Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-26T19:16:58.949Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Palaeoclimate, palaeosalinity and redox conditions control palygorskite claystone formation: an example from the Yangtaiwatan Basin, northwest China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  13 January 2022

Lihui Liu ,
Shuai Zhang ,
Qinfu Liu ,
Linsong Liu  and
Youjun Deng
Lihui Liu
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing100083, China
Shuai Zhang
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing100083, China State Key Laboratory of Coal Resources and Safe Mining, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing100083, China
Qinfu Liu*
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing100083, China
Linsong Liu
Affiliation:
School of Geosciences and Surveying Engineering, China University of Mining and Technology (Beijing), Beijing100083, China
Youjun Deng
Affiliation:
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX77843, USA
*
*Email: lqf@cumtb.edu.cn
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Palygorskite-bearing claystones and mudstones were deposited in a salt lake in the middle and lower parts of the Neogene Baiyanghe Formation in the Yangtaiwatan Basin, China. The petrological, mineralogical and geochemical characteristics of the sediments were investigated to determine the factors controlling palygorskite formation. The palygorskite claystones and mudstones have distinctly varying mineral compositions. The claystones are composed of detrital minerals, palygorskite and illite, whereas the mudstones consist mainly of mixed-layer illite/smectite and illite. The palygorskite crystals were intact with sharp edges and interwoven with other minerals, indicating an authigenic origin. The chemical characteristics indicate that the palygorskite claystones in the middle part of the Baiyanghe Formation were deposited in a salt lake environment in an arid and hot climate. As the salinity of the lake gradually increased, the detrital minerals such as quartz, feldspar, dolomite and detrital clay minerals dissolved in the alkaline medium, thus providing Si4+, Mg2+ and Al3+ for the crystallization of palygorskite. The palygorskite coexists with certain amounts of detrital quartz and feldspar with limited roundness and sorting, indicating that the shallow lake of the basin under an oxidation environment may represent a favourable environment for the crystallization of palygorskite.

Keywords

authigenic originmudstonesoxidation environmentpalygorskite claystonesshallow lake
Type
Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 56 , Issue 3 , September 2021 , pp. 210 - 221
Copyright
Copyright © The Author(s), 2022. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland

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.)

