The onset of the Messinian salinity crisis in the deep Eastern Mediterranean basin

Astronomical tuning of the Messinian pre‐salt succession in the Levant Basin allows for the first time the reconstruction of a detailed chronology of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) events in deep setting and their correlation with marginal records that supports the CIESM ( 2008 ) 3‐stage model. Our main conclusions are (1) MSC events were synchronous across marginal and deep basins, (2) MSC onset in deep basins occurred at 5.97 Ma, (3) only foraminifera‐barren, evaporite‐free shales accumulated in deep settings between 5.97 and 5.60 Ma, (4) deep evaporites (anhydrite and halite) deposition started later, at 5.60 Ma and (5) new and published ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr data indicate that during all stages, evaporites precipitated from the same water body in all the Mediterranean sub‐basins. The wide synchrony of events and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr homogeneity implies inter‐sub‐basin connection during the whole MSC and is not compatible with large sea‐level fall and desiccation of the Mediterranean.     

The Mediterranean Messinian salinity crisis: an Apennine foredeep perspective

Owing to its expanded stratigraphic sections, the Apennine thrust belt offers the opportunity to better understand the evaporitic and post-evaporitic Messinian events. A physical stratigraphic framework of Messinian deposits, based on facies analysis and basin-wide correlation of key surfaces and sedimentary cycles, is presented. It is shown that the Messinian Apennine foredeep had marginal basins with shallow-water primary evaporites and deeper basins where resedimented evaporites accumulated under relatively deep-water conditions. Like many other Mediterranean examples, primary shallow-water evaporites of Apenninic marginal basins show evidence for subaerial exposure and erosion. However, the development of such an erosional surface does not correspond to the deposition of primary evaporites in the deepest part of the basin(s); here, the unconformity can be traced towards the base of resedimented evaporites or to a level within them, implying that the deeper basins of the Apennine foredeep never underwent desiccation during the Messinian salinity crisis, but rather received the eroded marginal evaporites. This fact, usually overlooked, raises important questions about the deep desiccation model of the Mediterranean.     

Sedimentology and paleoenvironmental evolution of Messinian evaporites in the Iskenderun-Hatay basin complex, Southern Turkey

Messinian evaporites, which resulted from the salinity crisis during the final closure of the Mediterranean Sea, are exposed in SE Turkey. These evaporites formed in two isolated sub-basins, Iskenderun-Arsuz (IA) and Hatay-Samanda? (HS), which belong to different depositional configurations and tectonic structures. The Neogene fill of these sub-basins consists of a thick sedimentary succession that started with Early Miocene terrestrial clastics, followed by reefs (Middle Miocene) and shallow water siliciclastics (Tortonian - Early to Late Miocene) and finally Messinian evaporates. These sub-basins accumulated in a diverse range of depositional environments from very shallow to deeper water. Evaporite facies in the IA sub-basin consist of sabkhas, saline lagoons and ponds. They are mainly represented by chemical deposits such as scattered gypsum nodules and balls, nodular bedded gypsum, laminated gypsum (Type-A) and selenites (Type-S1). Evaporites in the HS sub-basin mainly consist of detrital gypsum composed of gypsum laminae (Type-B, C), gypsum arenite-rudites and deeper water selenites (≤ 20 m), and resedimented selenites (Type-S2), which were deposited on a sulfate platform with a slope-basin transitional zone. Secondary gypsum with alabastrine and porphyroblastic textures as well as satin spar veins is commonly associated with the sabkha-type evaporites of the IA sub-basin. Deeper-water clastic evaporites of the HS sub-basin have generally remained as primary gypsum or have only been slightly affected by diagenetic alterations. The isotope values (^87/86Sr; δ¹⁸O SMOW; and δ³⁴S CDT) from the different kinds of gypsum lithofacies of the sub-basin are similar to those of the Messinian evaporites in other peri-Mediterranean basins, indicating an origin from marine water without external or basinal contributions.The Messinian evaporites examined in this paper are overlain by Early Pliocene (Zanclean) deposits composed of shallow- and deep-water siliciclastics and carbonates with local intercalations of Lago-Mare-type strata. Throughout the Messinian evaporitic stage, the IA sub-basin was mainly comprised of shallow water evaporites, while the HS sub-basin underwent deepening related to regional tectonics induced by the Dead Sea Fault during the construction of the Hatay Graben.     

