Hostname: page-component-cd9895bd7-q99xh Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-12-27T21:53:50.110Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

The Timing of Diagenesis and Thermal Maturation of the Cretaceous Marias River Shale, Disturbed Belt, Montana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  01 January 2024

Stephen G. Osborn ,
Louise Totten Duffield ,
W. Crawford Elliott ,
J. M. Wampler ,
R. Douglas Elmore  and
Michael H. Engel
Stephen G. Osborn
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, California State Polytechnic University, 91768, Pomona, CA, USA Department of Geosciences, Georgia State University, 30302-4105, Atlanta, GA, USA
Louise Totten Duffield
Affiliation:
Anadarko Petroleum Corporation, 1201 Lake Robbins Drive, 77380, The Woodlands, TX, USA ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, 73019, Norman, OK, USA
W. Crawford Elliott*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Georgia State University, 30302-4105, Atlanta, GA, USA
J. M. Wampler
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Georgia State University, 30302-4105, Atlanta, GA, USA School of Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Georgia Institute of Technology, 30332-0340, Atlanta, GA, USA
R. Douglas Elmore
Affiliation:
ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, 73019, Norman, OK, USA
Michael H. Engel
Affiliation:
ConocoPhillips School of Geology and Geophysics, University of Oklahoma, 73019, Norman, OK, USA
*
*E-mail address of corresponding author: [email protected]
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

The hypothesis that chemical remanent magnetization (CRM) in argillaceous rocks may be due to release of Fe during smectite illitization has been tested by study of spatial and temporal relationships of CRM acquisition, smectite illitization, and organic-matter maturation to deformation in the Montana Disturbed Belt. New K-Ar ages and stacking order and percentages of illite layers in illite-smectite (I-S) are consistent with conclusions from previous studies that smectite illitization of bentonites in Subbelts I and II of the Disturbed Belt was produced by thrust-sheet burial resulting from the Laramide Orogeny. Internally concordant, early Paleogene, K-Ar age values (55–57 Ma) were obtained from clay subfractions of thick bentonites which were significantly different in terms of their ages (i.e. Jurassic Ellis Formation and late Cretaceous Marias River Shale), further supporting a model of smectite illitization as a result of the Laramide Orogeny. Internally concordant K-Ar ages were found also for clay sub-fractions from a thick bentonite at Pishkun Canal (54 Ma) and from an undeformed bentonite near Vaughn on the Sweetgrass Arch (48 Ma). In Subbelts I and II, a greater degree of smectite illitization corresponds to increased thermal maturation, increased natural remanent magnetization intensity, and increased deformation (dip of beds). A dissolution-precipitation model over a short duration is proposed for the formation of illite layers in Subbelts I and II. A characteristic remanent magnetization was developed before or just after folding began in the early Paleogene. More smectite-rich I-S, low thermal maturity, and the absence of a CRM were noted in one outcrop of an undeformed rock on the Sweetgrass Arch. Strontium isotope data allow for the possibility that internal or externally derived fluids may have influenced illitization, but the K-Ar age values suggest that illitization was probably in response to conductive heating after the overthrusting had occurred. The differences in K-Ar dates among the bentonites studied herein may be due to differences in the timing of peak temperature related to differences in distance below the overthrust slab, in rates of burial and exhumation, and in initial temperature.

