Howlite and Utexite from the Carboniferous Gypsum And
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Canndtan Mineralogist Vol. 13, pp. 370-376 (1975) HOWLITEAND UTEXITEFROM THE CARBONIFEROUSGYPSUM AND ANHYDBITEBEDS IN WESTERNNEWFOUNDLAND V. S. PAPEZK Department ol Geology, Memorial Llniverslty of Newfoundland, st. John's, Newfoundland AND C. C. K. FONG,! Mineral DevelopmentDivision, NewfoandlandDepartment ol Mines and Energy, St. I ohn's,N ewfoundland Ansrnect forme de nodules compos6s en forme de fram- boises de 0.5 d, 2 cm de diamdtre; elle est com- The Carboniferous anhydrite and gypsum beds pos6e de minces cristaux en plaquettes d,une iq southwestern Nevrfoundland contain small longueur de moins de 0.1 mm avec des plans (100) quantities of ulexite (NaCaBrOr.8HzO) and how- pro6minents. Ces deux min6raux ont aussi 6t6 trou- Iite (CarSiBsOr(OH)u). The ulexite occurs as ir- v6s dans deux r6gions non-localisdes auparavant de regular patches l-3 cm in diametero consisting of la Nouvelle-E le gisement Pb-Zn de Gays white fibrous crystals; the howlite forms composite River et une carridre de gtr4rseprbs de Milford. La framboidal nodules about 0.5 to Z cm in diaieter, howlite semble avoir 6t6 form6e d'un gel; la forrra- consisting of thin platy crystals less than 0.1 mm tion des borates 6tait contemporaine avec la pr6ci- long with prominent (100) planes. The two min- pitation de sulfate de calcium. erals were also found at two localities in Nova Sco- La pr6sence des min6raux de borate (en petites previously reported - the Gays River !p _not quantit6s) semble 6tre courante dans I'anhvdrite Pb-Zn deposit and a gypsum quarry near-Milford. et le g;4pse du Bassin Carbonifdre des provinces de The howlite is believed to have been formed from I'Atlantique; par contre on ne rapporte aucune a gel; the formation of the borates was contempo- autre pr6sence similaire ailleurs pour f instant. Irs ran€ous with the precipitation of calcium sulphate. quantit6s normales de bore dans l'eau de mer sont Borate minerals, in small quantities, seem to be suffisantes pour expliquer la quantit6 de borates common in the anhydrite and gypsum of the Car- otserv6e. Il est fort possible que de semblables pe- boniferous Basin of the Atlanfic provinces. but no tit€s quantiti6s de borates soient pr6sentes dans reports of similar occlurences elsewhere are known d'autres gisements d'anhydrite-gypse mais elles au- at this tim:. The normal amounts of boron in sea- raient 6t6 n6glig6es. Si elles sont vraiment absentes watet are sufficient to account for the observed de d'autres lits marins 6vapor6s, Ia diff6rence peut quantrty of borates. It is possible that similar small 6tre caus6e par les variances dans le pH, la solubi- guantities of borates are present in other anhvdrite- lit6, le taux d'6vaporation, etc. phtt6t que par gypsum deposits but have been overlooked. la If they pr6sence ou I'absence are truly absent from marine des sources ext6rieures de evaporite beds else- bore. where, the difference may be caused by differences (fraduit par le journal) in pH, solubitty, rate of evaporation etc. rather than by the presence or absence of external sources of boron. INrnopucrroN The occurrence of borate minerals in the Rfsunri g)apsum deposits of Lower Carboniferous (Wind- - Les lits de g:ypseet d'anhydrite de la p6riode Car- sor) age in the Atlantic Provinces of Canada bonifdre du sud-ouest de Terre-Neuve contiennent was first dissovered more than 1O0 years ago petites de quantit6s d,ulexite (NaCaBoOr.gIIgO) et de by Henry How, then Professor of Cnemistrv howlite, CafiB6Or(OH)6. L,ulexite se pi6sente and Natural History at King,s College in Wind- sous forme de taches irr6gulidres de 1 tr f cm de sor, Nova Scotia. How described oonatro-boro- diamdtre; celles-ci sont composdes de cristaux calcite" (now ulexite, NaCaBsOe.8HzO) from blancs fibreux; la howlite, elle, se pr6sente sous "u Llq of a very extensive formation of gypsum at Windsor, on the Clifton estate, lateiy the properfy of Judge Haliburton', (IIow 1g57), *Publication authorized by the Director of Min- and "cryptomorphite" (now ginorite, CaaBtaOu. eral ,.the Development Division, Department of Mines 8HeO; Hey & Bannister 1952) from same and Energy, St. John's. guarr)', at a distance of about 100 vards and 37A 37L HOWLITB AND ULE)CTE FROM CARBOMFEROUS GYPSUM AND ANIIYDRITE BEDS 'gypsum at about 20 feet lower level" (IIow 1861). Both renpe of ulexite and inyoite from the minerals were associatedwith glauberite, NagCa- quarry at Hillsborough, south of Moncton, New (SOa)2. Later, How reported a new mineral lirunr*i"t (Walker 1921). More recently, Sa- which he named "silicoborocalcile" (now how- bina (1965) found crystals of howlite up to lite, CaaSiBsO'(OH)u) ftom a locality at Noel, 1.3 cm long, associated with fine-grained how' Hants Co., Nova Scotia, "in nodules sometimes lite and aanfuritg in gypsum near Iona, Cape as large as a man's heado'QIow 