Messinian events in the Black Sea

Past hydrological interactions between the Mediterranean Sea and Black Sea are poorly resolved due to complications in establishing a high‐resolution time frame for the Black Sea. We present a new greigite‐based magnetostratigraphic age model for the Mio‐Pliocene deposits of DSDP Hole 380/380A, drilled in the southwestern Black Sea. This age model is complemented by ⁴⁰Ar/³⁹Ar dating of a volcanic ash layer, allowing a direct correlation of Black Sea deposits to the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC) interval of the Mediterranean Sea. Proxy records divide these DSDP deposits into four intervals: (i) Pre‐MSC marine conditions (6.1–6.0 Ma); (ii) highstand, fresh to brackish water conditions (~6.0–5.6 Ma); (iii) lowstand, fresh‐water environment (5.6–5.4 Ma) and (iv) highstand, fresh‐water conditions (5.4–post 5.0 Ma). Our results indicate the Black Sea was a major fresh‐water source during gypsum precipitation in the Mediterranean Sea. The introduction of Lago Mare fauna during the final stage of the MSC coincides with a sea‐level rise in the Black Sea. Across the Mio‐Pliocene boundary, sea‐level and salinity in the Black Sea did not change significantly.     

Age refinement of the Messinian salinity crisis onset in the Mediterranean

We propose a revised age calibration of the Messinian salinity crisis onset in the Mediterranean at 5.971 Ma based on the recognition of an extra gypsum cycle in the transitional interval of the Perales section (Sorbas basin, Spain) and the revision of the magnetostratigraphy of the Monticino section (Vena del Gesso basin, Italy). This age re‐calibration allows to state more accurately that: (i) the interval encompassing the MSC‐onset is continuous, thus ruling out any erosional feature or stratigraphic hiatus related to a major sea‐level fall affecting the Mediterranean; (ii) the first gypsum was deposited during the summer insolation peak at 5.969 Ma associated with an eccentricity minimum and roughly coincident with glacial stage TG32; (iii) the MSC‐onset was preconditioned by the tectonically‐driven reduction of the hydrological exchanges with the Atlantic Ocean and finally triggered by glacial conditions in the northern hemisphere and by arid conditions in northern Africa.     

Messinian deposits and erosion in northern Tunisia: inferences on Strait of Sicily during the Messinian Salinity Crisis

Outcrops, offshore wells, electric logs and seismic profiles from northern Tunisia provide an opportunity to decipher the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the Strait of Sicily. Messinian deposits (including gypsum beds) near the Tellian Range reveal two successive subaerial erosional surfaces overlain by breccias and marine Zanclean clays, respectively. In the Gulf of Tunis, Messinian thick evaporites (mostly halite) are strongly eroded by a fluvial canyon infilled with Zanclean clays. The first erosional phase is referred to the intra-Messinian tectonic phase and is analogous to that found in Sicily. The second phase corresponds to the Messinian Erosional Surface that postdates the marginal evaporites, to which the entire Sicilian evaporitic series must refer. The Western and Eastern Mediterranean basins were separated during deposition of the central evaporites.     

Deep-water clastic evaporites deposition in the Messinian Adriatic foredeep (northern Apennines,Italy): did the Mediterranean ever dry out?

