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The AAPG/Datapages Combined Publications Database

Journal of Sedimentary Research (SEPM)

Abstract


Journal of Sedimentary Petrology
Vol. 34 (1964)No. 3. (September), Pages 461-472

Authigenic Clay Mineral Cements in Cretaceous and Tertiary Sandstones of Alberta

M. A. Carrigy, G. B. Mellon

ABSTRACT

Authigenic clay mineral cements are widely distributed in sandstones associated with the thick succession of Cretaceous and Tertiary strata in the Rocky Mountains Foothills and Plains regions of Alberta. The cements, which have been identified by means of thin section observations and X-ray Previous HitdiffractionNext Hit techniques are composed of kaolinite, illite, chlorite, and montmorillonite. All four types of clay minerals are present as cements in the deeply buried, folded sandstones of the Foothills, where, together with quartz and zeolites, they form assemblages of authigenic silicates that are related to the bulk composition of the sandstones and their depositional environment. In nonmarine strata the assemblage kaolinite-quartz is common in quartzose sandstones, kaolinite-chlorite and illite-c lorite in sandstones with moderate amounts of volcanic detritus, and chlorite-laumontite in sandstones rich in volcanic detritus. In contrast, near-marine or marine sandstones of equivalent composition are cemented by kaolinite and quartz, or by kaolinite, illite, and quartz. Kaolinite and montmorillonite are the most abundant clay mineral cements in the shallow, flatlying sandstones of the Plains. Kaolinite alone is common in the more siliceous sandstones, whereas both minerals or montmorillonite alone are present in sandstones rich in volcanic detritus. Chlorite is locally abundant in nonmarine sandstones of Tertiary age, but its absence in other sandstones rich in volcanic detritus, together with the absence of illite and zeolites, may indicate a broad difference between the physio-ch mical conditions which prevailed in the strata of the Plains and Foothills during diagenesis.


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