Tectonic,sedimentary and diagenetic controls on sediment maturity of lower Cambrian quartz arenite from southwestern Baltica

Lower Cambrian quartz arenitic deposits have a worldwide occurrence. In this study, petrographic and mineralogical analyses were carried out on samples from the quartz‐rich Ringsaker Member of the Vangsås Formation from southern Norway and the corresponding Hardeberga Formation from southern Sweden and on the Danish island of Bornholm. The quartz arenite is almost completely quartz cemented and has an average intergranular volume of 30%. The quartz cement is the dominating cause for porosity loss. Dissolution along stylolites and microstylolites is suggested to be the primary and secondary source for the quartz cement respectively. The quartzose sandstone from southern Norway was severely cemented prior to the Caledonian Orogeny, thus limiting the tectonic influence on diagenesis during thrusting. For most samples, authigenic clay minerals and detrital phyllosilicates represent ca. 5% of the present‐day composition. This, together with a low feldspar content, of on average 4%, indicates that the sediment was extremely quartz‐rich already during deposition. The low amount of feldspar prior to burial and the formation of early diagenetic kaolinite point to weathering, sediment reworking and early diagenesis act as important controls on sediment maturity. The large variation in clay‐mineral and feldspar content between the localities, as well as within the sandstone successions, can be explained by different palaeogeography on the shelf during deposition and subsequently dissimilar subjection to reworking and early diagenetic processes. Weathering in the provenance area, reworking in the depositional shallow‐marine environment and meteoric flushing during the burial stage are suggested to explain the high mineralogical maturity of the lower Cambrian sandstone from southwestern Baltica. These processes may generally account for similar quartz‐rich shallow‐marine sandstone units, deposited as a result of intensive continental denudation and during temperate to subtropical and moderately humid conditions.     

INTERNAL WEATHERING IN QUARTZ GRAINS

While most research on quartz weathering has focused primarily on surface textures and morphologies, very little is known about the internal weathering of quartz. This study demonstrates that internal weathering is ubiquitous in quartz. Internal weathering is measured in terms of porosity, which represents mass loss from the quartz grain, hence silica lost through dissolution. Mass loss calculated from porosity suggests higher-than-expected rates of quartz dissolution in the terrestrial environment. Internal weathering occurs through various grain defects, and is classified into several forms (in decreasing order of frequency): fractures, enlarged grain boundaries, holes, and networks. These features may be distinguished from occasional artifact voids left by laboratory procedures. The most intensely weathered grains exhibit large fractures and extensive networks, and occasionally contain secondary weathering products within the void areas. The presence of internal weathering in quartz supports field and laboratory observations of particle comminution in sediment transport systems, and can account for at least part of the production of silt- and clay-sized quartz. Given the potentially large surface area afforded by these internal defects, internal weathering plays an important role in the generation of quartz particles and dissolved silica, and presents a new avenue of study for the generation of secondary porosity in detrital sediments. [Key words: geomorphology, quartz, silica, weathering.]     

Aqueous and petroleum fluid flow associated with sand injectites

Field, petrographic and fluid inclusion characteristics of sand injectites from five outcrop localities and from the subsurface of the Tertiary of the south Viking Graben are described. Although the case studies are from a wide variety of sedimentological, stratigraphic and tectonic settings, and hence their diagenetic evolutions differ significantly, it is possible and useful to assign diagenetic events to three distinct phases of fluid flow associated with sand injectites in sedimentary basins. Firstly, there is fluid flow associated with the injection of the fluid–sediment mix during shallow burial. Early diagenetic imprints in sand injectites reveal that basinal fluids, which may be released during movement along deeper‐seated faults, can be associated with this process and thus the injection process may reveal information on the timing of basin‐scale movement of fluids. Secondly, following the injection process, basinal fluids continue to migrate through uncemented injectites and mix with the ambient meteoric and/or marine pore fluids that invade injectites from the overlying and surrounding host sediments. Early, often pervasive, carbonate cementation is common within sand injectites and rapidly turns sand injectites into flow barriers during shallow (<1 km) burial. If early carbonate cementation is not pervasive, fluid inclusions in late quartz cement (～>2 km of burial) reveal additional information on fluid flow associated with sand injectites during deeper burial. The latest phase of fluid flow occurs when sand injectites are reactivated as preferential fluid conduits during phases of deformation, when well‐cemented subvertical sand injectites become sites of focussed brittle deformation (fracturing). This study shows that sand injectites are a common and volumetrically important type of structural heterogeneity in sedimentary basins and that long‐lived fluid flow associated with sand injectites in very different settings can be assessed and compared systematically using a combination of petrography and fluid inclusion studies.     