A new genetic facies model for deep-water clastic evaporites is presented, based on work carried out on the Messinian Gessoso-solfifera Formation of the northern Apennines during the last 15 years. This model is derived from the most recent siliciclastic turbidite models and describes the downcurrent transformations of a parent flow mainly composed of gypsum clasts. The model allows clearer comprehension of processes controlling the production and deposition of clastic evaporites, representing the most common evaporite facies of the northern Apennines, and the definition of the genetic and stratigraphic relationship with primary shallow-water evaporites formed and preserved in marginal settings. Due to the severe recrystallization processes usually affecting these deposits, petrographic and geochemical analyses are needed for a more accurate interpretation of the large spectrum of recognized gravity-driven deposits ranging from debrisflow to low-density turbidites. Almost all the laminar ‘balatino’ gypsum, previously considered a deep-water primary deposit, is here reinterpreted as the fine-grained product of high to low-density gravity flows. Facies associations permit the framing of the distribution of clastic evaporites into the complex tectonically controlled depositional settings of the Apennine foredeep basin. The Messinian Salinity Crisis occurred during an intense phase of geodynamic reorganization of the Mediterranean area that also produced the fragmentation of the former Miocene Apennine foredeep basin. In this area, primary shallow-water evaporites equivalent to the Mediterranean Lower Evaporites, apparently only formed in semi-closed thrust-top basins like the Vena del Gesso Basin. The subsequent uplift and subaerial exposure of such basins ended the evaporite precipitation and promoted a widespread phase of collapse leading to the resedimentation of the evaporites into deeper basins. Vertical facies sequences of clastic evaporites can be interpreted in terms of the complex interplay between the Messinian tectonic evolution of the Apennine thrust belt and related exhumation–erosional processes. The facies model here proposed could be helpful also for better comprehension of other different depositional and geodynamic contexts; the importance of clastic evaporites deposits has been overlooked in the study of other Mediterranean areas. Based on the Apennine basins experience, it is suggested here that evaporites diffused into the deeper portions of the Mediterranean basin may consist mainly of deep-water resedimented deposits rather than shallow-water to supratidal primary evaporites indicative of a complete basin desiccation.     

Passive‐roof thrusting in the Messinian Vena del Gesso Basin (Northern Apennines,Italy): constraints from field data and analogue models

We present the results of a study of the Vena del Gesso Basin (Romagna Apennines, Italy) integrating field analyses and analogue modelling. This basin represents one of the best‐preserved top‐thrust basins in the Northern Apennines foreland and is one of the few examples where primary evaporites, related to the Messinian salinity crisis of the Mediterranean, widely crop out. The structural style affecting the Messinian gypsum is examined to get insights into the mechanism responsible for the overall deformation features recognizable in the area. The evaporites are completely detached at the base and widespread back‐thrusts, repeatedly doubling these deposits, strongly contrast with the regional forelandward vergence of structures in the Apennines. On the basis of the comparison between field data and experimental results, the features characterising this area can be described as the result of the deformation linked to the sequential activation of an obliquely propagating passive‐roof duplex. Analogue models evidenced the major role played (1) by syntectonic erosion that promoted the development of passive‐roof duplex style, as well as (2) the role of décollement level pinch‐out that determined an oblique progression of deformation. Finally our data lead to reconsider the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction concerning the onset of the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

The end of the Messinian Salinity Crisis in the western Mediterranean: Insights from the carbonate platforms of south-eastern Spain

How the Messinian Salinity Crisis (MSC) ended is still a matter of intense debate. The Terminal Carbonate Complex (TCC) is a late Messinian carbonate platform system that recorded western Mediterranean hydrological changes from the final stages of evaporite deposition till the advent of Lago-Mare fresh- to brackish water conditions at the very end of Messinian times. A multidisciplinary study has been carried out in three localities in south-eastern Spain to reconstruct the history of TCC platforms and elucidate their significance in the MSC. Overall, this study provides evidence that the TCC formed following a regional 4th order water level rise and fall concomitant with an opening-restriction trend. It can be subdivided into four 5th order depositional sequences (DS1 to DS4) recording two phases: (1) from DS1 to DS3, a tide-dominated ooidic to oobioclastic system with stenohaline faunas developed as a result of a 70 m water level rise. During this period, the TCC developed in a shallow sea with close to normal marine salinity; (2) in depositional sequence 4, a microbialite-dominated platform system developed. This is indicative of a significant environmental change and is attributed to a 30 to 40 m water level fall in the basins under study. These restricted conditions were coeval with intense evaporite deformation and brine recycling. The syn-sedimentary deformation of evaporites had a major impact on platform architecture and carbonate production, affecting the Messinian series throughout south-eastern Spain at the end of the TCC history. At that time, the TCC developed in a lake with fluctuating, brackish- to hypersaline water. These findings suggest a temporary restoration of marine conditions in the western Mediterranean marginal basins due to Atlantic water influxes prompted by a global sea level rise around 5.6 Ma. Whether marine conditions extended to the entire western Mediterranean still needs to be investigated.     

