Microstructures and Interlayering in Pyrophyllite from the Coastal Range of Central Chile: Evidence of a Disequilibrium Assemblage
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Clay Minerals (2004) 39,439–452 Microstructures and interlayering in pyrophyllite from the Coastal Range of central Chile: evidence of a disequilibrium assemblage 1, 2 3 2 2 M. D. RUIZ C RUZ *,D. M ORATA ,E. P UGA ,L. A GUIRRE AND M. VERGARA 1 Departamento de Quı´mica Inorga´nica, Cristalografı´a y Mineralogı´a, Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad de Ma´laga, 29071 Ma´laga, Spain, 2 Departamento de Geologı´a, Universidad de Chile, Plaza Ercilla, 803, Santiago, Chile, and 3 Instituto Andaluz de Ciencias de la Tierra (C.S.I.C.-U.G.R.), Avda. Fuentenueva s/n, 18002 Granada, Spain (Received 5 December 2003; revised 19 April 2004) ABSTRACT: Pyrophyllite from a Triassic sedimentary formation from the Coastal Range of Chile has been investigated by transmission/analytical electron microscopy (TEM/AEM). The mineral assemblage includes pyrophyllite,muscovite,paragonite,a kaolin mineral,boehmite,rutile and hematite. The textures indicate that the protolith was a volcanoclastic rock. Petrographic evidence, chemistry,and the mineral assemblage suggest the intense leaching of the parent rock by a weathering process,before the metamorphic episode,to create the protolith for the pyrophyllite. Pyrophyllite always grows from the kaolin mineral,and both phases show close orientation relationships. The presence of parallel intergrowths of pyrophyllite and muscovite indicate that muscovite also grew from the kaolin mineral. Nevertheless,the composition of muscovite suggests that this phase must also form from another precursor,probably Al smectite. The AEM data and textural relationships between pyrophyllite and muscovite reveal the presence of two generations of muscovite and suggest that Na-rich muscovite recrystallized into a Na-free muscovite and paragonite. KEYWORDS: analytical electron microscopy,Andes,Chile,dickite,muscovite,metaclastite,pyrophyllite, structural defects,transmission electron microscopy. Pyrophyllite,once thought rare,is a low-grade minerals,such as quartz,mica,kaolin minerals metamorphic mineral typically formed in Al-rich (kaolinite and/or dickite),sudoite,cookeite, rocks,such as highly aluminous metapelites, diaspore,andalusite,topaz,etc. metabauxites,aluminous metaquartzites,and hydro- In the system Al2O3-SiO2-H2O(Evans& thermally altered acidic and intermediate silicate Guggenheim,1991) pyrophyllite is stable over a rocks (e.g. Zen,1961; Robert,1971; Jansen & narrow temperature range (~250 to ~350ºC),with Schuiling,1976; Frey,1978,1987; Sharma,1979; the most frequent reactions producing pyrophyllite Evans & Guggenheim,1991). Depending on T, P during prograde metamorphism being: and fluid properties,pyrophyllite can be accom- Kln + 2 Qtz = Prl + H O,and panied in these occurrences by a variety of 2 2 Kln = Prl + 2 Dsp + 2 H2O More complex systems explain the relation between pyrophyllite and numerous other minerals * E-mail: [email protected] (e.g. Montoya & Hemley,1975; Bowers et al., DOI: 10.1180/0009855043940146 1984). # 2004 The Mineralogical Society 440 M. D. Ruiz Cruz et al. In some pyrophyllite occurrences,the presence of GEOLOGICAL SETTING AND regularly or randomly interstratified phases, PETROGRAPHY consisting of the alternation of pyrophyllite layers and smectite,kaolinite or mica layers has been The genesis of the Coastal Range in central Chile is described (e.g. Kodama,1958; Page,1980). The the consequence of phenomena related to magma- presence of complete or partial interlayering of one tism (plutonism and volcanism),basin formation, phyllosilicate with another phyllosilicate has often subsidence inversion and final exhumation in an been used to determine the origin and the active continental margin during the Mesozoic. mechanisms of transformation between the phases Along this margin,the continental crust went (e.g. Reynolds,1991; Merriman & Peacor,1999, through recurrent periods of extension and compres- and references therein). sion,mainly as the consequence of a continuous Triassic Si-rich low-grade metaclastites from the convergence of oceanic and continental plates. Coastal Range of central Chile are characterized by These changeable geodynamic settings would have the assemblage quartz + albite + mica Ô chlorite, determined the nature of the magmatic products occasionally coexisting with chlorite-bearing mixed- generated during the Mesozoic as well as the layers (Ruiz Cruz et al.,2002). Nevertheless,some pattern of the very low-grade,non-deformational, Triassic sedimentary beds show ‘anomalous’ assem- metamorphism related to them. A regional,and of blages,being enriched in muscovite,chlorite or predominantly burial character,low-grade (sub- pyrophyllite. This local argillic enrichment