Genesis of Carboniferous aluminous-bearing strata in the northern part of the North China Craton: A case study of the Xingxian bauxite deposit

More than five billion tons of karstic bauxites were formed in the North China Craton (NCC) during the Late Carboniferous period. Compared to the bauxite ore, the genesis of the entire aluminous-bearing strata has received less attention. In this study, we conducted geological, mineralogical, and geochemical analyses on core samples from the aluminous-bearing strata located in Xingxian area, situated within the northern NCC, aiming to elucidate the genetic process of these formations. The aluminous-bearing strata consist of a bauxite layer (diaspore–anatase–kaolinite–florencite) sandwiched between the upper sandy claystone horizon (kaolinite–illite–quartz) and the lower berthierine-bearing claystone horizon (berthierine–diaspore–hematite–goethite). Based on the upper continental crust-normalized patterns of rare earth elements and yttrium (REY), immobile trace element ratios, mineral inheritance diagrams, and previous findings, it is suggested that the lower berthierine-bearing claystone was weathered from the impure limestone at the bottom, whereas the upper bauxite and sandy claystone mainly originated from intermediate-felsic igneous rocks of the northern margin of the NCC, granite from the North Qinling Orogenic Belt, and aluminosilicate rocks of the surrounding paleo-uplifts. During the early diagenetic stage, the berthierine was transformed under alkaline and reducing conditions from iron-rich clays (composed of clay minerals, ferric minerals, etc.) formed in acidic and oxidizing conditions from the underlying impure limestone. The coexistence of berthierine with low-temperature stability and diaspore is observed in the berthierine-bearing claystone, which precludes a high-temperature origin of diaspore in the aluminous-bearing strata. Moreover, diaspore is characterized by a small crystal size and is usually poorly crystallized, suggesting a supergene precipitation-diagenesis origin. The paragenetic minerals assemblages (e.g., diaspore, berthierine, goethite, hematite, etc.) suggest that the aluminous-bearing strata primarily formed in a transition zone nearer to the phreatic environment. Large-scale volcanism and warm, humid climatic conditions accelerated the decomposition of allochthonous weathering materials, resulting in the downward migration of metal ions. These ions then precipitated in a reducing and weakly alkaline environment, giving rise to form bauxite ore dominated by diaspore, anatase, and REY minerals.