Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-p9bg8 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-25T20:17:53.227Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Late Mesozoic—Cenozoic clay mineral successions of southern Iran and their palaeoclimatic implications

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

F. Khormali ,
A. Abtahi  and
H. R. Owliaie
F. Khormali*
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Gorgan University of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources, Gorgan, Iran
A. Abtahi
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
H. R. Owliaie
Affiliation:
Department of Soil Science, College of Agriculture, Shiraz University, Shiraz, Iran
*
*E-mail: khormali@gau.ac.ir
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Clay minerals of calcareous sedimentary rocks of southern Iran, part of the old Tethys area, were investigated in order to determine their origin and distribution, and to reconstruct the palaeoclimate of the area. Chemical analysis, X-ray diffraction, transmission electron microscopy, scanning electron microscopy, and thin-section studies were performed on the 16 major sedimentary rocks of the Fars and Kuhgiluyeh Boyerahmad Provinces.

Kaolinite, smectite, chlorite, illite, palygorskite and illite-smectite interstratified minerals were detected in the rocks studied. The results revealed that detrital input is possibly the main source of kaolinite, smectite, chlorite and illite, while in situ neoformation during the Tertiary shallow saline and alkaline environment could be the dominant cause of palygorskite occurrences in the sedimentary rocks.

The presence of a large amount of kaolinite in the Lower Cretaceous sediments and the absence or rare occurrence of chlorite, smectite, palygorskite and illite are in accordance with the warm and humid climate of that period. Smaller amounts of kaolinite and the occurrence of smectite in Upper Cretaceous sediments indicate the gradual shift from warm and humid to more seasonal climate. The occurrence of palygorskite and smectite and the disappearance of kaolinite in the late Palaeocene sediments indicate the increase in aridity which has probably continued to the present time.

Keywords

clay mineralspalaeoclimatesedimentary rocksIran
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 40 , Issue 2 , June 2005 , pp. 191 - 203
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2005

