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Special Issue "Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Clays and Their Application to Paleoclimatic and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction"

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A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X). This special issue belongs to the section "Mineral Geochemistry and Geochronology".

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 November 2023 | Viewed by 5026

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Special Issue Editors

Dr. Roberto Buccione

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Guest Editor

Department of Sciences, University of Basilicata, 85100 Potenza, Italy
Interests: geochemistry; trace elements; mineralogy; rare earth elements; ore deposits

Dr. Rabah Kechiched

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Guest Editor

Laboratoire des Réservoirs Souterrains: Pétroliers, Gaziers et Aquifères, Université Kasdi Merbah, Ouargla 30000, Algeria
Interests: mineralogy; geochemistry; rare earth elements; paleoenvironment; economic geology

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

I would like to invite you to contribute to this Special Issue in “Minerals” entitled “Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Clays and Their Application to Paleoclimatic and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction”.

Clays are a mineralogical species of great interest in various fields of geoscience and are among the most used proxies for paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental studies in several geological settings.

The formation and composition of clay minerals are influenced by climatic conditions, and their occurrence in sediments can be useful for paleoclimatic and paleoenvironmental interpretive purposes; while they do not provide direct indications of climatic parameters, they can furnish records of overall climatic impact.

This information can also be derived from the integration of mineralogy and geochemistry, which are also used to record paleoclimatic conditions since several elements, including rare earth elements, are very sensitive to environmental and climate changes. Thus, considering of the mineralogy and geochemistry of clay minerals is certainly an effective tool in assessing paleoclimate and paleoenvironmental conditions.

For this Special Issue, I invite submissions presenting data and results that highlight the usefulness of minerochemical characterization of clays in providing valuable data on paleoenvironmental and paleoclimatic reconstructions. In this regard, multi-analytical studies on clay composition that use different types of analytical instruments, such as atomic absorption spectroscopy, atomic emission spectroscopy, ultraviolet-visible spectroscopy, X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy, infrared spectroscopy and Raman spectroscopy, are welcome.

Dr. Roberto Buccione
Dr. Rabah Kechiched
Guest Editors

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Minerals is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

Keywords

clay composition
clay associations
mineralogy
X-ray diffraction
geochemical composition
multi-analytical techniques
paleoclimate
climate change
paleoenvironmental and paleoclimate reconstruction

Published Papers (3 papers)

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Research

Open AccessFeature PaperArticle

Comparison of Quantitative X-ray Diffraction Mineral Analysis Methods

Jingyun Xiao

Yougui Song

and

Yue Li

Minerals 2023, 13(4), 566; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13040566 - 18 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1705

Abstract

X-ray diffraction (XRD) analysis, as one of the most powerful methods, has been widely used to identify and quantify minerals in earth science. How to improve the precision of mineral quantitative analysis is still a hot topic. To date, several quantitative methods have been proposed for different purposes and accompanied by diverse software. In this study, three quantitative mineral analysis methods, including the reference intensity ratio (RIR), Rietveld, and full pattern summation (FPS) methods, are compared and evaluated to systematically investigate their accuracy and applicability. The results show that the analytical accuracy of these methods is basically consistent for mixtures free from clay minerals. However, there are significant differences in accuracy for clay-mineral-containing samples. In comparison, it seems that the FPS method has wide applicability, which is more appropriate for sediments. The Rietveld method has been shown to be capable of quantifying complicated non-clay samples with a high analytical accuracy; nevertheless, most conventional Rietveld software fails to accurately quantify phases with a disordered or unknown structure. The RIR method represents a handy approach but with lower analytical accuracy. Overall, the present results are expected to provide a potentially important reference for the quantitative analysis of minerals in sediments. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Clays and Their Application to Paleoclimatic and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction)

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Open AccessArticle

Geological Characteristics and Paleoenvironmental Evolution of Fine-Grained Sediments in the Third Member of the Xujiahe Formation in the Western Sichuan Depression, SW China

and

Minerals 2023, 13(4), 510; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13040510 - 02 Apr 2023

Viewed by 1195

Abstract

This study investigated, in detail, the characteristics of the Late Triassic fine-grained sediments in the third member of the Xujiahe Formation (Xu-3 Member), in the Western Sichuan Depression, and the paleoenvironmental evolution during their deposition through petrological interpretation, mineralogical composition characterization, and element geochemical analysis. According to the mineralogical composition, the Xu-3 Member can be divided into two petrological types, namely clayey fine-grained felsic sedimentary rocks and lime fine-grained felsic sedimentary rocks. The main mineral components are siliceous, clay, and carbonate minerals. Through the cluster analysis of major elements, all samples could be divided into two types with different major elemental characteristics. Trace elements exhibited distinct Sr depletion, relative enrichment of large ion lithophile elements, and high field strength elements. Two REE enrichment patterns were observed, which could be attributed to differences in the provenance area and tectonic background. The paleoclimate of the sedimentary area was warm and humid, but it was hotter and drier in the southern and central parts of the depression. The change trend of paleo-productivity was consistent with the paleoclimate. The waters in the sedimentary environment were mainly brackish water to saline water, with fresh water in the southern part of the depression. The paleo-redox conditions of the waters were mainly sub-oxidation to sub-reduction, but the southern part of the depression was more oxidative. The provenance area experienced a moderate degree of chemical weathering under a warm and humid paleoclimate, same as the depositional area. However, the depositional environments differed between the northern and south-central parts of the depression. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Clays and Their Application to Paleoclimatic and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction)

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Open AccessArticle

Origin and Paleoenvironmental Conditions of the Köprüağzı Evaporites (Eastern Anatolia, Turkey): Sedimentological, Mineralogical and Geochemical Constraints

Pelin Güngör Yeşilova

and

Ozan Baran

Minerals 2023, 13(2), 282; https://doi.org/10.3390/min13020282 - 17 Feb 2023

Cited by 1 | Viewed by 1201

Abstract

Köprüağzı evaporites mainly consist of primary (selenite and gypsarenite) and secondary (massive, laminated and satin-spar) gypsum lithofacies, as well as minor anhydrite, and are interbedded with clastic and carbonate units. Sedimentological-mineralogical and geochemical findings reveal that the depositional basin extends from a lagoon to the hinterland. These data confirm that too much detrital input was transported into the basin with multiple salinity and pH value fluctuations, organic matter activity and reducing conditions. Geochemical data point out the shallow environment and the mixing of hydrothermal fluids and fresh waters. The investigated evaporites were exposed to diagenesis and alteration under the influence of a hot—dry and minor humid climate, tectonism and pressure. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, δ³⁴S and δ¹⁸O isotope values of Köprüağzı evaporites reveal that they are of Miocene marine sulfate origin. Full article

(This article belongs to the Special Issue Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Clays and Their Application to Paleoclimatic and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction)

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Special Issue "Geochemistry and Mineralogy of Clays and Their Application to Paleoclimatic and Paleoenvironmental Reconstruction"

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