Burial dolomitization driven by modified seawater and basal aquifer‐sourced brines: Insights from the Middle and Upper Devonian of the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin

Dolomitization in the Western Canadian Sedimentary Basin has been extensively researched, producing vast geochemical datasets. This provides a unique opportunity to assess the regional sources and flux of dolomitizing fluids on a larger scale than previous studies. A meta‐analysis was conducted on stable isotope, strontium isotope (⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr), fluid inclusion and lithium‐rich formation water data published over 30 years, with new petrographic, X‐ray diffraction, stable isotope and rare‐earth element (REE+Y) data. The Middle to Upper Devonian Swan Hills Formation, Leduc Formation and Wabamun Group contain replacement dolomite (RD) cross‐cut by stylolites, suggesting replacement dolomitization occurred during shallow burial. Stable isotope, REE+Y and ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr data indicate RD formed from Devonian seawater, then recrystallized during burial. Apart from the Wabamun Group of the Peace River Arch (PRA), saddle dolomite cement (SDC) is more δ¹⁸O_(PDB) depleted than RD, and cross‐cuts stylolites, suggesting precipitation during deep burial. SDC ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr data indicate contributions from ⁸⁷Sr‐rich basinal brines in the West Shale Basin (WSB) and PRA, and authigenic quartz/albite suggests basinal brines interacted with underlying clastic aquifers before ascending faults into carbonate strata. The absence of quartz/albite within dolomites of the East Shale Basin (ESB) suggests dolomitizing fluids only interacted with carbonate strata. We conclude that replacement dolomitization resulted from connate Devonian seawater circulating through aquifers and faults during shallow burial. SDC precipitated during deep burial from basinal brines sourced from basal carbonates (ESB) and clastic aquifers (WSB, PRA). Lithium‐rich formation waters suggest basinal brines originated as residual evapo‐concentrated Middle Devonian seawater that interacted with basal aquifers and ascended faults during the Antler and Laramide Orogenies. These results corroborate those of previous studies but are verified by new integrated analysis of multiple datasets. New insights emphasize the importance of basal aquifers and residual evapo‐concentrated seawater in dolomitization, which is potentially applicable to other regionally dolomitized basins.     

Prediction of Sandstone Porosity Through Quantitative Estimation of its Mechanical Compaction During Lithogenesis (Bibieybat Field, South Caspian Basin)

In this paper a new and easy quantitative approach based on an exponential decrease in intergranular volume as a function of effective stress and incorporated with fuzzy mathematics is suggested for evaluation of the lower limit of sandstones porosity. Furthermore, the comparison of predicted values of sandstones porosity with factual ones allow drawing some conclusions regarding succession of compaction and cementation processes taking place through burial history of rocks.     

Evolution of Sandstone Porosity Through Time. The Modified Scherer Model: A Calculation Method Applicable to 1-D Maturity Modeling and Perhaps to Reservoir Prediction

Scherer's model of 1987 successfully predicted present-day porosities of sandstones using four factors: burial depth, stratigraphic age, quartz content, and degree of sorting. This model now has been modified to predict sandstone porosity through time in order to provide a better way to model sandstone porosity for 1-D basin modeling. The Modified Scherer Model (MSM) has many advantages over the depth-dependent Sclater-Christie (Athy) and Falvey-Middleton equations used for calculating porosity in 1-D modeling, because it predicts major differences resulting from age, sedimentation rate, sandstone composition, and pressure that are not considered in depth-dependent models. The only additional information required by the MSM is quartz content and Trask sorting coefficient. If these are not known, they may be estimated with reasonable confidence. The Modified Scherer Method could be added easily to existing software packages for 1-D modeling. It also may prove useful for making preliminary estimates of reservoir porosity (including timing of porosity loss), especially in early stages of exploration.     

