Nontronite Mineralization in Columbia River Basalts

Abstract:

The ferric smectite nontronite is one of the first minerals formed by secondary weathering of Columbia River Basalts (CRB). Although nontronite is a common weathering product of CRB, it is not ubiquitous; field relations in near-surface flows suggest it only forms where sufficient water is available. In near-surface flows that are above the water table, nontronite is found filling cracks or vesicles, or in association with paleosols now preserved between flows in many localities. Field relations strongly suggest that porosity and permeability at the millimeter to meter scale control the supply of water for weathering and are key to the chemical composition of secondary clays and to the overall abundance of individual secondary weathering minerals.

Weathering in the basalts initiates in void spaces that hold water, where high-Fe nontronite forms radiating acicular sprays. Small void spaces fill completely with nontronite of uniform composition, which penetrates the walls and replaces surrounding glass and ferromagnesian minerals. This process produces a relatively limited quantity of high-purity ferric nontronite. In large void spaces where water is limiting, nontronite lines the interior of vesicles but does not fill them; vermicular clay strands grow into the space from nucleation sites at the vesicle wall. Nontronitic cores are coated by layers of Mg- and Al-rich clays, and Mn oxides coat the exteriors. Thus, weathering under water-limited conditions appears to produce more compositionally complex mineral assemblages. In more extensively weathered basalts, nontronite is not present except in isolated, enclosed spaces.

Results of this study may be useful in interpreting remotely sensed mineralogical data on Mars. The compositions of ferromagnesian smectites and spatial relationships between different clays on Mars may hold clues to the original conditions of water-rock interaction.