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Petrology and Palaeoenvironmental Significance of Glaucony in the Eocene Succession at Whitecliff Bay, Hampshire Basin, UK

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Petrology and Palaeoenvironmental Significance of Glaucony in the Eocene Succession at Whitecliff Bay, Hampshire Basin, UK Journal of the Geological Society, London, Vol. 154, 1997, pp. 897–912, 7 figs, 1 table. Printed in Great Britain Petrology and palaeoenvironmental significance of glaucony in the Eocene succession at Whitecliff Bay, Hampshire Basin, UK J. M. HUGGETT1 & A. S. GALE2 1Department of Geology, Imperial College of Science, Technology and Medicine, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, UK 2School of Earth Sciences, University of Greenwich, Grenville Building, Central Parade, Chatham Maritime, Chatham, Kent ME4 4AW, UK and Department of Palaeontology, Natural History Museum, Cromwell Road, London SW7 5BB, UK Abstract: Following the investigations of Odin and others into the distribution of green granules, glaucony has been widely assumed to be a reliable indicator of a fully marine, open shelf environment with a low sedimentation rate. We have investigated the value of glaucony as a palaeoenvironmental indicator through an investigation of the pellets, and their distribution and reworking in the predominantly brackish to shallow marine Tertiary sediments of the Hampshire basin, together with a re-evaluation of the sedimentology. Glaucony has apparently formed in situ in all lithofacies from shallow marine to estuarine. Of the three highest glaucony concentrations (all dominated by in situ glaucony) two occur within highstand system tracts, the third is at a sequence boundary. Several important surfaces do not have more than a few percent glaucony, with very variable proportions of mature and in situ pellets. The correlation between glaucony concentration and sequence stratigraphy is most obvious in the London Clay and Wittering Formations, where least reworking of pellets has occurred. In the Barton Group there are no major concentrations of glaucony at any of the important stratal surfaces, we believe this more random glaucony distribution is due to limited glaucony formation and reworking of older glaucony. In these sediments ideal conditions for glaucony formation are interpreted to have been: fully marine, 10–30 m water depth, a ‘warm’ temperature plus low sedimentation rate with periodic winnowing to concentrate the pellets. Although most of these conditions for glaucony formation occurred in the Selsey Formation and Barton Group, a factor or factors mitigated against glauconitization. We suggest that this was lowering of the water temperature. The London Clay and Wittering Formations were deposited relatively rapidly (50–60 m Ma"1) and include intervals of estuarine sedimentation, both factors that we believe inhibited glaucony formation. Glaucony maturity reflects the minimum length of time spent in surface sediments, close to the oxic/sub-oxic interface. Point count data and chemical data for glaucony indicate widespread reworking and an overall increase in reworking with time, possibly due to uplift on the Isle of Wight monocline. The apparently wide range of conditions in which glaucony will form, and the frequency with which it is reworked, suggest that it is a less useful indicator palaeo-environmental indicator than is commonly supposed. Keywords: Eocene, glaucony, petrology, palaeoenvironments, sequence stratigraphy. The glaucony facies and its present day, shallow water coun- nascent stage of glauconitization. The principal substrates for terpart, the verdine facies, occur in areas of slow sedimentation both the glaucony and verdine facies are faecal pellets, shell where there is a suitable substrate, a semi-confined environ- bioclasts, phyllosilicate grains and foraminifera. Glaucony ment, and an abundant supply of iron. The glaucony facies formation commences close to the sediment-water interface, comprises pellets of ferric-iron-rich, glauconitic minerals with with the formation of iron-rich smectitic clay (nascent). The a 10–14 Å basal spacing (Odin & Matter 1981), where 10 Å is intensity and rapidity of glauconitization depends upon the glauconite and 14 Å is 100% expandable smectite. The verdine nature and size of the substrate; the slightly evolved stage may facies comprises physically similar pellets composed of odinite apparently be reached after 104 years, and the evolved stage in (7 Å) and chlorite (14 Å) (the phyllite minerals of Odin 1985). 105 years if the granules are not buried (Giresse et al. 1980; The term glauconite should be reserved for the potassium-rich, Hughes & Whitehead 1987). Whilst Bornhold & Giresse (1985) micaceous end-member of the glauconitic mineral series estimate that glaucony with 3% K takes 3000 years to form. (Grunner 1935; Hendricks & Ross 1941; Burst 1958; Odin & Chemical evolution (uptake of FeIII and K) stops either after a Fullager 1988). long exposure at the sediment-water interface or after burial to Odin & Matter (1981) proposed a genetic classification for several decimeters (Odin & Matter 1981; Odin 1988b). Burial the progressive maturation of glaucony: nascent, slightly prior to the glaucony attaining the fully mature state will evolved, evolved and highly evolved. Potassium content is a preserve the immature state. Because glaucony is slow to form reliable indicator of pellet maturity. Iron content is less useful it is commonly associated with transgressions, where rapid because uptake of iron occurs almost entirely during the deepening starves the shelf of sediment. 