Hydrochemistry,origin and evolution of sedimentary subsurface fluids: I. Early diagenetic pore-water evolution in low-sedimentation rate offshore basins

Pore water studies enable (1) the detection of diagenetic reactions actively occurring in the sediment at the time of sampling,(2) the distinction between principal modes of solute transport, i.e., between advection (convection) and diffusion, and (3) the assessment of mineral-solution equilibria, Pore waters are, therefore, preferred diagnostic objects in the study of diagenesis, particularly early diagenesis. The single most important factor for pore-fluid evolution in modern offshore basins is sedimentation rate which is closely correlated with organtic matter content of the sediment. Organic matter represents the most reactive sediment constituent which, through bacterial decomposition, provides some of the main solutes involved in early diagenetic mineralization reactions. On the basis of sedimentation rate and organic matter content, it is convenient to distinguish two end-members of basins (environments) with respect to early diagenesis: I. Low to intermediate-sedimentation rate basins with convection or diffusion-controlled pore-water profiles and II. high-sedimentation rate basins with reaction-controlled pore-water profiles. The first group of basins or environments, which is the subject of this paper, is typically represented by pelagic sediments. Three principally different trends of pore-water evolution occur: 1. convection-controlled profiles with no pronounced vertical gradients for the dissolved species; 2. diffusion-controlled profiles with vertical gradients but linear correlations between major ions, especially Ca and Mg, and 3. profiles with gradients but no linear correlation between the major ions. The later are transitional to the trends seen in high-sedimentation rate basins. With respect to redox-potentials, the diagenetic environments of low-sedimentation rate basins are generally oxic to suboxic.