Keywords

IlliteK-ArMontana Disturbed BeltRemagnetizationThermal Maturity
Type
Article
Information
Clays and Clay Minerals , Volume 62 , Issue 2 , April 2014 , pp. 112 - 125
Copyright
Copyright © Clay Minerals Society 2014

References

Altaner, S.P., 1989 Calculation of K diffusional rates in bentonite beds Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 53 923–931.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altaner, S.P. and Ylagan, R.F., 1997 Comparison of structural models of mixed-layer illite/smectite and reaction mechanisms of smectite illitization Clays and Clay Minerals 45 517–533.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Altaner, S.P. Hower, J. Whitney, G. and Aronson, J.L., 1984 Model for K-bentonite formation: Evidence from zoned Kbentonites from the disturbed belt, Montana Geology 12 412–415.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Aronson, J.L. and Lee, M., 1986 K/Ar systematics of bentonite and shale in a contact metamorphic zone, Cerrillos, New Mexico Clays and Clay Minerals 34 483–487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Banerjee, S. Elmore, R.D. and Engel, M.H., 1997 Chemical remagnetization and burial diagenesis; testing the hypothesis in the Pennsylvanian Belden Formation, Colorado Journal of Geophysical Research 102 24825–24842.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bauluz, B. Peacor, D.R. and Ylagan, R.F., 2002 Transmission electron microscopy study of smectite illitization during hydrothermal alteration of a rhyolitic hyaloclastite from Ponza, Italy Clays and Clay Minerals 50 157–173.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Blumstein, A.M. Elmore, R.D. Engel, M.H. Elliot[sic], C. and Basu, A., 2004 Paleomagnetic dating of burial diagenesis in Mississippian carbonates, Utah Journal of Geophysical Research 109 B04101.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clauer, N., 2006 Towards an isotopic modeling of the illitization process based on data of illite-type fundamental particles from mixed-layer illite-smectite Clays and Clay Minerals 54 116–127.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clauer, N. Lerman, A., Harris, N.B. and Peters, K.E., 2012 Thermal history analysis of sedimentary basins: An isotopic approach to illitization Analyzing the Thermal History of Sedimentary Basins: Methods and Case Studies Tulsa, Oklahoma, USA Society for Sedimentary Geology 125–146.Google Scholar
Clayton, J. Mudge, M.R. Sr. Lubeck, C. and Daws, T.A., 1982 Hydrocarbon source rock evaluation of the Disturbed Belt, northwestern Montana Geologic Studies of the Cordilleran Thrust Belt, Volume II 2 773–793.Google Scholar
Cobban, W.A. Erdmann, C.E. Lemke, R.W. and Manghen, E.K., 1959 Revision of Colorado group on Sweetgrass arch, Montana AAPG Bulletin 43 2786–2796.Google Scholar
Derkowski, A. Bristow, T.F. Wampler, J.M. Środoń, J. Marynowski, L. Elliott, W.C. and Chamberlin, C.P., 2013 Hydrothermal alteration of the Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in the Yangtze Gorges area (South China) Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 107 279–298.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Eberl, D.D. Blum, A.E. and Serravezza, M., 2011 Anatomy of a metabentonite: Nucleation and growth of illite crystals and their coalescence into mixed-layer illite/smectite American Mineralogist 96 586–593.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, W.C. and Aronson, J.L., 1987 Alleghanian episode of K-bentonite illitization in the southern Appalachian Basin Geology 15 735–739.Google Scholar
Elliott, W.C. and Aronson, J.L., 1993 The timing and extent of illite formation in Ordovician K-bentonites at the Cincinnati Arch, the Nashville Dome and north-eastern Illinois Basin Basin Research 5 125–135.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, W.C. and Haynes, J.T., 2002 The chemical character of fluids forming diagenetic illite in the Southern Appalachian Basin American Mineralogist 87 1519–1527.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, W.C. and Matisoff, G., 1996 Evaluation of kinetic models for the smectite to illite transformation Clays and Clay Minerals 44 77–87.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, W.C. Aronson, J.L. Matisoff, G. and Gautier, D.L., 1991 Kinetics of the smectite to illite transformation in the Denver Basin: clay mineral, K-Ar data, and mathematical model results The American Association of Petroleum Geologists Bulletin 75 436–462.Google Scholar
