Kaolinite fluid

Gangue minerals and salinity give constraints on the pH range. The thermochemical stability field of adularia, sericite and kaolinite depends on temperature, ionic strength, pH and potassium ion concentration of the aqueous phase. The potassium ion concentration is estimated from the empirical relation of Na+/K+ obtained from analyses of geothermal waters (White, 1965 Ellis, 1969 Fournier and Truesdell, 1973), experimental data on rock-water interactions (e.g., Mottl and Holland, 1978) and assuming that salinity of inclusion fluids is equal to ffZNa+ -h m + in which m is molal concentration. From these data potassium ion concentration was assumed to be 0.1 and 0.2 mol/kg H2O for 200°C and 250°C. 

Minerals in oxygen isotopic equilibrium with mixed fluid are feldspar for ore deposit/zone IV, and zone III/II, montmorillonite, and kaolinite for zone II/I, and montmorillonite for zone I/fresh rocks. 

Common gangue minerals are kaolinite and sericite, but K-feldspar is not found, suggesting low pH of ore fluids. 

Fig. 6.3. Saturation indices of Amazon River water with respect to various minerals (left) calculated directly from a chemical analysis, and (right) computed assuming that equilibrium with kaolinite and hematite controls the fluid s aluminum and iron content.

We further specify equilibrium with kaolinite [Al2Si205(0H)4], which occurs in at least some of the veins as well as in the altered wall rock. Since we know the fluid s potassium content (Table 22.1), assuming equilibrium with kaolinite fixes pH according to the reaction,... 

By this reaction, we can expect the modeled fluid to be rather acidic, since it is rich in potassium. We could have chosen to fix pH by equilibrium with the siderite, which also occurs in the veins. It is not clear, however, that the siderite was deposited during the same paragenetic stages as the fluorite. It is difficult on chemical grounds, furthermore, to reconcile coexistence of the calcium-rich ore fluid and siderite with the absence of calcite (CaCOs ) in the district. In any event, assuming equilibrium with kaolinite leads to a fluid rich in fluorine and, hence, to an attractive mechanism for forming fluorite ore. 

In a final application of kinetic reaction modeling, we consider how sodium feldspar (albite, NaAlSisOs) might dissolve into a subsurface fluid at 70 °C. We consider a Na-Ca-Cl fluid initially in equilibrium with kaolinite [Al2Si20s (OF )/ ], quartz, muscovite [KAl3Si30io(OH)2, a proxy for illite], and calcite (CaC03), and in contact with a small amount of albite. Feldspar cannot be in equilibrium with quartz and kaolinite, since the minerals will react to form a mica or a mica-like... 

The rate of quartz precipitation, however, is insufficient to consume all the excess silica released by the conversion of feldspar to kaolinite, so silica continues to accumulate in the migrating fluid. At a depth of about 50 cm, tridymite, a proxy in the calculation for opal CT, becomes saturated and begins to form,... 

Alteration assemblages may include primary chlorite, illite, smectites, and/or kaolinite, and various primary and secondary iron oxides, carbonates, and sulfides (Fig.1), any one of which may serve as indicators of fluid composition. Lithologic geochemical surveys rely on an understanding of these patterns to vector towards uranium deposits. The interpretation of hydromorphic geochemical surveys, including lake and stream sediment, and soil, depends on the mobility of uranium and associated elements in the surface and near surface environment. 

The zeolite crystals are in the form of fine powders, which would cause a very high pressure drop in a packed bed. They have to be formed into granules of approximately 3 mm in diameter, by using clay binders, such as kaolinite and montmorillonite. The methods consist of pelletization with binders under pressure into short cylinders, wet extrusion with a fluid into continuous cylinders, and granulation by rolling with binders into spheres. They also need to be dehydrated and calcined to remove volatile components before use. 

Studies of hydrothermal alteration products associated with ore mineralization in acidic rocks have established the general propensity for the original minerals to be replaced by illite, sericite or hydromica in the innermost zone near the source of hydrothermal fluids and by kaolinite or expandable minerals further from the vein or center of fluid emanation. The newly-formed "mica" can be 2M, 1M, or lMd in polymorph and range compositionally from muscovite to a low potassium, silicic species which can be assimilated in the term illite (Lowell and Guilbert, 1970 Schoen and White, 1966, 1965 Kelly and Kerr, 1957 Bonorino, 1959 Tomita, e al., 1969 Yoder and Eugster, 1955 Meyer and Hemley, 1959, among many authors). 

