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Palaeogeographic Significance of Clay Mineral Distributions in the Inferior Oolite Group (Mid Jurassic) of Southern England
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 09 July 2018
Abstract
Five areally distinct mineral assemblages are recognized in the Inferior Oolite of S. England. In each area, vertical (stratigraphic) variations are insignificant. The five assemblages comprise varying proportions of illite, illite-smectite, kaolinite, chlorite and kaolinite-smectite, the mixed-layer clays being largely poorly crystalline and randomly interstratified. A predominantly detrital rather than authigenic origin is suggested for most of the clays. Shallow-water platform carbonates contain kaolinite with illite and illite-smectite. Kaolinite decreases in abundance away from former mid-Jurassic land areas, the deeper shelf and more basinal facies being dominated by illite and/or illite-smectite. Possible volcanic contributions to clay suites are suggested but cannot yet be fully evaluated. The palaeogeographic usefulness of clay mineral suites is confirmed, even in carbonate-dominated systems.
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- Copyright © The Mineralogical Society of Great Britain and Ireland 1989
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