Abstract
The Serinhisar-Acıpayam basin of western Anatolia hosts a Neogene alkaline lake which formed in some graben and semi-graben depression zones as a result of N–S tension. The basin is filled with fluvial and lacustrine sediments dominated by clayey materials. The filling of the basin with fine sediments and associated water level changes caused the development of swampy and/or semi-swampy, alkaline-lake environments where sepiolite, palygorskite, saponite and dolomitic sepiolite or palygorskite precipitated periodically in the basin. Sepiolite is predominant in the Kuyucak section and is intercalated with saponite-dominated levels, whereas saponite accompanied palygorskite at Kocapınar where basaltic volcanism occurred. The contacts between sepiolite-palygorskite and saponite levels are more or less sharp, reflecting rapid changes in the physicochemical conditions of the depositional environment. Micromorphological images reveal that both sepiolite and palygorskite grew as interwoven fibers or fiber bundles and masses where dolomite was absent, indicating direct precipitation from solution, whereas fibrous networks grew authigenically on and out of dolomite in dolomitic sepiolite and dolomitic palygorskite. Saponite is either green or reddish brown due to its organic material-rich content and derivation from products of basaltic volcanism. Synsedimentary basaltic volcanism was the main source of Fe and Al, whereas Si and Mg were derived from surrounding ultrabasic and detrital units and partly from the volcanism. It can be concluded that sepiolite, palygorskite and saponite formed either by direct precipitation from alkaline lake water or authigenically from interstitial pore-water between dolomite rhombs as controlled by concentration of Si, Mg, Al and Fe, rather than by mutual transformation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Akıncı, Ö. (1967) Eskişehir 124-C1 paftasının jeolojisi ve tabakall lületaşı zuhurları. Bulletin of the Mineral Research Institute of Turkey (MTA), 67, 82–97 (in Turkish).
Allison, M.A. and Riggs, S.R. (1994) Clay-mineral suite in cyclic Miocene sediments: a model from deposition in a mixed siliciclastic-phosphatic-dolomitic-biogenic system. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, A64, 386–395.
Brindley, G.W. (1980) Quantitative X-ray analysis of clays. Pp. 411–438 in: Crystal Structures of Clay Minerals and their X-ray Identification (G.W. Brindley and G. Brown, editors). Monograph 5. Mineralogical Society, London.
Brown, G. and Brindley, G.W. (1980) X-ray Diffraction Procedures for Clay Mineral Identification. Pp. 305–360 in: Crystal Structures of Clay Minerals and their X-ray Identification (G.W. Brindley and G. Brown, editors). Monograph 5. Mineralogical Society, London.
Calvo, J.P., Jones, B.F., Bustillo, M., Fort, R., Alonso Zarza, A.M. and Kendall, C. (1995) Sedimentology and geochemistry of carbonates from lacustrine sequences in the Madrid basin, central Spain. Chemical Geology, 123, 173–191.
Changsong, L., Qi, Y. and Sitian, L. (1991) Structural and depositional patterns of the Tertiary Baise Basin, Guang Xi Autonomous Region (southeastern China): a predictive model for fossil fuel exploration. Pp. 75–92 in: Lacustrine Facies Analysis (P. Anadon, L.I. Cabera and K. Kelts, editors). International Association of Sedimentologists, 13.
Dean, W.E. and Fouch, T.D. (1983) Lacustrine environment. Pp. 97–130 in: Carbonate Depositional Environments (P.A. Scholle, D.G. Bebout and C.H. Moore, editors). The American Association of Petroleum Geologists, 708 pp.
Dias, I., Gonzalez, I., Prates, S. and Galán, E. (1997) Palygorskite occurrences in the Portuguese sector of the Tagus basin: a preliminary report. Clay Minerals, 32, 323–328.
Ece, Ö.I. and Çoban, F. (1994) Geology, occurrence and genesis of Eskişehir sepiolites, Turkey. Clays and Clay Minerals, 42, 81–92.
Erakman, B., Meşhur, M., Gül, M.A., Alkan, H., Oztaş., Y. and Akpınar, M. (1982) Fethiye-Köyceǵiz-Tefenni-Elmalı-Kalkan arasında kalan alanın jeolojisi. Pp. 23–31 in: Sixth Petroleum Congress of Turkey (A. Güven, A. Dinçer and A.S. Derman, editors), Ankara (in Turkish).
Ercan, T., Günay, E. and Baş, H. (1983) Petrology and plate tectonic implications of Denizli volcanics. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Turkey, 2, 153–158.
Estéoule-Choux, J. (1984) Palygorskite in the Tertiary deposits of the Armorican Massif. Pp. 75–85 in: Palygorskite-Sepiolite, Occurrences, Genesis and Uses (A. Singer and E. Galán, editors). Developments in Sedimentology 37, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Galán, E. and Carretero, I. (1999) A new approach to compositional limits for sepiolite and palygorskite. Clays and Clay Minerals, 47, 399–409.
Galán, E. and Ferrero, A. (1982) Palygorskite-sepiolite clays of Lebrija, southern Spain. Clays and Clay Minerals, 30, 191–199.
Gehring, A.V., Keller, P., Frey, B. and Luster, J. (1995) The occurrence of spherical morphology as evidence for changing conditions during the genesis of a sepiolite deposit. Clay Minerals, 30, 83–86.
Gençoǵlu, H., Irkeç, T. and Çokyaman, S. (1993) Eskişehir-Sivrihisar area. Pp. 25–127 in: Utilization of Sepiolite and Mg-bearing Clays in Turkey. ITIT Project No. 90-1-5.
Gündoǵdu, M.N. (1982) Geological, mineralogical and geochemical investigation of the Bigadiç Neogene sedimentary basin. PhD thesis, Hacettepe University, Turkey, 386 pp. (in Turkish).
