Supervisors info:
Δρ. Αθανάσιος Γκοντελίτσας, Αναπληρωτής Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Γεωλογίας και Γεωπεριβάλλοντος, ΕΚΠΑ
Δρ. Ιωάννης Σανάκης, Εργαστήριο Mössbauer, Ινστιτούτο Επιστήμης Υλικών, Ε.Κ.Ε.Φ.Ε. ΔΗΜΟΚΡΙΤΟΣ
Δρ. Ανδρέας Μαγκανάς, Καθηγητής, Τμήμα Γεωλογίας και Γεωπεριβάλλοντος, ΕΚΠΑ
Summary:
Fe-bearing clays are important in the study of oxidizing and reducing environments, since they bound Fe3+ in a way which is not susceptible to reductive dissolution as Fe oxides are, and so, Fe in clay minerals could act as renewable source of redox equivalents in anoxic environment. Stylolites are one of the main results of chemical compaction, which takes place in the deep burial diagenetic environment and are ubiquitous geo-patterns observed in rocks in the upper crust, from geological reservoirs in sedimentary rocks to deformation zones, in folds, faults, and shear zones. Although, a lot of studies have been conducted through the years, in order to determine their geometrical and compositional characteristics and the factors leading to their genesis, and how can they be used to measure strain and formation stress, the non-carbonate minerals (various types of clays, apatite-group minerals, feldspars, etc.) contained in them are not fully investigated from a mineralogical and geochemical point of view. The current work focuses on the study of Fe-bearing minerals found in stylolites, using a combination of macroscopic, microscopic, analytical and spectroscopic methods. Special emphasis will be given to trace elements’ geochemistry by means of discrimination diagrams, etc., and to the Fe oxidation state using Moessbauer spectroscopy, as well as, to the characterization in nanoscale using TEM-EDS. Thus, the entire study is expected to contribute to geological history of the Ionian Unit, as represented in northwestern Greece at Epirus region. The purpose of the present work is to study, for first time in the literature, Fe-bearing minerals found in stylolites, using an overall of analytic methods.
Keywords:
Fe-clay minerals, stylolites, chemical compaction, pressure-solution, diagenesis, deep burial, carbonates
