The possible role of clay mineralogy in the study of microspherules of cosmic origin

• Main Author: Viczián István
• Format: Text
• Language: Hungarian; English
• Published: University of Szeged, Department of Mineralogy, Geochemistry and Petrology 1996
• Subjects: 01. Természettudományok; 01.05. Föld- és kapcsolódó környezettudományok; Barents Sea; Crater Lake; Jupiter; Saturn
• Online Access: http://acta.bibl.u-szeged.hu/24831/; http://acta.bibl.u-szeged.hu/24831/1/mineralogica_037_035-040.pdf

In this short review the clay mineralogy of rocks of cosmic or impact origin and of their enclosing sediments are discussed. In cosmic matter (meteorites, rocks of the Moon) clay minerals, even hydrous layer silicates are extremely rare (very minor amounts in some Apollo 11 lunar samples and in carbonaceous chondrites). The hydrous layer silicate serpentine is relatively abundant in the zone of asteroids and among the satellites of the planets Jupiter and Saturn. The non-sedimentary, first phase products (suevites) of the Ries impact crater at NOrdlingen contain fresh glassy components. Clay mineral formations starts first during the subsequent post-impact sedimentary history. Examples are given from the Miocene crater lake of the Ries structure, the Cretaceous/Tertiary boundary in a peat-forming environment of western North America and marine deposits of the Eastern Alps as well as Jurassic/Cretaceous boundary formations near an impact structure in the Barents Sea. Mineralogical analysis may contribute to the reconstruction of the conditions of sedimentation, alteration and diagenesis of rocks containing cosmic or impact-derived material. Examples from the study of Hungarian sedimentary formations are given (Anisian of Mecsek Mts., Uppar Cretaceous of Bakony Mts. and Pannonian of the Little Hungarian Plain).