Lyell Collection
Geological Society, London, Special Publications
Lyell Centre  |   Lyell Collection  |   Subscriptions   |   Geological Society  |   Email alerts  |   Online bookshop  |   Help

Keywords:
Author:
Advanced search>>
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrow Request Permissions
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Zanin, Yu. N.
Right arrow Articles by Solotchina, E. P.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
GeoRef
Right arrow GeoRef Citation
Geological Society, London, Special Publications; 1990; v. 52; p. 223-235;
DOI: 10.1144/GSL.SP.1990.052.01.16
© 1990 Geological Society of London

Clay minerals and phosphorite genesis in the Upper Cretaceous of the northern Siberian Platform

Yu. N. Zanin, K. V. Zverev & E. P. Solotchina

Institute of Geology and Geophysics, Siberian Branch of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR, 630090, Novosibirsk, USSR

Nodular phosphorites are common in the Turonian to Maastrichtian deposits (sands, silts and clays) of the Yenisei Mouth Depression in the north of the Siberian Platform. Only the silty clays of Campanian age are non-phosphatic. Study of the fine-grained fraction (<2 µm) of these deposits demonstrates that the phosphorite-bearing parts of the succession contain similar clay mineral assemblages. These consist of kaolinite and chlorite, with a small but constant admixture of gibbsite, and in some cases a small amount of montmorillonite. In the non-phosphatic rocks of the Campanian, clay minerals consist only of montmorillonite and chlorite. Kaolinite and gibbsite are completely absent. It is argued that the clay mineralogy and other data suggest that the formation of the phosphorites was linked to the removal of phosphorus from continental areas during periods of intense weathering in a humid subtropical climate.