Analcime: A characteristic authigenic phase of andean alluvium, northern chile

AbstractAnalcime (NaAlSi2O6.H2O) forms a characteristic authigenic phase in Andean alluvium of northern Chile. Three stratigraphic units ranging from the lower Cretaceous to the Miocene were studied in order to investigate the presence of analcime in diagenetic assemblages of different ages. The units were deposited in forearc, foreland/back‐arc, and intra‐arc basinal settings.Characteristics of other sedimentary analcime occurrences were examined in order to define conditions favourable for analcime precipitation. Zeolite zonation and evidence for the original presence of volcanic glass, common to many sedimentary analcime occurrences, are absent in the studied units. Analcime precipitation requires a high Na+/H+ ratio, relatively low Si4+/Al3+ activity and low H2O activity.Diagenetic examination of the three stratigraphic units revealed early quartz and feldspar overgrowths, mechanical clay infiltration, and dissolution of labile rock and mineral fragments, particularly intermediate plagioclase (An30–80). Conditions for these processes are favoured by oxidizing groundwater at near neutral pH. Later diagenesis involved the precipitation of analcime, non‐ferroan calcite, quartz, and authigenic clays as the main cementing phases. These formed due to the concentration of oxidizing groundwater and resulted from its continued reaction with detrital feldspars and rock fragments of andesitic and dacitic composition.Analcime precipitation in Andean alluvium resulted from the evolution of saline, alkaline brines under an arid, evaporative climate in closed hydrographic basins with circulating groundwater systems.