BULLETIN OF THE GEOLOGICAL SOCIETY OF AMERICA VOL. 64. PP. 869-878, 1 FIG.. 1 PL. AUGUST 1953 FISSILITY OF MUDROCKS BY ROY L. INGRAM ABSTRACT The breaking characteristics of a mudrock can be represented on a triangular diagram with massive, flaky-fissile, and flaggy-fissile as end members. Fissility in shales is usually associated with a parallel arrange- ment of the micaceous clay particles and nonfissility with a random arrangement. Experiments and obser- vations indicate that the clay minerals attain a parallel arrangement by gravity settling or by flocculation and compaction, unless the particles are adsorbed on irregularly shaped sesquioxide or silica particles or grow randomly in a gel. The nature of the cementing agent determines whether a shale will be flaky or flaggy. If the cementing agent can hold the material in a large slab, the shale will be flaggy. If the amount or the tenacity of the cementing agent is small, the shale will be flaky. Cementing agents other than organic mat- ter tend to hinder cleavage parallel to the clay particles causing a decrease in fissility and an increase in massiveness. Moderate weathering increases the fissility of a shale. In general the type of fissility does not correlate with the type of clay minerals present in a random collection of mudrocks. CONTENTS TEXT Effect of organic matter 875 Page Effect of iron 875 Introduction 869 Effect of aluminum 876 Review of the literature 870 Effect of silica 876 Empirical classification of fissility 870 Post-depositional changes 876 Analyses and studies of mudrocks 871 Compaction 876 Color 871 Penecontemporaneous clay minerals 876 Mechanical analyses 871 Wave action 876 Carbonate Content 872 Weathering 876 Organic Content 872 Conclusions 877 Clay-mineral studies 872 References cited 877 Microscopic studies 873 Experimental reproduction of fissilities 874 ILLUSTRATIONS Gravity settling 874 Figure Page Flocculation 874 1. Triangular diagram showing a megascopic Discussion of results 874 classification of mudrock-breaking types 871 Gravity settling 874 Plate Facing page Flocculation 875 1. End members of mudrock-breaking types 872 INTRODUCTION necessary to define certain terms as used in this paper. The purpose of this study is to explain the Fissile—possessing the property of splitting origin of fissility and nonfissility in nonlam- along approximately parallel surfaces inated mudrocks. Fissility caused by separa- Massive—nonfissile tion along planes between beds or laminae of different lithologic characteristics is outside the Mudrock—sedimentary rock of which at scope of this paper. least 50 per cent is silt and clay, with no The literature shows that the terminology connotation as to the relative percentage used in describing argillaceous sediments is not of silt and clay and as to the breaking standardized (Lewis, 1924; Bradley, 1931a; characteristics Twenhofel, 1937; Krynine, 1948; Dapples, Siltrock—mudrock with silt dominant over Krumbein, and Sloss, 1950). Therefore it is clay 869 Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/64/8/869/3426634/i0016-7606-64-8-869.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 870 R. L. INGRAM—FISSILITY OF MUDROCKS Clayrock—mudrock with clay dominant over Milner, 1940, p. 386-387; Ailing, 1946, p. 26; silt Pettijohn, 1949, p. 288); (2) settling of flaky Mudstone—massive mudrock particles in water with the flat surfaces lining Silistone—massive siltrock up parallel to the surface of deposition (Mohr, Claystone—massive clayrock 1932, p. 130; Kerr, 1937, p. 545; Keller, 1946, Mud sliale—fissile mudrock p. 71; Krumbein, 1947, p. 102); (3) orientation Silt shale—fissile siltrock of clay particles by weak currents (Keller, Clay shale—fissile clayrock 1946, p. 71); (4) penecontemporaneous and Table 1 summarizes this scheme. epigenetic growth of clay minerals parallel to the bedding (Lewis, 1924, p. 578; Keller, TABLE 1.—NOMENCLATURE or SEDIMENTARY ROCKS 1946, p. 70; Twenhofel, 1939, p. 293-294; CONTAINING MORE THAN SO PER CENT SILT Payne, 1942, p. 1717; Pettijohn, 1949, p. 278); AND/OR CLAY (5) presence of illite (Grim and Cuthbert, No con- 1945, p. 94; Keller, 1946, p. 71); (6) parting notation as to breaking Massive Fissile caused by expansion after the removal of over- character- istics burden by erosion (Hedberg, 1936, p. 245); (7) low carbonate content (Campbell, 1946, p. No connotation Mudrock Mudstone Mud 832); (8) high sulfur and carbon content (Camp- as to relative shale bell, 1946, p. 832); (9) weathering phenomena amounts of (Bain, 1896, p. 293; McKelvey, 1946, p. 28-29); silt and clay (10) necessary small grain size of the nonclay Siltstone Silt Silt predomi- Siltrock minerals (Ailing, 1945, p. 739); (11) minute nant over clay shale Clay predomi- Clayrock Claystone Clay stratification (Grout, 1932, p. 269; Twenhofel, nant over silt shale 1939, p. 293-294). Bradley (1931b, p. 319) and Grout (1932, p. 269) were intentionally non- committal as to the origin of fissility in many Mudrocks of many varieties