Glauconite

The term glauconite has been employed in two senses. It has been used most commonly as a morphological term for sand-sized greenish grains found in sedimentary rocks, but also as a name for a specific mineral species, a hydrated iron-rich micaceous clay mineral. The two uses are not synonymous, since not all morphological glauconite consists exclusively of mineral glauconite, nor is the latter restricted in its occurrence to such pellets. Mineral glauconite in sensu lato is a random interstratification of nonexpanding 10A˚layers and expanding montmorillonitic layers. The amount of expandable layers may be over 50 % but it is customary to restrict the name mineral glauconite in sensu stricto to varieties with less than 10 % expandable layers. The variation in amount of expandable layers explains many of the observed variations in the properties of glauconite including chemical composition (especially potassium content), thermal characteristics, cation exchange capacity, colour, refractive index and specific gravity. Mineral glauconite is believed to form by the progressive absorption of potassium and iron by a degraded layer silicate lattice of low lattice charge and elimination of other silicate-lattice types under suitable environmental conditions, of which the most critical seems to be the redox potential. The catalytic activity of marine organisms is no longer thought to be essential, although decaying organic matter and empty foraminiferal tests supply the ideal environment for glauconite genesis. The process of glauconitization is arrested by rapid sedimentation, so that there is a relationship between the variety of mineral glauconite formed and the nature of the host rock. Glauconite is found associated particularly with marine transgressions. Morphological glauconite grains are believed to form as casts, faecal pellets or by accretionary growth, but may have their morphology modified by subsequent re-working. A number of characteristic internal and external morphologies have been recognised. The wide range of environmental conditions suitable for its formation and its common detrital occurrence debars the use of glauconite in palaeo-environmental studies. Its major use in geology is for the absolute age dating of sedimentary rocks by the K-Ar method. Glauconitic deposits have no present day commercial value, but soils formed on glauconitic parent materials are notable for their fertility. Glauconite weathers by loss of potassium to produce a montmorillonitic or vermiculitic product with the release of, or oxidation of, structural iron, so that the grain has the appearance of having weathered to limonite.