SMECTITE TO ILLITE CONVERSION IN BENTONITES AND SHALES OF THE….pdfVIP

Clay Minerals (1993)28, 243-253 S M E C T I T E TO I L L I T E C O N V E R S I O N IN B E N T O N I T E S A N D S H A L E S OF T H E E A S T S L O V A K B A S I N V. S U C H A * , I. K R A U S t , H. G E R T H O F F E R O V A t , J. P E T E S AND M. S E R E K O V A t GeologicalInstitute Slovak Academy of Sciences, Dftbravskd cesta 9, 842 26 Bratislava, and ?Facultyof Natural Sciences, Comenius University,Mlynskd dolina D, Bratislava, Slovakia (Received 21 April 1992; revised 25 August 1992) A B ST R A CT: The conversionof smectiteto illitehas been studiedin buried bentonites and shales of the East Slovak Neogene Basin, using X-ray diffraction analysis and transmission electron microscopy.A good correlationwas observedin both rock types between the content of expandable layers in interstratified illite-smectite (I-S) minerals and burial depth (temperature), with shales from a given depth being markedly more illitic than bentonties. This difference disappeared at a depth of -3 km, which represents a temperature of -150~ The diameter of fundamental illite particles increased with decreasing expandability. Potassium fixation together with neoformation appear to be the mechanisms of conversionof smectite to illite. Illitization of smectite--an important feature of post-sedimentary alteration processes-- was observed for the first time by Burst (1959) in the Gulf Coast region. Later, Shutov et al. (1969) and Perry Hower (1970) investigated this phenomenon in greater detail especially in relation to the depth and temperature of post-sedimentary alteration. Since 1970, many investig