THE PRELIMINARY INVESTIGATION OF CAYIRHAN GLAUBERITE MINERALLIZATION IN ANKARA, TURKEY

10th International Multidisciplinary Scientific GeoConference - SGEM2010, www.sgem.org, SGEM2010 Conference Proceedings/ ISBN 10: 954-91818-1-2, June 20-26, 2010, Vol. 1, 189-194 pp

ABSTRACT

Glauberite mineralization from Cayirhan, Ankara (Central Anatolia) has been
investigated and identified the major mineralogical, petrographical and geochemical
properties. Glauberite occurrence, a sodium calcium sulfate mineral (Na2Ca(SO4)2) by
evaporation, is underneath the gypsum mineralization which accumulated at the contact
zone between Pliocene aged Ucyatak and Softa formations. The mineralization is
related to clay and mudstone, and accompanies with thenardite, gypsum, anhydrite,
mirabilite and blodite. Major paragenes thenartite – glauberite and other accompanied
minerals figure out that the mineralization forms under the control of more than one
phase and origin in the basin.

Mineralogical study exhibited that glauberite grains had idiomorphic, high relief and
edge with thenardite, besides glauberite – thenardite transformation. Also, secondary
thenardite crystallizations were in the primary ones. Chemical analyses were performed
on core samples for define the contents of their major components. Na2O concentration
changed between 11.5% and 18.8%, while CaO was 12.5% - 20.6% and SO3 was
32.86% - 53.91%.

Keywords: glauberite, thenardite, geochemistry, mineralogy, Ankara