Diagenetic precipitation

The formation temperatures of ankerite and calcite in the Oseberg reservoir derived from fluid inclusions are in good agreement with petrographic observations indicating a late diagenetic precipitation. Combined with the thermal history of the reservoir, these temperatures imply that ankerite... 

A large proportion of the Mg, Ti, Cr, Mn, Fe, and Zr concentration in the hard coal listed in Table 1.3 belongs to the detrital sediment material which is contained in coal. This can be concluded from the respective concentrations of the listed elements in shales and greywackes (cf Table 1.1). Sulfur in coal is produced by bacterial sulfate reduction and diagenetic precipitation as iron sulfide close to the carbonaceous material. Several metals which form sulfides, selenides, and arsenides of very low solubil-... 

Several lines of evidence suggest the involvement of TSR. Partially dissolved remnants of early diagenetic anhydrite cement are found embedded in quartz cement (Fig. 12). Fluid inclusion data indicate that nodular quartz cement with anhydrite inclusions (Fig. 15) formed at elevated temperatures, suggesting that anhydrite dissolution may have coincided with high temperature TSR. Post-pyrobitumen carbonate and pyrite cements and nodules are also present in the Norphlet and may represent late diagenetic precipitates associated with TSR. Pyrite cement from the Norphlet has sulphur isotope ratios that are identical to those of the Pine Hill Anhydrite (Table 3) and within the range reported for Jurassic seawater (Hoefs... 

Diagenetic Healing late precipitation of minerals on or near the fault plane has created a sealing surface (see diagenesis for more detail). 

This kind of pressure solution / precipitation is active over prolonged periods of time and may almost totally destroy the original porosity. Precipitation of material may also occur in a similar way on the surface of fault planes thus creating an effective seal via a process introduced earlier as diagenetic healing. 

Although the majority of attention in discussions on the origins of BIFs has been on the oxide facies, siderite facies rocks are equally important in many BIF sequences. Reaction of Fe(II)aq and dissolved carbonate with hematite to form siderite and magnetite has been hypothesized to be an important diagenetic process in marine basins during formation of some BIFs if sulfate contents were low (e.g., Klein and Beukes 1989 Beukes et al. 1990 Kaufman 1996 Sumner 1997). In Figure 18 we assume that Fe(II)aq was derived either from MOR sources or DIR, or a combination of the two, which reacted with ferric oxide precipitates to form magnetite or dissolved carbonate to produce siderite. 

For oxygen this means a decrease in from an initial 5-valne very near 0%c (ocean water) to abont -2%o at depths aronnd 200 m (Perry et al. 1976 Lawrence and Gieskes 1981 Brnmsack et al. 1992). Even lower 5 0-values of about -4%c at depths of around 400 m have been observed by Matsumoto (1992). This decrease in 0 is mainly dne to the formation of anthigenic 0-enriched clay minerals such as smectite from alteration of basaltic material and volcanic ash. Other diagenetic reactions inclnde recrystallization of biogenic carbonates, precipitation of... 

One of the most sensitive tracers recording the composition of ancient sea water is the isotopic composition of chemical sediments precipitated from sea water. The following discussion concentrates on the stable isotope composition of oxygen, carbon, and sulfur, but in recent years other isotope systems have been included such as Ca (De La Rocha and De Paolo 2000 Schmitt et al. 2003 Fantle and de Paolo 2005 Farkas et al. 2007) and B (Lemarchand et al. 2000, 2002 Joachimski et al. 2005) and Li (Hoefs and Sywall 1997). One of the fundamental questions in all these approaches is which kind of sample provides the necessary information, in the sense that it represents the ocean water composition at its time of formation and has not been modified subsequently by diagenetic reactions. 

In weathering situations, saturation of fluids with SiC relative to any species of pure silica is probably only rarely achieved. In continental and shallow sea deposits, silica is precipitated in some initially amorphous form, opaline or chert when lithified or extracted by living organisms. Authigenically formed silicates are probably not in equilibrium with quartz when they are formed. As compaction increases in sediments, silica concentrations in solution are again above those of quartz saturation (15 ppm) and again it must be assumed that the diagenetic minerals formed are not in equilibrium with a silica polymorph except where amorphous silica is present. It is possible that burial depths of one or two kilometers are necessary to effectively stabilize that quartz form. It must be anticipated that the minerals formed under conditions of silica saturation near the earth s surface will be a minority of the examples found in natural rock systems. 

These clays occur in limestones, dolomites, evaporites, shales, siltstones, and hydrothermal deposits. All the sedimentary material appears to have a diagenetic origin. Although the physical environments vary, the chemical environments should be similar. Saline or even super-saline conditions are implied by the presence of evaporite minerals associated with some of the deposits. In the other deposits it is possible that temporary evaporitic conditions (e.g., tidal flats) existed long enough for brucite to precipitate between the layers of expanded-layer minerals. It appears plausible that the parent material was a montmorillonite-like mineral (probably detrital in most cases). 

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