Feldspar concentrations in lower Cambrian limestones of the Moroccan Atlas: Pyroclastic vs authigenic processes

Abstract

Carbonate strata containing abundant euhedral feldspar, usually considered as authigenic, are characteristic of some lower Cambrian exposures in the Atlas Mountains, Morocco. Impure limestones are abundant in the Issendalenian Amouslek Formation of the western Anti-Atlas, and in the Banian Lemdad Formation of the southern High Atlas. Some of their limestone beds contain up to 40% acid insoluble residue, of which feldspar comprises as much as 65% in some samples, the remainder consisting of detrital and authigenic quartz, apatite, pyrite, and clay minerals. The host limestones are bioclastic tempestites, ooidal–oncoidal–bioclastic shoal complexes, archaeocyathan-microbial peri-reef settings (mainly flanks but not reef cores), and microbial reefs. A volcanic origin is adopted for the feldspars based on: (i) fluctuations in feldspar concentration paralleling bedding, but unrelated to host-facies (except for the aforementioned archaeocyathan-microbial reef cores that were controlled by turbidity); (ii) the local association with glassy fragments (with feldspars embedded in glass shards); and (iii) the scattered occurrence of gradational lithofacies from silty tuff to tuffitic limestone. The mineral and chemical composition of the host-rock and diagenetic fluids was the determining factor for the kind of feldspar preservation. Although the primary type of K–feldspar replacement is albitization, secondary albite subsequently suffered from illitization, chloritization, and/or replacement by calcite. A direct implication of this work is the possible geochronological dating of both volcanic eruptions and archaeocyath- and trilobite-bearing host-rocks based on radiometric analyses within unaltered K–feldspar pyroclasts extracted after etching.