Sabkha and playa environments in late Proterozoic grabens,Willouran Ranges,South Australia

We have reconstructed the depositional environment of sulphate‐dolomite‐sand‐mud sequences of the Callanna Beds of the late Proterozoic Adelaidean System in three areas of the Willouran Ranges, South Australia. We interpret the Callanna Beds which represent the earliest Adelaidean sediments as having been deposited in a series of discrete shallow cratonic basins. The sequences in all three areas consist of cyclic hypersaline sand‐shale‐carbonate sheets and wedges. Hypersalinity has been inferred from a study of evaporites and their pseudomorphs, which imply basin evolution in sabkha and playa palaeoenvironments. We interpret the Callanna Beds in the Willouran Ranges to have been formed in playa lake or prograding sabkha complexes, that formed in a series of yoked half‐grabens within the tectonic setting of the Adelaide palaeorift.     

The Holocene non-tropical coastal and shelf carbonate province of southern Australia

Carbonate-dominant sediments are currently forming and accumulating over the extensive marine shelf of the passive margin of southern Australia. A dearth of continental detritus results from both a very low relief and a predominantly arid climate. The wide continental shelf is bathed by cold upwelling ocean waters that support luxuriant growths of bryozoans and coralline algae, together with sponges, molluscs, asteroids, benthic and some planktonic foraminifera. The open ocean coast is battered by a persistent southwest swell, resulting in erosion of calcrete-encrusted Pleistocene eolianites. Much sediment is reworked and overall shelf sedimentation rates are low. High-energy microtidal beach/dune systems occur between headlands and along the very long ocean beach in the Coorong region. The northern, more arid coastal areas also contain saline lakes that precipitate gypsum from infiltrated sea water, and display marginal facies of aragonite boxwork to fenestral carbonate crusts, with stromatolites and tepee structures. In contrast, the southern, seasonally humid Coorong region, has a predominantly continental groundwater regime where sulphate is rare, and the high summer evaporation precipitates dolomite, magnesite and aragonite muds. Fenestral crusts, breccias, tepees and some stromatolites are also present.

St. Vincent and Spencer gulfs both afford some protection from ocean swell, but tidal amplitude and currents increase, and a depth and inundation-related zonation of plants and animals is established. Muddy carbonate sand accumulates on the sea floor below 30 m, where filter-feeding bryozoans, bivalves and sponges dominate. In shallower regions, seagrass meadows contain a rich fauna that results in rapid accumulation of an unsorted muddy bioclastic sand. Mangrove woodlands backed by saline marsh with cyanobacterial mats are common, and accumulate mud-rich and gastropod-bearing sediment. As tidal amplitude and desiccation increase northward into both gulfs, a supratidal zone bare of vegetation (sabkha) becomes the site for deposition of gypsum-rich and fenestral calcitic mud.     

Precipitation of dolomite using sulphate-reducing bacteria from the Coorong Region, South Australia: significance and implications

Dolomite was successfully precipitated in culture experiments that simulated microbiogeochemical conditions prevailing during late stages of evaporation in ephemeral, hypersaline dolomitic lakes of the Coorong region, South Australia. Analyses of lake- and pore-water samples document rapid geochemical changes with time and depth in both dolomitic and non-dolomitic lakes. Extremely high sulphate and magnesium ion concentrations in lake waters decline rapidly with depth in pore waters throughout the sulphate-reduction zone, whereas carbonate concentrations in pore waters reach levels up to 100 times those of normal sea water. Ultimately, sulphate is totally consumed and no solid sulphate is recorded in the dolomitic lake sediments. ‘Most probable number’ calculations of lake sediment samples record the presence of large populations of sulphate-reducing bacteria, whereas sulphur-isotope analyses of lake-water samples indicate microbial fractionation in all the lakes studied. Viable populations of microbes from the lake sediments were cultured in anoxic conditions in the laboratory. Samples were then injected into vials containing sterilized clastic or carbonate grains, or glass beads, immersed in a solution that simulated the lake water. Falls in the levels of sulphate and rising pH in positive vials were interpreted as indicating active bacterial sulphate reduction accompanied by increased concentrations of carbonate. Within 2 months, sub-spherical, sub-micron-size crystals of dolomite identical to those of lake sediments were precipitated. It is concluded that bacterial sulphate reduction overcomes kinetic constraints on dolomite formation by removing sulphate and releasing magnesium and calcium ions from neutral ion pairs, and by generating elevated carbonate concentrations, in a hypersaline, strongly electrolytic solution. The results demonstrate that bacterial sulphate reduction controls dolomite precipitation in both the laboratory experiments and lake sediments. It is proposed that dolomite formation, through bacterial sulphate reduction, provides a process analogue applicable to thick platformal dolostones of the past, where benthic microbial communities were the sole or dominant colonizers of shallow marine environments.     

豫西南淅川震旦系灯影组白云岩特征及成因分析

晚前寒武纪扬子克拉通及其周缘保存了一套比较完整的白云岩地层（灯影组）。扬子北缘（南秦岭） 地区的灯影组白 云岩与典型灯影组白云岩在成岩组合和沉积序列有较大差别，有待进一步研究。该研究在野外剖面实测、镜下鉴定基础 上，运用阴极发光和X射线衍射有序度分析对扬子北缘（南秦岭） 淅川地区灯影组白云岩进行了岩石学分类及成因机制研 究。研究区灯影组白云岩类型主要为泥—粉晶他形白云岩、细晶自形—半自形白云岩、以中—粗晶白云石为主的细—粗晶 半自形—他形白云岩、鞍形白云岩和岩溶角砾白云岩。其中泥—粉晶他形白云石为准同生阶段蒸发海水白云石化作用产 物；细晶自形—半自形白云石形成于早成岩浅埋藏阶段，成岩过程与蒸发海水回流渗透白云石化作用有关；细—粗晶半自 形—他形白云石和鞍形白云石属晚成岩期中—深埋藏环境下由碳酸盐岩矿物经过热液白云石化或重结晶作用所形成；岩溶 角砾白云岩是通过白云岩层的溶蚀—垮塌和砾间胶结作用形成。因此，由于相对海平面升降、上覆地层沉积厚度增加引起 的成岩环境变化以及后期流体的改造作用促使了研究区不同类型白云岩的发育。     

Selected geochemical factors influencing diagenesis of eocene carbonate rocks,peninsular Florida,U.S.A.

The geochemical significance of three selected ions (Mg²⁺, Na⁺, and Sr²⁺) supports a model of dolomitization by brackish groundwater. This groundwater zone contains sufficient quantities of Mg²⁺ to facilitate dolomitization ($\text{Mg}\text{Ca}\text{ratios 1}$). Rising and falling of sea level and fluctuations of the phreatic zone related to climatic variations account for the thickness of the dolomite layers and the chemical distributions within these layers. Sodium concentrations in the calcite are 70–185 ppm, indicating formation in brackish water. Dolomite has sodium concentrations between 50–1400 ppm, suggesting formation in waters of similar salinity.Strontium in calcite ranges from 320–600 ppm, suggesting diagenesis in slightly saline waters in an open system. Dolomite contains 241 ppm Sr²⁺ on the average and calcite has 418 ppm Sr²⁺. The Sr²⁺ concentrations of the dolomite are characteristic of diagenesis in water less saline than sea water. Average strontium concentrations in the dolomite occur in two distinct groups, 260 ppm for dolomite with 39–43 mole-% MgCo₃ and 195 ppm for the dolomite with 44–50 mole-% MgCO₃. The difference in the Sr²⁺ concentrations of the two dolomite groups indicates the higher mole-% MgCO₃ dolomite recrystallized in a less saline environment than the lower mole-% MgCO₃ dolomite. These different environments are attributed to a relatively more saline coastal environment and a less saline inland environment.The more nearly stoichiometric dolomite (44–50 mole-% MgCO₃) has less scatter when mole-% MgCO₃ is plotted against Sr²⁺ and Na⁺. This suggests a greater approach to equilibrium with the dolomitizing fluid than the lower mole-% MgCO₃ (39–43) dolomite. The more saline environment has higher Mg/Ca ratios and promotes more calcium-rich dolomite during diagenesis because of the inhibition from competing foreign ions and because it is thermodynamically a more favorable environment which causes more rapid crystallization. The less saline waters allow recrystallization to proceed more slowly, producing better ordering in the dolomites, textural preservation and development of subhedral to euhedral rhombic crystals.     

湖北秭归地区震旦系灯影组白云岩地球化学特征及其成因意义

白云岩化流体性质与成岩作用是近年来碳酸盐岩成岩作用研究的热点,研究白云岩的成因有利于进一步认识白云岩储层的形成机制并为优质储层的预测提供依据。通过岩石学、矿物学(X射线衍射)、地球化学(微量元素、稀土元素、碳氧同位素)方法,系统研究湖北秭归地区灯影组不同类型白云岩的成因,并分析了可能的白云岩化模式。样品的微量元素特征显示,秭归地区白云岩未受到陆源碎屑物质的影响,形成于气候干旱、海水咸度较大且氧化的沉积环境中;Sr含量特征显示白云岩发生了较为彻底的白云岩化,其成岩环境为温度较高的埋藏环境,成岩过程中未受到淋滤作用的影响;秭归地区白云岩化流体主要来源于海水。结合蒸发白云岩(萨布哈)及埋藏白云岩化模式解释了秭归地区泥微晶白云岩及晶粒白云岩的形成过程。     

云南会泽HZT 型铅锌矿床蚀变白云岩特征及岩石-地球化学找矿标志

蚀变白云岩是会泽超大型铅锌矿床的赋矿围岩。通过矿区调研和近矿围岩典型剖面精细测量,矿区蚀变中-粗晶白云岩从颜色上可分为4种类型:肉红中粗晶白云岩、米黄色针孔状粗晶白云岩、灰白孔洞状粗晶白云岩、纯白色粗晶白云岩;前三者与矿体产出关系密切,从远矿到近矿依次为:肉红中粗晶白云岩→米黄色针孔状粗晶白云岩→灰白孔洞状粗晶白云岩→铅锌矿石;总结了3个带主要矿物组合、组构特征,认为3个带在白云石重结晶程度、显微构造、黄铁矿、晶洞充填物及裂隙等具明显差异,据此可作为辨识赋矿白云岩的重要标志。同时,对比了摆佐组白云岩(矿化粗晶白云岩、粗晶白云岩、白云石化灰岩)主量元素变化特征,分析了近矿蚀变白云岩主量元素及其比值与矿体距离的相关性,以及CaO与其他主量元素相关性,确定了热液蚀变参数有SiO2、MgO/CaO、K2O/CaO、Al2O3/TFe等,为找矿预测提供理论依据。     

Spherular modern dolomite from the Coorong area, South Australia

Scanning electron micrographs show that the youngest and apparently least altered of the Coorong dolomite is in the form of spherular bodies about 0.2–1.0 μm in size which themselves are composed of spherules about 100 nm in diameter. Older and more lithified sediments show sharply defined dolomite crystals suggesting an origin as primary dolomite spherules followed by aggregation and diagenetic alteration to well crystallized dolomites.     

Saline lake carbonates within an Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous continental red bed sequence in the Atacama region of northern Chile

The Codocedo Limestone Member is a thin but laterally persistent lacustrine sequence within the red beds of the Upper Jurassic-Lower Cretaceous Quebrada Monardes Formation, in the Atacama region of northern Chile. The thick succession of clastic terrigenous sediments of the Quebrada Monardes Formation was deposited in an arid to semi-arid environment. Sedimentary facies are indicative of deposition of aeolian dunes, alluvial fans and braided streams, playa-lake mudflats, and saline lakes and coastal lagoons. The strata accumulated in a N-S elongated extensional back-arc basin on the landward side of an active volcanic arc. The 3 m thick Codocedo Limestone Member marks striking facies changes within the Quebrada Monardes Formation. It is underlain by a thick sequence of conglomerates and sandstones, deposited on alluvial fans. The limestone itself is characterized by evaporite minerals and laterally continuous laminations, indicative of deposition by vertical accretion in a perennial saline lake. The overlying siltstones and fine sandstones contain geodes and gypsum pseudomorphs and were deposited on playa-lake mudflats. The limestone therefore represents a relatively short period of lacustrine deposition within an essentially terrigenous succession. The lake was possibly formed quite suddenly, for example by damming of the basin by a lava flow. Sedimentation in the perennial lake was predominantly cyclical. Seasonal planktonic algal blooms produced millimetre-scale laminations. Interbedded with these laminites are centimetre-scale beds of evaporitic gypsum, anhydrite and minor halite. The evaporite minerals have been largely replaced by calcite, chalcedony and quartz. The centimetre-scale cycles may have resulted from periodic freshwater input into the lake. After a period of about 3000 yr the lake dried up, to be replaced by extensive playa-lake mudflats. The Codocedo Limestone Member possibly formed a plane of detachment during an early Tertiary phase of E-W directed regional compression. The limestones and evaporites were folded and extensively brecciated. This deformation probably resulted from simple shear along the bedding plane of the relatively weak evaporite minerals prior to their replacement by calcite and quartz.     

Hydrochemical evolution of Na-SO4-Cl groundwaters in a cold, semi-arid region of southern Siberia

The Shira region of Khakassia in southern Siberia exhibits many features governing the evolution of groundwater and surface-water chemistry that are common to other cold, semi-arid areas of the world: (1) a continental climate, (2) location in a rain shadow, (3) low density of surface-water drainage, (4) occurrence of saline lakes, and (5) occurrence of palaeo- and modern evaporite mineralisation. In lowland areas of Shira, the more saline groundwaters and lake waters have a sodium-sulphate (-chloride) composition. Results of thermodynamic modelling suggest that these evolve by a combination of silicate weathering and gypsum and halite dissolution, coupled with carbonate precipitation to remove calcium and bicarbonate ions. An approximately 1:1 sodium:sulphate ratio occurs even in groundwaters from non-evaporite-bearing aquifers. This may indicate the formation of secondary sodium sulphate evaporites (in or near saline lakes or in soil profiles where the water table is shallow), which are subsequently distributed throughout the study area by atmospheric transport. Several urban groundwaters are characterised by very high nitrate concentrations, conceivably derived from sewage/latrine leakage. Received, June 1998 /Revised, May 1999, August 1999 /Accepted, August 1999     

Geochemical and isotopic constraints on the interaction between saline lakes and groundwater in southeast Australia

Major ion and stable isotope geochemistry allow groundwater/surface-water interaction associated with saline to hypersaline lakes from the Willaura region of Australia to be understood. Ephemeral lakes lie above the water table and locally contain saline water (total dissolved solids, TDS, contents up to 119,000 mg/L). Saline lakes that lack halite crusts and which have Cl/Br ratios similar to local surface water and groundwater are throughflow lakes with high relative rates of groundwater outflows. Permanent hypersaline lakes contain brines with TDS contents of up to 280,000 mg/L and low Cl/Br ratios due to the formation of halite in evaporite crusts. These lakes are throughflow lakes with relatively low throughflow rates relative to evaporation or terminal discharge lakes. Variations in stable isotope and major ion geochemistry show that the hypersaline lakes undergo seasonal cycles of mineral dissolution and precipitation driven by the influx of surface water and evaporation. Despite the generation of highly saline brines in these lakes, leakage from the adjacent ephemeral lakes or saline throughflow lakes that lack evaporite crusts is mainly responsible for the high salinity of shallow groundwater in this region.     

Eocene spheroidal dolomite from the western Sirte Basin, Libya

Scanning electron micrographs of crypto-crystalline (< 4 μm) dolomites found in cores taken from the lower Eocene Facha Member reservoir of the Zella and Aswad fields in Libya show that they consist of tiny globular bodies mixed with anhedral crystals, producing a chalky texture. The sedimentary sequence indicates deposition in upper intertidal/supratidal arid environments and in saline lagoons. The crypto-crystalline dolomite is facies-controlled and probably formed as a primary precipitate, similar to those reported from present-day subaqueous environments in the Coorong of South Australia and Holocene supratidal crusts off Florida. Such chalky-textured dolomites could form local fluid-migration barriers within hydrocarbon reservoirs.     

豫西南淅川震旦系灯影组白云岩特征及成因分析

晚前寒武纪扬子克拉通及其周缘保存了一套比较完整的白云岩地层（灯影组）。扬子北缘（南秦岭） 地区的灯影组白 云岩与典型灯影组白云岩在成岩组合和沉积序列有较大差别,有待进一步研究。该研究在野外剖面实测、镜下鉴定基础 上,运用阴极发光和X射线衍射有序度分析对扬子北缘（南秦岭） 淅川地区灯影组白云岩进行了岩石学分类及成因机制研 究。研究区灯影组白云岩类型主要为泥—粉晶他形白云岩、细晶自形—半自形白云岩、以中—粗晶白云石为主的细—粗晶 半自形—他形白云岩、鞍形白云岩和岩溶角砾白云岩。其中泥—粉晶他形白云石为准同生阶段蒸发海水白云石化作用产 物;细晶自形—半自形白云石形成于早成岩浅埋藏阶段,成岩过程与蒸发海水回流渗透白云石化作用有关;细—粗晶半自 形—他形白云石和鞍形白云石属晚成岩期中—深埋藏环境下由碳酸盐岩矿物经过热液白云石化或重结晶作用所形成;岩溶 角砾白云岩是通过白云岩层的溶蚀—垮塌和砾间胶结作用形成。因此,由于相对海平面升降、上覆地层沉积厚度增加引起 的成岩环境变化以及后期流体的改造作用促使了研究区不同类型白云岩的发育。     

Dolomitization by penesaline sea water in Early Jurassic peritidal platform carbonates, Gibraltar, western Mediterranean

Peritidal carbonates of the Lower Jurassic (Liassic) Gibraltar Limestone Formation, which form the main mass of the Rock of Gibraltar, are replaced by fine and medium crystalline dolomites. Replacement occurs as massive bedded or laminated dolomites in the lower 100 m of an ≈460‐m‐thick platform succession. The fine crystalline dolomite has δ¹⁸Ο values either similar to, or slightly higher than, those expected from Early Jurassic marine dolomite, and δ¹³C values together with ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios that overlap with sea‐water values for that time, indicating that the dolomitizing fluid was Early Jurassic sea water. Absence of massive evaporitic minerals and/or evaporite solution‐collapse breccias in these carbonate rocks indicates that the salinity of sea water during dolomitization was below that of gypsum precipitation. The occurrence of peritidal facies, a restricted microbiota and rare gypsum pseudomorphs are also consistent with penesaline conditions (salinity 72–199‰). The medium crystalline dolomite has some δ¹⁸Ο and δ¹³C values and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios similar to those of Early Jurassic marine dolomites, which indicates that ambient sea water was again a likely dolomitizing fluid. However, the spread of δ¹⁸Ο, δ¹³C and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values indicates that dolomitization occurred at slightly increased temperatures as a result of shallow (≈500 m) burial or that dolomitization was multistage. These data support the hypothesis that penesaline sea water can produce massive dolomitization in thick peritidal carbonates in the absence of evaporite precipitation. Taking earlier models into consideration, it appears that replacement dolomites can be produced by sea water or modified sea water with a wide range of salinities (normal, penesaline to hypersaline), provided that there is a driving mechanism for fluid migration. The Gibraltar dolomites confirm other reports of significant Early Jurassic dolomitization in the western Tethys carbonate platforms.     

塔里木盆地顺南501井鹰山组白云岩储层特征与成因

塔里木盆地顺南地区多口钻井揭示在白云岩储层中天然气富集成藏,但白云岩储层的成因存在争议。顺南501井鹰山组取芯段发育白云岩储层,为研究该地区白云岩储层成因提供了条件。通过岩芯观察与描述、显微岩石学、成岩作用与序列研究、基于铸体薄片的孔隙图像分析、计算机断层扫描、电子探针背散射成像与微量元素Fe、Mn定量、流体包裹体等技术手段,研究了白云岩储层特征与成因。结果表明,白云岩储层类型为裂缝-孔隙型,主要储集空间为裂缝-扩溶缝、晶间孔-晶间溶孔,孔隙发育与裂缝具有明显相关关系。热液矿物萤石与方解石呈共生关系充填于裂缝与孔隙空间。裂缝与孔隙附近的白云石、白云石环边以及与萤石共生的方解石均具有较高的FeO、MnO含量。萤石发育成群无色透明盐水包裹体,均一温度为165℃~175℃、盐度为15.5~17.5 wt.% NaCl equiv.。热液流体活动对围岩的改造导致局部方解石、白云石富Fe2+、Mn2+,同时提供了萤石结晶所需要的F-。一方面热液流体改造白云岩形成储集空间,另一方面以萤石与方解石为代表的热液矿物则充填裂缝与孔隙。因此,构造-热液流体活动在一定程度上影响了白云岩储集空间的形成。     

Effect of saline water bodies on the hydrogeochemical evaluation of groundwater at Kalpakkam coastal site, Tamil Nadu

Geochemical signatures of groundwater in Kalpakkam plant site were used to identify the geochemistry of the unconfined coastal aquifer. Ground water samples collected from 14 borewells around the study area were studied for four different seasons viz. Summer, South-west monsoon, North-east monsoon and Post-monsoon to identify the major geochemical processes activated in the study area. Data obtained through chemical analyses of groundwater samples were used for graphical plots and geochemical calculations. Piper, Chloro alkaline indices and Chadda’s diagram were determined for geochemical classification of the groundwaters. Identified geochemical processes were verified and quantified using hydrogeochemical aqueous speciation model, PHREEQC to find out the Saturation Indices (SI) of the possible minerals of the study area. It was observed that majority of the bore well samples were under saturated with respect to minerals such as Gypsum, Aragonite and oversaturated with respect to dolomite and calcite. Parameters such as ion exchange and reverse ion exchange, saline water incursion were observed due to the presence of saline water bodies in addition to dissolution of minerals.     

Microbial dolomite crusts from the carbonate platform off western India

Abstract The occurrence of Late Pleistocene dolomite crusts that occur at 64 m depth on the carbonate platform off western India is documented. Dolomite is the most predominant mineral in the crusts. In thin section, the crust consists of dolomitized microlaminae interspersed with detrital particles. Under scanning electron microscopy, these laminae are made up of tubular filaments or cellular structures of probable cyanobacterial origin. Dolomite crystals encrust or overgrow the surfaces of the microbial filaments and/or cells; progressive mineralization obliterates their morphology. Well-preserved microbial mats, sulphide minerals (pyrrhotite and marcasite) and the stable isotope composition of dolomite in the crusts indicate hypersaline and anoxic conditions during dolomite formation. The crusts are similar to dolomite stromatolites, and biogeochemical processes related to decaying microbial mats under anoxic conditions probably played an important role in dolomite precipitation. The dolomite is therefore primary and/or very early diagenetic in origin. The dolomite crusts are interpreted to be a composite of microbial dolomite overprinted by early burial organic dolomite. The results of this study suggest that a microbial model for dolomite formation may be relevant for the origin of ancient massive dolomites in marine successions characterized by cryptalgal laminites. The age of the crusts further suggests that the platform was situated at shallow subtidal depths during the Last Glacial Maximum.     

塔西南坳陷中新生代蒸发岩沉积初探

通过资料搜集、蒸发岩野外露头地质调查、石盐岩沉积特征分析及盐类矿物学研究,对塔里木盆地塔西南坳陷中新生代蒸发岩的分布、层位、盐类矿物组合、成因进行了初步探讨。塔西南坳陷石盐岩沉积呈透镜体状,主要沿西昆仑山前分布,常含有褐红色、灰绿色泥砾,泥砾岩性与吐依洛克组下段岩性一致,推测应为吐依洛克组沉积晚期海退期成盐,其层位应归属于吐依洛克组上段。石盐岩透镜体在横向分布上不连续,反映了当时塔西南坳陷内部可能存在多个古盐湖次级凹地,其在干旱气候条件下经浓缩蒸发成盐。蒸发岩矿物除石盐、石膏外,还见有杂卤石、钙芒硝等,其中杂卤石可能为后期富钾卤水交代原生石膏的产物,而乌泊1井石盐表面大量的次生钙芒硝可能为盐湖后期石盐析出阶段含钙地下水缓慢持续补给盐湖的产物。     

西沙群岛西科1井中新统-上新统白云岩微观特征及成因

西科1井白云岩主要分布于上中新统黄流组, 在上新统莺歌海组二段和中中新统梅山组有零星分布; 主要的白云岩层段一般发育在褐色铁质矿物浸染的古暴露面之下.根据岩石铸体薄片观察、阴极发光及扫描电镜测试分析, 西科1井白云岩中白云石总体上呈微晶及细粉晶双峰态结构, 微晶白云石为灰岩基质经选择性白云石化的结果, 呈平直晶面半自形晶, 主要为泥微晶基质白云石化的结果; 粉晶-细晶白云石呈平直晶面自形晶, 为胶结物白云石或过度白云化结果, 过度白云化雾心亮边白云石的"亮边"与胶结物白云石成分一致, 阴极发光下二者显示同样的光性特征.微量元素测试及碳氧同位素测试表明: 白云岩一般具有低铁、低锰含量, δ18O_PDB均为正值, 变化于2.293‰~5.072‰之间, δ13C_PDB变化于1.214‰~3.051‰之间; 西科1井白云岩与西琛1井白云岩具有相似的层位分布特征和碳、氧同位素特征, 可能反映着相同或相似的成因.回流渗透模式可能适用于西沙地区白云岩, 频繁的海平面升降、环礁内蒸发环境及与中新世末期构造运动有关的热流体上涌促进了西沙地区白云岩的形成, 高渗透性礁相碳酸盐岩沉积为高Mg/Ca比值的蒸发水回流渗透提供了运移通道.      

Continental evaporites and the search for evidence of life on Mars

Continental evaporites are deposits that originate from the evaporation of saline waters in the low areas of saline lakes from all continents, except Europe, and mainly consist of chloride, sulphate and potash minerals. In recent years, the discovery on the Martian surface of hydrated salt minerals, including sulphates and chlorides, interpreted as deriving from the desiccation of preexisting large bodies of water, such as lakes, has provided further convincing evidence of liquid water activity on the surface of Mars and, consequently, it has reinforced the plausibility of finding life. Because evaporites require short‐term aqueous processes for their formation, they can trap and preserve over geologic times a biological record made up of halophilic extremophiles—such as microalgae, bacteria, and their remains—that recent research on Earth has shown to be characterized by unexpectedly high biodiversity. This record may consist of varying types of fossils, including morphological fossils, chemofossils and biominerals. As a consequence, continental evaporite environments and their saline deposits are now a primary target for the near future astrobiology missions devoted to the search for fossil Martian life. Lacustrine evaporite deposits and minerals have, therefore, been identified as primary targets for the NASA–ESA joint programme of the Mars sample return, planned for the end of the current decade. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.