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Kaolinite, Opal-CT, and Clinoptilolite in Altered Tuffs Interbedded with Lignite in the Jackson Group, Texas

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

A. L. Senkayi ,
D. W. Ming ,
J. B. Dixon  and
L. R. Hossner
A. L. Senkayi
Affiliation:
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
D. W. Ming
Affiliation:
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
J. B. Dixon
Affiliation:
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
L. R. Hossner
Affiliation:
Department of Soil and Crop Sciences, Texas Agricultural Experiment Station, Texas A&M University, College Station, Texas 77843
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Abstract

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The mineralogy of partially kaolinized strata interbedded with lignite at the San Miguel mine, Atascosa County, Texas, was investigated by X-ray powder diffraction and optical and scanning electron microscopy. The San Miguel lignite occurs in the lower Jackson Group (late Eocene) of southern Texas. Based on mineralogical and micromorphological data, some of these clay partings are probably volcanic in origin and were exposed to variable degrees of in situ kaolinization in a swamp environment. Coexistence of kaolinite, clinoptilolite, and opal-CT in several of these strata suggests that the partially kaolinized volcanic layers were subjected to a subsequent resilication process following burial. Kaolinite is the dominant mineral in the oldest and most kaolinized volcanic layer (underclay) below the lowest lignite bed (seam D). The kaolinite exhibits a well-developed vermicular morphology. The youngest volcanic layer, which occurs stratigraphically above the uppermost lignite seam, is characterized by pseudomorphs of volcanic glass shards and consists mainly of clinoptilolite. Movement of siliceous ground water from this layer to the underlying strata apparently provided silica-rich solutions from which opal-CT and large (as long as 300 μm) euhedral crystals of clinoptilolite precipitated in the fossilized plant roots, veinlets, and fractures within the underlying strata. Micromorphological relationships between the Sirich (opal-CT and clinoptilolite) and sulfide (marcasite and pyrite) minerals in the fossil roots and fractures suggest that the marcasite formed before and pyrite after the resilication process.

Keywords

ClinoptiloliteKaoliniteLigniteMarcasiteOpal-CTPlant rootsPyriteSilicationZeolite
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 35 , Issue 4 , August 1987 , pp. 281 - 290
Copyright
Copyright © 1987, The Clay Minerals Society

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