JOURNAL OF SEDIMENTARY PETROLOGY, VOL. 43, No. 2, p.

540--543
FIG. 1, JUNE 1973

AN X-RAY T E C H N I Q U E FOR DISTINGUISHING BETWEEN

D E T R I T A L AND SECONDARY QUARTZ IN T H E
FINE-GRAINED FRACTION OF SEDIMENTARY ROCKS 1,e

ERIC V. ESLINGER, 3 L A W R E N C E M. MAYER, 4 THOMAS L. DURST,

J O H N HOWER, .ANDSAMUEL M. SAVIN
Department of Geology, Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, Ohio 44106

ABSTRACT: Fine-grained disseminated quartz in sedimentary rocks may often be character-

ized as being secondary in origin on the basis of its X-ray diffractogram. The existence
of a diffractogram intensity ratio Iloo/Iloa substantially greater than that obtained from a
random sample of crushed quartz appears to be a sufficient (but not necessary) criterion
for recognizing quartz of secondary origin in the absence of a volcanic component. The
intensity ratio anomaly reflects preferred orientation of quartz in the sample mount and
results from the presence of faces on the (100) form (prism face) on some of the grains.
These results are consistent with both geologic and oxygen isotopic evidence.

DISCUSSION I100/Ix01 is given as 0.35 in the X-ray Powder

Coarse-grained secondary or authigenic quartz
in sedimentary rocks can often be recognized
in a straight-forward manner using the petro-
graphic microscope. Such features as quartz
cement, fraoture fillings and recognizable bound-
aries between detritaI cores and authigenie over-
growths are generally diagnostic. However,
fine-gra.ined quartz in shales, carbonates and
soils can seldom be observed with the petro-
graphic microscope in enough detail to determine
whether it is detri,tal or secondary in origin.
We repor~t here a technique which can be
used to distinguish many occurrences of fine-
grained secondary or authigenic quartz on the
basis of the relative intensities of the X-ray
diffraction peaks from the (100) and (101)
crystallographic planes. The applicability of the
technique is the result of the fact that secondary
quartz gra,ins often have one or more well de-
veloped crystal forms and this in turn causes a
non-random orientation of the grains on the
diffractometer sample mount.
The two strongest diffraction peaks of a
randomly oriented quartz sample are the 101
peak (d = 3.34 A) and the 100 peak (d = 4.26
A). The ratio of the intensities of these peaks
1 Manuscript received August 14, 1972.
2Contribution No. 89, Department of Geology,
Case Western Reserve University.
Present address: Department of Geology, West
Georgia College, Carrollton, Georgia 30117.
4 Present address: Department of Earth Sciences,
Dartmouth College, Hanover, New Hampshire 03755.
Data File (Smith, 1960). W e have found in
our laboratory, however, that a value of 0.23 is
obtained using copper Ka radiation and a variety
of conditions on both the General Electric
XRD-5 and Norelco diffractometers. W e there-
fore use the latter number as the standard for
comparison in this study.
W e have observed that when thin sample
mounts are prepared by settling from an aqueous
suspension onto a glass slide, lhe quartz of ,the
fine-grained fraction of many sediments gives
a ratio of intensity of the two diffraction peaks
(I10o/I10t) considerably greater than 0.23. This
corresponds ,to a greater percentage of the
grains lying with their C-axes parallel ,to the
slide mount than would be expected for a ran-
domly oriented sample. Sample diffractograms
are shown in Figure 1. Representative intensity
ratios are given in Table 1. Fairly large varia-
tions in inrtensity ratios are obtained from dif-
ferent portions of the same sample mount and
are the result of the manner in which the sample
mounts are prepared. The X-ray samples are
made thin in order to enhance preferred orienta-
tion by causing as many of the grains as possible
to lie directly on ,the glass slide. The diffracted
beam encounters fewer grains than in a normally
prepared sample, and thus the absolute intensity
of each peak depends strongly on the number of
grains irradi~ed at each diffraction angle. For
many samples however, the degree of orientation
is so great that the variability in measurements
does not significantly affect the recognition of
an anomalous intensity ratio.
 DISTINGUISHING DETRITAL AND SECONDARY QUARTZ 541

b c d

2~ 2's ~ 2~ 2; 2~ 2'o 2's

DEGREES 20

zb 2's zo ~ ,'o ~ ~o
FIt. 1.--X-ray difiractograms of fine-grained quartzes showing the relative intensities of the diffraction
peaks from the (100) and (101) crystallographic planes. In each case, the peak to the left is the (100)
reflection and the peak to the right is the (101) reflection, a. Crashed quartz, b. JYN II 4; fine-
grained quartz in ocean sediment, c. 12-2; quartz from a silicified fossil, d. CH 35-DR 11; cherty vein
in sepiolite from ocean sediment, e. Br 16-4451 feet; hydrothermally altered Tertiary volcanic, f. D-1088;
quartz in serpentine vein cutting weathered ultramafic, g. D-56; reed soil overlying weathered nltramafic, h.
Brassfield II (coarse) ; Paleozoic platform carbonate.

