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Smectite-to-Illite Conversion in a Geothermally and Lithologically Complex Permian Sedimentary Sequence

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 February 2024

C. Bühmann
C. Bühmann*
Affiliation:
Soil and Irrigation Research Institute, Private Bag X79, Pretoria 0001, Republic of South Africa
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Abstract

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The <0.5-μm fraction of 120 samples from a lithologically complex Permian sedimentary sequence, underlying dolerite intrusive sheets, has been characterized by means of X-ray diffraction to establish I/S compositions as a function of temperature, lithology and time duration. Illitization has been active over the entire 210 m depth range and the clay data reflect both the local pattern of contact metamorphism and the more regional trend of heat flow during burial. A continuum exists in the illite proportions of the illite/smectite interstratifications with increasing distance from the intrusive sheet ranging from R = 3 with less than 5% smectite via R = 2 and R = 1 to R = 0 with up to 70% smectite. In the mixed-lithology section, individual component layers in the I/S within similar distance levels, but between contrasting lithologies, appear to vary only within a very restricted compositional range. In the massive mudstone strata, however, more silty parts contain I/S of a higher degree of ordering and lower expandability. Calcite contents are reflected in a higher rate of chlorite formation, but not in the I/S composition. A satisfactory inverse correlation was found between percent smectite in I/S and vitrinite reflectance in the lithologically complex section. R = 1 interstratifications are associated with a maximum vitrinite reflectance of 1.07–1.29 and R > 1 phases with 1.93–2.7, indicating that time duration is not a controlling factor in the illitization process in this facies. R = 0 interstratifications are present in a massive mudstone/siltstone sequence situated furthest from the igneous intrusives, and display vitrinite reflectance values of 1.42–1.52. No satisfactory explanations for this finding can be offered.

Keywords

Burial diagenesisContact metamorphismLithologyPaleotemperatureVitrinite reflectance
Type
Research Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 40 , Issue 1 , February 1992 , pp. 53 - 64
Copyright
Copyright © 1992, The Clay Minerals Society

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