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Recognition of quartz geodes in the Upper Cretaceous Wadi Umm Ghudran Formation, Ras En Naqab, South Jordan

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Abstract

Quartz geodes are spectacularly displayed at Ras En Naqab where hundreds of geodes have weathered from their host chalky limestone and sandstone beds and scattered on slope surfaces. Geodes of different sizes, shapes and fillings appear in four horizons of the shallow marine sediments of the Upper Cretaceous Wadi Umm Ghudran Formation in South Jordan. They are characterised by a wide areal extent, but limited stratigraphic distribution, and as such, they represent a distinctive stratigraphic marker horizon. Ghudran geodes are mostly milky white in colour, botryoidally and crystalline in shape and range in diameter from 3 to 30 cm or more. It is believed that the formation of geodes took place in cavities, after complete dissolution of pre-existing fossils, which left no trace of their internal microstructures but only faint appearance of external moulds. Chalcedony and microcrystalline quartz occur as cavity linings and in some samples as cavity filling. The structure of the silica geodes begins with chalcedony in its outer rim followed, internally, by microcrystalline quartz and ends with prismatic quartz crystals in the central part. Spot analysis indicates that the geodes composed totally of Si and O with traces of Al (0.05 %). The silica-rich solutions that formed the geodes were possibly derived from the weathering of the overlying Amman Silicified Limestone Formation and the infiltration of chemical products by the action of groundwater. Investigations showed that the crystallization went slowly under equilibrium conditions and formed from the same silica source.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to the Hashemite University and the Natural Resources Authority for providing logistic support during the field work. Special thanks to John Powell from the BGS for his helpful comments and careful reading of the manuscript. Mohammed Abdelghafour is thanked for drawing some of the figures. Al Hussein Bin Talal University is thanked for offering the research facilities including scanning electron microscope, and Eng. Ahmed Al Harases is thanked for SEM photography. We also thank two anonymous reviewers who have significantly improved this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Earth and Environmental Science, Hashemite University, Zarqa, Jordan

    I. M. Makhlouf & K. M. Ibrahim

  2. Department of Mining, King Hussein University, Ma’an, Jordan

    K. Tarawneh

  3. Geological Mapping Division, Natural Resources Authority, P.O. Box 7, Amman, Jordan

    K. Moumani

Authors
  1. I. M. Makhlouf
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  2. K. Tarawneh
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  3. K. Moumani
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  4. K. M. Ibrahim
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Correspondence to I. M. Makhlouf.

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Makhlouf, I.M., Tarawneh, K., Moumani, K. et al. Recognition of quartz geodes in the Upper Cretaceous Wadi Umm Ghudran Formation, Ras En Naqab, South Jordan. Arab J Geosci 8, 1535–1547 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12517-014-1281-6

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