were collected. mudrocks. Analyses were made in hopes of finding para- Nonfissility has been explained by: (1) dep- meters that vary with fissility. Attempts were osition of a large quantity of colloidal clay made to reproduce experimentally fissile and gel, thereby preventing the reorientation of nonfissile mudrocks. Finally, post-depositional randomly oriented clay particles (Lewis, 1924, changes that might influence fissility were con- p. 580); (2) random growth of clay minerals sidered. in a clay gel (Keller, 1946, p. 69-70); (3) stirring REVIEW OP THE LITERATURE by wave action (Weller, 1930, p. 129); (4) consolidation of massive clay soils (Keller, A perusal of the literature pertaining to the 1946, p. 71); (5) wind deposition of argillaceous structure of mudrocks reveals: (1) the emphasis material (Keller, 1946, p. 71); (6) presence of on the explanation of fissility whereas non- iron oxides in clay (Keller, 1936, p. 55; Ailing, fissility apparently has been assumed to need 1945, p. 740); (7) deficiency of potassium (Lewis, no explanation, and (2) the large amount of 1924, p. 581); and (8) presence of excessive pertinent work by the soil scientists which has nonclay size, nonclay mineral materials (Ailing, not been assimilated into the geologic litera- 1946, p. 18, 25, 35). Pettijohn (1949, p. 280) ture. presented no explanation for the massiveness of Ideas expressed in geologic literature as to argillites even though they do not "differ in the cause or partial cause of fissility are: (1) any important respects from normal shales rotation of flaky clay particles into positions and slates." perpendicular to the force exerted by the over- lying material with concurrent flattening of clay aggregates (Grabau, 1913, p. 175; Lewis, EMPIRICAL CLASSIFICATION OP FISSILITY 1924, p. 520, 578; Harker, 1932, p. 157-158; Mudrocks were collected from the Eocene Hedberg, 1936, p. 269; Hatch and Rastall, of Colorado; the Cretaceous of Iowa and Colo- 1938, p. 122; Twenhofel, 1939, p. 293-294; rado; the Jurassic, Triassic, and Permian of Downloaded from http://pubs.geoscienceworld.org/gsa/gsabulletin/article-pdf/64/8/869/3426634/i0016-7606-64-8-869.pdf by guest on 02 October 2021 EMPIRICAL CLASSIFICATION OF FISSILITY 871 Colorado; the Pennsylvanian of Iowa and (1) those with a flaggy structure are predom- Colorado; the Mississippian of Iowa; and the inantly black or dark gray, (2) those with a Ordovician of Wisconsin. Three dominant flaky structure are predominantly gray or types of breaking characteristics were observed: gray black and, in general, are not so dark as massive, flaggy-fissile, and flaky-fissile (PI. 1). the flaggy ones, (3) those with a massive struc- Massive mudrocks have no preferred direc- tion of cleaving or breaking. Most of the frag- Massive Flaky ments are blocky. A few of the fragments may be platy, but the orientation of the platy frag- ments in the outcrop is random. Flaggy shales split into fragments of varying thicknesses but with the width and the length many times greater than the thickness and with the two essentially flat sides approximately par- allel. Most of the fragments in the flaggy shales have the length and width at least 50 times greater than the thickness. Some of the frag- ments may break so as to fit the description of the flaky shales, but these are not so dominant as the flaggy fragments. Flaky shales split along irregular surfaces Flaggy parallel to the bedding into uneven flakes, thin FIGURE 1. TRIANGULAR DIAGRAM SHOWING A chips, and wedgelike fragments, whose length MEGASCOPIC CLASSIFICATION OF MUDROCK- seldom exceeds 3 inches. BREAKING TYPES Some samples combine varying amounts of massiveness, flagginess, and flakiness, producing ture have a predominance of colors other than a continuous coverage of a triangular diagram gray black or black—i.e., gray, white, yellow, if the three dominant types are placed at the and red, (4) some exceptions exist to the above apices of the triangle (Fig. 1). This classifica- trends, the most notable being the occurrence tion is only qualitative, but a given mudrock of predominantly flaggy red mudrocks. can be located easily if the end members are kept in mind. This was verified by the close Mechanical Analyses agreement in the location of a number of sam- The dispersing and centrifuging procedure ples on the triangular diagram by several per- used for mechanical analyses was evolved by sons. Jackson, Truog, and their students in the All attempted verbal descriptions for the Soils Department of the University of Wisconsin breaking characteristics of all possible com- (White and Jackson, 1946, p. 150-154). This binations of massiveness, flagginess, and flaki- procedure would have been unnecessary if only ness were too unwieldy. Mudrocks with inter- mechanical analyses were desired; but, since mediate characteristics can be described as separations were necessary to obtain samples dominantly massive, dominantly flaggy, or for x-raying, this procedure was most expedient.