Compositional variability of glauconites within the Upper Cretaceous Karai Shale Formation, Cauvery Basin, India: Implications for evaluation of stratigraphic condensation

• Wide compositional variability of glauconites relates to their origin in different substrates.
• Glauconite is frequently altered along peripheries and in proximity to cracks or cleavages.
• Unaltered glauconite pellets and vermiforms bear the true signature of condensed section.
• High abundance of evolved glauconite is related to stratigraphic condensation.
• The high Fe2O3 (total) of glauconite possibly relates to upwelling.

A detailed mineral chemical investigation of glauconite within the condensed section deposits of the Cretaceous Karai Shale Formation, Cauvery Basin, India reflects a wide spectrum in chemical composition related to origin and evolution in different substrates, stratigraphic condensation, and post-depositional alteration. Fe- and Mg-rich glauconite, comprising up to 60% of the sedimentary rocks, occurs as replaced forms of fecal pellets, as infillings within pores and chambers of bioclasts including those of foraminifera, ostracoda, bryozoa, and algae, and as altered forms of mica exhibiting vermiforms. Authigenic precipitation of K- and Fe-poor glauconite, followed by addition of Fe and K into the lattice and concomitant release of Al and Si explains the origin of glauconite pellets and infillings; the origin of glauconite vermiforms in partly degraded mica involves only the second stage of Fe and K addition. Glauconite pellets and vermiforms exhibit sharply defined alteration zones along peripheries to form rims, and in proximity to cracks or cleavages with reduced K2O and Fe2O3 (total) and enhanced Al2O3 and SiO2, related to late-stage meteoric water actions. Cores of glauconite pellets and unaltered zones of vermiforms reflect ‘evolved’ characteristics with > 6% K2O, typical of a condensed section, while other glauconite varieties occurring at the same stratigraphic level exhibit ‘slightly evolved’ nature, not consonant with stratigraphic condensation. Increasing abundance of glauconite pellets from the bottom to the top of the transgressive systems tract, accompanied by slight increase in K2O within their cores, reflects the effect of stratigraphic condensation on the evolution of glauconite. High Fe2O3 (total) content of glauconite in the Karai Shale Formation may be related to upwelling, although the Fe may be contributed partly by the biotite substrate. Mössbauer spectroscopy of glauconites reveals significant total Fe substitution in both tetrahedral and octahedral sites. Detailed mineral chemical analysis enables us to distinguish stratigraphically significant glauconite within the Karai Shale Formation from the rest of the glauconite notwithstanding its wide compositional range.