Controls on kaolinite and dickite distribution, Highland Boundary Fault Zone, Scotland and Northern Ireland

J Parnell, M Baron, A Boyce

Research output: Contribution to journalArticle

21 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Kaolinite and dickite occur widely in central Scotland and Northern Ireland. Stable hydrogen and oxygen isotope compositions of both minerals are similar, suggesting that the formation of kaolinite occurred first at temperatures of <50 degrees C from meteoric water, probably as a result of alteration of Lower Carboniferous volcanic rocks, and that dickitization followed locally as a result of local heating that accompanied the intrusion of dykes during Late Carboniferous-Permian times. This mechanism of dickite formation explains why the higher-temperature polytype dickite occurs in a region from the Firth of Clyde to Perthshire, in association with dyke swarms, whilst kaolinite occurs elsewhere. The original kaolinite precipitation was focused along the high permeability fault zone now marked by the Highland Boundary Fault Zone and its presumed trace in Northern Ireland.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)635-640
Number of pages6
JournalJournal of the Geological Society
Volume157
Publication statusPublished - 2000

Keywords

  • Scotland
  • kaolin
  • kaolinite
  • dickite
  • palaeotemperature
  • CLAY-MINERALS
  • ISOTOPE GEOCHEMISTRY
  • TRIASSIC SEDIMENTS
  • OXYGEN-ISOTOPE
  • BRENT-GROUP
  • DIAGENESIS
  • HYDROGEN
  • EXCHANGE
  • TRANSFORMATION
  • TEMPERATURE

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