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Mineralogical characteristics and geological significance of Albian (Early Cretaceous) glauconite in Zanda, southwestern Tibet, China

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

Xiang Li ,
Yuanfeng Cai ,
Xiumian Hu ,
Zhicheng Huang  and
Jiangang Wang
Xiang Li
Affiliation:
Wuhan Institute of Geology and Mineral Resources, China Geological Survey, Wuhan 430223, China
Yuanfeng Cai*
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research (Nanjing University), School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Xiumian Hu
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research (Nanjing University), School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Zhicheng Huang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research (Nanjing University), School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
Jiangang Wang
Affiliation:
State Key Laboratory for Mineral Deposits Research (Nanjing University), School of Earth Sciences and Engineering, Nanjing University, Nanjing 210093, China
*
*E-mail: caiyf@nju.edu.cn
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Abstract

Early Cretaceous glauconite from the Xiala section, southwestern Tibet, China, was investigated by petrographic microscopy and scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray diffractometry (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy, and electron probe microanalysis (EPMA). The investigations revealed that the glauconite in both sandstones and limestone is highly evolved. The glauconite in sandstone is autochthonous, but in limestone it may be derived from the underlying glauconitic sandstone. Based on analyses of the depositional environments and comparisons of glauconite-bearing strata in Zanda with sequences in adjacent areas, we conclude that the glauconitization at Zanda was probably associated with rising sea levels during the Late Albian, which represent the final separation of the Indian continent from the Australian-Antarctic continent. After the separation of the Indian continent from the Australian-Antarctic continent, cooling of the Indian continent resulted in subsidence and northward subduction of the Indian plate. A gradually rising sea level in Zanda, located along the northern margin of the Indian continent, was the cause of the low sedimentation rate. Continued transgression resulted in the occurrence of the highly evolved glauconite in this area.

Keywords

glauconitemineralogical characteristicsgeological implicationXiala sectionZandaTibet
Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 47 , Issue 1 , March 2012 , pp. 45 - 58
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 2012

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