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

Adatte, T., Keller, G. & Stinnesbeck, W. (2002) Late Cretaceous to early Paleocene climate and sea-level fluctuations: the Tunisian record. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 178, 165–196.Google Scholar
Bolle, M.P. (1999) Climatic and environmental changes in the Tethys region during the late Paleocene thermal maximum. PhD thesis, University of Neuchatel, Switzerland.Google Scholar
Bolle, M.P. & Adatte, T. (2001) Palaeocene-early Eocene climate evolution in the Tethyan realm: clay mineral evidence. Clay Minerals, 36, 249–261.Google Scholar
Chamley, H. (1998) Clay mineral sedimentation in the ocean. Pp. 269-302 in: Soils and Sediments (Mineralogy and Geochemistry. (H. Paquet and N. Clauer editors). Springer-Verlag, Berlin.Google Scholar
Chapman, H.D. (1965) Cation exchange capacity. Pp. 891-900 in: Methods of Soil Analysis Part 2. (C.A. Black, editor). American Society of Agronomy, Madison, Wisconsin, USA.Google Scholar
Charisi, S. & Schmitz, B. (1995) Stable (δ13C and δ18O) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr) isotopes through the Paleocene at Gebel Aweina, eastern Tethyan region. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 116, 103-129.Google Scholar
Deconinck, J.F. & Chamley, H. (1995) Diversity of smectite origins in Late Cretaceous sediments: example of chalks from northern France. Clay Minerals, 30, 365–379.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dixon, I.B. & Weed, S.B. (1989) Minerals in Soil Environment. Soil Science Society of America, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
Fagel, N., Boski, T., Likhoshway, L. & Oberhaensli, H. (2003) Late Quaternary clay mineral record in Central Lake Baikal (Academician Ridge, Siberia). Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 193, 159–179.Google Scholar
Ghazban, F., McNutt, R.H. & Schwarcz, H.P. (1994) Genesis of sediment-hosted Zn-Pb-Ba deposits in the Irankuh district, Esfahan area, west-central Iran. Economic Geology, 89, 1262–1278.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hesse, P.P., Magee, J.W. & Van der Kaars, S. (2004) Late Quaternary climates of the Australian arid zone: a review. Quaternary International, 119, 87–102.Google Scholar
Hillier, S. (1995) Erosion, sedimentation and sedimentary origin of clays. Pp. 162–219 in: Origin and Mineralogy of Clays: Clays and the Environmen. (B. Velde, editor). Springer-Verlag, Berlin, Heidelberg, New York.Google Scholar
Jackson, M.L. (1975) Soil Chemical Analysis. Advanced Course. University of Wisconsin, College of Agriculture, Department of Soils, Madison, Wisconsin.Google Scholar
James, G.A. & Wynd, J.G. (1965) Stratigraphic nomenclature of the Iranian oil consortium agreement area. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 49, 2182–2245.Google Scholar
Johns, W.D., Grim, R.E. & Bradley, F. (1954) Quantitative estimation of clay minerals by diffraction methods. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 24, 242–251.Google Scholar
Keller, G., Adatte, T., Stinnesbeck, W., Stuben, D., Kramar, U., Berner, Z. & Von Salis, K. (1998) The Cretaceous-Tertiary transition on the shallow Saharan Platform of southern Tunisia. Geobios, 30, 951–975.Google Scholar
Kennett, J.P. & Stott, L.D. (1991) Abrupt deep-sea warming, palaeoceanographic changes and benthic extinctions at the end of the Paleocene. Nature, 353, 225–229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Khademi, H. & Mermut, A.R. (1998) Source of palygorskite in gypsiferous Aridisols and associated sediments from central Iran. Clay Minerals, 33, 561–575.Google Scholar
Khademi, H., Mermut, A.R. & Krouse, H.R. (1997) Sulfur isotope geochemistry of gypsiferous Aridisols from central Iran. Geoderma, 80, 195–209.Google Scholar
Khormali, F. & Abtahi, A. (2003) Origin and distribution of clay minerals in calcareous arid and semi-arid soils of Fare Province, southern Iran. Clay Minerals, 38, 511-527.Google Scholar
Kittrick, J.A. & Hope, E.W. (1963) A procedure for the particle size separation of soils for X-ray diffraction analysis. Soil Science, 96, 312–325.Google Scholar
Krinsley, D.B. (1970) A geomorphological and paleoclimatological study of the play as of Iran. Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior, Washington, D.C. 20242.Google Scholar
Li, L., Keller, G., Adatte, T. & Stinnesbeck, W. (2000) Late Cretaceous Sea Level Changes in Tunisia: A Multi-disciplinary Approach. Special publication 157, Geological Society of London, pp. 447-458.Google Scholar
Lu, G. & Keller, G. (1995) Planktic foraminiferal faunal turnovers in the subtropical Pacific during the late Paleocene to early Eocene. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 26, 97–116.Google Scholar
Mehra, O.P. & Jackson, M.L. (1960) Iron oxide removal from soils and clays by a dithionite citrate system with sodium bicarbonate. Clays and Clay Minerals, 7, 317–327.Google Scholar
Millot, G. (1970) Geology of Clays. Masson et Cie, Paris.Google Scholar
MPB (Ministry of Programming and Budgeting) (1994) Economic and Social Status of Fars Province. Publication of Center for Informatic and Development Studies, Iran (in Farei).Google Scholar
National Iranian Oil Company (1977) Geological map of Iran, sheet No.5 South-Central Iran. 1:1000,000. NCC offset. Tehran.Google Scholar
Net, L.I., Alonso, M.S. & Limarino, C.O. (2003) Source rock and environmental control on clay mineral associations, Lower Section of Paganzo Group (Carboniferous), Northwest Argentina. Sedimentary Geology, 152, 183–199.Google Scholar
Oberhansli, H. (1992) The influence of the Tethys on the bottom water of the early Tertiary ocean. Antarctic Research, 4, 167–184 (special issue ‘The Antarctic Paleoenvironment: A Perspective on Global Change”, edited by J.P. Kennett).Google Scholar
Pardo, A., Keller, G. & Oberhansli, H. (1999) Paleoecologic and paleoceanographic evolution of the Tethyan realm during the Paleocene-Eocene transition. Journal of Foraminiferal Research, 29, 37–57.Google Scholar
Pletsch, T., Daoudi, L., Chamley, H., Deconinck, J.F. & Charroud, M. (1996) Palaeogeographic controls on palygorskite occurrence in Mid–Cretaceous sediments of Morocco and adjacent basins. Clay Minerals, 31, 403–416.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Robert, C. & Chamley, H. (1991) Development of early Eocene warm climates, as inferred from clay mineral variations in oceanic sediments. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 89, 315–332.Google Scholar
Robert, C. & Kennett, J.P. (1994) Antarctic subtropical humid episode at the Paleocene-Eocene boundary: Clay mineral evidence. Geology, 22, 211–214.Google Scholar
Salinity Laboratory Staff (1954) Diagnosis and improvement of saline and alkali soils. USDA Handbook 60. Washington, D.C.Google Scholar
Sanguesa, F.J., Arostegui, J. & Suarez-Ruiz, I. (2000) Distribution and origin of clay minerals in the Lower Cretaceous of the Alava Block (Basque-Cantabrian Basin, Spain). Clay Minerals, 35, 393–410.Google Scholar
Stocklin, J. (1968) Structural history and tectonics of Iran: A review. Bulletin of the American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 52, 1229–1258.Google Scholar
Strouhal, A. (1993) Tongeologische Entwicklungstrend in kretazichen and tertiaren sedimenten Nordostafrikas: regional Falbeispiele. Berliner Geowissenschaften Abhandlungen, 155, 1–68.Google Scholar
Thomas, E. (1990) Late Cretaceous through Neogene deep-sea benthic foraminifers (Maud Rise, Weddell Sea, Antarctica). Proceedings of the Ocean Drilling Project, Scientific Research, 113, 571–594.Google Scholar
Zachos, J., Lohmann, K., Walker, J.C.G. & Wise, S.W. (1993) Abrupt climate change and transient climates during the Paleogene: A marine perspective. Journal of Geology, 101, 191–123.Google Scholar
Zahedi, M. (1976) Explanatory text of the Esfahan Quadrangle Map 1:250000. Geological Survey of Iran.Google Scholar