Decoding the origins and sources of clay minerals in the Upper Cretaceous Tununk Shale of south-central Utah: Implications for the pursuit of climate and burial histories

Abstract

Clay minerals in fine-grained marine sedimentary successions are most commonly considered to be detrital in origin and have been used extensively by geologists as indicators of palaeoclimate conditions in the hinterland. Most of these previous studies, however, were not designed to address in depth the potential effects of mixing clay minerals from multiple sources and the formation of authigenic clay minerals during early diagenesis on the ultimately observed clay mineral assemblages of fine-grained marine sedimentary successions. Herein, clay minerals in shales and bentonites of the Tununk Shale Member in south-central Utah were examined through integrated X-ray diffraction and petrographic (scanning electron microscopy) analysis, to evaluate the various origins of clay minerals in this offshore mudstone succession. Clays in Tununk bentonites contain dominantly smectite (>80%) and a minor amount of kaolinite. Clays in Tununk shale samples consist dominantly of mixed-layer illite/smectite with up to 45% illite-like layers, small amounts of kaolinite and mica, and in places trace amounts of chlorite. Clay minerals in Tununk shale samples occur in the following three forms: (a) in clay-dominated aggregates (i.e. smectite-dominated altered volcanic rock fragments and illite/smectite-dominated shale lithics); (b) in the fine-grained matrix (mostly illite/smectite and minor amounts of mica and kaolinite); and (c) in intergranular and intragranular pore spaces (authigenic smectite, kaolinite and chlorite). Possible sources for the mixed-layer illite/smectite in shales include (a) erosion of older smectite-bearing mudstone successions and (b) weathering of volcanic rocks or volcanic debris that had been deposited on land. Most of the kaolinite and chlorite in the Tununk Shale were precipitated as pore-filling cements, rather than having a terrigenous source (as weathering products). A comprehensive understanding of the multiple origins of clay minerals (e.g. terrigenous input, volcanic input, recycled sediments and diagenesis) in marine mudstone successions is critical when attempting to use clay mineral data for reconstructions of palaeoclimate and burial and thermal histories.