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Serpentine-nontronite-vermiculite mixed-layer clay from the Weches Formation, Claiborne Group, middle Eocene, northeast Texas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

J. M. Huggett ,
D. K. McCarty ,
C. C. Calvert ,
A. S. Gale  and
C. Kirk
J. M. Huggett*
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
D. K. McCarty
Affiliation:
ChevronTexaco, 3901 Briarpark, Houston, Texas, 77042, USA
C. C. Calvert
Affiliation:
Department of Engineering Materials, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, L1 3JD, UK
A. S. Gale
Affiliation:
Department of Earth & Environmental Sciences, The University of Greenwich, Chatham Maritime, Kent ME4 4TB, UK Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London, SW7 5BD, UK
C. Kirk
Affiliation:
Department of Mineralogy, The Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BD, UK
*
*E-mail address of corresponding author: JMHuggett@petroclays.demon.co.uk
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Abstract

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The Weches Formation of the Claiborne Group (Eocene) in northeast Texas consists of clayey sandstones and mudrocks, both with variable proportions of dark green to brown clay peloids deposited in a marginal to open marine setting on the Gulf Coast margin. The composition of the dark green peloids, from two localities, has been investigated using X-ray diffraction, back-scattered electron microscopy with X-ray analysis, electron energy-loss spectroscopy (EELS), Mössbauer spectroscopy, chemical analysis and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. These peloids were previously described on the basis of their color as glauconite (Yancey and Davidoff, 1994); our results, however, show that the dark green indurated pellets are predominantly composed of mixed-layer clays with a high proportion of Fe-rich 7 Å serpentine layers coexisting with a mixed-layer phase containing glauconite, nontronite and vermiculite layers, in addition to discrete illite and kaolinte. Analyses by EELS of single particles with a chemical composition consistent with them being the Fe-rich clay indicate that the Fe is >95% ferric, while Mössbauer analyses of the bulk magnetically separated fraction for the same samples indicates a ferric iron content of ∼60–70%, despite the variable relative proportions of expandable and 7 Å layers. Taking into account that there is a significant amount of 2:1 layers containing ferric Fe, we interpret these data as indicating that the Fe in the 7 Å layers has a significant amount of Fe2+ even taking into account the high ferric Fe ratio from the EELS analysis when the coexisting 2:1 layers are considered. Thus, these 1:1 layers are closer to berthierine in composition than to odinite. The vermiculite layers in the Texas clay may indicate partial ‘verdinization’ of expandable 2:1 clay. A possible reaction is smectite → vermiculite → berthierine-like phase. We estimate a temperature of 20°C for the seawater in which the Texas clay formed, the lower end of the range for modern occurrences of odinite.

Keywords

Clay PelletsEELSMössbauer SpectroscopySerpentine-nontronite-vermiculiteVerdinizationTexasWeches Formation
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 54 , Issue 1 , February 2006 , pp. 101 - 115
Copyright
Copyright © 2006, The Clay Minerals Society

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