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Faecal pellets and the origin of vermicular glaucony

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

S. G. McMillan
S. G. McMillan*
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Otago, PO Box 56, Dunedin, New Zealand
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Abstract

Vermicular glaucony grains exhibit external features which include longitudinal grooves, ridges and striations, and transverse partings, the last defining packets of green minerals oriented at right angles to the longitudinal features. The grooves and striations are reflected in internal structures, as are transverse partings in the form of transverse voids and micaceous cleavage. There are some gross similarities in the morphological features of vermicular glaucony with those described for decapod faecal pellets. However, reanalysis of the original evidence used to support formation of some vermicular glaucony from decapod faecal pellets highlights discrepancies and alternative explanations. This suggests that vermicular glaucony grains do not form by glauconization of decapod faecal pellets.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 29 , Issue 5 , December 1994 , pp. 735 - 741
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1994

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