Clay mineral evolution

• Published in: The American mineralogist Vol. 98; no. 11-12; pp. 2007 - 2029
• Main Authors: Hazen, Robert M, Sverjensky, Dimitri A, Azzolini, David, Bish, David L, Elmore, Stephen C, Hinnov, Linda, Milliken, Ralph E
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Washington Mineralogical Society of America 01.11.2013; Walter de Gruyter GmbH
• Subjects: atmosphere; biomineralization; biominerals; Biosphere; Clay; Clay minerals; diagenesis; Earth; Evolution; Extraterrestrial geology; granitization; Hadean; Mars; Mars mineralogy; metamorphism; Mineralogy; Minerals; Oceans; oxides; Phanerozoic; planets; Plate tectonics; Precambrian; sheet silicates; silicates; snowball Earth; terrestrial comparison; terrestrial planets; weathering
• ISSN: 0003-004X; 1945-3027
• DOI: 10.2138/am.2013.4425

Changes in the mechanisms of formation and global distribution of phyllosilicate clay minerals through 4.567 Ga of planetary evolution in our solar system reflect evolving tectonic, geochemical, and biological processes. Clay minerals were absent prior to planetesimal formation approximately 4.6 billion years ago but today are abundant in all near-surface Earth environments. New clay mineral species and modes of clay mineral paragenesis occurred as a consequence of major events in Earth's evolution--notably the formation of a mafic crust and oceans, the emergence of granite-rooted continents, the initiation of plate tectonics and subduction, the Great Oxidation Event, and the rise of the terrestrial biosphere. The changing character of clay minerals through time is thus an important part of Earth's mineralogical history and exemplifies the principles of mineral evolution.