Supergene alteration of metamorphic chlorite in an amphibolite from Massif Central, France

The mineralogical and chemical changes of sheridanite were followed in different alteration horizons as weathering of its host amphibolite increased. Microscopic and microprobe analyses of phases produced in or around the chlorite allowed a classification of the different alteration stages relative to their position in the profile. In the unweathered rock, prehnite and a sericite—kaolinite assemblage appear to have formed at grain boundaries between chlorites and plagioclases. These represent low-pressure (PH2O < 2.5 ± 1 Kb) and low-temperature (320–360°C) metamorphic phases. In the saprock, where initial rock structure is still preserved, chlorites weather to a more or less regular mixed-layer chlorite-vermiculite. In the saprolite, large-grain (20 µm) vermiculite forms in the clayey zones (plasma) when rock structure is destroyed. The chemical composition of these newly-formed minerals is influenced by the original chlorites and mixed-layer minerals.