QAB 2023 Clastic Sedimentology & Petrography

AP Dr Abdul Hadi Abd Rahman Room 16-03-29 Ext: 7039; e-mail: hadi_rahman@petronas.com.my

Sedimentary rocks cover 80% of the earths surface but only comprise ~1% of the volume of the crust (they are generally NOT dense either!)

 Once we weather the source

material, the material is transported, deposited, compacted, and lithified, and maybe changed by reaction with groundwater (called diagenesis)

Transport
All weathered products can be transported Dissolved ions are transported until they get to a final

destination (such as the ocean) and/ or are precipitated Physically weathered minerals/ rock fragments How are they transported?
Water, wind, glaciers, gravity

What processes are more selective to the size of the

particle

Types of sedimentary rocks

Detrital (a.k.a. clastic) form by compaction and

lithification of clastic sediments or lithic fragments

Clasts are little grains or fragments of rocks (i.e. can be

made of 1 or more minerals) Classification based on size

Chemical form by precipitation of minerals from

water, or by alteration of pre-existing material

Classification based on chemical composition

Biogenic formed of previously living organic

debris HOWEVER Many sedimentary rocks are combinations of 2-3 of these types WHY?

Weathering
Looking at the rock cycle, key to

forming sedimentary rocks is weathering (or erosion) of pre-existing rocks (or organisms) Types of weathering:
Physical (a.k.a. mechanical) Chemical

Physical Weathering
Joints and sheeting development in rocks

Frost wedging, salt wedging, biologic wedging

Thermal stress Abrasion through water, wind, glaciers, gravity, waves

Exfoliation or unloading
Some rocks expand to to pressure release, uplift,

heating/ cooling, etc. and break off in sheets

Chemical Weathering
How do we dissolve stuff? Ions dissolve into water based on properties of that ion and how easily the mineral releases it into the water What properties do you think make the ions in a mineral dissolve more easily?

SiO2 olivine Fe2+ Mg2+ SiO2

Chemical Weathering Vocabulary

Hydrolysate dissolved material
Resistate solid material left behind (didt dissolve) More easily dissolved elements include alkali and alkaline earths (Na+, Ca2+, K+) Residual product of hydrolysis reactions left behind

(it can be physically weathered too)

Mineral Dissolution
Write a reaction: Mg0.5Fe0.5SiO4 + H2O 0.5 Mg2+ + 0.5 Fe2+ + SiO44 Describe that reaction as an equilibrium expression

which defines how much of the mineral can dissolve in a particular fluid
What aspects of fluid composition do you think might

affect how much of a mineral can dissolve? Keq=[products] / [reactants] Keq=[Mg2+][Fe2+][SiO44-] / [olivine][H2O]

Aqueous Species
Dissolved ions can then be transported and eventually

precipitate Minerals which precipitate from solution are rarely the same minerals the ions dissolved out of Why would they be transported before precipitating?

SiO2 feldspar Na+ K+ SiO2 smectite

Chemical Weathering II - hydrolysis

Some minerals weather directly to other minerals Mineral dissolves and immediately reprecipitates a

new mineral at the surface of the original

Feldspars Clays

Fe-bearing silicates to iron oxyhydroxides

olivine olivine

FeOOHs

Acid/base reactions
Many minerals are affected by the pH of the solution

they are in
some form H+ or OH- when they dissolve Some dissolve much faster/ better in low or high pH

solutions

Calcite weathering CaCO3 + H+ + H2O H2CO3(g) + CaOH+ Acid/ base chemistry important in mineral

dissolution and precipitation!!