A new facies model for the Upper Gypsum of Sicily (Italy): chronological and palaeoenvironmental constraints for the Messinian salinity crisis in the Mediterranean

The Upper Gypsum unit of the Caltanissetta Basin (Sicily) records the last phase of the Messinian salinity crisis comprising the so‐called ‘Lago Mare’ event. A new facies analysis study recognizes nine to ten depositional cycles consisting of seven rhythmically interbedded primary gypsum bodies, and two to three sandstone bodies separated by marly terrigenous horizons showing laterally persistent vertical organization. A basal thin gypsum bed is overlain by a cluster of five thicker gypsum bodies. A marly interval containing two distinct sandstone horizons separates this cluster from the overlying uppermost (seventh) gypsum body. The terrigenous Arenazzolo Formation, in turn followed by the lower Pliocene Trubi Formation, is considered here to form the uppermost part of the Upper Gypsum unit. The rhythmic alternation in the sandy marls and gypsum/sandstone bodies records the response of sediments from shelfal to deltaic systems to precession‐driven arid‐wet climate fluctuations causing cyclical changes of both base‐level and water concentration. During wet climate phases (at insolation maxima) marl and sandstone were deposited in a hypohaline environment as suggested by: (i) the typical Lago Mare faunal assemblage and (ii) the negative δ¹⁸O values. During arid phases (at insolation minima) the reduced meteoric supply, recorded by higher δ¹⁸O values in the carbonate, caused the development of a negative hydrological budget leading to evaporite precipitation. At a basinal scale the Upper Gypsum unit unconformably overlies a mainly clastic evaporite unit containing carbonate breccia (the so‐called ‘Calcare di Base’) and/or clastic gypsum. Towards the basin centres, where the basal contact becomes conformable, a primary gypsum cumulate horizon is present. This layer is interpreted as a possible lateral equivalent of the Halite unit present only in the deepest depocentres. Based on astronomical calibration of the depositional cycles, the Upper Gypsum unit, including the Arenazzolo Formation, spans the interval between 5·33 and 5·53 Ma. This new age calibration allows the deposition of the Halite unit to be dated between 5·6 Ma (top of the Lower Evaporites) and 5·55 Ma (base of the Upper Evaporites) corresponding to isotopic stages TG12 and/or TG14.     

Depositional environments of Upper Miocene (Messinian) evaporites of Sicily as determined from analysis of intercalated carbonates

Various workers have suggested that the Upper Miocene (Messinian) evaporites of the Sicilian Basin formed in a topographic basin of considerable relief, filled with hypersaline water. Our studies indicate that this basin contained shallow water, at least during the deposition of the carbonate rocks intercalated between the gypsum beds. We recognize four basic kinds of limestone: (1) pelletal and pisolitic limestone; (2) skeletal limestone; (3) oöitic limestone, and (4) laminated lime-stone-dolostone. Modern analogs suggest that three of these four kinds of carbonate must have formed close to or above sea level. The evidence supporting this contention includes pellets with algal coatings, pisolites, quiet-water oöids, and algal laminates. Therefore we suggest that the evaporites associated with these carbonates may likewise have formed in relatively shallow water. An alternative conclusion would be that the level of the sea, and the salinity, underwent irregular patterns of profound change.     