Elliott, W.C. Basu, A. Wampler, J.M. Elmore, R.D. and Grathoff, G.H., 2006 Comparison of K-Ar ages of diagenetic illite-smectite to the age of a chemical remanent magnetization (CRM): An example from the Isle of Skye, Scotland Clays and Clay Minerals 54 314–323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elliott, W.C. Osborn, S.G. O’Brien, V.J. Elmore, R.D. Engel, M.H. and Wampler, J.M., 2006 On the timing and causes of illite formation and remagnetization in the Cretaceous Marias River Shale, Disturbed Belt, Montana Journal of Geochemical Exploration 89 92–95.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elmore, R.D. Muxworthy, A.R. and Aldana, M., 2012 Remagnetization and chemical alteration of sedimentary rocks Remagnetization and Chemical Alteration of Sedimentary Rocks 371 1–21.Google Scholar
Enkin, R.J., 2003 The direction-correction tilt test; an allpurpose tilt/fold test for paleomagnetic studies Earth and Planetary Science Letters 212 151–166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Enkin, R.J. Osadetz, K.G. Baker, J. and Kisilevsky, D., 2000 Orogenic remagnetizations in the Front Ranges and Inner Foothills of the southern Canadian Cordillera: Chemical harbinger and thermal handmaiden of Cordilleran deformation Geological Society of America Bulletin 112 929–942.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fisher, R., 1953 Dispersion on a sphere Proceedings of the Royal Society of London, Series A, Mathematical and Physical Sciences 217 295–305.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gao, G. Elmore, R.D. and Land, L.S., 1992 Geochemical constraints on the origin of calcite veins and associated limestone alteration, Ordovician Viola Group, Arbuckle Mountains, Oklahoma, U.S.A Chemical Geology 98 257–269.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Garven, G. and Freeze, R.A., 1984 Theoretical analysis of the role of groundwater flow in the genesis of stratabound ore deposits. 1. Mathematical and numerical model American Journal of Science 284 1085–1124.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, J.D. Elmore, R.D. and Engel, M.H., 2002 Chemical remagnetization and clay diagenesis: testing the hypothesis in the Cretaceous sedimentary rocks of northwestern Montana Physics and Chemistry of the Earth 27 1131–1139.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, J. Hower, J., Scholle, P.A. and Schluger, P.R., 1979 Clay mineral assemblages as low grade metamorphic geothermometers: application to the thrust faulted disturbed belt of Montana, U.S.A Aspects of Diagenesis 55–79.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hoffman, J. Hower, J. and Aronson, J.L., 1976 Radiometric dating of time of thrusting in the disturbed belt of Montana Geology 4 16–20.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hower, J.F., 1981 X-ray diffraction of mixed layered clay minerals Clays and the Resource Geologist 7 39–59.Google Scholar
Hower, J. Eslinger, E.V. Hower, M.E. and Perry, E.A., 1976 Mechanism of burial metamorphism of argillaceous sediment: 1. Mineralogical and chemical evidence Geological Society of America Bulletin 87 725–737.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jackson, M.L., 1979 Soil Chemical Analyses — Advanced Course second edition Madison, Wisconsin, USA Published by the author 895 pp..Google Scholar
Jagodzinski, H., 1949 Eindimensionale Fehlordnung in Kristallen und ihr Einfluss auf die Röntgeninterferenzen. I. Berechnung des Fehlordnungsgradesaus den Röntgenintensitäten Acta Crystallographica 2 201–207.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Katz, B. Elmore, R.D. Cogoini, M. Engel, M.H. and Ferry, S., 2000 Associations between burial diagenesis of smectite, chemical remagnetization, and magnetite authigenesis in the Vocontian trough, SE France Journal of Geophysical Research 105 B1 851–868.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kent, D.V., 1985 Thermoviscous remagnetization in some Appalachian limestones Geophysical Research Letters 12 805–808.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kim, J.