Geology topics

R. M. Pollastro

Publications and source records attributed to R. M. Pollastro.

20 records · Page 2Linked to original sources

USGS1981

Authigenic kaolinite and associated pyrite in chalk of the Cretaceous Niobrara Formation, Eastern Colorado

Cores from the Smoky Hill Chalk Member of the Cretaceous Niobrara Formation have several zones containing authigenic kaolinite as spherical, moldic, polycrystalline aggregates that occur within single or multichambered foraminiferal tests and are commonly associated with framboidal pyrite. Such kaolinite is inferred to result from volcanic ash deposited during chalk sedimentation. Shortly after burial, a colloidal aluminous gel or solution formed from the unstable ash and moved into organic-rich foraminiferal tests, where sulfate-reducing bacteria created a favorable microenvironment for the simultaneous crystallization of kaolinite and pyrite.

Journal of Sedimentary Petrology↗

USGS1980

Use of altered volcanic ash falls in stratigraphic studies of coal-bearing sequences: an example from the Upper Cretaceous Ferron Sandstone Member of the Mancos Shale in central Utah.

The Ferron consists of 5 delta cycles, each of which includes one coal zone which contains at least one, and usually several, laterally persistent kaolinitic claystone partings. Laboratory study of the partings demonstrates that they represent altered volcanic ash falls. These partings have proven particularly useful in reconstructing the depositional history of the C coal bed of the Emery coal field which accumulated in a basin that developed concurrently with subsidence of the delta plain during both the constructive and destructive phases of the third delta cycle.-from Authors

Geological Society of America Bulletin↗