13 Economic Geology and Critical Mineral Resources

Sunday, 17 March 2024
1:30 PM - 5:30 PM
Piscataquog Room

GEOCHEMICAL FACIES ANALYSIS OF LI-ENRICHED PALEOSOLS IN COAL MEASURE STRATA OF THE NORTHERN APPALACHIAN BASIN

Paper number: 13-8
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 3:20 PM – 3:40 PM

Authors

  • Timothy White Presenting Author
    The Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Abstract

A regional lithologic and chemostratigraphic framework for a high alumina clay and coal-bearing formation in central and western Pennsylvania demonstrates that elevated [Li] exists in predictable stratigraphic horizons in polygenetic paleosol profiles: in intensively rooted zones immediately beneath coals, and meters deeper in a zone of pervasive siderite spherules. The formation exists in a Pennsylvanian-aged coal-bearing group formed by deposition in an ancient river delta subjected to episodes of varying redox conditions. A model of [Li] involves: 1) deposition of Li-bearing minerals on a floodplain with subsequent burial, weathering and leaching of overlying strata under relatively well-drained conditions; 2) liberation of Li under saturated and reducing conditions as the regional water table rose and siderite spherules precipitated; 3) biological pumping of Li by plants with subsequent Li redistribution in the ancient soil profile; and, 4) interruption of biolifting by water table rise and flooding of the land surface at which time peat formed resulting in the coal seams we observe today. Elevated [Li] are positively correlated with [Al] suggesting that Li is most associated with clay minerals and other aluminosilicates in the formation. The stratigraphic distribution of REEs are also presented and considered.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 56, No. 1

doi: 10.1130/abs/2024NE-397515

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