Mineralogy, geochemistry, provenance and sodium metasomatism of Torridonian rift basin clastic rocks, NW Scotland

P. C. van de Kamp and B. E. Leake
Scottish Journal of Geology, 33, 105-124, 1 November 1997, https://doi.org/10.1144/sjg33020105

Synopsis

Closed-basin deposits of the Stoer Group and Diabaig Formation were locally derived from Lewisian felsic and mafic rocks in semi-arid to temperate climates. For open-basin deposits of the Applecross and Aultbea Formations, provenance was Grenville-age rocks and older Pro-terozoic and Archaean rocks in Laurentia, west of the rift basin.

Petrography shows that detrital Ca-plagioclase, K-feldspar, and matrix clays were albitized during diagenesis. Evaluation of geochemical data for Stoer and Torridonian Group sedimentary rocks indicates widespread sodium metasomatism in these rocks. For the very sodic Stoer Group sandstones and siltstones, containing as much as 6% Na2O, up to 2–3% Na2O was added, during diagenesis, to the detrital sediments. Similar Na-metasomatism occurred in the Diabaig and Cailleach Head sandstones. The meta-somatic process involved evaporative concentration of salts in closed basin groundwaters yielding Na-rich brines which reacted with detrital silicates to develop authigenic albite. Calcium, released from detrital plagioclase during diagenesis, is resident in authigenic epidote or calcite, depending on local pCO2. During metasomatism, potassium minerals were replaced by albite and the liberated K was incorporated into illite-mica in shales. Granulite facies provenance is indicated for some of the clastics by K/Rb of 465–1295, much higher than common crustal K/Rb values.

In open-basin deposits of the Applecross and Aultbea Formations, low abundances of Fe, Mg, Co, Cr, and Ni indicate little mafic and/or ultramafic rock in the source area. Petrography indicates that these immature sediments include some recycled sedimentary or metasedimentary rocks and were developed in a temperate-humid climate where moderate weathering removed considerable plagioclase from the source rocks prior to transport and deposition.

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