Multiepisodic evaporite sedimentation as an indicator of palaeogeographical evolution in foreland basins (South‐eastern Pyrenean basin,Early–Middle Eocene)

Extensive deposition of marine evaporites occurred during the Early–Middle Eocene in the South‐eastern Pyrenean basin (north‐east Spain). This study integrates stratigraphic and geochemical analyses of subsurface data (oil wells, seismic profiles and gravity data) together with field surveys to characterize this sedimentation in the foredeep and adjacent platform. Four major evaporite units were identified. The oldest was the Serrat Evaporites unit, with a platform‐slope‐basin configuration. Thick salina and sabkha sulphates accumulated on the platform, whereas resedimented and gravity‐derived sulphates were deposited on the slope, and salt and sulphates were deposited in the deep basin. In the subsequent unit (Vallfogona evaporites), thin sulphates formed on the platform, whereas very thick siliciclastic turbidites accumulated in the foredeep. However, some clastic gypsum coming from the platform (gypsarenites and gypsum olistoliths) was intercalated in these turbidites. The following unit, the Beuda Gypsum Formation developed in a sulphate platform‐basin configuration, where the topography of the depositional surface had become smooth. The youngest unit, the Besalú Gypsum, formed in a shallow setting. This small unit provides the last evidence of marine influence in a residual basin. Sulphur and oxygen isotope compositions are consistent with a marine origin for all evaporites. However, δ³⁴S and δ¹⁸O values also suggest that, except for the oldest unit (Serrat Evaporites), there was some sulphate recycling from the older into the younger units. The South‐eastern Pyrenean basin constitutes a fine example of a foreland basin that underwent multiepisodic evaporitic sedimentation. In the basin, depositional factors evolved with time under a structural control. Decreasing complexity is observed in the lithofacies, as well as in the depositional models, together with a diminishing thickness of the evaporite units.     

Depositional processes and basin analysis of Messinian evaporites in Cyprus

Messinian evaporites in Cyprus resulted from the interplay of Mediterranean-wide and eustatic sea-level changes and local tectonics, in an inferred above-subduction zone setting. Distinctive Tortonian-early Messinian pre-evaporitic facies include diatomaceous marls and microbial carbonates, overlain by a variety of gypsum facies and then by lagoonal-lacustrine deposits and local palaeosols. Facies analysis and comparisons allow construction of a simple model, in which evaporites formed in semi-isolated small basins not far below global eustatic sea-level. Coarsely crystalline gypsum formedin situ along the margins of small basins and within shallow-water lagoons (< 10 m deep); this comprised common banded-stacked (i.e. layered) selenite, swallowtail selenite, botryoidal selenite and sugary-bedded selenite. Fine-grained gypsum precipitated widely and was reworked into basinal areas (< 70 m deep) by weak traction currents and low-density turbidity currents. Shallow-water derived selenite was also reworked basinwards by high-density turbidity currents and debris flows. Slumps indicate tectonic instability. More detailed basin analysis can be achieved by study of individual sub-basins. In the Polemi sub-basin in the west, a Lower Unit (up to 60 m thick) comprises basinal gypsum, interbedded with gypsum turbidites and mass flow deposits, with slumps. This is overlain by an extensive mega-rudite (up to 20 m thick) including up to metre-sized clasts of marginal gypsum facies. Above, the Upper Unit (up to 70 m thick) includes shallow-water gypsum (e.g. swallowtails), marl and minor microbial carbonates. The Pissouri sub-basin in the south-west exposes marginal facies of the Upper Unit, including deltaic elastics and palaeosols. The Maroni sub-basin in the south exhibits a basinal lower gypsum unit, with laterally equivalent marginal facies (up to 50 m thick), overlain by an extensive mega-rudite (up to 20 m thick). Finally, the Mesaoria subbasin in the north exposes relatively marginal gypsum facies in an unstable tectonic setting. Formation of the Polemi, Pissouri and Mesaoria gypsum sub-basins relates to coeval extensional faulting and graben development. Evaporites in south Cyprus (Maroni sub-basin) formed in elongate basins between former compressional lineaments created by localized Early Miocene thrusting. In the sub-basins of west, south-west and south Cyprus, large-scale slumping of marginal gypsum facies took place towards depocentres (to form megarudite debris flows), triggered by one or several phases of extensional faulting.     

