Dolomitization by hypersaline reflux into dense groundwaters as revealed by vertical trends in strontium and oxygen isotopes: Upper Muschelkalk,Switzerland

The Trigonodus Dolomit is the dolomitized portion of the homoclinal ramp sediments of the Middle Triassic Upper Muschelkalk in the south‐east Central European Basin. Various dolomitizing mechanisms, followed by recrystallization, have been previously invoked to explain the low δ¹⁸O, high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr, extensive spatial distribution and early nature of the replacive matrix dolomites. This study re‐evaluates the origin, timing and characteristics of the dolomitizing fluids by examining petrographic and isotopic trends in the Trigonodus Dolomit at 11 boreholes in northern Switzerland. In each borehole the ca 30 m thick unit displays the same vertical trends with increasing depth: crystal size increase, change from anhedral to euhedral textures, ultraviolet‐fluorescence decrease, δ¹⁸O_VPDB decrease from ?1·0‰ at the top to ?6·7‰ at the base and an ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr increase from 0·7080 at the top to 0·7117 at the base. Thus, dolomites at the top of the unit record isotopic values similar to Middle Triassic seawater (δ¹⁸O_VSMOW = 0‰; ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = 0·70775) while dolomites at the base record values similar to meteoric groundwaters from the nearby Vindelician High (δ¹⁸O_VSMOW = ?4·0‰; ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr = >0·712). According to water–rock interaction modelling, a single dolomitizing or recrystallizing fluid cannot have produced the observed isotopic trends. Instead, the combined isotopic, geochemical and petrographic data can be explained by dolomitization via seepage‐reflux of hypersaline brines into dense, horizontally‐advecting groundwaters that already had negative δ¹⁸O and high ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr values. Evidence for the early groundwaters is found in meteoric calcite cements that preceded dolomitization and in fully recrystallized dolomites with isotopic characteristics identical to the groundwaters following matrix dolomitization. This study demonstrates that early groundwaters can play a decisive role in the formation and recrystallization of massive dolomites and that the isotopic and textural signatures of pre‐existing groundwaters can be preserved during seepage‐reflux dolomitization in low‐angle carbonate ramps.     

Autochthonous Dolomitization and Dissolution in the Microbial Carbonate Rocks of the Fengjiawan Formation in the Ordos Basin

Many euhedral dolomite crystals and related pores are found in the microbial siliceous stromatolite dolomite and siliceous oolitic dolomite in the Fengjiawan Formation of the Mesoproterozoic Jixian System in the southern Ordos Basin. With the application of the microscope, scanning electron microscope, cathodoluminescence and in-situ trace element imaging, it can be seen that different from the phase I dolomite that was damaged by silicification, the intact euhedral phase II dolomite occurred through dolomitization after silicification, concentrated mainly in the organic-rich dark laminae of the stromatolite and the dark spheres and cores of the ooids. A considerable number of phase II dolomite crystals were dissolved, giving rise to mold pores and vugs which constituted the matrix pores and also the major pore space of the Fengjiawan Formation. The formation and dissolution of the dolomite were controlled by the microenvironment favorable, respectively, for carbonate precipitation and dissolution under the influence of microbial biological activities and related biochemical reactions. The driving force and material supply of dolomitization and dissolution were confined to the fabrics enriched with microorganisms, which are highly autochthonous. This mechanism may be a key factor for the development of Precambrian dolomite and related reservoirs, in the context of the domination of microbial rocks.     

川东地区石炭系碳酸盐岩碳、氧、锶同位素特征及其成因分析

利用微量元素和碳、氧同位素特征对样品有效性作出了检验.在证明样品未受明显蚀变的前提下对川东地区石炭系碳酸盐岩碳、氧、锶同位素进行了分析.在层序地层格架中对比不同体系域、不同岩性的碳、氧同位素特征,87Sr/86Sr比值特征,Z值与古温度特征,分析了碳酸盐岩的成岩环境.低位体系域以膏盐湖及萨巴哈环境为主,炎热干旱,陆源淡...     

中国中西部盆地海相白云岩主要形成机制与模式

塔里木、四川及鄂尔多斯盆地是中国中西部海相白云岩的主要发育地区。三大盆地重点层系海相白云岩新近的成因研究表明,大规模准同生白云岩和埋藏成因白云岩的发育均与蒸发台地密切相关。蒸发台地中由海水浓缩形成的富Mg~(2+)卤水一方面在准同生期,通过蒸发泵和下渗机制交代碳酸钙沉积物而形成与蒸发岩共生的准同生白云岩,另一方面作为富含Mg~(2+)的地层孔隙水,在准同生-浅埋藏期乃至中、深埋藏期,通过侧向渗透、侧向与垂向压实排挤和垂向热对流机制与粗结构的碳酸钙沉积物发生交代反应,在蒸发岩系周边和上下形成广泛分布的埋藏成因白云岩。与热流体作用有关的白云石化主要依靠构造断裂、裂缝、不同级次的层序界面、孔洞层等输导体系发生,分布较局限。热流体云化常表现为对先期白云岩进行叠加改造而形成热水改造白云岩。热流体性质不一,可以是深埋藏混合热水、深部循环水、地幔深部的岩浆热液等。白云石(岩)的生物成因不仅表现为微生物作用导致白云石直接沉淀,还表现为生物的存在与活动为白云石化作用提供Mg~(2+)和云化流体通道。由微生物和宏观藻释放出Mg~(2+),在埋藏期对方解石进行交代是各种富含藻类的灰岩中部分白云石的重要形成机制。生物扰动可明显改善岩石的孔渗性,从而显著促进白云石化作用的发生。     