Fluid flow in sedimentary basins: model of pore water flow in a vertical fracture

Open fractures provide high-permeability pathways for fluid flow in sedimentary basins. The potential for flow along permeable or open fractures and faults depends on the continuity of flow all the way to the surface except in the case of convective flow. Upward flowing fluid cools and may cause cementation due to the prograde solubility of quartz, but in the case of carbonates such flow may cause dissolution. The rate and duration of these processes depend on the mechanisms for sustaining fluid flow into the fracture, the geometries of fracture and sedimentary beds intersected, permeability, pressure and temperature gradients. Heat loss to the adjacent sediments causes sloping isotherms which can induce non-Rayleigh convection. To analyse these problems we have used a simple model in which a single fracture acts as a pathway for vertically moving fluid and there is no fluid transport across the walls of the fracture except near its inlet and outlet. Four mechanisms for fluid flow into the lower part of the fracture are considered: decompression of pore water; compaction of intersected overpressared sediments; focusing of compaction water derived from sediments beneath the fracture; and finally focusing of pore water moving through an aquifer. Water derived from the basement is not considered here. We find that sustained flow is unlikely to have velocities much higher than 1–100 m/yr, and the flow is laminar. The temperature of the fluid expelled at the top of the fracture increases by less than 1% and the vertical temperature gradient in the fracture remains close to the geothermal gradient. Where hot water is introduced from basement fractures (hydrothermal water) during tectonic deformation, much higher velocities may be sustained in the overlying sediments, but here also this depends on the permeability near the surface. Most of the cooling of water with (ore) mineral precipitation will then occur near the surface. In most cases, pore water decompression and sediment compaction will yield only very limited pore water flux with no significant potential for cementation or heating of the sediments adjacent to the fracture. Focusing of compaction water from sediments beneath the fracture or from an intersected aquifer can yield fluxes high enough to cement an open fracture significantly but the flow must be sustained for a very long time. For velocities of 1–100 m/yr, it takes typically 0.3–30 Myr to cement a fracture by 50%. The highest velocities may be obtained when a fracture extends all the way to the surface or sea floor. When a fracture does not reach the sediment surface, the flow velocity is reduced by the displacement of water in the sediments near the top of the fracture. The flow into the fracture from the sediments may often be rate limiting rather than the flow on the fracture. Sedimentary rocks only a few metres from the fracture will receive a much lower flux than the fracture. The fracture will therefore close due to cementation before significant amounts of silica can be introduced into adjacent sandstones. The isotherm slope in the adjacent sediments will in most cases be less than 10–20°. Non-Rayleigh convection velocities in the sediments adjacent to the fracture are too small to cause any significant diagenetic reactions such as quartz cementation. These quantifications of fluid flow in fractures in sedimentary basins are important in terms of constraining models for diagenesis, heat transport and formation of ore minerals in a compaction-driven system.     

26Al/10Be等时线埋藏测年法基本原理与应用简介

介绍了26Al/10Be等时线埋藏测年法的基本原理及其主要应用范围。将应被同时埋藏的一组石英矿物样的26Al-10Be浓度拟合成等时线,从其斜率解得样品的埋藏年代。在如下情况下该法可克服未知参数多于制约方程的困难:1)冰碛物-古土壤序列中古土壤形成年代的研究,以规避继承核素(inherited nu-clide)的干扰;2)因样品埋藏不够深引起的后期生成核素的干扰。此外,依据等时线拟合结果可判断样品是否符合简单恒态侵蚀模式。等时线法的引入,拓宽了埋藏测年的应用范围,并为埋藏测年数据可信度提供了一种有效的验证手段。     

A simple model of pressure build-up caused by porosity reduction during burial

The fluid-pressure build-up due to porosity reduction in sedimentary basins during burial is studied. The model assumes that the void ratio decreases exponentially with depth, and that the permeability is proportional to the void ratio to an arbitrary exponent. Simple analytical solutions are obtained for the Darcy velocity and the fluid excess pressure. The pressure build-up during burial is studied with these solutions, and it is found to be inversely proportional to the gravity number. The importance of the permeability exponents on the fluid pressure is also studied. Gravity numbers much less than 1 are shown to yield high excess pressures during burial. A reasonable approximation for the maximum Darcy velocity is found to be the product of the surface void ratio and the burial rate. Hydrofracturing is discussed in relation to the pressure build-up, and cases characterized by gravity numbers much less than 1 are found to yield hydrofracturing over large depth ranges. It is suggested that the average permeability of hydrofractured sediments during burial corresponds to a gravity number equal to 1.     

Orogenic volcanism caused by thermal runaways?