With the advent of stable isotope paleoaltimetry towards the turn of the millennium the stable isotope and tectonics communities have witnessed an increasing number of isotopic mineral proxies developed to address the long-term topographic histories of orogenic belts and continental plateaus. These proxies include calcite from paleosols (see for example Quade et al. 2007, this volume and references therein), fluvial and lacustrine rocks the phosphate and carbonate component of mammal teeth (Kohn and Dettman 2007, this volume and references therein), smectite and kaolinite from paleosols, weathered sediments and volcanic ashes (e.g., Chamberlain et al. 1999 Takeuchi and Larson 2005 Mulch et al. 2006a) as well as white mica from extensional shear zones and fluid inclusions in hydrothermal veins (e.g., Mulch et al. 

Most laboratory experiments demonstrating the utility of EO transport of organic compounds were conducted with kaolinite as the model clay-rich soil medium. Shapiro et al. (1989) used EO to transport phenol in kaolinite. Bruell et al. (1992) have shown that TCE can be transported down a slurry column by electroosmotic fluid flow, and more recently, Ho et al. (1995) demonstrated electroosmotic movement of p-nitrophenol in kaolinite. Kaolinite is a pure clay mineral, which has a very low cation exchange capacity and is generally a minor component of the silicate clay mineral fraction present in most natural soils. It is not, therefore, representative of most natural soil types, particularly those which are common in the midwestem United States. The clay content can impact the optimization and effectiveness of electroosmosis in field-scale applications, as has recently been discussed by Chen et al. (1999). 

Pamukcu and Wittle [133] investigated the feasibility of electrokinetic treatment at 30 V of different clay mixtures containing a number of heavy metals including Cd, Co, Ni, and Sr. The metal removal success ranged between 85-95% and appeared to depend on the soil matrix, the metal, and the pore fluid composition. At low initial metal concentrations, electroosmosis appeared to be the dominant mechanism for metal removal. At higher concentrations, electrolytic migration of the ionic species played a more dominant role. Of the three soil types tested, kaolinite had the highest electroosmotic efficiency. 

Fluids can be released from solids by mineral dehydration thus adding fluids to the compaction-driven fluid flux in a sedimentary column undergoing burial. The relative contribution of such diagenetic processes to the compaction-driven flow, can be estimated. Dehydration of smectite may be important (Burst, 1969), but at greater depths illitization of kaolinite may be significant (Eq. (2)). Bjprlykke et al. (1986) and... 

The second example concerns the surface heterogeneity of clay minerals. Important problems, such as limited yield of oil recovery arising during oil exploitation, involve interaction of pore filling fluids with the minerals that form the reservoir walls. The clay minerals, due to their relatively high specific surface area and electrical charge density, are the most active for the retention of oil. Illites and kaolinites are the clay minerals that are most frequently found and their wettability properties are believed to be in relation to the heavy oil ends retention process. 

The absence of kaolinite cement and kaolinized grains, as well as the high 5 Opj,B values of calcite cement in the hybrid and arkosic arenites (-3.6 to 0%o) (Table 3 Fig. 8), indicates that meteoric fluids did not play an important role in carbonate cementation. Considering that the succession remained buried at shallow depths in a region of rugged relief, the lack of meteoric influence is surprising and probably related to the early and pervasive destruction of the porosity and permeability of the arenites caused by intense cementation and compaction. 

Diagenetic carbonate cement in reservoir sandstones of the Oseberg Formation (Brent Group) in the Oseberg field, Norwegian North Sea, occurs as disseminated siderite and ankerite, and as massively calcite-cemented intervals. Other diagenetic features include extensive feldspar dissolution and K-feldspar, quartz, kaolinite and dickite cements. Conditions of carbonate cementation are constrained on the basis of textural, geochemical and fluid inclusion evidence. 

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