9.5 PHOSPHATES
437
Fig. 9.26. Phosphatized coprolite (12-mm calibre) from the Chalk (Upper Cretaceous), Beachy Head, southern England.
economic phosphates. This summary shows that, though some phosphates occur in igneous rocks as apatite, the majority of economic phosphates are in sedimentary rocks.
The mineralogy of phosphates is complex and obscure because of their tendency to
occur as microcrystalline aggregates. Typical phosphate minerals are admixtures of the
phosphate radical (PO4) with calcium, water, and traces of fluoride and uranium. Phosphates occur in sedimentary rocks as matrix and as nodules, ooliths, pellets and phosphatized shells, bones, teeth, and coprolites (Fig. 9.26). They also occur as a replacement
of limestones (Bentor, 1980).
The bulk of the world's bedded phosphates occur in the famous phosphate belt, which
stretches from Syria through the Levant, Sinai, Egypt, Morocco, and into Mauritania.
437
Fig. 9.26. Phosphatized coprolite (12-mm calibre) from the Chalk (Upper Cretaceous), Beachy Head, southern England.
economic phosphates. This summary shows that, though some phosphates occur in igneous rocks as apatite, the majority of economic phosphates are in sedimentary rocks.
The mineralogy of phosphates is complex and obscure because of their tendency to
occur as microcrystalline aggregates. Typical phosphate minerals are admixtures of the
phosphate radical (PO4) with calcium, water, and traces of fluoride and uranium. Phosphates occur in sedimentary rocks as matrix and as nodules, ooliths, pellets and phosphatized shells, bones, teeth, and coprolites (Fig. 9.26). They also occur as a replacement
of limestones (Bentor, 1980).
The bulk of the world's bedded phosphates occur in the famous phosphate belt, which
stretches from Syria through the Levant, Sinai, Egypt, Morocco, and into Mauritania.