Mineralogy and geochemistry of the main glauconite bed in the Middle Eocene of Texas: paleoenvironmental implications for the verdine facies

PLoS One. 2014 Feb 4;9(2):e87656. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0087656. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

The Main Glauconite Bed (MGB) is a pelleted greensand located at Stone City Bluff on the south bank of the Brazos River in Burleson County, Texas. It was deposited during the Middle Eocene regional transgression on the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain. Stratigraphically it lies in the upper Stone City Member, Crockett Formation, Claiborne Group. Its mineralogy and geochemistry were examined in detail, and verdine facies minerals, predominantly odinite, were identified. Few glauconitic minerals were found in the green pelleted sediments of the MGB. Without detailed mineralogical work, glaucony facies minerals and verdine facies minerals are easily mistaken for one another. Their distinction has value in assessing paleoenvironments. In this study, several analytical techniques were employed to assess the mineralogy. X-ray diffraction of oriented and un-oriented clay samples indicated a clay mixture dominated by 7 and 14Å diffraction peaks. Unit cell calculations from XRD data for MGB pellets match the odinite-1M data base. Electron microprobe analyses (EMPA) from the average of 31 data points from clay pellets accompanied with Mössbauer analyses were used to calculate the structural formula which is that of odinite: Fe(3+) 0.89 Mg0.45 Al0.67 Fe(2+) 0.30 Ti0.01 Mn0.01) Σ = 2.33 (Si1.77 Al0.23) O5.00 (OH)4.00. QEMSCAN (Quantitative Evaluation of Minerals by Scanning Electron Microscopy) data provided mineral maps of quantitative proportions of the constituent clays. The verdine facies is a clay mineral facies associated with shallow marine shelf and lagoonal environments at tropical latitudes with iron influx from nearby runoff. Its depositional environment is well documented in modern nearshore locations. Recognition of verdine facies clays as the dominant constituent of the MGB clay pellets, rather than glaucony facies clays, allows for a more precise assessment of paleoenvironmental conditions.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
  • Research Support, U.S. Gov't, Non-P.H.S.

MeSH terms

  • Aluminum Silicates / chemistry
  • Clay
  • Environment
  • Geography
  • Geologic Sediments / chemistry*
  • Minerals / chemistry*
  • Texas

Substances

  • Aluminum Silicates
  • Minerals
  • glauconite
  • Clay

Grants and funding

This project was funded by research grants to AA Ekdale, PI, from the ACS Petroleum Research Fund (PRF grant 47560-AC-8) and Division of Earth Sciences of the National Science Foundation (NSF grant EAR-1052661) and by student grants to SC Harding from the Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies and the Department of Geology and Geophysics of the University of Utah. The funders had no role in study design, data collection and analysis, decision to publish, or preparation of the manuscript.