Search results for "Evaporite"
showing 10 items of 56 documents
Soil development on sediments and evaporites of the Messinian crisis
2020
Abstract Vast areas in the Mediterranean are characterised by evaporite deposits of the Messinian crises (c. 6–5.3 Ma BP). During this period, large deposits were built up in shallow lagoon-like systems and are now found in southern Italy, Albania, Cyprus and Turkey. So far, soil formation on evaporites has been studied predominantly in subarid to arid environments. Although the formation of soils has received new significance, little is known about the evolutional trajectories on evaporites of the Mediterranean. We therefore studied soil formation in the Caltanissetta basin (Sicily) where evaporites are most widespread. The lithologies included the sequence: marine clay deposits, laminated…
Impact of basin burial and exhumation on Jurassic carbonates diagenesis on both sides of a thick clay barrier (Paris Basin, NE France).
2014
27 pages; International audience; Several diagenetic models have been proposed for Middle and Upper Jurassic carbonates of the eastern Paris Basin. The paragenetic sequences are compared in both aquifers to propose a diagenetic model for the Middle and Late Jurassic deposits as a whole. Petrographic (optical and cathodoluminescence microscopy), structural (fracture orientations) and geochemical (δ18O, δ13C, REE) studies were conducted to characterize diagenetic cements, with a focus on blocky calcite cements, and their connection with fracturation events. Four generations of blocky calcite (Cal1-Cal4) are identified. Cal1 and Cal2 are widespread in the dominantly grain-supported facies of t…
The behaviour of zirconium, hafnium and rare earth elements during the crystallisation of halite and other salt minerals
2017
Abstract Halite crystals from Messinian and Tortonian evaporites from Sicily and Spain and current precipitated halite crystals and the relative parent brines (active evaporation systems) were investigated in order to evaluate the Zr, Hf and Rare Earth Element (REE) behaviour. Halite crystallisation from evaporating brines fractionates Zr, Hf and REE through a two-step process. During the first step, dissolved complexes of studied elements are scavenged onto the surfaces of crystallising halite. During the second step, elements are co-precipitated into the crystal lattice as it grows. The first step mechanism is determined by the dissolved REE speciation. In saltworks where carbonate-REE co…
Zr/Hf ratio and REE behaviour: A coupled indication of lithogenic input in marginal basins and deep-sea brines
2019
Abstract The distribution of dissolved Zr, Hf and Rare Earth Elements (yttrium and lanthanides, hereafter referred to as REE) in the Eastern Mediterranean seawater column was measured in the Kryos basin to evaluate the lithogenic contribution from both Nile River and Sahara and Arabian desert dust. We found dissolved Zr/Hf ratios below the signature of crustal rocks and chondrites; a phenomenon likely driven by the dissolution of the Mn-rich coating of atmospheric dust particles delivered from the desert. In deeper waters, Zr/Hf ratios are clustered close to the signature of crustal rocks and chondrites according to the different Zr and Hf dissolved speciation. The Zr/Hf ratio observed in t…
Structure and evolution of a Messinian mixed carbonate-siliciclastic platform: the role of evaporites (Sorbas Basin, South-east Spain).
2010
36 pages; International audience; The Sorbas Member is a late Messinian complex sedimentary systemthat formed immediately following deposition of the Messinian evaporites in the Sorbas Basin (South-east Spain). This work describes the sequence architecture and facies organization of a continuous kilometre long, alluvial fan to open platform transect near the village of Cariatiz in the north-east of the basin. The postevaporitic Cariatiz platform was a mixed carbonate-siliciclastic system composed of four intermediate-frequency, fifth-order depositional sequences (Depositional Sequences 1 to 4) arranged in an overall prograding trend. The intense fracturing and brecciation of these deposits …
Depositional mechanism of the upper Pliocene-Pleistocene shelf-slope system of the western Malta Plateau (Sicily Channel)
2021
Abstract A high resolution seismic stratigraphic study of the western edge of the Malta Plateau (central Mediterranean Sea) was conducted to reconstruct the depositional mechanisms of the shelf-slope system since the end of the Messinian salinity crisis (MSC; 5.3 Ma). The accurate interpretation of a large grid of variable-resolution seismic reflection profiles (multichannel and Sub Bottom) allows us to identify and map a Plio-Quaternary sedimentary sequence overlying the Messinian evaporites. The stratal pattern of this sequence is the result of a clinoform prograding system that constitutes the internal structure of a sedimentary shelf developed in a ramp about 2° slope with bathymetries …
Biological and physical modification of carbonate system parameters along the salinity gradient in shallow hypersaline solar salterns in Trapani, Ita…
2017
Abstract We investigated changes in the chemical characteristics of evaporating seawater under the influence of microbial activity by conducting geochemical analyses of the brines and evaporite sediments collected from solar salterns in Trapani, Italy. The microbial activity had a substantial effect on the carbonate system parameters. Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) was substantially removed from the brine during the course of evaporation from the seawater to the point where calcium carbonate precipitates, with an accompanying decrease in its carbon isotopic composition (δ 13 C DIC ) to as low as −10.6‰. Although the removal of DIC was due to calcium carbonate precipitation, photosynthesis…
Carbonate/evaporitic sedimentation during the Messinian salinity crisis in active accretionary wedge basins of the northern Calabria, southern Italy
2020
Abstract This work deals with Messinian deposits belonging to the Neogene infill of the Rossano and Belvedere Basins, respectively developed along the fore-arc and the back-arc areas of the north Calabria accretionary wedge. The main goal is to characterize the carbonate and evaporitic sedimentation during the Messinian Salinity Crisis, in the general framework of the basin architecture and the interplay between eustatic vs tectonic controlled sea-level variations. Fieldwork integrated with seismic lines and well logs interpretations led to the revision of the general stratigraphy of the basins and the proposal of a new sequential stratigraphic model driven by cyclic sea-level variations. E…
Lithologic composition of the Earth's continental surfaces derived from a new digital map emphasizing riverine material transfer
2005
[1] A new digital map of the lithology of the continental surfaces is proposed in vector mode (n ≈ 8300, reaggregated at 0.5° × 0.5° resolution) for 15 rock types (plus water and ice) targeted to surficial Earth system analysis (chemical weathering, land erosion, carbon cycling, sediment formation, riverine fluxes, aquifer typology, coastal erosion). These types include acid (0.98% at global scale) and basic (5.75%) volcanics, acid (7.23%) and basic (0.20%) plutonics, Precambrian basement (11.52%) and metamorphic rocks (4.07%), consolidated siliciclastic rocks (16.28%), mixed sedimentary (7.75%), carbonates (10.40%), semi- to un-consolidated sedimentary rocks (10.05%), alluvial deposits (15…
Atmospheric CO2 Concentrations in Caves Protected as Nature Reserves and Related Gas Hazard
2022
Atmospheric CO2 concentrations can reach high levels inside natural caves, representing a hazardous condition for both humans frequenting the underground environment and its safeguard due to the corrosion of speleothems induced by the acidification of atmospheric moisture. These issues are particularly critical for the eco-sustainable management of caves protected as nature reserves and undergoing touristic exploitation. In this paper we present the results of the C6 project, which was activated in 1999 for the monitoring of air quality inside three caves protected as nature reserves in Sicily (Italy). Near-real-time and spot measurements of air temperature and CO2 concentration have been c…