Fogel, M.L. (1992) Nitrogen-isotope compositions of metasedimentary rocks in the Catalina Schist, California–Implications for metamorphic devolatilization history. Geochim. Cosmochim Acta, 56, 2839–2849.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berner, E.K. & Bemer, R.A. (1996) Global Environment. Water, Air and Geochemical Cycles. Upper Saddle Rive, NJ, Prentice Hall.Google Scholar
Bottrell, S.H. & Miller, M.F. (1990) The geochemical behavior of nitrogen compounds during the formation of black shale hosted quartz-vein gold deposits, north Wales. AppL Geochem. 5, 289–296.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chung, F.H. (1975) Quantitative interpretation of X-ray diffraction patterns of mixtures. III. Simultaneous determination of a set of reference intensities. J. Appl. Cryst. 8, 17–19.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberl, D.D. (1980) Alkali cation selectivity and fixation by clay minerals. Clay Clay Miner. 28, 161–172.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberl, D.D. (1993), Three zones for illite formation during burial diagenesis and metamorphism. Clays Clay Miner. 41, 26–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Honma, H. (1996) High ammonium contents in the 3800 Ma Isua supracrustal rocks, central West Greenland. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 60, 2173–2178.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hurst, V.J., Schroeder, P.A. & Styron, R.W. (1997) Accurate quantification of quartz and other phases by powder X-ray diffractometry. Anal. Chim. Acta, 337, 233–252.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Johns, W.D. & McKallip, T.E. (1989) Burial diagenesis of specific catalytic activity of illite-smectite clays from the Vienna Basin, Austria. Am. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 73, 472–482.Google Scholar
Juster, T.C., Brown, P.E. & Bailey, S.W. (1987) NH4- bearing illite in low grade metamorphic rocks associated with coal, northeastern Pennsylvania. Am. Miner 72, 555-565.Google Scholar
Land, L.S. & Macpherson, G.L., (1992) Origin of saline formation waters, Cenozoic section, Gulf of Mexico sedimentary basin. Am. Assoc. Petrol Geol. Bull 76, 1344-1362.Google Scholar
Lynch, L. & Reynolds, R.C. (1984) The stoichiometry of the smectite-illite reaction. 33ra Annual Clay Minerals Society Meeting, Program with abstracts, Baton Rouge. LA, USA.Google Scholar
Mayer, L.M. & Rice, D.L. (1992) Early diagenesis of protein. A seasonal study. Limnol. Oceanogr. 37, 280–295.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McLain, A.A. (1997) Fixed nitrogen in clay minerals of an offshore Texas, Brazos Block well. MSc thesis, Univ. Georgia, Athens, Georgia, USA.Google Scholar
Nordstrom, D.K. & Munoz, J.L. (1985) Geochemical Thermodynamics. Benjamin/Cummings Publishing Co., Inc., Menlo Park, CA.Google Scholar
Pytte, A.M. & Reynolds, R.C. (1988) The thermal transformation of smectite to i[lite. Pp. 133–140 in: Thermal History of Sedimentary Basins, Methods and Case Histories (Naeser, N.D. & McCulloh, T.H., editors). Springer-Verlag, New York.Google Scholar
Reynolds, R.C. (I985) NEWMOD–A computer program Jbr the calculation of one-dimensional diffraction patterns of mixed-layered clays. 8, Brook Rd., Hanover, NH 03755, USA.Google Scholar
Schroeder, P.A. (1992a) Far infrared study of the interlayer torsional-vibrational mode of mixed-layer Illite-smectites. Clays Clay Miner. 40, 81–91.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schroeder, P.A. (1992b) A multiple reaction mechanism (MRM) model for illitization during burial diagenesis. Pp. 79-88 in: 29th Int. GeoL Congress, Kyoto, Japan, (Nagasawa, K., editor). 29th IGC Workshop WB-1.Google Scholar
Schroeder, P.A. & Ingall, E.D. (1994) A method for the determination of nitrogen in clays, with application to the burial diagenesis of shales. J. Sed. Res. A64, 694-697.Google Scholar
Srodofi, J. (1980) Precise identification of illite-smectite interstratification by X-ray powder diffraction. Clays Clay Miner. 28, 401–411.Google Scholar
Steefel, C.I. & Cappellen, P.V. (1990) A new approach to modeling water-rock interation: The role of precursors, nucleation and ostwald ripening. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 54, 2657–2677.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sucha, V. & Siranova, V. (199l) Ammonium and potassium fixation in smectite by wetting and drying. Clays Clay Miner. 39, 556–559.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tissot, B.P. & WeRe, D.H. (1978) Petroleum Formation and Occurrence. A New Approach to Oil and Gas Exploration. Berlin, Spinger-Verlag.Google Scholar
Williams, L.B. & Ferrell, R.E. Jr. (1991) Ammonium substitution in illite during maturation of organic matter. Clays Clay Miner. 39, 400–408.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, L.B., Wilcoxon, B.R., Ferrell, R.E. Jr. & Sassen, R. (1992) Diagenesis of ammonium during hydrocarbon maturation and migration, Wilcox Group, Louisiana, USA. AppL Geochem. 7, 123–134.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Williams, L.B., Ferrell, R.E. Jr., Hutcheon, I., Bakel, A.J., Walsh, M.M. & Krouse, R.H. (1995) Nitrogen isotope geochemistry of organic matter and minerals during diagenesis and hydrocarbon migration. Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta, 49, 765–779.CrossRefGoogle Scholar