In its broad sense. authigenesis and its adjectival form authigenic or authigenous mean any process or product that is formed on the spot or in place. Its antonym is allogenic (formed elsewhere). Its Greek root means ‘indigenous’. It is also rather similar to autochthonous (structurally in place), with its own antonym allochthonous (transported).
Authigenesis refers in geochemistry to mineral grains that have not been transported, and must have crystallized locally within the pore spaces or texture of some pre-existing sediment. In the case of pyroclastic sediments (ash and scoria), often erupted at high temperature, new minerals form on cooling, and it becomes a semantic question whether they are authigenic or very low-grade metamorphic products. As originally defined (in adjectival form, authigene, by Kalkowsky, 1880) the term could apply to any secondary mineral; accordingly it is rarely if ever employed in that sense.
Authigenicthus remains as a very useful term in geochemistry...
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Fairbridge, R.W. (1998). Authigenesis. In: Geochemistry. Encyclopedia of Earth Science. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/1-4020-4496-8_20
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