Mineralogy,nucleation and growth of dolomite in the laboratory and sedimentary environment: A review

Dolomite [CaMg(CO₃)₂] forms in numerous geological settings, usually as a diagenetic replacement of limestone, and is an important component of petroleum reservoir rocks, rocks hosting base metal deposits and fresh water aquifers. Dolomite is a rhombohedral carbonate with a structure consisting of an ordered arrangement of alternating layers of Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ cations interspersed with anion layers normal to the c‐axis. Dolomite has symmetry, lower than the (CaCO₃) symmetry of calcite primarily due to Ca–Mg ordering. High‐magnesium calcite also has symmetry and differs from dolomite in that Ca²⁺ and Mg²⁺ ions are not ordered. High‐magnesium calcite with near‐dolomite stoichiometry (≈50 mol% MgCO₃) has been observed both in nature and in laboratory products and is referred to in the literature as protodolomite or very high‐magnesium calcite. Many dolomites display some degree of cation disorder (Ca²⁺ on Mg²⁺ sites and vice versa), which is detectable using transmission electron microscopy and X‐ray diffractometry. Laboratory syntheses at high temperature and pressure, as well as studies of natural dolomites show that factors affecting dolomite ordering, stoichiometry, nucleation and growth include temperature, alkalinity, pH, concentration of Mg and Ca, Mg to Ca ratio, fluid to rock ratio, mineralogy of the carbonate being replaced, and surface area available for nucleation. In spite of numerous attempts, dolomite has not been synthesized in the laboratory under near‐surface conditions. Examination of published X‐ray diffraction data demonstrates that assertions of dolomite synthesis in the laboratory under near‐ambient conditions by microbial mediation are unsubstantiated. These laboratory products show no evidence of cation ordering and appear to be very high‐magnesium calcite. Elevated‐temperature and elevated‐pressure experiments demonstrate that dolomite nucleation and growth always are preceded by very high‐magnesium calcite formation. It remains to be demonstrated whether microbial‐mediated growth of very high‐magnesium calcite in nature provides a precursor to dolomite nucleation and growth analogous to reaction paths in high‐temperature experiments.     

巴楚地区断裂带内热液流体活动及对碳酸盐岩改造的特征分析

以塔里木盆地巴楚隆起区良里塔格组露头剖面为例,应用薄片观察和阴极发光等岩石学分析方法以及碳氧同位素、87Sr/86Sr比值、常量元素和流体包裹体测温等地球化学定量分析手段,综合分析了构造热液活动对碳酸盐岩的改造作用.研究结果显示,发育在碳酸盐岩内的断裂带及其附近,局部白云岩化特征显著;碳氧同位素表现异常,由断裂的两盘向...     

Zebra and boxwork fabrics in hydrothermal dolomites of northern Canada: Indicators for dilational fracturing,dissolution or in situ replacement?

Zebra and boxwork fabrics in Manetoe and Presqu'ile hydrothermal dolomites provide critical data for discrimination between hypotheses for their origin. In a unique occurrence, sets of weakly imbricated, decimetre‐sized curvilinear lenticles of white dolospar are developed within sub‐metre sized tongues of greyish‐white dolomitized crinoidal packstone and grainstone. This nascent zebra fabric has developed along wavy to nodular intra‐bed sedimentary partings. Primary bedding can be traced through dolomitized masses containing these fabrics, into the surrounding undolomitized limestone. All zebra and boxwork fabrics are confined within single beds, consistent with an early burial time of origin. No change in bed thickness occurs across zebra or boxwork fabrics within beds; this indicates a dissolutional, rather than a dilational, origin for the creation of pore space partly cemented with white dolospar. The dolomitized groundmass displays an abruptly gradational or sharp transition to centripetal saddle dolomite cement, which partially to nearly completely, occludes vugs. Circulation of geothermally heated hypersaline Devonian Elk Point basinal sea water brines led to dissolution and replacive dolomitization of limestone adjacent to vugs, and near‐contemporaneous precipitation of white dolospar within dissolutional vugs, consistent with geochemical simulations. The presence of downward‐extending galleries of white dolospar‐cemented solution‐collapse breccia provides further support for an interpretation of regional thermally driven convection of hydrothermal evaporative sea water brines across a broad area of northern Canada. The absence of gases under pressure in vacuoles within fluid inclusions from Manetoe and Presqu'ile dolospars is also more consistent with a dissolutional and contemporaneous dolomitization origin for these fabrics, rather than an origin involving dilational fracturing for space creation and dolospar precipitation. The ubiquitous presence of zebra and boxwork fabrics in hydrothermal dolomite reservoirs indicates that they are not confined fault zones and instead occur wherever precursor limestones had relatively greater porosity and permeability prior to dolomitization.     

