Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-tf8b9 Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-26T02:15:25.088Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Layer-By-Layer Mechanism of Smectite Illitization and Application to a New Rate Law

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  02 April 2024

Craig M. Bethke
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
Stephen P. Altaner
Affiliation:
Department of Geology, University of Illinois, Urbana, Illinois 61801
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

A layer-by-layer mechanism explains important features of mixed-layer clay minerals formed during the illitization of smectite, including the occurrence of randomly interstratified illite/smectite, the transition to ordered interstratifications, and the development of long-range ordering. A variety of solid-state transformation mechanisms were tested with a stochastic model, which accounts for interactions among clay layers. The model produces most successful results when the reaction of smectite layers with one illite nearest neighbor is favored over smectites with no illite neighbors by a factor of about two, and over those with two illite neighbors by a factor of ten or more. Synthetic X-ray powder diffraction patterns calculated from model results compare well with those of illite/smectite minerals. These results suggest a new kinetic rate law. Solutions to this rate law for reaction within sediments undergoing burial give mineralogical profiles with depth similar to those observed in subsiding sedimentary basins.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © 1986, The Clay Minerals Society

References

Altaner, S.P., 1985 Potassium metasomatism and diffusion in Cretaceous K-bentonites from the disturbed belt, northwestern Montana and in the Middle Devonian Tioga K-bentonite, eastern U.S.A. Ph.D. dissertation Urbana, Illinois Univ. of Illinois.Google Scholar
Altaner, S. P., Whitney, G., Aronson, J. L. and Hower, J., 1984 A model for K-bentonite formation, evidence from zoned K-bentonites in the disturbed belt, Montana Geology 12 412415.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aronson, J. L. and Hower, J., 1976 Mechanism of burial metamorphism of argillaceous sediments, 2. Radiogenic argon evidence Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 87 738744.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bethke, C. M. and Reynolds, R. C., 1986 Recursive method for determining frequency factors in interstratified clay diffraction calculations Clays & Clay Minerals 34 224226.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bethke, C.M., Vergo, N. and Altaner, S. P., 1986 Pathways of smectite illitization Clays & Clay Minerals 34 125135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boles, J. R. and Franks, S. G., 1979 Clay diagenesis in Wilcox sandstones of southwest Texas, implications of smectite diagenesis on sandstone cementation J. Sed. Petrol. 49 5570.Google Scholar
Bruce, C. H., 1984 Smectite dehydration, its relation to structural development and hydrocarbon accumulation in northern Gulf of Mexico Basin Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 68 673683.Google Scholar
Burst, J. F., 1969 Diagenesis of Gulf Coast clayey sediments and its possible relation to petroleum migration Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 53 7393.Google Scholar
Eberl, D. D., 1971 Experimental diagenetic reactions involving clay minerals Ph.D. dissertation Cleveland, Ohio Case Western Reserve Univ..Google Scholar
Eberl, D., 1978 The reaction of montmorillonite to mixed-layer clay, the effect of interlayer alkali and alkaline earth cations Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 42 17.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberl, D., 1978 Reaction series for dioctahedral smectites Clays & Clay Minerals 26 327340.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberl, D. and Hower, J., 1976 Kinetics of illite formation Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 87 13261330.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberl, D. and Hower, J., 1977 The hydrothermal transformation of sodium and potassium smectite into mixed-layer clay Clays & Clay Minerals 25 215227.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eslinger, E. V. and Savin, S. M., 1973 Mineralogy and oxygen isotope geochemistry of the hydrothermally altered rocks of the Ohaki-Broadlands, New Zealand geothermal area Amer. J. Sci. 273 207239.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gilmer, G. H., 1977 Computer simulation of crystal growth J. Crystal Growth 42 310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, J. and Hower, J., 1979 Clay mineral assemblages as low-grade metamorphic geothermometers, application to the thrust faulted disturbed belt of Montana, U.S.A. Soc. Econ. Paleont. Mineral. Special Paper 26 5579.Google Scholar
Horton, D. G., 1983 Argillic alteration associated with the Amethyst vein system, Creede Mining District Ph.D. dissertation Urbana, Illinois Univ. of Illinois.Google Scholar
Hower, J., Eslinger, E. V., Hower, M. and Perry, E. A., 1976 Mechanism of burial metamorphism of argillaceous sediments, 1, Mineralogical and chemical evidence Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 87 725737.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hower, J. and Mowatt, T. C., 1966 The mineralogy of illites and mixed-layer illite/montmorillonites Amer. Mineral. 51 825854.Google Scholar
Huff, W. D. and Türkmenöglü, A. G., 1981 Chemical characteristics and origin of Ordovician K-bentonites along the Cincinnati arch Clays & Clay Minerals 29 113123.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kleijnen, J. P. C., 1974 Statistical Techniques in Simulation New York Dekker.Google Scholar
