“…This cement is commonly well developed in mature, medium-to coarse-grained quartz arenites, typical of tectonically stable areas and, in particular, cratonic basins (Dickinson and Suczek, 1979;Blatt et al, 1980;Houseknecht, 1984). Understanding the origin and distribution of quartz cement is consequently of economic importance for reservoir quality prediction in oilfield sandstones (Marchand et al, 2002). Although quartz cementation has been studied extensively due to its importance, the origin of quartz cement and the mechanism of transport of silica to the site of precipitation have not been fully understood (Blatt, 1979;Land and Dutton, 1979;Bjørlykke, 1979Bjørlykke, , 1983Leder and Park, 1986;Dutton and Diggs, 1990;Girard and Deynoux, 1991;Worden and Morad, 2000).…”