Gypsum–anhydrite transformations in Messinian evaporites of central Tuscany (Italy)

The Messinian succession of Tuscany (central Italy) contains three evaporitic units. Among the several exposed evaporitic lithofacies, only selenitic gypsum precipitated directly from evaporating brines. All the other facies, nodular microcrystalline gypsum, gypsarenites and gypsum laminites, despite their macroscopic differences, display the same petrographic textures, indicating that they are the product of dehydration of gypsum to give anhydrite which has been successively rehydrated to secondary gypsum. These secondary facies show an entire array of textures ranging from cloudy ameboid (xenotopic) with anhydrite relics, to idiotopic without anhydrite relics, that are here interpreted as a sequence of progressive stages of rehydration. The presence of completely hydrated petrofacies at the core of nodules which display a less hydrated rim suggests that these rocks have undergone at least two cycles of a dehydration–rehydration process. This interpretation is supported by the presence of satin spar veins that are replaced by microcrystalline gypsum. Satin spar itself is considered to be a by-product of anhydrite hydration. The first dehydration–rehydration event affected the entire gypsum deposit, producing a completely hydrated (idiotopic) facies together with satin spar veins; the second affected only veins, fractures and the rims of nodules, turning the first generation of satin spar and idiotopic gypsum into cloudy ameboid gypsum. Sedimentary structures typical of sabkha environments indicate for the youngest formation that the first dehydration and rehydration process occurred syndepositionally. The preservation of primary gypsum facies only at sites with condensed sections, indicate for the oldest two formations that the first dehydration event occurred upon burial. This event has been estimated to have occurred in the earliest Pliocene. After the Early Pliocene, dehydration was favored even at shallow depths, due to an increased heat flow related with the emplacement of local crustal magmatic bodies. Rehydration possibly occurred when these formations were uplifted and exposed to ground and/or meteoric water. The Volterra Basin has undergone alternating subsidence and uplift events, that can account for two dehydration–rehydration processes at least, also driven by alternating circulation, in the tectonic fractures, of fresh and salty water, the latter derived from dissolution of Messinian halite.     

The Pozzo del Sale Groundwaters (Irpinia, Southern Apennines, Italy): Origin and Mechanisms of Salinization

Chemical and water isotope ratios data for groundwaters from the Pozzo del Sale area in the Irpinia sector of the Southern Apennines are presented. The water chemistry of the aquifer system may initially be regarded as the result of easy and common, low temperature interaction between meteoric water and Late Messinian evaporites, which produce Ca-bicarbonate and Na-chloride passing through Ca-sulfate waters. However, a closer inspection reveals a more complicated geochemical setting consisting of: (1) two further Na-sulfate and Ca(Mg)-sulfate waters; (2) the existence of different meteoric recharge areas; (3) the mixing between the different groundwaters and allochthonous fluids from terrestrial mud volcanoes. The salinization mechanism and the local mineralogy were inferred by classical and novel ternary and binary diagrams. The presence of MgSO₄- and Na₂SO₄-bearing minerals of non-marine or mixed origin other than gypsum and halite within the local evaporites suggests a mineralogical heterogeneity within the local Messinian evaporites. The paleoenvironment of this sector of the Gessoso–Solfifera Formation might have been composed of relatively small playa-lakes fed by seawater but also large amounts of continental waters of meteoric origin.     

Neogene evaporites in desert volcanic environments: Atacama Desert, northern Chile

