Offscraped strata within the toe of Nankai accretionary prism display an overall facies pattern of thickening and coarsening upward. Detrital clay minerals within the Quaternary trench-wedge facies are dominated by illite; chlorite is the second-most abundant clay mineral, followed by smectite. Relative mineral percentages change only modestly with depth. The hemipelagic clay-mineral population is virtually identical to clays washed from turbidite matrix, and different size fractions (<2 μm and 2–6 μm) show nominal amounts of mineral partitioning. Smectite content increases beneath the trench-wedge deposits, where the upper subunit of the Shikoku Basin stratigraphy (late Pliocene and early Pleistocene) includes abundance of volcanic ash. Syneruptive, subaerial chemical weathering of volcanic source rocks, together with in situ alteration of disseminated glass shards, caused the increase in smectite. Smectite begins a monotonic transformation to illite/smectite (I/S) mixed-layer clay at ~555 mbsf and an estimated temperature of ~65 °C. Ordered (R = 1) I/S interlayering first appears at ~1220 mbsf (<2 μm size fraction) and ~1100 mbsf (<0.2 μm size fraction). The illitization gradient coincides with a reduction in pore-water chlorinity, but depth-related changes in bulk mudstone geochemistry (K2O, Rb) are subtle. The absolute abundances of discrete smectite and I/S appear to be insufficient to account for the magnitude of pore-water dilution via in situ dehydration reactions. Instead, pore water probably was transported to Site 808, either from sources located deeper in the accretionary prism, where bulk mudstone porosities are lower, or from strike-parallel sources where mudstones originally deposited in the Shikoku Basin might contain higher percentages of smectite.

Clay minerals in shales from cores at Site 808, Nankai Trough, have been studied using X-ray diffraction (XRD), scanning transmission electron microscopy (STEM), and analytical electron microscopy (AEM) to compare the rates and mechanisms of illitization with those of coeval bentonites, which were described previously. Authigenic K-rich smectite having a high Fe content (∼7 wt. %) was observed to form directly as an alteration product of volcanic glass at a depth of ∼500 meters below seafloor (mbsf) with no intermediate precursor. Smectite is then largely replaced by Reichweite, R, (R = 1) illite-smectite (I-S) and minor illite and chlorite over depths from ∼550 to ∼700 mbsf. No further mineralogical changes occur to the maximum depth cored, ∼1300 m. Most smectite and I-S in shales are derived from alteration of glass, rather than being detrital, as is usually assumed. Discrete layer sequences of smectite, I-S, or illite coexist, indicating discontinuities of the transformation from smectite to (R = 1) I-S to illite. Authigenic Fe-rich chlorite forms concomitantly with I-S and illite, with the source of Fe from reactant smectite.

Smectite forms from glass with an intermediate precursor in coeval bentonites at approximately the same depth as in shales, but the smectite remains largely unchanged, with the exception of exchange of interlayer cations (K → Na → Ca) in response to formation of zeolites, to the bottom of the core. Differences in rates of illitization reflect the metastability of the clays. Temperature, structure-state, and composition of reactant smectite are ruled out as determining factors that increase reaction rates here, whereas differences in water/rock ratio (porosity/permeability), Si and K activities, and organic acid content are likely candidates.

Samples of ash layers and associated background sediments from Site 808 of ODP Leg 131 in the Nankai Trough accretionary prism were analyzed for changes in mineralogy, porosity and micro-fabric associated with alteration of volcanic ash. Ash layers range from incipient stages of alteration and dissolution to complete alteration to clay minerals and clinoptilolite. Ash layers contain greater abundances of total clay minerals and lower percentages of quartz than do surrounding background hemipelagic sediments. The clay-sized fraction of ash layers is dominated by pure dioctahedral smectite, whereas the background sediments contain primarily illite and chlorite with minor amounts of smectite. Analysis of microfabric revealed dramatic changes in the distributions and abundances of grains and pores during ash alteration. The relative abundances of large pores, grains, and matrix material were quantified on digital back-scattered electron images (BSEI) of ash layer and background sediment samples. During burial, the abundant glass shards of shallow ash layers are initially altered, presumably to smectite. Subsequent dissolution of the glass leaves open, shard-shaped pores, resulting in increased porosities. With greater burial, these pores are filled with clinoptilolite. Although the presence of ash and its alteration products clearly influences sediment physical properties, there is no apparent correlation of the abundance of ash or its alteration products with the formation of thrust faults or other structures within the Nankai Trough accretionary prism.