Testing the preservation potential of early diagenetic dolomites as geochemical archives

  • Early marine diagenetic dolomite is a rather thermodynamically‐stable carbonate phase and has potential to act as an archive of marine porewater properties. However, the variety of early to late diagenetic dolomite phases that can coexist within a single sample can result in extensive complexity. Here, the archive potential of early marine dolomites exposed to extreme post‐depositional processes is tested using various types of analyses, including: petrography, fluid inclusion data, stable \(\delta^{13}\)C and \(\delta^{18}\)O isotopes, \(^{87}\)Sr/\(^{86}\)Sr ratios, and U‐Pb age dating of various dolomite phases. In this example, a Triassic carbonate platform was dissected and overprinted (diagenetic temperatures of 50 to 430°C) in a strike‐slip zone in Southern Spain. Eight episodes of dolomitization, a dolostone cataclasite and late stage meteoric/vadose cementation were recognized. The following processes were found to be diagenetically relevant: (i) protolith deposition and fabric‐preservation, and marine dolomitization of precursor aragonite and calcite during the Middle–Late Triassic; (ii) intermediate burial and formation of zebra saddle dolomite and precipitation of various dolomite cements in a Proto‐Atlantic opening stress regime (T \(\it ca\) 250°C) during the Early–Middle Jurassic; (iii) dolomite cement precipitation during early Alpine tectonism, rapid burial to \(\it ca\) 15 km, and high‐grade anchizone overprint during Alpine tectonic evolution in the Early Eocene to Early Miocene; (iv) brecciation of dolostones to cataclasite during the onset of the Carboneras Fault Zone activity during the Middle Miocene; and (v) late‐stage regression and subsequent meteoric overprint. Data shown here document that, under favourable conditions, early diagenetic marine dolomites and their archive data may resist petrographic and geochemical resetting over time intervals of 108 or more years. Evidence for this preservation includes preserved Late Triassic seawater δ13CDIC values and primary fluid inclusion data. Data also indicate that oversimplified statements based on bulk data from other petrographically‐complex dolomite archives must be considered with caution.

Download full text files

Export metadata

Additional Services

Share in Twitter Search Google Scholar
Metadaten
Author:Mathias MüllerORCiDGND, Onyedika Anthony IgbokweGND, Benjamin WalterGND, Chelsea PedersonORCiDGND, Sylvia Petra Michaela RiechelmannORCiDGND, Detlev K. RichterGND, Richard AlbertGND, Axel GerdesGND, Dieter BuhlGND, Rolf Dieter NeuserGND, Giovanni BertottiGND, Adrian ImmenhauserORCiDGND
URN:urn:nbn:de:hbz:294-75693
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1111/sed.12664
Parent Title (English):Sedimentology
Publisher:Wiley-VCH Verlag
Place of publication:Weinheim
Document Type:Article
Language:English
Date of Publication (online):2020/10/08
Date of first Publication:2019/09/07
Publishing Institution:Ruhr-Universität Bochum, Universitätsbibliothek
Tag:Diagenesis; U‐Pb dating; dolomite; dolomitization; fluid inclusions; geochemistry; petrography; tectonic overprint
Volume:67
Issue:2
First Page:849
Last Page:881
Note:
Dieser Beitrag ist auf Grund des DEAL-Wiley-Vertrages frei zugänglich.
Institutes/Facilities:Institut für Geologie, Mineralogie und Geophysik
Dewey Decimal Classification:Naturwissenschaften und Mathematik / Geowissenschaften, Geologie
open_access (DINI-Set):open_access
faculties:Fakultät für Geowissenschaften
Licence (English):License LogoCreative Commons - CC BY 4.0 - Attribution 4.0 International