1868, 1877). Breton Island (see Fig. 1 for all localities). How's original localities were later re-exam- In this paper, we report for the first time the ined and his dissoveries confirmed by N. R. occurrenc€ of howlite and ulexite in the Lower Goodman, who also found howlite as nodules Carboniferous evaporite deposits in western up to 5 cm in diameter at Wentworth, Hants Newfoundland. In addition, during a recent field County, as "small nodules" at Cheverie (Ilants trip organized by the Nova Scotia Department Co.) and Bevis Point (Victoria Co., Cape Bre- of-Mines, we found howtte and ulexite in anhy- ton Island), and as nodules more than 15 cm in drite in drill-cores from the newly explored km diameter "in a clay horizon in the National Gays River Pb-Zn deposit about 8 southeast Gypsum Co. quaries at Dingwall (Cape Breton of Shubenacadie, and ulexite nodules in the Island)". Goodman further reported ulexite at large g1rysum quarry near Milford, both in Wentworth, Dingwall, Bevis Foint, and at White Halifax'Co., Nova Scotia. We further obtained Head near Cheverie, and in addition described from Mr. W. Lewis, Senior Geologist of the tb€ occurrence of danburite (CaSizBeOe) at Fundy Gypsum Co., a specimen. of gypsum White ltread and "in the shore outcrop 2 miles from- liliJborougb, New Brunswick, contain' SW of Iona, Victoria Co. (Cape Breton Island)", ing several ulexite nodules, thus confirming and inyoite, CazBoOu'13HrO, ps "beautiful Walker's earlier report. It is clear therefore that solourless crystals" from the Wentworth area, borate minerals, in small quantities, are wide- Hants Co., all in Nova Scotia (Goodman 1957). spread in the Lower Carboniferous evaporite Earlier, T. L. Walker had reported the occur- basin of the Atlantic Provinces. I FLAT BAY a Ftsct€LL's ERoo( 3 DITOfALL /t l€VlS FoNr 5 tot{A 6 CAYSRIVER - I]t- 7 |TLFORO \ I t{oEL ) €uLF or 9 UEIITUORTH il ro flt{oson II CHEVENIE f gr. LArtExcE t2 HILLSo0BOICtl { ffi-* c tt lnETd @ftffiffi[sr" 6\ aonfg LocALtrlEs / Iuttt # (c' Frc. 1. Borate localities in tbe carboniferous basin ol the Atlantic region. 372 THE CANADIAN MINERALOGIST BonerBs m NpwrouxoreNo Brook and in the Flat Bay gypsum quarry. The Geological setting rocks of the Anguille and Codroy Groups are folded here into an elongate antiitine, tne axis The Car,boniferous rocks of Newfoundland of which runs NE-SW, almost parallel to the form the northeasterly part of a large Carboni- coastline. A nearly continuow section of these ferous basin extending across the Gulf of SL beds is exposed in Fischell,s Brook. The An- Lawrence through Prince Edward Island ro guille Group is here represented by about 200 New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. In New- ft. (61 m) of sandy conglomerate that grades foundland, Carboniferous rocks are found in towards the top of the group into a lO-foot two separate basins within a relativelv narrow. (3 m) quartzitic sandstone. This is conformablv elongate, northeasterly-trending belt in thr; overlain by a @-foot (18 m) thick formation western part of the island, extending from Cape consisting of alternating limestone and shale, Anguille in the southwest to White Bav in the the Ship Cove Formation, which marks the base northeast. Rocks of the southwesterlv barboni- of the Codroy Group. The Ship Cove Forma_ ferous basin are exposed along the slore of St. tion, is followed by an approximately 3000_foot George's Bay and in the adjacent Anguille sequence of red, finely cross- Mountains, forming a belt 2O-25 J9l5_ 1n) -thick km wide and bedded siltstone, sandstone, green shale and about 100 km long; they are separatedby a ma- evaporites, overlain by a 1200-foot (366 m) se_ jor fault of regional extent from the igneous quence of alternating dark grey shale and car_ and metamorphic rocks of the Long Range bonate; the carbonatesconsist of marine fossili- Complex to the southeast. ferous limestone, algal limestone, small algal The Carboniferous sediments of this basin reefs and red, dense, non-fossiliferous dolomite. have been suMivided into three stratigraphic The evaporite horizons in the Fischell,s Brook units. The lowest, the Anguille Group, consists section attain a thickness of 150 tt. (46 m) and of a thick s€quence of terrestrial clastic sedi- 200 ft. (61 m) respectively. Howlite was found ments, mainly sandstone, shale and conglo- in the higher of ths two horizons, which crops merate; it is of Mississippian age, and is be- out by the railway bridge on the southern bank lieved to be equivalent to the Upper Horton of the stream (48o18,30,,I{,58"403Cl^W) in a Group of Nova Scotia. The middle unit. the vertical cliff. The outcrop consists of blue anhv- Codroy Group, comprises limestone, siltstone drite at the cliff base and white gypsum on toiU and thick Ca sulphate beds, followed by silt- the anhydrite is bedded, with grey mud stringers stone, sandstone and minor limestone of non- marking the beddinrg.