Research Information System
CLAYS AND CLAY MINERALS, vol.64, no.3, pp.245-274, 2016 (Journal Indexed in SCI)
The Biga Peninsula of NW Turkey is host to many kaolin and halloysite deposits with mineralization occurring at the intersections of fault zones in contact with Late Eocene-Miocene calc-alkaline volcanic rocks. Distinguishing between the relative overprinting of hypogene by supergene processes in these deposits is a challenge and important because they affect the physical-chemical properties of minerals and their potential for industrial applications. This study examines the Saribeyli-Sigirli and Bodurlar kaolin deposits in NW Turkey, which were formed from similar volcanics as evidenced by Ar-40/Ar-39. Late Eocene (34.2 +/- 0.20 Ma) to Early Oligocene (32.7 +/- 0.17 Ma) ages for both primary volcanic rocks and alunites are consistent with surrounding rocks in the C, anakkale region. Criteria used to distinguish hypogene alteration from supergene alteration processes come from X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier-transform infrared (FTIR) and Raman spectroscopies, thermal gravimetric analysis (TGA), scanning and transmission electron microscopy (SEM, TEM), and elemental analyses. Isotopic delta O-18 depletion and delta D enrichment of the Saribeyli-Sigirli deposit suggests that it was more influenced by magmatic waters than was the Bodurlar deposit. The Bodurlar deposit contains a paucity of dickite compared to the Saribeyli-Sig. irli deposit, which is evidenced by lower TGA endotherms, higher ratios of XRD intensities for reflections at 1.316 angstrom and 1.307 angstrom, distinctive FTIR absorbance bands at 3620 cm(-1) and 3652 cm (-1), and relative Raman intensities of the v(1) and v(5) vibrational modes.