suggests greenschist to low greenschist-facies) meta- either hydrothermal alteration of the rocks or initial morphism is widely developed in all Mesozoic protoliths with ‘anomalous’ chemical and miner- rocks (e.g. Levi et al.,1989; Robinson et al.,2004), alogical compositions. One of these beds contains the Triassic rocks being mostly metamorphosed in significant amounts of pyrophyllite,as well as minor the prehnite-pumpellyite facies (Levi et al.,1989). mica,a kaolin-mineral (probably dickite),boehmite Exposures of Triassic rock in central Chile are and Fe oxides. The study by TEM/AEM has allowed poor and scattered (Charrier,1979; Aguirre,1985). the identification of microstructures in pyrophyllite as At ~32º Lat. S,these Triassic units correspond to El well as the detailed study of the textural relations Quereo,Pichidangui and Los Molles Formations (all among pyrophyllite and the other mineral phases. of them located at the coastline) and the La Ligua The origin of this mineral assemblage and the Formation (Fig. 1). The latter (defined by Thomas, implications with regard to the conditions of 1958) consists of more than 800 m of slightly folded, formation are considered in the present paper. stratified altered silicic lava flows,breccias and tuffs FIG. 1. Simplified geological map of the Coastal Range of central Chile at ~32ºS with location of the studied samples (simplified from Rivano et al.,1993). Disequilibrium pyrophyllite-bearing assemblage 441 intercalated with shales,quartz-rich sandstones,and Ma´laga University),with Cu- Ka radiation and a scarce conglomerates,affected by non-deformative, graphite monochromator,operated at 40 mA and very low-grade metamorphism. This formation is 40 kV,0.01º step size and 1 s counting time. Bulk- overlain by the Quebrada del Pobre Formation rock mineralogy was determined from unoriented (Thomas,1958),a 1250 m thick,marine clastic patterns and semiquantitative determinations used sedimentary (sublittoral to littoral) unit composed of the intensity factors of Schultz (1964). Several size- greenish grey quartzo-feldspathic sandstones and fine fractions separated by sedimentation and/or centri- conglomerates with dark grey silstones and silty fugation were used for phyllosilicate identification. limestone layers. The formation contains an Early The XRD patterns were obtained from oriented Jurassic (Sinemurian) fossil fauna (Vergara et al., samples in the air-dried state,after ethylene glycol 1995). These formations were intruded by Jurassic solvation,and after heating at 550ºC. granodiorites and tonalites (biotite and amphibole K- Samples prepared as fused glass were analysed Ar ages of 164Ô4 to 158Ô7 Ma) belonging to the using a Philips PW 1040/10 XRF spectrometer Cavilole´n Unit (Rivano et al.,1993). Previous work (C.I.C.,Granada University). Rock powder was on very low-grade metamorphism by Oyarzun et al. combined with lithium tetraborate flux after the (1997) on volcanic rocks from the Pichidangui method described by Norrish & Hutton (1969) and Formation,indicating metamorphic parageneses glass beads were employed to minimize the indicative of the transition between pumpellyite- preferential orientation of phyllosilicates. The actinolite,prehnite-actinolite and greenschist meta- detection limit for the major elements is morphic facies. Ruiz-Cruz et al. (2002) identified 0.01 wt.%. The loss on ignition (LOI) was mica-chlorite and chlorite-vermiculite mixed layers determined separately from 0.5 g of powdered as metastable structures in low-grade metasediments sample,first dried at 110ºC and then heated at from the El Quereo Formation. 1000ºC for 1 h. Total iron is reported as ferric. Triassic metaclastites from the La Ligua forma- The pyrophyllite bed was also studied by TEM/ tion include metagreywackes and metapelites, AEM. Thin sections were prepared with orientation characterized by the assemblage quartz + muscovite perpendicular to the bedding. Washers were Ô chlorite Ô feldspar Ô Fe oxides Ô carbonates, attached to selected areas and later separated from feldspar being relatively scarce. The metagrey- the glass backing. These areas were ion-thinned and wackes comprise well rounded,elongated,detrital carbon coated and examined in a 200 kV Philips grains (between 0.5 and 1.6 mm in diameter), CM-20 transmission electron microscope (C.I.C., including quartz,fragments of metamorphic and Granada University),fitted with a solid-state volcanic rocks,opaque oxides,illitized feldspar, detector for energy dispersive analysis (EDX). and large mica flakes,in a very abundant Lattice-fringe images were obtained using 00l micaceous matrix. Metapelites show a bedding- reflections and underfocus conditions corresponding parallel fabric,mainly marked by the alternation of to maximum contrast. Chemical analyses were oxide- and mica-rich beds. This initial fabric obtained in the STEM mode for