Dolomitization of the Middle Devonian Winnipegosis carbonates in south-central Saskatchewan, Canada

The Middle Devonian Winnipegosis carbonate unit in south‐central Saskatchewan is partially to completely dolomitized. Two major types of replacive dolomite are distinguished. Microcrystalline to finely crystalline dolomite (type 1) displays nonplanar‐a to planar‐s textures, mimetically replaces the precursor limestone, accounts for about four‐fifths of dolomite phases volumetrically, and mainly occurs in the Winnipegosis mounds and the Lower Winnipegosis Member directly underlying the mounds. Medium crystalline dolomite (type 2) shows planar‐s to planar‐e textures, commonly occurs in the Lower Winnipegosis and Brightholme members, and decreases upward in abundance. The ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios of type 1 dolomite (0·70795 to 0·70807) fall within the estimated Sr‐isotopic range for Middle Devonian marine carbonates. Stratigraphic, petrographic and geochemical data constrain the formation of type 1 dolomite to hypersaline sea water in a near‐surface environment, after marine cementation and sub‐aerial diagenesis and prior to precipitation of the Middle Devonian Leofnard salts. Movement of dolomitizing fluids could be driven by density differences and elevation head. The shift to lower δ¹⁸O values of type 1 dolomite [?7·4 to ?5·1‰ Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite (VPDB)] is interpreted as the result of recrystallization at elevated temperatures during burial. Type 2 dolomite has higher ⁸⁷Sr/⁸⁶Sr ratios (0·70809–0·70928), suggesting that the dolomite probably formed from basinal fluids with an increased richness in the radiogenic Sr isotope. In type 2 dolomite, Sr²⁺ concentrations are lower, and Fe²⁺ and Mn²⁺ concentrations are higher, compared with the associated limestone and type 1 dolomite. Type 2 dolomite is interpreted as having been formed from upward‐migrating basinal fluids during latest Devonian and Carboniferous period.     

济阳坳陷桩海地区下古生界潜山储层成因机制研究

通过对桩海地区下古生界碳酸盐岩的锰、锶、镁等微量元素及氧、碳、锶等同位素的测试与分析研究认为,白云石化作用和岩溶作用是济阳坳陷桩海地区下古生界碳酸盐岩潜山储层最为重要的成因机制。该区有价值的冶里～亮甲山组储集层与埋藏成岩过程的白云石化作用,尤其与粒屑的优先白云石化造成的体积收缩作用有关,主要分布于成岩白云岩成因类型中。在不整合面附近的海相碳酸盐岩主要受到印支、燕山再曝露期古喀斯特作用强烈的大气淡水的改造而形成良好的岩溶储层,这种改造作用的记录表现在各种洞或脉中的碳酸盐矿物的^87Sr／^86Sr比值显高于基质碳酸盐,而大多数样品的δ^13C和δ^18O值则显低于基质。单井地球化学剖面说明,大气淡水作用深度主要集中在不整合面之下150m的深度范围,并对先前形成的白云岩储层进行岩溶改造。     

Silicification and dolomitization of anhydrite nodules in argillaceous terrestrial deposits: an example of meteoric-dominated diagenesis from the Triassic of central Spain

Cauliflower-shaped nodules are widespread in a single red mudstone bed in the Buntsandstein (Triassic) facies of the Iberian Range. They consist mostly of quartz, dolomite and calcite, but other minerals, such as barite, kaolinite and iron oxyhydroxides, are also present. The nodules are spherical, ovoid or elongate in shape and range from 1 to 8 cm across. The surface of the nodules is irregular, and some show a pedogenic coating of microspar. The sedimentological and petrographic data suggest that the initial anhydrite nodules formed through a progressive increase in the porewater concentration of Ca²⁺ and SO₄^2– in a vadose environment, occasionally under the influence of pedogenic processes. Partial replacement of the anhydrite by megaquartz occurred under more dilute conditions in the same type of setting, as indicated by the presence of organic filaments on the quartz crystal surfaces. In type A nodules, the dissolution of the innermost anhydrite was complete, and different types of quartz cement filled the porosity. Fracturing and meteoric cementation by calcite and minor amounts of kaolinite were the latest processes affecting these nodules. In type B nodules, the dissolution of the anhydrite was incomplete, inhibiting quartz cementation and enabling later dolomitization of the anhydrite. Dolomitization appears to have been driven by sulphate reduction, as indicated by the presence of bacterial bodies within the dolomite crystals. Dedolomitization and precipitation of barite, kaolinite and calcite spar cements occurred later under the influence of meteoric solutions. The nodules may mark the former locations of the water table and provide evidence for an episode of highly evaporitic conditions throughout wide areas of the basin. Their occurrence reveals not only a complex diagenetic history but is also indicative of palaeogeographic and palaeoclimatic conditions.