Summary. Quartz eclogite as source rock seems capable of explaining the chemistry of calc-alkaline volcanics. This model requires partial melting of quartz eclogite in the depth range 100–200 km. Shear heating of the subducting crust is one of the most debated models. The problem may be treated with two different boundary conditions: constant strain rate or constant shear stress. In the former case an increase in temperature tends to reduce the heat production thus stabilizing the shear flow; the result is a moderate increase in temperature which will remain constant during flow. The latter case may lead to a thermal feedback instability and thus temperature and strain rate may suddenly grow to very high values. This phenomenon is termed a runaway and will be discussed in this paper using an adiabatic approximation. It is shown that for a runaway to occur the local energy density must amount to a common value independent of the rheology. In contrast to the constant strain rate case, shear heating is negligible until just before the instability occurs. When the melting point is reached shear stress will break down but the stored local energy will be set free and supply the latent heat of melting. The possibility of a runaway occurring is strongly dependent on the ambient temperature. In subduction shear zones neither shear stress nor strain rate are likely to be constant throughout, but if the former is constant or changes little on a 1–10 km scale a runaway is liable to occur at a depth of around 150 km thus possibly being the cause of calcalkaline volcanism.     

Effects of biogenic silica on sediment compaction and slope stability on the Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula

Analysis of physical properties measured on cores and on discrete samples collected by the Ocean Drilling Programme (ODP) Leg 178 on the Pacific margin of the Antarctic Peninsula reveals anomalous down‐hole curves of porosity, density, water content, and P‐wave velocity. These indicate an overall trend of increasing porosity with depth and suggest that the drifts are mostly undercompacted. In one of the two boreholes analysed, a sharp decrease in porosity, matching increasing bulk sediment density and increasing compressional velocity occurs towards the base of the hole, which corresponds to a bottom‐simulating reflector in the seismic section. Analysis of seismic reflection, down‐hole logging, geotechnical and mineralogical data from two drilling sites indicates that the observed anomalous consolidation trends are a consequence of the presence of biogenic silica (diatom and radiolarian skeletons) even with a small to moderate amount. Above the bottom‐simulating reflector, intergranular contacts among whole or broken siliceous microfossils prevent normal sediment consolidation. Diagenetic alteration of biogenic opal‐A to opal‐CT causes a dramatic reduction of intra‐ and interskeletal porosity allowing sediments to consolidate at depth. This results in overpressuring and a decrease in the effective stress. Excess fluids are expelled towards the sediment surface through near vertical, small throw normal faults extending from the diagenetic front to the seafloor and affecting the stability of the submarine slope in the form of gravitational creep along a weakened surface. This work shows how physical properties of shallow fine‐grained marine sediments can be analysed as basin‐wide indicators of biogenic silica abundance. The diagenetic alteration of siliceous microfossils is a possible cause of slope instability along world continental margins where bottom‐simulating reflectors related to silica diagenesis are present at a regional scale.     

南极海冰导温系数与孔隙率关系初探

利用南极中山站附近固定冰不同季节的温度垂直廓线,冰芯盐度、密度数据,基于Cox等发展的冰内孔隙率计算方法,获得冰内孔隙率的垂直廓线。再通过建立分布参数系统最优控制模型,优化辨识在无热源条件下冰内温度垂直廓线对应的海冰导温系数。通过比较7种冰导温系数同孔隙率的关系,选择出海冰导温系数和孔隙率的最优关系式。用该关系式对同一地点不同年份的海冰进行温度垂直廓线计算,比较辨识的导温系数同孔隙率的关系相对于前人理想海冰模型中的导热系数、比热等公式计算对应条件的海冰垂直温度廓线的优势。两种计算结果说明,辨识得到的关系所引起的偏差在趋势和量级上同理想模式计算的结果相同,但辨识得到的关系更简洁,且更具有物理背景。     

Seismic geomorphology and origin of diagenetic geobodies in the Upper Cretaceous Chalk of the North Sea Basin (Danish Central Graben)

