Sulfur redox reactions: Hydrocarbons,native sulfur,Mississippi Valley-type deposits,and sulfuric acid karst in the Delaware Basin,New Mexico and Texas |
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| Authors: | C Hill |
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| Institution: | (1) 17 El Arco Drive, 87123 Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA |
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| Abstract: | Hydrocarbons, native sulfur, Mississippi Valley-type (MVT) deposits, and sulfuric acid karst in the Delaware Basin, southeastern New Mexico, and west Texas, USA, are all genetically related through a series of sulfur redox reactions. The relationship began with hydrocarbons in the basin that reacted with sulfate ions from evaporite rock to produce isotopically light (
34S = -22 to -12) H2S and bioepigenetic limestone (castiles). This light H2S was then oxidized at the redox interface to produce economic native sulfur deposits (
34S = -15 to +9) in the castiles, paleokarst, and along graben-boundary faults. This isotopically light H2S also migrated from the basin into its margins to accumulate in structural (anticlinal) and stratigraphic (Yates siltstone) traps, where it formed MVT deposits within the zone of reduction (
34S = -15 to +7). Later in time, in th zone of oxidation, this H2S reacted with oxygenated water to produce sulfuric acid, which dissolved the caves (e.g., Carlsbad Cavern and Lechuguilla Cave, Guadalupe Mountains). Massive gypsum blocks on the floors of the caves (
34S = -25 to +4) were formed as a result of this reaction. The H2S also produced istopically light cave sulfur (
34S = -24 to -15), which is now slowly oxidizing to gypsum in the presence of vadose drip water. |
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| Keywords: | Sulfur redox reactions Hydrocarbons Sulfuric acid karst Paleokarst Mississippi Valley-type deposits |
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