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Stability of detrital heavy minerals in Tertiary sandstones from the North Sea Basin

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2018

A. C. Morton
A. C. Morton*
Affiliation:
British Geological Survey, Nicker Hill, Keyworth, Nottingham NG12 5GG
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Abstract

Intrastratal solution of detrital heavy minerals in North Sea Tertiary sandstones takes place in two different diagenetic settings, deep burial and acidic weathering. These are characterized by different orders of mineral stability: apatite, chloritoid, garnet, sphene and spinel are less stable in acidic weathering than in deep burial, whereas the reverse is true for andalusite, kyanite and sillimanite. Heavy-mineral dissolution patterns, therefore, do not follow one single order of stability but several, depending on the diagenetic environment in which the dissolution occurs. It seems from this that the relative order of stability for detrital heavy minerals is controlled by the chemistry of the interstitial waters, whereas the limits of persistence depend on pore-fluid temperature, rate of water throughput, and geological age. Because different diagenetic environments lead to differing orders of mineral stability, it may prove possible to elucidate certain aspects of the diagenetic history of a sandstone by heavy-mineral dissolution patterns.

Type
Research Article
Information
Clay Minerals , Volume 19 , Issue 3 , June 1984 , pp. 287 - 308
Copyright
Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1984

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