Kilometre‐scale geobodies of diagenetic origin have been documented for the first time in a high‐resolution 3D seismic survey of the Upper Cretaceous chalks of the Danish Central Graben, North Sea Basin. Based on detailed geochemical, petrographic and petrophysical analyses, it is demonstrated that the geobodies are of an open‐system diagenetic origin caused by ascending basin fluids guided by faults and stratigraphic heterogeneities. Increased amounts of porosity‐occluding cementation, contact cement and/or high‐density/high‐velocity minerals caused an impedance contrast that can be mapped in seismic data, and represent a hitherto unrecognized, third type of heterogeneity in the chalk deposits in addition to the well‐known sedimentological and structural features. The distribution of the diagenetic geobodies is controlled by porosity/permeability contrasts of stratigraphic origin, such as hardgrounds associated with formation tops, and the feeder fault systems. One of these, the Top Campanian Unconformity at the top of the Gorm Formation, is particularly effective and created a basin‐wide barrier separating low‐porosity chalk below from high‐porosity chalk above (a Regional Porosity Marker, RPM). It is in particular in this upper high‐porosity unit (Tor and Ekofisk Formations) that the diagenetic geobodies occur, delineated by “Stratigraphy Cross‐cutting Reflectors” (SCRs) of which eight different types have been distinguished. The geobodies have been interpreted as the result of: (i) escaping pore fluids due to top seal failure, followed by local mechanical compaction of high‐porous chalks, paired with (ii) ascension of basinal diagenetic fluids along fault systems that locally triggered cementation of calcite and dolomite within the chalk, causing increased contact cements and/or reducing porosity. The migration pathway of the fluids is marked by the SCRs, which are the outlines of high‐density bodies of chalk nested in highly porous chalks. This study, thus, provides new insights into the 3D relationship between fault systems, fluid migration and diagenesis in chalks and has important applications for basin modelling and reservoir characterization.     

四川乐山大佛风化的初步探讨

四川乐山大佛石刻是我国重要的“世界文化与自然遗产”之一,石刻表面毁损非常严重。本文通过（1）检测石刻所在地区粉砂岩的样品成分（XRFS）获悉,SiO₂含量高达84%;（2）安装微侵蚀测量装置（MEM）直接测得粉砂岩的表面侵蚀速率大约为0.216～0.305mm/a;结合（3）粉砂岩表面的相对硬度测试比较等途径,对石刻毁损的表面过程机制进行了初步的综合分析。结果表明,由于粉砂岩结构松散,经水浸后表面硬度急剧下降,而且当地的水、气等条件适宜于生物繁衍等特点,石刻风化毁损的原因主要在于水、生物等环境因素对粉砂岩胶结物有强烈的破坏作用。     

A fossilized Opal A to Opal C/T transformation on the northeast Atlantic margin: support for a significantly elevated Palaeogeothermal gradient during the Neogene?

Rock samples – collected from a recent deep‐water exploration well drilled in the Faeroe‐Shetland Channel, northwest of the UK – confirm that a distinctive high‐amplitude seismic reflector that cross‐cuts the Upper Palaeogene and Neogene succession and covers an area of 10 000 km² is an example of a fossilized Opal A to Opal C/T (Cristobalite/Tridymite) transition. Analysis of these rock fragments tied to an extensive two‐dimensional and three‐dimensional seismic database constrains the time at which the boundary was fossilized and in addition reveals the unusual geometrical characteristics of a relict bottom‐simulating reflector. The diagenetic transformation of biogenic silica (Opal A) to Opal C/T is predominantly temperature‐controlled and requires sediments that contain biogenic silica. The reflector (termed as Horizon E) probably initially represented a biosiliceous ooze or a siltstone that contained a component of biogenic silica that underwent transformation as the diagenetic front migrated upsection during burial. The parallelism it shows with a shallower early Pliocene reflector and its apparent upsection migration during a compressional episode in the basin indicate that it was active during the middle and late Miocene and ceased activity during the early Pliocene when there was between 200 and 400 m of overburden. The present‐day burial depth of the boundary is ca. 700 m and the temperature at the inactive diagenetic front at the well location is 24 °C. Given these temperature and depth constraints, we hypothesize that even if this is an example of a relatively low‐temperature Opal A to Opal C/T transformation, a temporarily elevated geothermal gradient of ca. 60 °C km^?1 would have been required to initiate and arrest upsection migration of the boundary during the middle and late Miocene. Factors such as climatic deterioration and the onset of cold deep‐water circulation are likely to only have had a contributory role in arresting the upward migration of the boundary.     

