Abstract Clay deposits are abundant within the Lower Benue Trough (LBT) of Nigeria. The chemical compositions and other attributes of some of these deposits, aside their uses, have not been extensively studied and documented. These natural resources are important in the understanding of the geological processes with reference to the source area-weathering, provenance and tectonic setting of the precursors, using the major, trace and Light Rare Earth Element (LREE) compositions of the clay samples. The aim of this investigation was to understand the geochemistry of the clay deposit, beyond the already known functional applications, for which 18 raw clay and 14 separated The SiO2 (64.61–90.28 wt%), Al2O3 (5.10–19.22 wt%), Fe2O3 (0.28–3.99 wt%) and LOI (2.70–11.10 wt%) contents of the clay are characteristic of quartz-rich weathered sediments with kaolinitic clay mineral assemblage. The calculated Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) (91.17–99.79), Plagioclase Index Alteration (PIA) (99.31–99.87) and Chemical Index of Weathering (CIW) (99.34–99.87), as well as, the geochemical parameter (R∼0.2) and alpha indices of Ca (28.87 α Al Ca The campanian Maastrichtian clay sequences in the Lower Benue Trough of Nigeria is a quartz-rich kaolinitic clay derived from chemical weathering of Proterozoic granitic gneiss. The clay was deposited in a continental rift tectonic setting, under a tropical climatic condition.

中文翻译：

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尼日利亚下贝努埃海槽坎帕阶-马斯特里赫特粘土层序的源区风化、物源和构造环境

摘要 尼日利亚下贝努埃海槽（LBT）内的粘土矿床丰富。除了用途之外，其中一些矿床的化学成分和其他属性尚未得到广泛研究和记录。利用粘土样品的主要、痕量和轻稀土元素 (LREE) 成分，这些自然资源对于参考源区风化、起源和前体的构造环境了解地质过程非常重要。本次调查的目的是了解粘土矿床的地球化学，超出已知的功能应用，其中 18 种原始粘土和 14 种分离了 SiO2（64.61–90.28 wt%）、Al2O3（5.10–19.22 wt%）、Fe2O3 (0.28–3.99 wt%) 和 LOI (2.70–11。粘土的 10 wt%) 含量是富含石英的风化沉积物与高岭土矿物组合的特征。计算的化学蚀变指数 (CIA) (91.17–99.79)、斜长石指数变化 (PIA) (99.31–99.87) 和风化化学指数 (CIW) (99.34–99.87)，以及地球化学参数 (R∼ 0.2) 和 α 指数 Ca (28.87 α Al Ca 尼日利亚下贝努埃海槽的坎帕阶马斯特里赫特粘土层序是一种富含石英的高岭土粘土，来源于元古代花岗片麻岩的化学风化作用。粘土沉积在大陆裂谷构造环境中，在热带气候条件下。