The Upper Miocene and Pliocene evaporite deposits of the Atacama Desert of northern Chile (Hilaricos and Soledad Formations) are among the few non‐marine evaporites in which aridity not only formed the deposits, but has also preserved them almost unaltered under near‐surface conditions. These deposits are largely composed of displacive Ca sulphate and halite together with minor amounts of glauberite, thenardite and polyhalite. However, at the base and top of these deposits, there are also beds of gypsum crystal pseudomorphs that originally formed as free‐growth forms within shallow brine bodies, rather than as displacive sediments. The halite is present as interstitial cement, displacive cubes and shallow‐water, bottom‐growth chevron crusts. Most of the calcium sulphate is presently anhydrite, pseudomorphous after gypsum, that was the primary depositional sulphate mineral. The secondary anhydrite formed under early diagenetic conditions after slight burial (some metres) resulting from the effect of strongly evolved pore brines. The anhydrite has been preserved without rehydration during late diagenetic and exhumation stages on account of the arid environment of the Atacama Desert. Both the Hilaricos and the Soledad Formations contain geochemical markers indicating that these Neogene evaporites had a largely non‐marine origin. Bromine content in the halite is very low (few p.p.m.), indicating neither a sedimentological relation with sea water nor the likelihood of direct recycling of prior marine halites. Moreover, the δ³⁴S of sulphates (+4·5‰ to +9‰) also reflects a non‐marine origin, with a strong volcanic influence, although some recycling of Mesozoic marine sulphates cannot be ruled out. δ³⁴S of dissolved sulphate from hot springs and streams in the area commonly displays positive values (+2‰ to +10‰). Leaching of oxidized sulphur and chlorine compounds from volcanoes and epithermal ore bodies, very common in the associated drainage areas, have been the main contribution to the accumulation of evaporites. The sedimentary and diagenetic evolution of the Hilaricos and Soledad evaporites (based on lithofacies analysis) provides information about the palaeohydrological conditions in the Central Depression of northern Chile during the Neogene. In addition, the diagenesis and exhumation history of these evaporites confirms the persistence of strongly arid conditions from Late Miocene until the present. A final phase of tectonism took place permitting the internal drainage to change and open to the sea, resulting in dissolution and removal of a significant portion of these deposits. Despite the extensive dissolution, the remaining evaporites have undergone little late exhumational hydration.     

Evaporites and siliciclastics of the Permian Nippewalla Group of Kansas, USA: a case for non-marine deposition in saline lakes and saline pans

The mid‐Permian Nippewalla Group of Kansas consists of bedded evaporites, red‐bed siliciclastics and grey siliciclastics deposited in a non‐marine environment. Lithologies and sedimentary features indicate lacustrine and aeolian deposition, subaerial exposure and palaeosol formation. Grey siliciclastic mudstones characterized by planar and convolute laminations, ostracods, peloids and plant material represent a freshwater‐brackish perennial lake facies. Bedded anhydrites containing gypsum‐crystal pseudomorphs, clastic anhydrite grains and grey mud drapes and partings suggest deposition in saline lakes. Bedded halites consist of chevron and cumulate crystals, dissolution surfaces and pipes and mudcracked microcrystalline salt crusts, which were deposited in saline pans dominated by flooding, evaporative concentration and desiccation. Chaotic halite, composed of red‐bed mudstone and siltstone with displacive halite crystals, formed in saline mudflats. Red‐bed mudstone and siltstone with little or no displacive halite, but with abundant cracking, root and plant features, suggest deposition in a dry mudflat. Red‐bed sandstone, composed of well‐sorted, well‐rounded quartz grains cemented with halite, indicate aeolian and rare shallow‐water deposition. Most deposition took place in halite‐dominated ephemeral saline lakes surrounded by saline and dry mudflats, sandflats and sand dunes. Evaporation, desiccation, flooding and wind played significant roles in this environment. The Nippewalla Group siliciclastics and evaporites represent an evolution from a perennial lacustrine system to a non‐marine, acidic saline pan system in the mid‐continent of North America. The problem of distinguishing between ancient marine and non‐marine evaporites, as well as recognizing those evaporites deposited in acid settings, with detailed field, core and petrographical study of both evaporite deposits and associated sedimentary rocks has successfully been addressed. In addition, interpretations of mid‐Permian palaeoclimate data in the form of short‐term air temperature proxies within longer‐term wet–dry trends have been made. These data provide a new palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic model for the mid‐Permian of western Pangaea.     

东濮凹陷濮卫环洼带层序划分与沉积体系

根据地层基准面原理,通过对岩心、测井、录井资料的综合分析,将研究区Es3.3-Es3.2层段的地层划分出4个中期地层旋回（层序）：MSC1,MSC2,MSC3,MSC4。其中大致发育2种类型的层序,即陆源碎屑岩层序和膏盐岩层序。陆源碎屑岩层序多形成于基准面上升期,以发育泥质岩夹浊积砂体、三角洲前缘砂质沉积为主;膏盐岩层序多形成于基准面下降期,以发育厚层的盐岩、膏盐岩、膏岩、泥膏岩、膏泥岩夹浊积席状砂为特征。识别出3种类型的沉积体系：较深水湖－浊积扇、较深水盐湖、浅湖－三角洲体系,并在层序格架内分析了各旋回的沉积体系构成和储层砂体的发育情况。综合分析生、储、盖条件后认为,在垂向上,MSC2上升半旋回为本区最有利的储集层段;在平面上,本区的油气勘探应主要寻找洼陷东、西两侧断层下降盘的浊积砂体,主要储层砂体类型为浊积水道及浊积席状砂。     