Hakyemez, H.Y. (1989) Kale-Kurbalık (GB Denizli) bölgesindeki Senozoyik yaşli çökel kayaların jeolojisi ve stratigrafisi. Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration of Turkey (MTA), 109, 9–22 (in Turkish).
Hay, R.L. and Stoessel, R.K. (1984) Sepiolite in the Amboseli Basin of Kenya: a new interpretation. Pp. 125–136 in: Palygorskite-Sepiolite, Occurrence, Genesis and Uses (A. Singer and E. Galán, editors). Developments in Sedimentology 37, Elsevier, Amsterdam.
Hillier, S. (1995) Erosion, sedimentation and sedimentary origin of clays. Pp. 162–219 in: Origin and Mineralogy of Clays, Clays and the Environment (B. Velde, editor). Springer-Verlag, Berlin.
Inglès, M. and Anadón, P. (1991) Relationship of clay minerals to depositional environment in the non-marine Eocene Pontils Group, SE Ebro basin (Spain). Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, 61, 926–939.
Jones, B.F. and Galán, E. (1988) Sepiolite and palygorskite. Pp. 631–374 in: Hydrous Phyllosilicates (Exclusive of Micas) (S.W. Bailey, editor). Reviews in Mineralogy 19, Mineralogical Society of America, Washington, D.C.
Kadir, S. and Akbulut, A. (2001) Occurrence of sepiolite in the Hırsızdere sedimentary magnesite deposit, Bozkurt-Denizli, SW Turkey. Carbonates and Evaporites, 16, 17–25.
Kadir, S. and Karakaş, Z. (2002) Mineralogy, chemistry and origin of halloysite, kaolinite and smectite from Miocene ignimbrites, Konya, Turkey. Neues Jahrbuch für Mineralogie, Abhandlungen, 177, 113–132.
Kadir, S., Baş, H. and Karakaş, Z. (2002) Origin of sepiolite and loughlinite in a Neogene sedimentary lacustrine environment, Mihalıççık-Eskişehir, Turkey. The Canadian Mineralogist, 40, 1091–1102.
Karakaş, Z. and Kadir, S. (2000) Devitrification of volcanic glasses in Konya volcanic units, Turkey. Turkish Journal of Earth Sciences, 9, 39–46.
Kawano, M., Tomita, K. and Shimohara, Y. (1997) Analytical electron microscopic study of the noncrystalline products formed at early weathering stages of volcanic glass. Clays and Clay Minerals, 45, 440–447.
Millot, G. (1970) Geology of Clays. Chapman & Hall, London, 429 pp.
Newman, A.C.D. and Brown, G. (1987) The chemical constitution of clays. Pp. 1–128 in: Chemistry of Clays and Clay Minerals (A.C.D. Newman, editor). Monograph 6, Mineralogical Society, London, Longman Scientific & Technical, Harlow, Essex, UK.
Okay, A.I. (1989) Denizli’nin güneyinde Menderes masifi ve Likya naplarının jeolojisi. Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration of Turkey (MTA), 109, 45–58 (in Turkish).
Rogers, L.E.R., Martin, A.E. and Norrish, K. (1954) The occurrence of palygorskite, near Ipswich, Queensland. Mineralogical Magazine, 30, 534–540.
Rogers, L.E.R., Quirk, J.P. and Norrish, K. (1956) Occurrence of an aluminium-sepiolite in a soil having unusual water relationships. Journal of Soil Science, 7, 177–184.
Singer, A. (1989) Palygorskite and sepiolite group minerals. Pp. 829–872 in: Minerals in Soil Environments (J.B. Dixon and S.B. Weed, editors). Soil Science Society of America, Inc., Madison, Wisconsin, USA.
Singer, A. (1979) Palygorskite in sediments: detrital, diagenetic, or neoformed — a critical review. Geologische Rundschau, 68, 996–1008.
Singer, A. and Galán, E., editors (1984) Palygorskite-Sepiolite, Occurrences, Genesis and Uses. Developments in Sedimentology 37, Elsevier, Amsterdam, 352 pp.
Singer, A. and Norrish, K. (1974) Pedogenic palygorskite occurrences in Australia. American Mineralogist, 59, 508–517.
Singer, A., Stahr, K. and Zarei, M. (1998) Characteristics and origin of sepiolite (meerchaum) from central Somalia. Clay Minerals, 33, 349–362.
Şenel, M. (1997) Geological map of the Denizli-J9 Quadrangle No 16 (1/100 000). General Directorate of Mineral Research and Exploration (MTA), Ankara.
Trauth, N. (1977) Argiles évaporatiques dans la sédimentation carbonatée continentale et épicontinental tértiaire. Bassin de Paris, Mormoiron et Salinelles (France), Jbel Ghassoul (Moroc). Sciences Géologiques, Mémoire 49, 195 pp.
Yalçın, H. and Bozkaya, Ö. (1995) Sepiolite-palygorskite from the Hekimhan region, Turkey. Clays and Clay Minerals, 43, 705–717.
Yeniyol, M. (1992) Yenidoǵan (Sivrihisar) sepiolit yataǵının jeolojisi, mineralojisi ve oluşumu. Bulletin of the Mineral Research and Exploration of Turkey (MTA), 114, 71–84 (in Turkish).
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Akbulut, A., Kadir, S. The Geology and Origin of Sepiolite, Palygorskite and Saponite in Neogene Lacustrine Sediments of the Serinhisar-Acipayam Basin, Denizli, SW Turkey. Clays Clay Miner. 51, 279–292 (2003). https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2003.0510304
Received:
Revised:
Published:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.2003.0510304