-W. and Peacor, D.R., 2002 Crystal-size distributions of clays during episodic diagenesis: the Salton Sea Geothermal System Clays and Clay Minerals 50 371–380.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kirschvink, J.L., 1980 The least-squares line and plane and the analysis of palaeomagnetic data Geophysical Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society 62 699–718.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lowrie, W., 1990 Identification of ferromagnetic minerals in a rock by coercivity and unblocking temperature properties Geophysical Research Letters 17 159–162.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McArthur, J.M. Howarth, R.J. and Bailey, T.R., 2001 Strontium isotope stratigraphy: LOWESS version 3: Best fit to the marine Sr-isotope curve for 0-509 Ma and accompanying look-up table for deriving numerical age The Journal of Geology 109 155–170.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
McCarty, D.K. Sakharov, B.A. and Drits, V.A., 2009 New insights into smectite illitization: A zoned K-bentonite revisited American Mineralogist 94 1653–1671.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mearon, S. Paytan, A. and Bralower, T.J., 2003 Cretaceous strontium isotope stratigraphy using marine barite Geology 31 15–18.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Middleton, M.F. and Schmidt, P.W., 1982 Paleothermometry of the Sydney Basin Journal of Geophysical Research 87 5351–5359.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Moore, D.M. and Reynolds, R.C. Jr., 1997 X-ray Diffraction and the Identification and Analysis of Clay Minerals second edition New York Oxford University Press 378 pp..Google Scholar
Morton, J.P., 1985 Rb-Sr dating of diagenesis and source age of clays in Upper Devonian black shales of Texas Geological Society of America Bulletin 96 1043–1049.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Mudge, M.R. and Powers, R.B., 1982 A resume of the structural geology of the Northern Disturbed Belt, northwestern Montana Geologic Studies of the Cordilleran Thrust Belt, Volume I Denver, Colorado, USA Rocky Mountain Association of Geologists 91–122.Google Scholar
Nadeau, P.H. and Reynolds, R.C. Jr., 1981 Burial and contact metamorphism in the Mancos Shale Clays and Clay Minerals 29 249–259.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
O’Brien, V.J. Moreland, K.M. Elmore, R.D. Engel, M.H. and Evans, M.A., 2007 Origin of orogenic remagnetizations in Mississippian carbonates, Sawtooth Range, Montana Journal of Geophysical Research 112 B06103.Google Scholar
Odin, G. 35 collaborators and Odin, G.S., 1982 Interlaboratory standards for dating purposes Numerical Dating in Stratigraphy New York John Wiley and Sons 123–149.Google Scholar
Oliver, J., 1986 Fluids expelled tectonically from orogenic belts: Their role in hydrocarbon migration and other geologic phenomena Geology 14 99–102.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Oliver, J., 1992 The spots and stains of plate tectonics Earth-Science Reviews 32 77–106.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Osborn, S.G., 2006 The timing and causes of illite formation in the Cretaceous Marias River Shale, Disturbed Belt, Montana M.S. Thesis Atlanta, Georgia, USA Georgia State University 117 pp..Google Scholar
Osborn, S.G. McIntosh, J.C. Hanor, J.S. and Biddulph, D., 2012 Iodine-129, 87Sr/86Sr, and trace elemental geochemistry of northern Appalachian Basin brines: Evidence for basinal-scale fluid migration and clay mineral diagenesis American Journal of Science 312 263–287.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pevear, D.R., 1999 Illite and hydrocarbon exploration Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences 96 3440–3446.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Pollastro, R.M., 1994 Considerations and applications of the illite/smectite geothermometer in hydrocarbon-bearing rocks of Miocene to Mississippian age Clays and Clay Minerals 41 119–133.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pullaiah, G. Irving, E. Buchan, K.L. and Dunlop, D.J., 1975 Magnetization changes caused by burial and uplift Earth and Planetary Science Letters 28 133–143.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schoonmaker, J. Mackenzie, F.T. and Speed, R.C., 1986 Tectonic implications of illite/smectite diagenesis, Barbados accretionary prism Clays and Clay Minerals 34 465–472.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sears, J.W., 2001 Emplacement and denudation history of the Lewis-Eldorado-Hoadley thrust slab in the northern Montana Cordillera, USA: Implications for steady-state orogenic processes American Journal of Science 301 359–373.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Seifert, W.K. and Moldowan, J.M., 1986 Use of biological markers in petroleum exploration Biological Markers in the Sedimentary Record 24 261–290.Google Scholar