Klimentidis, R. E. and Mackinnon, I. D. R., 1986 High-resolution imaging of ordered mixed-layer clays Clays & Clay Minerals 34 155164.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lahann, R. W. and Roberson, H. E., 1980 Dissolution of silica from montmorillonite, effect of solution chemistry Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 44 19371943.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lawrence, J. R. and Kastner, M., 1975 O18/O16 of feldspars in carbonate rocks Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta 39 97102.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lynch, L. and Reynolds, R. C., 1984 The stoichiometry of the smectite-illite reaction Program and Abstracts, Clay Minerals Society 21st Ann. Meeting, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1984 84.Google Scholar
McCubbin, D. G. and Patton, J. W., 1981 Burial diagenesis of illite/smectite, a kinetic model Bull. Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. 65 956 (abstract).Google Scholar
McDowell, S. D. and Elders, W. A., 1980 Authigenic layer silicate minerals in borehole Elmore 1, Salton Sea geothermal field, California, USA Contributions Mineral. Petrol. 74 293310.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nadeau, P. H. and Reynolds, R.C., 1981 Burial and contact metamorphism in the Mancos shale Clays & Clay Minerals 29 249259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nadeau, P. H., Wilson, M. J., McHardy, W. J. and Tait, J. M., 1984 Interstratified clays as fundamental particles Science 225 923925.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Perry, E. A., 1969 Burial diagenesis in Gulf Coast pelitic sediments Ph.D. dissertation Cleveland, Ohio Case Western Reserve Univ..Google Scholar
Perry, E. A., 1974 Diagenesis and K/Ar dating of shales and clay minerals Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 85 827830.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Perry, E. and Hower, J., 1970 Burial diagenesis in Gulf Coast pelitic sediments Clays & Clay Minerals 18 165177.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pollard, C. O., 1971 Semidisplacive mechanism for diagenetic alteration of montmorillonite layers to illite layers: appendix to Weaver, C. E. and Beck, K. C., Clay water diagenesis during burial, how mud becomes gneiss Geol. Soc. Amer. Special Paper 134 7993.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powers, M. C., 1967 Fluid release mechanisms in compacting marine mudrocks and their importance in oil exploration Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 51 12401254.Google Scholar
Press, F., 1968 Earth models obtained by Monte Carlo inversion J. Geophys. Res. 73 52235234.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pytte, A. M., 1982 The kinetics of the smectite to illite reaction in contact metamorphic shales M. A. thesis Hanover, New Hampshire Dartmouth College.Google Scholar
Ramseyer, K. U., 1984 The occurrence of highly expanded mixed-layer I/S-clays in deep Tertiary cores, San Joaquin Valley, California Program and Abstracts, Clay Minerals Society, 21st Ann. Meeting, Baton Rouge, Louisiana, 1984 96.Google Scholar
Rettke, R. C., 1976 Clay mineralogy and clay mineral distribution patterns in Dakota Group sediments, northern Denver Basin, eastern Colorado and western Nebraska Ph.D. dissertation Cleveland, Ohio Case Western Reserve Univ..Google Scholar
Reynolds, R. C., Brindley, G. W. and Brown, G., 1980 Interstratified clay minerals Crystal Structures of Clay Minerals and their X-ray Identification London Mineralogical Society 249303.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Reynolds, R. C. and Hower, J., 1970 The nature of inter-layering in mixed-layer illite-montmorillonites Clays & Clay Minerals 18 2536.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Roberson, H. E. and Lahann, R. W., 1981 Smectite to illite conversion rates, effect of solution chemistry Clays & Clay Minerals 29 129135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sawhney, B. L., 1969 Regularity of interstratification as affected by charge density in layer silicates Soil Sci. Soc. Amer. Proc. 33 4246.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schwartz, F. W., Smith, L. and Crowe, A. S., 1983 A stochastic analysis of macroscopic dispersion in fractured media Water Resources Res. 19 12531265.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Shreider, Y. A., 1966 The Monte Carlo Method New York Pergamon Press.Google Scholar
Steiner, A., 1968 Clay minerals in hydrothermally altered rocks at Wairakei, New Zealand Clays & Clay Minerals 16 193213.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Taylor, H. P. and Barnes, H. L., 1979 Oxygen and hydrogen isotope relationships in hydrothermal mineral deposits Geochemistry of Hydrothermal Ore Deposits New York Wiley 236277.Google Scholar
Towe, K. M., 1962 Clay mineral diagenesis as a possible source of silica cement in sedimentary rocks J. Sed. Petrol. 32 2628.Google Scholar
Vergo, N., 1984 Wallrock alteration at the Bulldog Mountain mine, Creede mining district, Colorado M.S. thesis Urbana, Illinois Univ. of Illinois.Google Scholar
Waples, D. W., 1980 Time and temperature in petroleum formation, application of Lopatin’s method to petroleum exploration Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull. 64 916926.Google Scholar
Weaver, C. E. and Beck, K. C. (1971) Clay water diagenesis during burial, how mud becomes gneiss: Geol. Soc. Amer. Special Paper 134, 96 pp.Google Scholar
Weaver, C.E. and Wampler, J. M., 1970 K, Ar, illite burial Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 81 34233430.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Yakowitz, S. J., 1977 Computational Probability and Simulation Reading, Massachusetts Addison-Wesley.Google Scholar
Yeh, H.-W. and Savin, S. M., 1977 Mechanism of burial metamorphism of argillaceous sediment, 3. Oxygen isotope evidence Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull. 88 13211330.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar