The development of a burkeite-dominated salt crust – an example of evaporite sedimentation in a saline pan with non-monomineralic deposits

A salt crust from an ephemeral saline lake in northern Namibia includes a basal thenardite layer (Na₂SO₄), followed by intervals consisting of burkeite (Na₆(CO₃)(SO₄)₂) with a palisade-type fabric that are separated by layers of fine-grained burkeite. All palisade burkeite formed as coatings along the sides of the neighbouring intervals and around thin lenses of fine-grained burkeite. During the development of these coatings, the original constituents of the intervals that they now occupy were dissolved. Textural features indicate that the dissolved deposits were composed at least in part of halite crystals. The study of this crust illustrates the complexity of evaporite sedimentation in ephemeral saline lakes where more than one dominant mineral is formed. In the studied basin, selective dissolution of the most soluble salts occurred during flooding stages, partly affecting subsurface occurrences that consisted of continuous beds. The final product is a nearly monomineralic deposit, derived from a layered non-monomineralic formation. The deposit developed to a large extent by subsurface crystal growth in a subaqueous setting, rather than by mineral formation along the brine–sediment interface or under subaerial conditions.     

An explanation for the varves of the Castile evaporites (Upper Permian), Texas and New Mexico, USA

Abstract Extraordinary sequences of conspicuous, pervasive and laterally persistent varves characterize the Castile evaporites. They occur as singlets (calcite laminae), couplets (calcite laminae interstratified with anhydrite laminae), thick couplets (calcite laminae interstratified with thin anhydrite beds) and triplets (calcite and anhydrite laminae interstratified with thin halite beds). The varves accumulated in a deep (initially ≈ 550 m), persistently stratified, saline lake surrounded by an extinct reef. The lake had formed when the reef grew across a channel between an embayment and the ocean. Although located virtually on the palaeo-equator, the lake experienced negligible meteoric influx and extreme seasonality. During the season of high relative humidity, more marine groundwater entered the lake through the permeable reef barrier than exited as reflux and, secondarily, as evaporation. Consequently, the lake level rose by up to several metres to sea level. The ‘refreshening’ decreased salinity and replenished dissolved CO₂– the critical nutrient limiting growth of indigenous phytoplankton. Algae proliferated, pH increased and CaCO₃ precipitated. It mixed with organic matter to form a thin, dark lamina. During the season of low relative humidity, tens of cubic kilometres of water evaporated from and, secondarily, leaked out through the surrounding reef. More water exited than entered, brine level fell below sea level, and salinity of the upper brine layer increased. Gypsum usually precipitated and rained onto the basin floor forming a couplet; infrequently, halite also precipitated forming a triplet. Every few thousand years, for <50 to several hundred years, the lake became unstratified during the dry season, and wind-induced overturn allowed a layer of gypsum crystals up to ≈ 2 cm high to precipitate on the basin floor. Each layer, now thin beds of anhydrite nodules and anhydrite pseudomorphs after gypsum, and an underlying lamina of CaCO₃ and admixed organic matter formed a thick couplet. The different varve types recur with a period of 1800–3000 years reflecting climatic changes on a millennial time scale.     

金坛盆地云林凹陷古近系阜宁组石盐矿缺失原因研究

文章依据研究区内施工的二维地震勘查及钻探验证工程等相关资料,结合邻区揭露地层对比,分析了预测结果产生误差的原因,并对区域内较发育的断层对金坛盆地石盐成矿的影响进行了系统研究。结果表明单一地球物理方法勘查的不确定性,是使得预测结果产生误差的重要原因。区内DF1、DF2断层形成时间晚于阜宁组形成时间,对石盐沉积成矿不构成影响。形成于始新世―古新世F19正断层,导致位于该断层下盘的云林凹陷整体抬升,使得阜宁组含盐系地层被剥蚀,而位于该断层上盘的荣炳矿区阜宁组上段地层则发生同沉积加厚,形成石盐资源。     

云南兰坪-思茅盆地和老挝钾盐矿床物质来源新认识

云南兰坪-思茅盆地勐野井钾盐矿与泰国—老挝的钾盐矿的成矿关系被认为可能具有同源性,尤其深部热液可能是其重要的物质来源之一。针对该观点氢氧同位素证据缺乏、且深部热液到底是哪种热液尚不清楚的问题,文中根据老挝钻孔ZK2893中石盐包裹体水的氢氧同位素分析结果:δ~(18)O为-2.3‰~9.5‰,平均值为2.9‰,δD的范围为-78‰~-150‰,平均值为-108.6‰,大部分小于-90‰;在δD-δ~(18)O关系图上,数据点均在交代热液范围内,因此推断,老挝钾盐成矿的深部热液为大气降水与围岩形成的交代热液,围岩提供了重要的成矿物质。此项分析还表明老挝的交代热液温度主要集中在150℃左右,即包裹体形成的温度可能也在150℃左右,云南兰坪—思茅石盐包裹体的捕获温度为145℃左右,最高达170℃,二者比较接近,这为两地钾盐矿同源的可能性提供了新的证据。     

江陵凹陷早始新世石盐流体包裹体均一温度研究及其古气候意义

近年来江陵凹陷因深层富钾卤水及钾盐矿物的发现受到各界的关注。而钾盐的形成与古环境有着密切的联系。本文通过石盐包裹体均一温度的研究,对江陵凹陷早始新世古气候进行了初步探讨,力求为确定江陵凹陷成钾有利期提供一定依据。通过对石盐样品中的单一液相流体包裹体采用冷冻法进行均一温度测定,测温结果显示其均一温度范围是14.9~32.3℃,均值23.7℃,且各样品间温度数据波动不大。由此说明,江陵凹陷早始新世新沟嘴组中段的古气温较高,且比较稳定,属于温暖干旱的气候。此外,还通过分析比对前人研究成果,发现该区域古气温自沙市组至新沟嘴组下段有明显降低的趋势,这可能与古新世—始新世极热事件(PETM)之后的降温期有关。     

Glauberite–halite association of the Zaragoza Gypsum Formation (Lower Miocene, Ebro Basin, NE Spain)

Glauberite is the most common mineral in the ancient sodium sulphate deposits in the Mediterranean region, although its origin, primary or diagenetic, continues to be a matter of debate. A number of glauberite deposits of Oligocene–Miocene age in Spain display facies characteristics of sedimentologic significance, in particular those in which a glauberite–halite association is predominant. In this context, a log study of four boreholes in the Zaragoza Gypsum Formation (Lower Miocene, Ebro Basin, NE Spain) was carried out. Two glauberite–halite lithofacies associations, A and B, are distinguished: association (A) is composed of bedded cloudy halite and minor amounts of massive and clastic glauberite; association (B) is made up of laminated to thin‐bedded, clear macrocrystalline, massive, clastic and contorted lithofacies of glauberite, and small amounts of bedded cloudy halite. Transparent glauberite cemented by clear halite as well as normal‐graded and reverse‐graded glauberite textures are common. This type of transparent glauberite is interpreted as a primary, subaqueous precipitate. Gypsum, thenardite or mirabilite are absent in the two associations. The depositional environment is interpreted as a shallow perennial saline lake system, in which chloride brines (association A) and sulphate–(chloride) brines (association B) are developed. The geochemical study of halite crystals (bromine contents and fluid inclusion compositions) demonstrates that conditions for co‐precipitation of halite and glauberite, or for precipitation of Na‐sulphates (mirabilite, thenardite) were never fulfilled in the saline lake system.     

Predictive simulation of three exploitation schemes for the brines in the Bieletan section of the Charham Salt Lake, China

