Geochemical properties of Alaçatı (Çeşme) tuffs and zeolitization

Zeolites are aluminosilicate of the alkali and alkaline earth metals.The zeolite group also defined as hydrated aluminosilicate due to high cyrstal water content of their pores.Cyrstal water of the zeolite could leave the cyrstal structure by heating without any structural deformation of the zeolite cyrstal.The pores which are evacuated during the heating process could have been occupy by the gas and the hydrous molecules selectively with regard of their atomic diameter.Due to their selective seperation property,zeolites have been possessed extensive consumption field in industry. With the determination of adsorbtive and moleculer sieve properties^zeolites have been used widespreadly in industry. Since it has been realized that are the altered pyroclastic rocks (especially ruffe) are the main source of zeolites; the studies on ruffe are increased with the aim of clarify their zeolit contents. In this study, the geochemical,mineralogical and petrograhic properties of the collected ruffe were examined to find out the types of the zeolitization. At the end of the geochemical studies,it has been concluded that the tuffs of the study area,are products of the rhyodacitic-dacitic volcanism. The polarizing microscope studies infer that the tuffe are vitric ruffe with the 65 % pumice glass content and silisic properties of the pumic glass.Following X-Ray diffractometer studies show that the zeolites with high silisic contents are dominantly mordenite ( 25-30 %) with subordinate amounts of clinoptilolite,heulandite. VIScanning Electron Microscope (SEM) studies of the selected samples which have been known zeolite content by the X-Ray diflractometer studies, reveal a succesions as;. Clinoptilolite-heulandite mordenite. Montmorillonite mordenite. Feldspar mordenite