897 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/jgs/article-pdf/154/5/897/4887427/gsjgs.154.5.0897.pdf by guest on 28 September 2021 898 J. M. HUGGETT & A. S. GALE generally much less. For much of the Eocene, Whitecliff Bay was situated in the most distal part of the estuary complex and the facies developed here show more evidence of open marine conditions than are seen elsewhere in the basin. Nannofossils are present in parts of the marine succession, and provide a detailed correlation between Whitecliff Bay and the Palaeogene NP Zones (Aubry 1983; Aubry et al. 1986). The magnetostratigraphy of the Whitecliff succession has been investigated by Townsend & Hailwood (1985) and Ali et al. (1993). Aubry et al. (1986) proposed a correlation between the southern English Palaeogene stratigraphy and the oceanic record using nannofossils to identify magnetic chrons. Recently Amorosi & Centineo (this volume) have discussed the distribution of glaucony within the Lower to Middle Eocene sequence at Whitecliff Bay. Fig. 1. Location map and outline stratigraphy of the Eocene succession at Whitecliff Bay. The map shows approximate shorelines Sampling and methodology for (1) Wittering Formation, second sequence (2) Earnley Formation (3) Selsey Formation. HF, Harwich Formation; LCF, London Clay For this project, we have only used the exposures on the foreshore Formation; WF, Wittering Formation; EF, Earnley Formation; MF, because they have undergone minimum weathering. Early in the study, Marsh Farm Formation; SF, Selsey Formation; BCF, Barton Clay it became apparent that the succession in the Bracklesham Group Formation; BS, Becton Sand Formation. exposed on the foreshore differed significantly from that described in the cliff by Plint (1983). We have not used any of the available bed Within the tropics verdine takes the place of glaucony in numbering schemes because additional units exist on the foreshore, present day shallow marine and lagoonal environments, but instead have referred to heights above the base of the Harwich occurring in present-day water depths of 15–60 m (e.g. Odin Formation (marked on Fig. 2). Glaucony-bearing sediments were sampled from the Harwich Formation through to the Barton Group. a et al 1988 ; Odin & Sen Gupta 1988; Rao . 1995). Odin and Glaucony pellets concentrated using a Franz magnetic separator co-workers have suggested that glaucony forms in deeper (run with a current of 2 A) were analysed using a Phillips PW1710 water sediments in tropical environments (60–500 m) than in X-ray diffractometer. In order to model what happens when glaucony temperate environments (10–60 m), while below 60 m glauco- is reworked a batch of magnetically separated pellets was left in an nitization may not proceed beyond the nascent stage. Though ultrasonic bath for 4.5 hours, with aliquots of suspension removed data from the Gulf of Guinea suggests that glauconitization of every half hour for XRD analysis. The proportion of 10 Å clay in faecal pellets may have started beneath water as shallow as mixed layer glaucony was estimated from the tabulation provided in 25 m, with evolution continuing during the progressive deep- Moore & Reynolds (1989). ening that resulted from the Holocene transgression (Odin Glaucony pellets and their enclosing sediment have been described using both optical and back-scattered electron microscopy of polished 1988b). Apparently recently formed glaucony has been re- rock thin sections. The scanning electron microscope used was a ported from water depths of 100–500 m at temperate latitudes Hitachi S2500 with an Oxford instruments 860 EDS (energy dispersive (Bornhold & Giresse 1985). The verdine facies is however, spectra) detector. The total proportion of glaucony in a slide was apparently absent from sediments >20 000 years old, and there determined by point counting thin sections (all non-glauconitic grains is no obvious reason why there should be depth control of the were counted together). Glaucony was classified using a combination distribution of green clays; factors which must cast doubt on of appearance in back-scattered electron images and chemistry (deter- the validity of using the present as the key to the past in this mined by EDS X-ray analysis). The various classes were quantified by instance. describing approximately 100 grains per slide, or as many pellets as could be found in the slide, whichever was the lower number. These data are displayed as a bar chart in Fig. 3. Chemical analyses were Geological background carried out using a beam current of 2 ìA, a working distance of 20 mm, a low count rate to minimize beam damage (1500 counts per The cliff and foreshore exposures in Whitecliff Bay (Fig. 1), second) and 150 second counting time. situated on the steep northern limb of the Sandown Pericline, provide the best single section through the Thames, Bracklesham and Barton Groups (Lower and Middle Eocene) Glaucony characterization and classification in the Hampshire Basin.
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