A new collection of clay mineral ‘Crystallinity’ Index Standards and revised guidelines for the calibration of Kübler and Árkai indices

Abstract

ABSTRACTA new set of clay mineral ‘Crystallinity’ Index Standards (CIS) is available for improved calibration of the half-peak-width values of the X-ray diffraction 001 illite reflection (the Kübler index) and the 002 chlorite reflection (the Árkai index), two widely used indices for determining the state of prograde diagenesis and low-temperature metamorphism. Calibration using mudrock standards removes the numerical differences between laboratories caused by variations in sample preparation, machine settings and measurement methods, thus avoiding erroneous grade determinations. The number of standards available has been increased to nine. These can be used to obtain Kübler index values for each CIS sample and Árkai index values for upper anchizonal and epizonal samples. The diagenetic and lower anchizonal mudrocks are not suitable for Árkai index measurements due to the absence of chlorite or overlap by the 001 kaolinite reflection. Applying the new Kübler-equivalent upper and lower boundary limits of the anchizone placed at 0.32°2θ and 0.52°2θ, respectively (Warr & Ferreiro Mählmann, 2015), the nine standards from the Palaeozoic mudrocks of southwest England now comprise two diagenetic, two lower anchizonal, three upper anchizonal and two epizonal grade samples. These range from weakly cleaved mudstones to strongly foliated slates.