Footnotes

Associate Editor: Warren D. Huff

References

Abanda, P.A. & Hannigan, R.E. (2006) Effect of diagenesis on trace element partitioning in shales. Chemical Geology, 230, 42–59.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ali, G. & Selahattin, K. (2006) Geology, mineralogy and origin of clay minerals of the Pliocene fluvial–lacustrine deposits in the Cappadocian volcanic province, central Anatolia, Turkey. Clays and Clay Minerals, 54, 555–570.Google Scholar
Battarbee, R.W. (2000) Palaeolimnological approaches to climate change, with special regard to the biological record. Quaternary Science Reviews, 19, 107–124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brindley, G. & Brown, G. (1980) Quantitative X-ray mineral analysis of clays. Pp. 411–438 in: Crystal Structures of Clay Minerals and Their X-Ray Identification. Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland, London, UK.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bussan, D.D., Ochs, C.A., Jackson, C.R., Anumol, T., Snyder, S.A. & Cizdziel, J.V. (2017) Concentrations of select dissolved trace elements and anthropogenic organic compounds in the Mississippi River and major tributaries during the summer of 2012 and 2013. Environmental Monitoring and Assessment, 189, 73.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Callen, R.A. (1984) Clays of the palygorskite–sepiolite group: depositional environment, age and distribution. Developments in Sedimentology, 37, 1–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cao, Z., Jia, Y., Wang, Q. & Cheng, H. (2021) High-efficiency photo-Fenton Fe/g-C3N4/kaolinite catalyst for tetracycline hydrochloride degradation. Applied Clay Science, 212, 106213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chahi, A. (1993) Analyses of palygorskites and associated clays from the Jbel Rhassoul (Morocco): chemical characteristics and origin of formation. Clays and Clay Minerals, 41, 401–411.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chahi, A., Clauer, N., Toulkeridis, T. & Bouabdelli, M. (1999) Rare-earth elements as tracers of the genetic relationship between smectite and palygorskite in marine phosphorites. Clay Minerals, 34, 419–419.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chen, Z. (1991) Genetic type of palygorskite clay deposits in China. Geoscience, 5, 307–319.Google Scholar
Chen, T., Xu, H., Lu, A., Xu, X., Peng, S. & Yue, S. (2004) Direct evidence of transformation from smectite to palygorskite: Tem investigation. Science in China Series D: Earth Sciences, 47, 985–994.Google Scholar
Coker, W.B. & Nichol, I. (1975) The relation of lake sediment geochemistry to mineralization in the northwest Ontario region of the Canadian Shield. Economic Geology, 70, 202–218.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Colson, J., Cojan, I. & Thiry, M. (1998) A hydrogeological model for palygorskite formation in the Danian continental facies of the Provence Basin (France). Clay Minerals, 33, 333–347.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Daoudi, L. (2004) Palygorskite in the uppermost Cretaceous–Eocene rocks from Marrakech High Atlas, Morocco. Journal of African Earth Sciences, 39, 353–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Galan, E. (1996) Properties and applications of palygorskite–sepiolite clays. Clay Minerals, 31, 443–453.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hong, H., Yu, N., Xue, H., Zhu, Y., Xiang, S. & Zhang, K. (2007) Clay mineralogy and its palaeoclimatic indicator of the late Pleistocene in Linxia Basin. Geoscience, 21, 406–414.Google Scholar
Jenkyns, H.C., Dickson, A.J., Ruhl, M. & van den Boorn, S.H.J.M. (2017) Basalt–seawater interaction, the Plenus Cold Event, enhanced weathering and geochemical change: deconstructing Oceanic Anoxic Event 2 (Cenomanian–Turonian, Late Cretaceous). Sedimentology, 64, 16–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jones, B. & Manning, D.A.C. (1994) Comparison of geochemical indices used for the interpretation of paleo-redox conditions in ancient mudstones. Chemical Geology, 111, 111–129.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kadir, S., Eren, M., Kulah, T., Onalgil, N., Cesur, M. & Gurel, A. (2014) Genesis of late Miocene–Pliocene lacustrine palygorskite and calcretes from Kirsehir, central Anatolia, Turkey. Clay Minerals, 49, 473–494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khademi, H. (1999) Submicroscopy and stable isotope geochemistry of carbonates and associated palygorskite in Iranian aridisols. European Journal of Soil Science, 50, 207–216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khormali, F. & Abtahi, A. (2003) Origin and distribution of clay minerals in calcareous arid and semi-arid soils of Fars Province, southern Iran. Clay Minerals, 38, 511–527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Li, H., Shi, A., Li, M. & Zhang, X. (2013) Effect of pH, temperature, dissolved oxygen, and flow rate of overlying water on heavy metals release from storm sewer sediments. Journal of Chemistry, 2013, 104316.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Liu, G. & Zhou, D. (2007) Application of microelements analysis in identifying sedimentary environment – taking Qianjiang Formation in the Jianghan Basin as an example. Petroleum Geology & Experiment, 29, 307–311.Google Scholar
