Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-4rdpn Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T15:37:09.600Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Diagenesis of ferriferous phases in the Northampton ironstone in the Cowthick quarry near Corby (England)

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 May 2009

A. U. Gehring
A. U. Gehring
Affiliation:
Geologisches Institut ETH Zürich, 8092 Zürich, Switzerland
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Berthierine, siderite and pyrite are the major ferriferous phases in the Northampton ironstone (NIS). Mineralogical and chemical data suggest a formation of these phases in a diagenetic marine environment changing from post-oxic to sulphidic conditions. Berthierine was formed first when the Fe2+ activity in the diagenetic system increased. Later, this phase was partially replaced by siderite and/or pyrite. A second stage of the diagenetic development in the NIS with increasing CO2 partial pressure (PCO2 ) is documented by siderite. The isotopic composition (δ18O mean value: –1.7‰PDB; δ13C mean value: –8.6‰PDB) points to siderite precipitation from a marine porewater environment with a microbial CO2 source. The shift from post-oxic to sulphidic conditions is indicated by the occurrence of pyrite and can be considered as a final stage. The diagenetic processes in the marine environment and the formation of the ferriferous phases were stopped by the influx of brackish or fresh water when the Midland Shelf turned estuarine.

Type
Articles
Information
Geological Magazine , Volume 127 , Issue 2 , March 1990 , pp. 169 - 176
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 1990

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Anderton, R., Bridges, P. H., Leeder, M. R. & Sellwood, B. W. 1983. A Dynamic Stratigraphy of the British Isles. Boston, Sydney: George Allen & Unwin. 301 pp.Google Scholar
Ashton, M. & Marshall, J. D. 1980. Isotopic and trace element evidence for submarine lithification of hard-grounds in the Jurassic of eastern England. Sedi-mentology 27, 271–89.Google Scholar
Bahrig, B. 1989. Stable isotope composition of siderite as an indicator of the palaeoenvironmental history of oil shale lakes. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology and Palaeoecology 70, 139–51.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Berner, R. A. 1981. A new geochemical classification of sedimentary environments. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 51, 359–65.Google Scholar
Berner, R. A. 1983. Sedimentary pyrite formation: An update. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 48, 605–15.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bhattacharyya, D. P. 1983. Origin of berthierine in ironstones. Clays and Clay Minerals 31, 173–82.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Boesen, C. & Postma, D. 1988. Pyrite formation in anoxic environments of the Baltic. American Journal of Science 288, 575–603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brindley, G. W. 1982. Chemical compositions of berthierine – a review. Clays and Clay Minerals 30, 153–5.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brindley, G. W. & Youell, R. F. 1953. Ferrous chamosite and ferric chamosite. Mineralogical Magazine 30, 57–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carothers, W. W., Adami, L. H. & Rosenbauer, R. J. 1988. Experimental oxygen isotope fractionation between siderite-water and phosphoric acid liberated CO2-siderite. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 52, 2445–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curtis, C. D. & Spears, D. A. 1968. The formation of sedimentary iron minerals. Economic Geology 63, 257–70.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gautier, D. L. 1982. Siderite concretions: Indicators of early diagenesis in the Gammon shale (Cretaceous). Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 52, 859–71.Google Scholar
Gehring, A. U. 1985. A microchemical study of iron ooids. Eclogaae Geologicae Helveticae 78, 451–7.Google Scholar
Gehring, A. U. & Karthein, R. 1989. ESR study of Fe(III) and Cr(III) hydroxides. Naturwissenschaften 76, 172–3.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hallam, A. & Bradshaw, M. J. 1979. Bituminous shales and oolitic ironstones as indicators of transgressions and regressions. Journal of the Geological Society of London 136, 157–64.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hallam, A. & Sellwood, B. W. 1976. Middle Mesozoic sedimentation in relation to tectonics in the British area.Journal of Geology 84, 301–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoefs, J. 1980. Stable Isotope Geochemistry. Berlin, Heidelberg: Springer Verlag. 203 pp.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollingworth, S. E. & Taylor, J. H. 1946. An outline of the geology of the Kettering District. Proceedings of the Geologists' Association 57, 204–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollingworth, S. E. & Taylor, J. H. 1951. The Northampton Sand Ironstone. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, 209 pp.Google Scholar
Kent, P. E. 1975. The Grantham formation in the east Midlands: Revision of the middle Jurassic, lower Estuarine beds. Mercian Geology 5, 305–27.Google Scholar
Maynard, J. B. 1982. Extension of Berner's ‘New geo-chemical classification of sedimentary environments’ to ancient sediments. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 52, 1325–31.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Maynard, J. B. 1986. Geochemistry of oolitic iron ores, an electron microprobe study. Economic Geology 81, 1473–83.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCrea, J. M. 1950. The isotopic chemistry of carbonates and a paleotemperature scale. Journal of Chemical Physics 18, 849–57.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Meads, R. E. & Malden, P. J. 1975. Electron spin resonance in natural kaolinites containing Fe3+ and other transition metal ions. Clay Minerals 10, 313–45.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ogura, Y., Murata, K. & Iwai, M. 1987. Relation between chemical composition and particle-size distribution of ores in the profile of nickelferous laterite deposits of the Rio Tuba mine, Philippines. Chemical Geology 60, 259–71.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peterson, M. L. & Carpenter, R. 1986. Arsenic distribution in porewaters and sediments of Puget Sound, Lake Washington, the Washington coast and Saanich Inlet, B.C. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 50, 353–69.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Rosenbaum, J. & Sheppard, S. M. F. 1986. An isotopic study of siderites, dolomites and ankerites at high temperatures. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 50, 1147–50.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sellwood, B. W. 1978. The Jurassic. In The Ecology of Fossils (ed. McKerrow, W. S.), pp. 204–79. Cambridge (Mass.): MIT Press.Google Scholar
Stumm, W. & Morgan, J. J. 1981. Aquatic Chemistry. New York: Wiley, 780 pp.Google Scholar
Taylor, J. H. 1949. Petrology of the Northampton Sand Ironstone formation. Memoirs of the Geological Survey of the United Kingdom, 111 pp.Google Scholar
Taylor, J. H. 1950. Sedimentation problems of the Northampton Sand Ironstone. Proceedings of the Yorkshire Geological Society 28, 74–85.Google Scholar
Thompson, G. B. & Hower, J. 1975. The mineralogy of glauconite. Clays and Clay Minerals 23, 289–300.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Van Houten, F. B. & Purucker, M. E. 1984. Glauconitic peloids and chamositic ooids – favorable factors, constraints and problems. Earth-Science Reviews 20, 211–43.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wersin, P., Charlet, L., Karthein, R. & Stumm, W. 1989. From adsorption to precipitation: sorption of Mn2+ on FeC03(s). Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta in press.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ziegler, P. A. 1982. Faulting and graben formation in western and central Europe. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London, Series A 305, 113–43.Google Scholar