Search results for "Stylolite"
showing 10 items of 10 documents
Ocean Acidification and the End-Permian Mass Extinction: To What Extent does Evidence Support Hypothesis?
2012
International audience; Ocean acidification in modern oceans is linked to rapid increase in atmospheric CO 2 , raising concern about marine diversity, food security and ecosystem services. Proxy evidence for acidification during past crises may help predict future change, but three issues limit confidence of comparisons between modern and ancient ocean acidification, illustrated from the end-Permian extinction, 252 million years ago: (1) problems with evidence for ocean acidification preserved in sedimentary rocks, where proposed marine dissolution surfaces may be subaerial. Sedimentary evidence that the extinction was partly due to ocean acidification is therefore inconclusive; (2) Fossils…
The influence of rock heterogeneity on the scaling properties of simulated and natural stylolites
2009
International audience; Stylolites are among the most prominent deformation patterns in sedimentary rocks that document localized pressure solution. Recent studies revealed that stylolite roughness is characterized by two distinct scaling regimes. The main goal of the present study is to decipher whether this complex scaling behavior of stylolites is caused by the composition of the host-rock, i.e. heterogeneities in the material, or is governed by inherent processes on respective scales, namely the transition from a surface energy to an elastic energy dominated regime, as theoretically predicted. For this purpose we have developed a discrete numerical technique, based on a lattice spring m…
Growth of stylolite teeth patterns depending on normal stress and finite compaction
2007
Abstract Stylolites are spectacular rough dissolution surfaces that are found in many rock types. They are formed during a slow irreversible deformation in sedimentary rocks and therefore participate to the dissipation of tectonic stresses in the Earth's upper crust. Despite many studies, their genesis is still debated, particularly the time scales of their formation and the relationship between this time and their morphology. We developed a new discrete simulation technique to explore the dynamic growth of the stylolite roughness, starting from an initially flat dissolution surface. We demonstrate that the typical steep stylolite teeth geometry can accurately be modelled and reproduce natu…
Modelling of stylolite geometries and stress scaling
2012
International audience; In this contribution we present numerical simulations of stylolite growth to decipher the effects of initial rock heterogeneity and stress on their morphology. We show that stylolite growth in a rock with a uniform grain size produces different patterns than stylolite growth in a rock with a bimodal grain size distribution. Strong pinning of large heterogeneities produce stylolite structures that are dominated by pronounced teeth, whereas a uniform grain size leads to spikes and a roughness that shows variable wavelengths. We compare the simulated stylolites with natural examples and show that the model can reproduce the real structures. In addition we show that stro…
Anisotropic scaling of tectonic stylolites: A fossilized signature of the stress field?
2010
International audience; [1] Vertical stylolites are pressure solution features, which are considered to be caused by horizontal tectonic loading, with the largest principal compressive stress being (sub-) parallel to the Earth's surface. In the present study we analyze the roughness of such tectonic stylolites from two tectonic settings in southern Germany and northeastern Spain, aiming to investigate their scaling properties with respect to the stress during formation. High-resolution laser profilometry was carried out on opened stylolite surfaces of nine samples. These data sets were then analyzed using one-and two-dimensional Fourier power spectral approaches. We found that tectonic styl…
Partial high-pressure aragonitization of micritic limestones in an accretionary complex, Tavşanlı Zone, NW Turkey
2006
Pelagic micritic limestones within an upper Cretaceous accretionary complex in the Tavsanli Zone, NW Turkey, preserve textures indicating incomplete prograde transformation of micritic calcite to aragonite, representing the only known example of this type. Aragonitization starts at the central parts of the micritic limestone beds and advances towards the lower and upper parts of the layers at the expense of micrite. Micrite is very fine grained (<0.003 mm) and contains radiolaria, foraminifera and thin shell fragments. Aragonite forms large crystals, up to 3 cm across, with straight grain boundaries and c-axis mostly subparallel to the carbonate beds. Relict micritic portions are devoid of …
Microstructure-specific carbon isotopic signatures of organic matter from ∼3.5 Ga cherts of the Pilbara Craton support a biologic origin.
2016
21 pages; International audience; The ∼3.5 Ga Dresser Formation from the North Pole Dome of the Pilbara Craton (Western Australia) contains some of the oldest evidence for life on Earth. Here, we present a detailed study of microstructure-specific carbon isotopic composition of organic matter (OM) preserved in Dresser Formation bedded cherts and hydrothermal chert vein using in situ Secondary-Ion Mass Spectrometry (SIMS). The OM in these rocks occurs mainly as clots that, together with minor fine OM layers and laminae, are considered primary textures formed prior to host rock lithification. Other than rare OM-rich stylolites, no evidence was found for later OM migration beyond the micromete…
Dissolution Process: When Does the Process Start
2019
Dissolution process is a complex phenomenon controlled by several factors as like lithology, porosity, stress orientation, environmental conditions and networks of fractures. Then, fault zone and fractures play an important role in fluid circulation and in dissolution, acting as barriers or conduits. In fact, the fault zone has a high permeability only in the early stages of the movement, but shortly the process of recrystallization and reprecipitation reduces the permeability greatly within them. Despite this, traditionally (Cucchi and Forti in In Att. e Mem. Comm. Grotte “E: Boegan” 87–93, 1988; Bini et al. in Varese Lake and the Quaternary 6:3–14, 1993; Ferrarese and Meneghel in Aspetti …
Stylolite interfaces and surrounding matrix material: Nature and role of heterogeneities in roughness and microstructural development
2010
Rough pressure solution interfaces, like stylolites, are one of the most evident features of localized slow deformation in rocks of the upper crust. There is a general consensus that the development of these rough structures is a result of localized, stress enhanced, dissolution of material along a fluid filled interface, but little is known on the initiation of this roughness. The aim of this article is to reveal the role of heterogeneities initially present in the host-rock on roughness initiation. This should give insights on whether stylolite roughness is generated by a stress-induced instability or by the presence of disorder in the material (i.e. quenched noise). We use a microstructu…
Stress sensitivity of stylolite morphology
2009
International audience; Stylolites are rough surfaces that form by localized stress-induced dissolution. Using a set of limestone rock samples collected at different depths from a vertical section in Cirque de Navacelles (France), we study the influence of the lithostatic stress on the stylolites morphology on the basis of a recent morphogenesis model. We measured the roughness of a series of bedding-parallel stylolites and show that their morphology exhibits a scaling invariance with two self-affine scaling regimes separated by a crossover-length (L) at the millimeter scale consistent with previous studies. The importance of the present contribution is to estimate the stylolite formation s…