轻度沙埋对典型荒漠植物的影响北大核心CSCD

中国西北干旱区以荒漠生态系统为主体,是中国典型脆弱生态系统。沙埋对该区域植物生存和生长、植被分布和组成以及荒漠生态系统功能和结构有重要影响。以典型荒漠植物梭梭(Haloxylon ammodendron)、柽柳(Tamarix chinensis)、白刺(Nitraria tangutorum)、沙拐枣(Calligonum mongolicum)为研究对象,对比研究了轻度沙埋和非沙埋植物在生理和生长方面的差异,并从土壤盐分、土壤水分、土壤温度等方面探究了造成这种差异的原因。结果表明:轻度沙埋环境下,梭梭、柽柳、白刺、沙拐枣的光合速率普遍高于非沙埋植株,蒸腾速率显著低于非沙埋植株,水分利用效率也均高于非沙埋植株。轻度沙埋梭梭、柽柳、沙拐枣、白刺株高明显低于非沙埋植株,但地径、冠幅、叶面积指数普遍高于非沙埋植株。主要原因是轻度沙埋植物下方土壤黏粒含量、土壤湿度高于非沙埋植物下方,轻度沙埋植物下方土壤温度、含盐量低于非沙埋环境。     

Holocene sedimentary rocks in Mathiesondalen, central Spitsbergen, Svalbard

Holocene lithified sediments of glacial and glaciofluvial origin have been found in environments where carbonate cementation is a present-day process. The rocks occur as well cemented tillites, conglomerates, coarse sandstones and breccias, indicating a complex depositional pattern within a limited area. Both clasts and carbonate cement are mainly derived from underlying Carboniferous and Permian sequences which form the bedrock of this area.     

Cross formational flow in the Paris Basin

Cross formational flow of water has occurred across several hundred metres of Liassic mudstone from the Triassic Chaunoy Formation sandstone to the Middle Jurassic Dogger Formation carbonate in the Paris Basin, France. This has been demonstrated by chemical and isotopic data from rocks and formation waters, sampled on a basin scale, from the Dogger and Chaunoy formations. Present-day and palaeoformation waters in the Dogger record input of exotic water in terms of salinity and carbon and strontium isotopes. The exotic water was highly saline and contained isotopically light carbon and ⁸⁷Sr-enriched strontium in comparison to the indigenous Dogger Formation water. The source of the exotic water can only have been the Chaunoy Formation. Salinity and isotope data show that present-day Dogger Formation water contains 10–15% invasion Chaunoy water. Modelling strontium isotope ratio and concentration data from mineral cements shows that over the duration of Dogger cementation, Dogger palaeoformation waters were replaced by 1–5% Chaunoy water. Cross formational flow of water must have occurred by convective mass flow, rather than diffusion, in order to preserve the characteristics of water input from the Chaunoy. Flow probably occurred via the major Hercynian fault and fracture systems that run through the centre of the Paris Basin. Upward flow in this setting is most likely in a compressional tectonic regime, the situation during much of the Tertiary in the Paris Basin. Thermodynamic modelling indicates that cross formational flow from the Chaunoy has probably caused carbonate cementation in the Dogger.     

Differential compaction due to the irregular topology of a diagenetic reaction boundary: a new mechanism for the formation of polygonal faults

We propose a new mechanism for the formation of some polygonal fault arrays. Seismically imaged opal-A (biogenic silica) to opal-CT (cristobalite and tridymite) diagenetic boundaries from two regions offshore of Norway have developed regular wavelength patterns. The pattern consists of cell-shaped elevations that are 200–2600 m wide and up to 200 m high, separated by troughs. The cells represent regions that undergo diagenesis at shallower burial depths, earlier than adjacent areas. The chemical change leads to mechanical compaction and porosity reduction; therefore subsidence occurs above the cells in the overburden. Roughly circular depressions form above the cells, and a network of folds form above inter-cell areas. Networks of normal faults form on the crests and margins of the folds as a result of flexure during the folding. The progressive lateral growth of the cells causes the depressions to widen and intervening folds to narrow resulting in new differential compaction-induced faults to form with variable strike orientations. Lateral and vertical growth of cells leads to cells conjoining and the re-establishment of a uniform planar reaction boundary. This novel but simple mechanism can explain some polygonal fault arrays that form above opal-A to opal-CT reaction boundaries and in these settings the mechanism should be considered in addition to syneresis, density inversion or low coefficients of residual friction which are the most commonly cited drivers for polygonal fault systems.