Oxidation
Recall that elements exist as different ions in a particular

oxidation state Changing that oxidation state can have a big effect on how well that element will dissolve and what minerals will form after it dissolves Oxidation (where a reduced ion loses an electron to an oxidant) is important in the weathering of many minerals at the surface of the earth where O2 is the oxidant

Fe(II)2SiO4 + O2 + H2O 2 Fe(III)OOH + SiO2

Chemical Weathering
Recap: How do minerals dissolve? Dissolution reactions

Ions dissolve in water, do not change

Acid-base reactions

Ions dissolve in water through interaction with H+ or OHIons dissolve/ precipitate affected by interaction of ions in mineral or in water with O2

Redox reactions

Chemical Weathering and Stability

All minerals are described by a stability Thermodynamics defines this through an energy

all energies are relative Energy changes depending on the conditions i.e. some minerals are more stable than others at high P and T; change the P and T conditions and different minerals are more stable In weathering environments, minerals that are weathering are not stable, minerals precipitating ARE stable

Activity diagram showing the stability relationships among some minerals in the system K2O-Al2O3-SiO2-H2O at 25C. The dashed lines represent saturation with respect to quartz and amorphous silica.
6 5

Muscovite

Amorphous silica
K-feldspar Pyrophyllite
-3
4 4

log (aK+/aH+)

4 3

Gibbsite
2 1 0 -6 -5 -4

Quartz
Kaolinite

-2

-1

log aH SiO 0

Resistance to weathering
Goldrich series empirical observation concerning

what minerals weather before others

olivine pyroxene amphibole biotite K-feldspar Remind you of anything?? Na-plagioclase Ca-plagioclase

quartz

What happens when granite is weathered??

First, unweathered granite contains these minerals:
Na Plagioclase feldspar K feldspar Quartz Lesser amounts of biotite, amphibole, or muscovite

What happens when granite is weathered? The feldspars will undergo hydrolysis to form kaolinite

(clay) and Na and K ions The Na+ and K+ ions will be removed through leaching The biotite and/or amphibole will undergo hydrolysis to form clay, and oxidation to form iron oxides.

Granite weathering, continued

The quartz (and muscovite, if present) will remain as

residual minerals because they are very resistant to weathering. Weathered rock is called saprolite. What happens after this?
Quartz grains may be eroded, becoming sediment. The quartz in

granite is sand- sized; it becomes quartz sand. The quartz sand will ultimately be transported to the sea (bed load), where it accumulates to form beaches. Clays will ultimately be eroded and washed out to sea. Clay is finegrained and remains suspended in the water column (suspended load); it may be deposited in quiet water. Dissolved ions will be transported by rivers to the sea (dissolved load), and will become part of the salts in the sea.

Sedimentary Minerals
We will focus on some minerals which form from

precipitation of dissolved ions other minerals in sedimentary rocks are derived from the source rocks! Clay, carbonate, and sulfate groups are key in sedimentary rocks can be the rock or cement fragments together! SiO44-, CO32-, SO42- anionic groups, respectively Also consider halides (anion is Cl- or F-) and mineralization of silica

Sheet Silicates aka Phyllosilicates

[Si2O5]2Sheets of tetrahedra micas talc clay minerals serpentine

Phyllosilicates

Sheet Silicates aka Phyllosilicates

[Si2O5]2Sheets of tetrahedra micas talc clay minerals serpentine

Phyllosilicates

Clays talc pyrophyllite micas Display increasing order and lower variability of chemistry as T of formation increases

Clays
Term clay ALSO refers to a size (< 1mm = <10-6 m)

Sheet silicates, hydrous some contain up to 20% H2O

together with a layered structure and weak bonding between layers make them SLIPPERY WHEN WET Very complex (even argued) chemistry reflective of specific solution compositions

Major Clay Minerals

Kaolinite Al2Si2O5(OH)4 Illite K1-1.5Al4(Si,Al)8O20(OH)4 Smectites: Montmorillonite (Ca, Na)0.20.4(Al,Mg,Fe)2(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2*nH2O Vermicullite - (Ca, Mg)0.30.4(Al,Mg,Fe)3(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2*nH2O Swelling clays can take up extra water in their interlayers and are the major components of bentonite (NOT a mineral, but a mix of different clay minerals)