Origin of Clay Minerals In Alluvial Paleosols, Prince Creek Formation, North Slope, Alaska, U.S.A: Influence of Volcanic Ash On Pedogenesis In the Late Cretaceous Arctic

Abstract

Paleosols formed from weathering of alluvial mudstones in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Prince Creek Formation, North Slope Alaska, are dominated by detrital smectite, discrete illite, kaolinite, chlorite, quartz, and pedogenic illite-smectite (I/S) mixed-layer clays. In the fine clay fraction (, 0.2 mm) illite-smectite mixed-layer clay is the main clay mineral and is interpreted as pedogenic in origin, whereby the I/S is a product of illitization of inherited smectite during weathering and pedogenesis. We consider the detrital clay minerals to be derived from pre-existing sediments eroded from the Brooks Range, mixed with reworked volcanic ash-fall-derived bentonites. In the Prince Creek Formation, smectitic parent materials were deposited by epiclastic volcanic ash-rich alluvium that accumulated on imperfectly drained floodplains. Diagenetic transformation of smectite to illite is unlikely in the Prince Creek Formation, in as much as maximum burial temperatures never exceeded , 48u C. The predominance of bentonite-derived smectite (. 80%), low bulk density, phosphorus accumulation, Fe and Al mass-balance trends, and the presence of Fe-Al-humus complexes in one paleosol profile is interpreted as evidence of andic soil properties, and these paleosols are interpreted, therefore, as Andept-like alluvial soils. These results demonstrate that clay mineralogical studies, in conjunction with geochemical data of paleosols, can be used to identify paleoandic soil properties which have not been widely recognized in the ancient rock record. Alternating wetting and drying conditions, required to form pedogenic I/S in these alluvial paleosols, resulted from a highly seasonal moisture regime in the Late Cretaceous Arctic.

Thermal Conductivity and the Unfrozen Water Contents of Volcanic Ash Deposits in Cold Climate Conditions: A Review

“…Properties of volcanic ash and pumice, as well as volcanic soils, have been widely investigated due to the unique properties. Paleoscientists and tephrochronologists use volcanic ash as a tool for linking and dating geological, paleoecological, paleoclimatic, and archaeological sequences or events (Braitseva et al, 1993;Ponomareva et al, 2007;Lowe, 2010Lowe, , 2011Jaramillo et al, 2015). Soil scientists are concerned with the unique physical, chemical, and mineralogical properties of soils formed on volcanic ash (or Andisols) with respect to the high permeability, organic matter, secondary minerals, and high specific surface areas as well as other aspects (Nanzyo, 2002;Karpachevskii et al, 2009;Shoba and Ivanov, 2011).…”

Exploring the Deuterium Excess of Cretaceous Arctic Paleoprecipitation Using Stable Isotope Composition of Clay Minerals from the Prince Creek Formation (Maastrichtian) in Northern Alaska

“…Three oriented aggregates were created for each sample and analyzed at the Geology Department at the University of Kansas (KU: Lawrence, KS) using a Bruker D2 Phaser diffractometer with a step scan of 0.05 • over a spectrum of 2-30 • 2θ. Results from XRD analyses were used to confirm previous mineralogical analyses reported by Salazar-Jaramillo et al [14].…”

“…Table 1. Electron microprobe and X-ray diffraction data for the <0.2 µm-size fraction of phyllosilicates for paleosol samples (this study) and the <2 µm-size fraction of bentonite samples [14]. Weight percentage (wt.…”

“…Sample 06KKT-20.5 was collected from a bentonite layer along the Colville River and sample PFDV 17 was collected from a bentonite layer along the Kogosukruk River (Figures 1-3). Previous work by Salazar-Jaramillo et al [14,29] analyzed mineralogy and oxygen isotope composition of the clay fraction of both bentonite samples. We obtained bulk samples and separated the clay size fraction <2 µm.…”

Compressibility characteristics of Sabak Bernam Marine Clay

“…The soil structure formation is determined by both the nature of the recent alluvial deposits and the soil fauna. Paleosols formed from weathering of alluvial mudstones in the Late Cretaceous (Maastrichtian) Prince Creek Formation, North Slope Alaska, are dominated by detrital smectite, discrete illite, kaolinite, chlorite, quartz, and pedogenicillite-smectite mixed-layer clays [16].…”