Glauconite

Glauconite is an iron potassium phyllosilicate (mica

group) mineral of characteristic green color which is
Glauconite
very friable[4] and has very low weathering
resistance.

It crystallizes with a monoclinic geometry. Its name

is derived from the Greek glaucos (γλαυκος)
meaning 'blue', referring to the common blue-green
color of the mineral; its sheen (mica glimmer) and
blue-green color. Its color ranges from olive green, General
black green to bluish green, and yellowish on
Category Phyllosilicate
exposed surfaces due to oxidation. In the Mohs
3+
scale it has hardness of 2. The relative specific Formula (K,Na)(Fe ,Al,Mg)2 (Si,Al)4 O10 (OH)2
gravity range is 2.4 - 2.95. It is normally found in (repeating unit)
dark green rounded brittle pellets, and with the Crystal system Monoclinic
dimension of a sand grain size. It can be confused
with chlorite (also of green color) or with a clay Crystal class Prismatic (2/m)
mineral. Glauconite has the chemical formula (same H-M symbol)
3+
(K,Na)(Fe ,Al,Mg)2(Si,Al)4O10(OH)2. Space group C2/m
Unit cell a = 5.234 Å, b = 9.066 Å,
Glauconite particles are one of the main
c = 10.16 Å; β = 100.5°; Z = 2
components of greensand, glauconitic silstone and
glauconitic sandstone. Glauconite has been called a Identification
marl in an old and broad sense of that word. Thus Color Blue green, green, yellow green
references to "greensand marl" sometimes refer
specifically to glauconite. The Glauconitic Marl Crystal habit Elastic platy/micaceous, or as
formation is named after it, and there is a rounded pellets/aggregates
Glauconitic Sandstone formation in the Mannville Cleavage Perfect [001]
Group of Western Canada.
Mohs scale 2
hardness
Luster Dull - earthy

Contents Streak Light green

Diaphaneity Translucent to nearly opaque.
Occurrence
Specific 2.4 - 2.95
Uses
gravity
Fertilizers
Optical Biaxial (-)
References
properties
Refractive nα = 1.590 - 1.612 nβ = 1.609 -
Occurrence index 1.643 nγ = 1.610 - 1.644
Birefringence δ = 0.020 - 0.032
At the broadest level, glauconite is an authigenic
Pleochroism X = yellow-green, green; Y = Z =
mineral and forms exclusively in marine settings.[5]
deeper yellow, bluish green
It is commonly associated with low-oxygen
conditions.[6] Other loosely bound aggregates, crumbles
Normally, glauconite is considered a diagnostic characteristics radioactivity: barely detectable
mineral indicative of continental shelf marine References [1][2][3]
depositional environments with slow rates of
accumulation. For instance, it appears in
Jurassic/lower Cretaceous deposits of greensand, so-called after the coloration caused by glauconite. It can also
be found in sand or clay formations, or in impure limestones and in chalk. It develops as a consequence of
diagenetic alteration of sedimentary deposits, bio-chemical reduction and subsequent mineralogical changes
affecting iron-bearing micas such as biotite, and is also influenced by the decaying process of organic matter
degraded by bacteria in marine animal shells. Glauconite forms under reducing conditions in sediments and
such deposits are commonly found in nearshore sands, open oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Glauconite
remains absent in fresh-water lakes, but is noted in shelf sediments of the western Black Sea.[7] The wide
distribution of these sandy deposits was first made known by naturalists on board the fifth HMS Challenger, in
the expedition of 1872–1876.

Uses
Glauconite has long been used in Europe as a green pigment for artistic oil paint under the name green
earth.[8][9] One example is its use in Russian "icon paintings", another widespread use was for underpainting
of human flesh in medieval painting.[10] It is also found as mineral pigment in wall paintings from the ancient
Roman Gaul.[11]

Fertilizers

Glauconite, a major component of greensand, is a common source of potassium (K+) in plant fertilizers and is
also used to adjust soil pH. It is used for soil conditioning in both organic and non-organic farming, whether as
an unprocessed material (mixed in adequate proportions) or as a feedstock in the synthesis of commercial
fertilizer powders. In Brazil, greensand refers to a fertilizer produced from glauconitic siltstone, unit belonging
to the Serra da Saudade Formation, Bambuí Group, of Neoproterozoic/Ediacaran age. The outcrops occur[12]
in the Serra da Saudade ridge, in the Alto Paranaíba region, Minas Gerais state. It is a silty-clayed sedimentary
rock, laminated, bluish-green, composed of glauconite (40-80%), potassium feldspar (10-15%), quartz (10-
60%), muscovite (5%) and minor quantities of biotite (2%), goethite (<1%), titanium and manganese oxides
(<1%), barium phosphate and rare-earth element phosphates (<1%).

Enriched levels of potash have K2 O grades between 8 and 12%, thickness up to 50 m and are associated to the
glauconitic levels, dark-green in color. Glauconite is authigenic and highly mature. The high concentration of
this mineral is related to a depositional environment with a low sedimentation rate. The glauconitic siltstone
has resulted from a high-level flooding event in the Bambuí Basin. The sedimentary provenance is from
supracrustal felsic elements on continental margin environment with acid magmatic arc (foreland basin).

References
1. Handbook of Mineralogy (http://rruff.geo.arizona.edu/doclib/hom/glauconite.pdf)
2. Webmineral (http://webmineral.com/data/Glauconite.shtml)
3. Mindat (http://www.mindat.org/min-1710.html)
4. Odin, G.S. (ed., 1988). Green marine clays. Development in sedimentology, 45. Elsevier,
Amsterdam.
5. Smith, S. A., and Hiscott, R. N. (1987). Latest Precambrian to Early Cambrian basin evolution,
Fortune Bay, Newfoundland fault–bounded basin to platform. Canadian Journal of Earth
Sciences 21:1379–1392.
 6. Hiscott, R. N. (1982). Tidal deposits of the Lower Cambrian Random Formation, eastern
Newfoundland; facies and paleoenvironments. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences 19:2028–
2042.
7. Suttill H. (2009). Sedimentological evolution of the Emine & Kamchia basins, eastern Bulgaria.
Thesis submitted for the degree of Master of Philosophy. Available from: the University of
Edinburgh (http://www.era.lib.ed.ac.uk/handle/1842/4919)
8. Grissom, C.A. Green Earth, in Artists’ Pigments. A Handbook of Their History and
Characteristics, Vol. 1, L. Feller, (Ed), Cambridge University Press, London 1986, pp. 141 – 167
9. Green earth (http://colourlex.com/project/green-earth/) Colourlex
10. Grissom, C.A. Green Earth, in Artists’ Pigments. A Handbook of Their History and
Characteristics, Vol. 1, L. Feller, (Ed), Cambridge University Press, London 1986, p. 143
11. Eastaugh, N "Pigment Compendium: A Dictionary of Historical Pigments", page 169. Elsevier,
2004
12. Silvano Moreira, Débora (2016). "Estratigrafia, petrografia e mineralização de potássio em
siltitos verdes do Grupo Bambuí na Região de São Gotardo, Minas Gerais" (http://www.revistag
eociencias.com.br/geociencias-arquivos/35/volume35_2_files/35-2-artigo-01.pdf) (PDF).
Revista Geociências. 35: 157–171 – via UNESP.

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