SKŁAD MINERAŁÓW ILASTYCH W OSADACH TRIASU I JURY BASENU POLSKIEGO – ZAPIS ZMIAN PALEOKLIMATU I PALEOŚRODOWISKA

Abstract

CLAY MINERAL COMPOSITION IN THE TRIASSIC AND JURASSIC DEPOSITS FROM THE POLISH BASIN – A RECORD OF PALAEOCLIMATIC AND PALAEOENVIRONMENTAL CHANGES

Abstract. This paper summarizes over 220 results of XRD research carried out on <0.002 mm fraction of Triassic and Jurassic clay successions from the Polish Basin. SEM observations of some samples were also performed. The composition of detrital clay minerals of the Zbąszynek Beds (Norian), Wielichowo Beds (Lower–Middle Rhaetian), Zagaje Fm. (Upper Rhaetian and Lower Hettangian), Przysucha Ore bearing Fm. (Upper Hettangian), Ciechocinek Fm. (Lower Toarcian) and Częstochowa Ore-bearing Clay Fm. (Upper Bajocian and Bathonian) was controlled mostly by a weathering regime and, indirectly, by climatic conditions. Reworking and redeposition of ancient sediments (caused by tectonic processes and /or sea-level changes) and differential settling might have modified the mineral composition and partly erased the palaeoclimatic signal. A long-term evolution from arid or semi-arid to humid climatic conditions was confirmed by changes in the clay mineral composition of the <0.002 mm fraction. The major change of palaeoclimate took place during the Rhaetian. The Norian chlorite-illite association was replaced by the Early–Middle Rhaetian illite smectite (and kaolinite-smectite) assemblage. Next, in the Late Rhaetian the illite-kaolinite association predominated. In the Jurassic, the chlorite-illite-kaolinite association was established due to a warm temperate climate. Only changes in the kaolinite/illite ratio recorded the fluctuations in temperature and especially rainfall. Kaolinite-depleted intervals occurred in the Late Pliensbachian, Earliest Toarcian and Bajocian–Bathonian, due to cooler and less humid climatic phases. Minor cyclic variations in the clay mineral composition were most probably astronomically controlled, mainly due to the orbital eccentricity cycles. Some levels of the very high kaolinite/illite ratio in the Upper Rhaetian, at the beginning of Hettangian and in the Lower Toarcian suggest extreme chemical weathering in a humid-subtropical to tropical climate in the aftermath of a powerful greenhouse effect.