Quartz with anomalous values of I100/Ilo 1 is
found in samples as diverse as a hydrotkermally
altered Tertiary tuff, a Paleozoic platform car-
bonate rock, a Tertiary lateritic soil developed
on an ultramafic rock, and in a serpentine vein
of low temperature origin intersecting that soil.
There are, however, some quartz samples which
are undoubtedly of low temperalure origin but
whose diffractograms show Ilo0/Ilol ratios
within the experimental error of 0.23. Quartz
from cherty layers of a sepiolite vein dredged
from the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (Hathaway and
Sachs, 1965) and quartz from the silicified
fossils of the Roberts Mountain formation are
examples of these. It is our impression that
anomalous I100/I101 ratios are found in dissemi-
nated quartz which has an opportunity to grow
crystal faces. An anomalous ratio is least likely
to be found in cherty occurrences or other oc-
currences in which the quartz crystals form an
interlocking network, prohibiting the growth of
crystal faces.
In addition to the intensity ratios, oxygen
isotope ratios of a number of the quartz samples
are given in TabIe 1. These are given in the
notation as permil deviation of the 01s/0 l~ ratio
from Standard Mean Ocean W a t e r (Craig,
1961). The oxgyen isotope ratio of quartz is
542 E. V. E S L I N G E R ET AL.

TABLE 1
Quartz
Sample Location Type of Occurrence I1~/Ilo ~ ~ 0TM

Crushed quartz-thick mount 0.24

0.23
Crushed quartz-thln mount 0.23
0.12
JYN II 4 33°04'N, 174°15'W fine grained quartz 0.21 +17.77
in ocean sediment
Br 16---------495feet Broadlands, New Zealand hydrothermally altered 0.27 +9.86
Tertiary volcanic 0.29
Br 16-..-1,242feet . . . . . . . . 0.31 +11.77
0.33
Br 16---4,451 feet . . . . . . ,, 1.65 -t--6.04
0.88
CH35--DR 11 01°23'S, 29°49'W cherty vein in sepiolite 0.18 +36.00
from ocean sediment 0.22
D-1088 Riddle, Oregon quartz in serpentine vein 10.00
cutting weathered ultramafic 4.97
D-56 Riddle, Oregon red soil overlying weathered 0.39
ultramafic 0.61
Brassfield II (coarse) Dayton,Ohio Paleozoic platform carbonate 13.80 +21.30
28.50
Brassfield II (finer- Dayton,Ohio Paleozoie platform carbonate 0.46 +14.70
than 20 ~)
G.--Belt 1 Glacier National Park, Montana argillite 0.20 +21.50
0.48
G.--Belt 23 Glacier National Park, Montana argillite 0.30 +17.50
0.27
12-2 Roberts Mountain formation, silicified fossil 0.22 +20.70
Nevada 0.13

indicative of its mode of formation. Igneous
quartz has a 8 0TM value of +8 to +10 permil
(Taylor and Eps~cein, 1962). Metamorphic
quartz usually has a $ 0is value between + I 0
and +17 permil (Garlick and Epstein, 1967;
Shieh and Taylor, 1969), although in some
circumstances its isotopic composition may be
outside of this range. Cherts and authigenic
quartz in sediments have 8 0~s values between
about +18 and +36 permil (Degens and Epstein,
1962; Garlick, 1969; Savin, in press). Under
some conditions quartz of hydrothermal origin
may have an 0~s/0 x6 ratio substantially lower
than +10 permil. It is thus possible, using iso-
topic techniques to distinguish between second-
ary quartz and certain types of volcanic quartz,
both of which migh't show anomalous I100/I101
ratios. In the case of the Broadlands, New Zea-
land samples, which were taken from altered
volcanic rocks, oxygen isotope ratios indicate
that the two samples which have anomalous
values of the I100/Ilm ratio are of non-igneous
origin.
The quartz from the Brassfield limestone, a
Paleozoic platform carbonate, was separated
into a coarse and a fine fraction. The coarse
fraction gave an anomalous IloJI10o r~io and
had a 3 0is value indicating a large proportion
of low-temperature quartz. It consisted in large
part of euhedral crystals. The finer fraction
gave a more nearly normal 1100/I101 ratio and
had a ~ 0is indieaedng a much smaller component
of secondary quartz. At least in one case, then,
it has been possible to use the relat.ive intensities
of ~two quartz diffraction peaks to distinguish
between .two different gener~ions of quartz in
a single rock.
In summary, many occurrences of fine-
grained secondary or low .temperature quartz
can be recognized on the basis of the relative
in.tensides of X-rays diffracted from the (100)
and (101) crystallographic planes. While this
technique is not capable of identifying all fine-
grained occurrences of secondary quartz, oxygen
isotope studies indicate that the quartz samples
identified as secondary by this technique do
indeed contain a large proportion of quartz
formed at low temperature. It might be noted
that where it is not recognized that quartz
exhibi~ts anomalous values of the I100/I101 ratio,
misleading results might be obtained in the
quantit~ive determination of the mineralogy of
fine-grained sediments by X-ray diffraction.
 DISTINGUISHING DETRITAL AND SECONDARY QUARTZ
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
This work was supported in part by National
Science Foundation G r a n t GA 1693.
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---- AND EPSTEIN, S., 1967, Oxygen isotope ratios
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