Środoń, J. Clauer, N. and Eberl, D.D., 2002 Interpretation of K-Ar dates of illitic clays from sedimentary rocks aided by modeling American Mineralogist 87 1528–1535.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Środoń, J. Clauer, N. Huff, W. Dudek, T. and Banaś, M., 2009 K-Ar dating of the Lower Palaeozoic K-bentonites from the Baltic Basin and the Baltic Shield: implications for the role of temperature and time in the illitization of smectite Clay Minerals 44 361–387.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Środoń, J. Paszkowski, M. Drygant, D. Anczkiewicz, A. and Bana, M., 2013 Thermal history of Lower Paleozoic rocks on the Peri-Tornquist margin of the East European Craton (Podolia, Ukraine) inferred from combined XRD, K-Ar, and AFT data Clays and Clay Minerals 61 107–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Steiger, R.H. and Jäger, E., 1977 Subcommission on Geochronology: Convention on the use of decay constants in geo- and cosmochronology Earth and Planetary Science Letters 36 359–362.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Stroker, T.M. Harris, N.B. Elliott, W.C. and Wampler, J.M., 2013 Diagenesis of a tight gas sand reservoir: Upper Cretaceous Mesaverde Group, Piceance Basin, Colorado Marine and Petroleum Geology 40 48–68.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Torsvik, T.H. Van der Voo, R. Preeden, U. Mac Niocaill, C. Steinberger, B. Doubrovine, P.V. van Hinsbergen, D.J.J. Domeier, M. Gaina, C. Tohver, E. Meert, J.G. McCausland, P.J.A. and Cocks, L.R.M., 2012 Phanerozoic polar wander, palaeogeography and dynamics Earth-Science Reviews 114 325–368.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Totten, L.A., 2005 Geochemical and paleomagnetic assessments of organic-rich lithologies in the disturbed belt, Montana M.S. thesis Norman, Oklahoma, USA Oklahoma University 79 pp..Google Scholar
Tohver, E. Weil, A.B. Solum, J.G. and Hall, C.M., 2008 Direct dating of carbonate remagnetization by 40Ar/39Ar analysis of the smectite-illite transformation Earth and Planetary Science Letters 274 524–530.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
West, N. Alexander, R. and Kagi, R.I., 1990 The use of silicalite for rapid isolation of branched and cyclic alkane fractions of petroleum Organic Geochemistry 15 499–501.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Woods, S., Elmore, R.D. and Engel, M. (2002) Paleomagnetic dating of the smectite-to-illite conversion: testing the hypothesis in Jurassic sedimentary rocks, Skye, Scotland. Journal of Geophysical Research, 107, , EPM 2-1-2-12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zechmeister, M.S. Pannalal, S. and Elmore, R.D., 2012 A multidisciplinary investigation of multiple remagnetizations within the Southern Canadian Cordillera, SW Alberta and SE British Columbia Remagnetization and Chemical Alteration of Sedimentary Rocks 371 123–144.Google Scholar
Ziegler, K. and Longstaffe, F.J., 2000 Multiple episodes of clay alteration at the Precambrian/Paleozoic unconformity, Applachian Basin: Isotopic evidence for long-distance and local fluid migrations Clays and Clay Minerals 48 474–493.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zijderveld, J.D.A., 1967 A.C. demagnetization of rocks — analysis of results Methods in Paleomagnetism 3 254–286.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zwing, A. Clauer, N. Liewig, N. and Bachtadse, V., 2009 Identification of remagnetization processes in Paleozoic sedimentary rocks of the northeast Rhenish Massif in Germany by K-Ar dating and REE tracing of authigenic illite and Fe oxides Journal of Geophysical Research 114 B06104.CrossRefGoogle Scholar