Mineralogy and geochemistry of the main glauconite bed in the Middle Eocene of Texas: paleoenvironmental implications for the verdine facies.

ABSTRACT: The Main Glauconite Bed (MGB) is a pelleted greensand located at Stone City Bluff on the south bank of the Brazos River in Burleson County, Texas. It was deposited during the Middle Eocene regional transgression on the Texas Gulf Coastal Plain. Stratigraphically it lies in the upper Stone City Member, Crockett Formation, Claiborne Group. Its mineralogy and geochemistry were examined in detail, and verdine facies minerals, predominantly odinite, were identified. Few glauconitic minerals were found in the green pelleted sediments of the MGB. Without detailed mineralogical work, glaucony facies minerals and verdine facies minerals are easily mistaken for one another. Their distinction has value in assessing paleoenvironments. In this study, several analytical techniques were employed to asses

SUBMITTER: Harding SC 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC3913656 | biostudies-literature | 2014

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature