Abstract
Continental red beds are the host rocks of a characteristic style of mineralization which suggests a genetic link between red bed formation and ore formation. Samples of unmineralized and mineralized Triassic sediments from Central England have been studied sedimentologically, petrographically and geochemically with the aim of clarifying this link which may provide valuable guides for exploration. On the basis of sedimentological and petrographic observations it is suggested that these red beds were formed as a result of diagenetic alteration whereby detrital silicates and oxides are progressively dissolved and the iron released is deposited as hematite. A model for mineralization is proposed involving the release of trace metals from detrital minerals during diagenesis, their retention in saline interstitial solutions, migration to suitable sites of precipitation and deposition by reaction with trapped hydrocarbons or reduced sulphur.
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Holmes, I., Chambers, A.D., Ixer, R.A. et al. Diagenetic processes and the mineralization in the triassic of Central England. Mineral. Deposita 18 (Suppl 2), 365–377 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00206485
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00206485