Potassium-rich halite ores and brines occur in the Charham Salt Lake area in the Chaidam Basin in northwest China. The mean 14.3 g/l of potassium in the brines in the near-surface halite aquifer makes the Charham Salt Lake an important base for production of potassium fertilizer in China. About 30×10⁴ m³/day of brines has been pumped from the current ditches in the Bieletan section in the west of the area, creating a cone of depression in the water table near the ditch system. A two-dimensional mathematic model describing the flow of the brines is established to predict the changes in the water table. The flow domain was discretized into 1,185 triangular elements with 641 nodes. Data of brine production through pumping ditches from November 2002 to August 2003 were used to identify the model. The developed model can be employed to predict the exploitation regimes caused by three proposed exploitation schemes A, B and C. A withdrawal rate of 22.67×10⁴ m³/day of brines is pumped through the current ditch system in scheme A and through the current ditch system plus 16 wells in scheme B. The results of the 5 years predictive simulation for schemes A and B indicate that these rates will cause a normal fall in water table in the pumping period of 9 months and a rise in water table in the recovery period of 3 months in each of the 5 years, with one depression cone near the current ditches in scheme A and two depression cones near the current ditches and the proposed wells in scheme B. In scheme C three more ditch systems are proposed to be excavated in the northeast, northwest and southwest of the Bieletan section and brines are pumped through each of the four ditch systems in turn for 1 year in every 4 years. The predictive simulation results of scheme C suggest that normal changes in the water table will also be expected and a continual increasing or decreasing trend in the water table will not be encountered in a 12-year period of prediction. The water table near each of the four ditch systems will recover sufficiently after a 39-month recovery.     

Evaporation Stage of Paleo-saline Lake in the Sichuan Basin, China: Insight from Fluid inclusions in Halite

Sichuan Basin is one of the most important marine–salt forming basins in China. The Simian and Triassic have a large number of evaporites. The Triassic strata have found a large amount of polyhalite and potassium-rich brine. However, no soluble potassium salt deposit were found. In this study, the halite in well Changping 3 which is located at the eastern part of the Sichuan basin was studied using the characteristics, hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of the fluid inclusion in halite to reconstruct the paleoenvironment. The salt rocks in well Changping 3 can be divided into two types: grey salt rock and orange salt rock. The result shows that the isotopic composition of the halite fluid inclusion is distinct from the global precipitation line reflecting that the salt formation process is under strong evaporation conditions and the climate is extremely dry. At the same time, compared with the hydrogen and oxygen isotopes of brine in the Sichuan Basin and the hydrous isotope composition of the inclusions in the salt inclusions of other areas in China, it is shown that the evaporation depth of the ancient seawater in the Sichuan Basin was high and reached the precipitation of potassium and magnesium stage.     

Ancient Microorganisms and Carotenoids Preserved in Fluid Inclusions in Halite from Chaka Salt Lake,Western China: Evidence from Micro-observation and in situ Raman Spectroscopy

Trapped ancient microorganisms in halite fluid inclusions are of special interest to the understanding of biology and ecology in salt lake systems.With the integration of petrologic,microthermometric,and Raman spectroscopic analyses,this study utilizes fluid inclusions from Chaka Salt Lake,eastern Qaidam Basin,NW China,to assess the possibility of microorganism-trapping by fluid inclusions.Here,we report that the solid phase of some primary fluid inclusions contains carotenoids,which is interpreted as evidence of Dunaliella algae,and that the coexisting liquid phase comprises SO_4~(2-).The homogenization temperatures of single-phase primary fluid inclusions indicate that the precipitation temperature of the Holocene halite in Chaka Salt Lake ranges from 13.5°C to 36.4°C.This suggests that fluid inclusions in halite are a good medium for trapping and preserving ancient microorganisms and organic matter in salt lakes,and that Raman spectroscopy has good potential to identify halophilic archaea.     

地震作用下岩盐层套变规律研究

5.12汶川特大地震发生后,某气田在岩盐层段发现了多口井套变,为了能有效地治理,急需了解其套变的原因和规律。为此,利用真三维接触有限元分析方法研究了震前套管应力和变形分布规律,并在原有边界条件基础上,在模型的顶面进一步施加不同震级地震载荷,重新分析套管应力和变形的分布规律。对比二者分析的结果发现：无论是震前还是震后都显示岩盐层段套管的应力和变形水平明显高于套管其他部位,且基本规律是震级越高套管在岩盐层段的应力水平和变形越大。对比有限元计算震前和震后套管应力和变形的结果还发现,仅5.12特大地震载荷的竖向分量所产生的应力水平已经超过了套管的屈服强度极限,因此,可以判定此次地震是导致该气田盐岩层段出现套变的真正原因。