Liu, Q., Yao, X., Cheng, H. & Frost, R.L. (2012) An infrared spectroscopic comparison of four Chinese palygorskites. Spectrochimica Acta Part A – Molecular and Biomolecular Spectroscopy, 96, 784–789.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Manalt, F., Beck, C., Disnar, J.R., Deconinck, J.F. & Recourt, P. (2001) Evolution of clay mineral assemblages and organic matte, in the late Glacial–Holocene sedimentary infill of Lake Annecy (northwestern Alps): paleoenvironmental implications. Journal of Paleolimnology, 25, 179–192.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Merriman, J.R. (2002) Contrasting clay mineral assemblages in British lower Palaeozoic slate belts: the influence of geotectonic setting. Clay Minerals, 37, 207–219.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, D.M. & Reynolds, R.C. (1989) X-Ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals. Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 352 pp.Google Scholar
Nasedkin, V.V., Vasiliev, A.L., Boeva, N.M. & Belousov, P.E. (2014) Geology, mineralogy, and genesis of palygorskite clay from Borshchevka Deposit in the Kaluga region and outlook for its technological use. Geology of Ore Deposits, 56, 208–227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Owliaie, H.R., Abtahi, A. & Heck, R.J. (2006) Pedogenesis and clay mineralogical investigation of soils formed on gypsiferous and calcareous materials, on a transect, southwestern Iran. Geoderma, 134, 62–81.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Panahi, A., Young, G.M. & Rainbird, R.H. (2000) Behavior of major and trace elements (including REE) during Paleoproterozoic pedogenesis and diagenetic alteration of an Archean granite near Ville Marie, Québec, Canada. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta, 64, 2199–2220.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peng, X., Wang, L. & Jiang, L. (2012) Geochemical characteristics of the Lucaogou Formation oil shale in the southeastern margin of the Junggar Basin and its environmental implications. Bulletin of Mineralogy, Petrology and Geochemistry, 31, 121–127.Google Scholar
Perederij, V.I. (2001) Clay mineral composition and palaeoclimatic interpretation of the Pleistocene deposits of Ukraine. Quaternary International, 76–77, 113–121.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rimmer, S.M. (2004) Geochemical paleoredox indicators in Devonian–Mississippian black shales, central Appalachian Basin (USA). Chemical Geology, 206, 373–391.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Romero, E.G., Barrios, M.S. & Revuelta, M.A.B. (2004) Characteristics of a Mg-palygorskite in Miocene rocks, Madrid Basin (Spain). Clays and Clay Minerals, 52, 484–494.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ruiz, E.M., Kastner, M., Torres, D.G., Gamiz, M.R., Moreno, V.N. & Huertas, M.O. (2015) Paleoclimate and paleoceanography over the past 20,000 yr in the Mediterranean Sea basins as indicated by sediment elemental proxies. Quaternary Science Reviews, 107, 25–46.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Singer, A. (1979) Palygorskite in sediments: detrital, diagenetic or neoformed – a critical review. Geologische Rundschau, 68, 996–1008.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, S.R. & McLennan, S.M. (1985) The Continental Crust: Its Composition and Evolution. An Examination of the Geochemical Record Preserved in Sedimentary Rocks. Blackwell Scientific, Oxford, UK, 328 pp.Google Scholar
Tlili, A., Felhi, M. & Montacer, M. (2010) Origin and depositional environment of palygorskite and sepiolite from the Ypresian phosphatic series, southwestern Tunisia. Clays and Clay Minerals, 58, 573–584.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Tribovillard, N., Algeo, T.J., Lyons, T. & Riboulleau, A. (2006) Trace metals as paleoredox and paleoproductivity proxies: an update. Chemical Geology, 232, 12–32.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wang, X., Cui, Q. & Zhang, G. (2005) Attapulgite clay deposit and gypsum deposit of Yangtaiwatan in Linze district. Acta Geologica Gansu, 14, 90–95.Google Scholar
Wei, R. & Cui, Q. (2005) Exploitation and application of the attapulgite clay deposit in Linze, Gansu Province. Journal of Gansu Sciences, 17, 43–45.Google Scholar
Xie, Q., Chen, T., Ji, J., Chen, J., Xu, H. & Xu, X. (2005) The distribution of palygorskite in Lingtai section of Chinese loess plateau and its paleoclimate significance. Acta Petrologica et Mineralogica, 24, 653–658.Google Scholar
Yaalon, D.H. & Wieder, M. (1976) Pedogenic palygorskite in some arid brown (calciorthid) soils of Israel. Clay Minerals, 11, 73–80.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhang, S., Liu, L., Liu, Q., Zhang, B., Qiao, Z. & Teppen, B.J. (2021) Genesis of palygorskite in the neogene Baiyanghe Formation in Yangtaiwatan Basin, northwest China, based on the mineralogical characteristics and occurrence of enriched trace elements and REE. Clays and Clay Minerals, 69, 23–37.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhou, Q. & Dong, M. (2004) Geological characteristics of the palygorskite clay deposit in Linze, Gansu Province. China Non-Metallic Mining Industry Herald, 6, 58–60.Google Scholar