The role of saline formation water in crustal cycling |
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| Authors: | Lynton S Land |
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| Institution: | (1) Department of Geological Sciences, University of Texas, 78713 Austin, TX, USA |
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| Abstract: | Most sedimentary basins contain saline pore water.  Saline formation waters can form during burial diagenesis as the result of normal processes of water/rock interaction involving incongruent halite dissolution, bittern salt destruction, and albitization of detrital plagioclase. The kinds of Na-Ca-Cl saline formation waters typical of sedimentary basins can also result from modification of surficial brines formed by the precipitation of NaCl from evaporated seawater. As the porosity of rocks is reduced during burial, discharge of saline formation waters contributes to crustal chloride cycling, and helps explain riverine chloride loads. During burial, the dissolution of metastable detrital minerals derived from crustal rocks in corrosive, saline water transfers incompatible elements such as Li and B from the igneous crust to the sedimentary crust. Similarly, albitization transfers Ca from the crustal silicate (igneous) mineral reservoir to the crustal carbonate and aqueous (sedimentary) reservoirs. Metamorphism and then melting of albite-enriched rocks accounts for the elevated sodium contents of igneous rocks relative to sedimentary rocks. In this way average sediments have become enriched through time in Ca, Cl, Br, S, Li, and B, and depleted in Na relative to average igneous crust. |
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| Keywords: | Saline formation waters sedimentary basins crustal cycling |
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