Diagenetic carbonization due to kaolinization: a hypothesis (with examples from Sudetic Carboniferous sandstones)

Abstract

Diagentyczna karbonatyzacja jako efekt kaolinizacji na przykładzie piaskowców śródsudeckiego kulmu The purpose of this paper is to put forward a working hypothesis explaining an existing paragenesis (and origin) of kaolinite and siderite in some coal-bearing sections of nonmarine formations, but especially those in which both minerals could not have been of detritalor simply-biogenic origin. In rocks studied sideritization (or carbonatization in general) appears to be a direct response to or a by-product of kaolinization. Kaolinization and sideritization were followed by an incipient silicification and all the three stages are ascribed here to a shallow-burial stage of diagenesis.