Formation of illitic minerals at surface temperatures in Purbeckian sediments (Lower Berriasian, Swiss and French Jura)

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Abstract
The clay-mineralogical assemblages of Purbeckian carbonate sediments of the Swiss and French Jura Mountains are often composed of illite and interstratified illite-smectite. These illitic minerals occur mainly in thin layers of green marls which show evidence of subaerial exposure and mark the top of shallowing-upward sequences. X-ray diffraction, chemical and thermal analyses coupled with transmission electron microscopy suggest that the Purbeckian illitic minerals replaced smectite in intermediate continental-marine environments. The transition from smectite to illite and interstratified illite-smectite probably resulted from repeated cycles of wetting by marine waters and subsequent drying in hypersaline environments, under a hot Purbeckian climate.