Diagenetic evolution of Aptian evaporites in the Namibe Basin (south‐west Angola)

The widespread and dissected nature of the Angolan gypsiferous salt residuals offers a uniquely detailed view of the lateral and vertical relations inherent to secondary evaporite textures, which typify exhumed salt masses worldwide. Such secondary textures are sometimes misinterpreted as primary evaporite textures. Thin, metre‐scale and patchy, dome‐like gypsum accumulations are well‐exposed within strongly incised present‐day river valleys along the eastern margin of the Namibe and Benguela basins (south‐west Angola). These sections are time equivalent to the main basinward subsurface evaporites (Aptian Loeme Formation) which mostly consist of halite. The gypsum (here called the Bambata Formation) is interpreted to represent the final residual product of fractional dissolution and recrystallization of the halite mass that occurred during Late Cretaceous margin uplift and continues today. This halite underwent multiple episodes of diagenetic alteration between its deposition and its final exhumation, leading to the formation of various secondary gypsum fabrics and solution‐related karst and breccia textures that typify the current evaporite outcrop. Four different diagenetic gypsum fabrics are defined: thinly bedded alabastrine, nodular alabastrine, displacive selenite rosettes and fibrous satin‐spar gypsum. Current arid conditions are responsible for a thin weathered crust developed at the top of the outcropping gypsum, but the fabrics in the main core of the current at‐surface evaporite unit mostly formed during the telogenetic stage of uplift prior to complete subaerial exposure. Alteration occurred as various dissolving and rehydrating saline minerals encountered shallow aquifers in the active phreatic and vadose zones. Geomorphological and petrographic analyses, mostly based on the cross‐cutting relations and crystallographic patterns in the outcrop, are used to propose a sequence of formation of these different fabrics.     

Deep-water resedimentation of anhydrite and gypsum deposits in the Middle Miocene (Belayim Formation) of the Red Sea, Egypt

The Middle Miocene evaporites in the Red Sea rift were deposited within a complex system of fault-bounded basins that were episodically active during sedimentation. Such a tectonic framework is known to be highly favourable to resedimentation processes. An offshore petroleum well in the north-western Red Sea has cored, below a massive salt unit, an anhydrite-bearing succession which provides an excellent opportunity to study the processes of gravity induced redeposition of Ca-sulphates in a deep basin. Anhydrite deposits, interbedded with siliciclastic layers and thin halite layers, are composed of resedimented facies ranging from fine-grained laminated sediments to coarse-grained breccias. The components derive from the reworking of shelf sediments deposited initially in shallow water to supratidal settings on the surface and edges of structural highs bordering depressions: proximal siliciclastic deposits with interstitial anhydrite (cement patches, nodules) or gypsum and dolostones with early diagenetic anhydrite facies (nodular, chicken-wire) formed in sabkha conditions, interstitially grown gypsum crystals and subaqueous gypsum crusts precipitated in hypersaline ponds, and diatom-rich oozes formed in marine, shallow-water conditions. The homogeneity of the stable isotope composition and petrography of sulphates argue for the initial crystallization of Ca-sulphates within brines of the same origin and in closely interconnected sedimentary settings. The unconsolidated sediments redeposited as slope-foot accumulations were carried both as anhydrite (nodules, soft masses, various fragments, individual grains or crystals released by disintegration of large masses) and gypsum (crystalline aggregates or single crystals) later converted to anhydrite during burial. Layers of chaotic breccia are interpreted as the result of seismic events, whereas the fine-grained deposits could be related to redistribution by nepheloid layers of suspensions of finer grains released by disintegration of the soft anhydrite masses during downslope transport, or of in situ deposits removed by the turbiditic flows.