Closed Basin Brine Evolution and the Influence of Ca–Cl Inflow Waters: Death Valley and Bristol Dry Lake California, Qaidam Basin, China, and Salar de Atacama, Chile

Lowenstein, Tim K.; Raffi, François

doi:10.1007/s10498-008-9046-z

Cited by 127 publications

(76 citation statements)

References 36 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The mineral precipitation sequence of halite-sylvite-carnallite-tachyhydrite in the Maha Sarakham Formation indicates that the Cretaceous parent waters were enriched in Ca 2+ and depleted in Na + , Mg 2+ , and SO 4 2− , typical of hydrothermal CaCl 2 brines [49,50]. In addition, hydrothermal brines may carry high concentrations of trace elements, for example, Fe, Mn, Cu, Pb, Zn, and Ba [49,50]. Such brines may provide the Fe for the hematite in the Maha Sarakham Formation ( Figure 6).…”

Section: Hydrothermal Activity?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anomalously High Cretaceous Paleobrine Temperatures: Hothouse, Hydrothermal or Solar Heating?

Wang

Lowenstein

2017

Minerals

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Elevated surface paleobrine temperatures (average 85.6 • C) are reported here from Cretaceous marine halites in the Maha Sarakham Formation, Khorat Plateau, Thailand. Fluid inclusions in primary subaqueous "chevron" and "cumulate" halites associated with potash salts contain daughter crystals of sylvite (KCl) and carnallite (MgCl 2 ·KCl·6H 2 O). Petrographic textures demonstrate that these fluid inclusions were trapped from the warm brines in which the halite crystallized. Later cooling produced supersaturated conditions leading to the precipitation of sylvite and carnallite daughter crystals within fluid inclusions. Dissolution temperatures of daughter crystals in fluid inclusions from the same halite bed vary over a large range (57.9 • C to 117.2 • C), suggesting that halite grew at different temperatures within and at the bottom of the water column. Consistency of daughter crystal dissolution temperatures within fluid inclusion bands and the absence of vapor bubbles at room temperature demonstrate that fluid inclusions have not stretched or leaked. Daughter crystal dissolution temperatures are reproducible to within 0.1 • C to 10.2 • C (average of 1.8 • C), and thus faithfully document paleobrine conditions. Microcrystalline hematite incorporated within halite crystals also indicate high paleobrine temperatures. We conclude that halite crystallized from warm brines rich in K-Mg-Na-Cl; sylvite and carnallite daughter crystals were nucleated during cooling of the warm brines sometime after deposition. Hothouse, hydrothermal, and solar-heating hypotheses are compared to explain the anomalously high surface paleobrine temperatures. Solar radiation stored in shallow density stratified brines is the most plausible explanation for the observed paleobrine temperatures and the progressively higher temperatures downward through the paleobrine column. The solar-heating hypothesis may also explain high paleobrine temperatures documented from fluid inclusions in other ancient halites.

show abstract

Section: Hydrothermal Activity?mentioning

confidence: 99%

Anomalously High Cretaceous Paleobrine Temperatures: Hothouse, Hydrothermal or Solar Heating?

Wang

Lowenstein

2017

Minerals

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…They are mostly related to water-rock interaction, hydrothermalism, membrane filtration, freezing, or sulfate removal (see brief review in Gavrieli et al 1995 andRisacher 2009). Present formation of calcic brines is little documented.…”

Section: Origin Of Calcic Solutionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Origin of Salts and Brine Evolution of Bolivian and Chilean Salars

2008

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Central Andes in Bolivia and northern Chile contain numerous internal drainage basins occupied by saline lakes and salt crusts (salars). Salts in inflow waters stem from two origins: alteration of volcanic rocks, which produces dilute waters, and brine recycling, which leads to brackish waters. Chilean alteration waters are three times more concentrated in average than Bolivian waters, which is related to a higher sulfur content in Chilean volcanoes. Brackish inflows stem from brines which leak out from present salars and mix with dilute groundwater. Most of the incoming salts are recycled salts. The cycling process is likely to have begun when ancient salars were buried by volcanic eruptions. Three major brine groups are found in Andean salars: alkaline, sulfate-rich, and calciumrich brines. Evaporation modeling of inflows shows good agreement between predicted and observed brines in Chile. Alkaline salars are completely lacking in Chile, which is accounted for by higher sulfate and lower alkalinity of inflow waters, in turn related to the suspected higher sulfur content in Chilean volcanic rocks. Six Bolivian salars are alkaline, a lower number than that predicted by evaporative modeling. Deposition on the drainage basin of eolian sulfur eroded from native deposits shifts the initial alkaline evolution to sulfate brines. The occurrence of calcium-rich brines in Andean salars is not compatible with volcanic drainage basins, which can only produce alkaline or sulfate-rich weathering waters. The discrepancy is likely due to recycled calcic brines from ancient salars in sedimentary basins, now buried below volcanic formations. Calcic salars are not in equilibrium with their volcanic environment and may slowly change with time to sulfate-rich salars.

