Structure-related geochemical (REE) and isotopic (K-Ar, Rb-Sr, δ18O) characteristics of clay minerals from Rotliegend sandstone reservoirs (Permian, northern Germany)

Abstract Euhedral illite cementing the gas-bearing sandstone reservoirs of the Rotliegend in the Niedersachsische rift system (northern Germany) was studied along a horst-to-graben cross-section to examine its chemical and isotopic characteristics. The data show that differentiated illite particles grew during a tectono-thermal event marked by distinct episodic hydrothermal activities along fault drains and in the poral space of sandstones at 210 Ma and at 195 to 190 Ma in horst positions, at 185 to 175 Ma in the nearby graben, and at 170 to 165 Ma in both the horst and graben. Varied REE distribution patterns and initial 87Sr/86Sr ratios (from 0.7124 to 0.7142) relative to illite-particle …