show abstract

“…Rather, most lakes on earth derive their water from floods and rivers, explaining their carbonate-sulfate chemical nature. Four occurrences of Ca-chloride lakes described and discussed by Lowenstein and Risacher (2008) are: Qaidam basin, China; Death Valley, California, Salar de Atacama, Chile, and Bristol Dry Lake, California. The source of salts in similar fluids, including Dead Sea water, was attributed by Hardie (1990) to hydrothermal fluids.…”

Section: Ca Chloride Brine Evolutionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geochemical History of the Dead Sea

Katz

Starinsky

2008

Aquat Geochem

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A Southward view of the Dead Sea western coast. The steep western escarpment of the Dead Sea basin, composed mainly of Upper Cretaceous limestone and dolomite, can be seen on the right. Beach terraces left by the shrinking lake run parallel to the shore. The larger part of the area between the present water line and the mountains was still under Dead Sea water just 50-60 years ago. The current fall of the lake's stand is around 1 m year -1 . Three on-shore sinkholes can be seen in the front of the photo, as well as two submerged ones near its lower left corner. These were caused by dissolution of a Holocene salt layer located tens of meters below the surface, resulting in the collapse of the overlying sediments. The retreat of the Dead Sea in recent years was followed by eastward migration of the freshwater-brine interface. This in turn brought diluted groundwater in contact with the subsurface salt layer, triggering its dissolution, and is considered as the culprit of the spreading phenomenon. Many sinkholes contain brine that was left over by the receding Dead Sea and was trapped within the surrounding sediments. Once inside a sinkhole, these brines evolve chemically by evaporation to various degrees. The difference in color between the brine in the onshore sinkholes reflects salinity-related differences in their biology.Abstract The evolution of the Dead Sea basin (DSB) brines from their birth in a Pliocene lagoon to their accommodation in the Dead Sea is described and discussed. The history of the brines is divided into two periods, corresponding to the successive depositional environments that prevailed in the DSB, namely a marine lagoon and an inland saline lake. Ancient Mediterranean seawater, supplied into the DSB lagoon through an inland channel from the north, was concentrated by evaporation into the halite field. The resulting Mg-enriched solution dolomitized surrounding, upper Cretaceous limestone, losing most of its Mg 2? to the limestone in exchange for Ca 2? . Cretaceous marine Sr 2? , concurrently released from the limestone into the brine, lowered its (Pliocene time) 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios. Consequently, a Ca-chloridic solution with lowered 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios was formed. Frequently changing conditions along the active Dead Sea rift enabled back-flow of the Ca-chloridic brines to the DSB, where they mixed with fresh seawater, unloading into the mixture their limestone-Sr. This process is reflected by the 87 Sr/ 86 Sr ratios (0.7082-0.7087) in the lagoon's gypsum, dolomite, aragonite, and halite, which is intermediate between that of Pliocene seawater (0.709) and that in the upper Cretaceous limestone (0.7074-0.7077). Disconnection of the lagoon from the ancient Mediterranean brought about its end, and opened the (ongoing) lacustrine chapter of the DSB, without interrupting the reflux of Ca-chloride brine back into the basin. By that time, the chloridic brines processed by the lagoon became locked in a large, almost closed system reservoir in the DSB and vicinity. We propose that a Ca-chloridic la...

show abstract

Closed Basin Brine Evolution and the Influence of Ca–Cl Inflow Waters: Death Valley and Bristol Dry Lake California, Qaidam Basin, China, and Salar de Atacama, Chile

Abstract: International audienc

Cited by 127 publications

References 36 publications

Anomalously High Cretaceous Paleobrine Temperatures: Hothouse, Hydrothermal or Solar Heating?

Anomalously High Cretaceous Paleobrine Temperatures: Hothouse, Hydrothermal or Solar Heating?

Origin of Salts and Brine Evolution of Bolivian and Chilean Salars

Geochemical History of the Dead Sea

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About