Deep-Burial Brecciation in the Devonian Upper Elk Point Group, Rainbow Basin, Alberta, Western Canada

Dravis, Jeffrey J.; Muir, I.D.

doi:10.2110/cor.93.18.0119

Cited by 17 publications

(9 citation statements)

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“…The deep burial alternative seems unlikely based upon present interpretations of the petrographic and geochemical data. Deep burial gypsum dissolution with subsequent brecciation has, however, been described elsewhere (Dravis & Muir, 1993). Pre‐brecciation stylolites within breccia clasts and compaction because of heavy overburden prior to cementation are characteristics of such breccias.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solution‐collapse breccias of the Minkinfjellet and Wordiekammen Formations, Central Spitsbergen, Svalbard: a large gypsum palaeokarst system

Eliassen

Talbot²

2005

Sedimentology

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Large volumes of carbonate breccia occur in the late syn‐rift and early post‐rift deposits of the Billefjorden Trough, Central Spitsbergen. Breccias are developed throughout the Moscovian Minkinfjellet Formation and in basal parts of the Kazimovian Wordiekammen Formation. Breccias can be divided into two categories: (i) thick, cross‐cutting breccia‐bodies up to 200 m thick that are associated with breccia pipes and large V‐structures, and (ii) horizontal stratabound breccia beds interbedded with undeformed carbonate and siliciclastic rocks. The thick breccias occur in the central part of the basin, whereas the stratabound breccia beds have a much wider areal extent towards the basin margins. The breccias were formed by gravitational collapse into cavities formed by dissolution of gypsum and anhydrite beds in the Minkinfjellet Formation. Several dissolution fronts have been discovered, demonstrating the genetic relationship between dissolution of gypsum and brecciation. Textures and structures typical of collapse breccias such as inverse grading, a sharp flat base, breccia pipes (collapse dolines) and V‐structures (cave roof collapse) are also observed. The breccias are cemented by calcite cements of pre‐compaction, shallow burial origin. Primary fluid inclusions in the calcite are dominantly single phase containing fresh water (final melting points are ca 0 °C), suggesting that breccia diagenesis occurred in meteoric waters. Cathodoluminescence (CL) zoning of the cements shows a consistent pattern of three cement stages, but the abundance of each stage varies stratigraphically and laterally. δ18O values of breccia cements are more negative relative to marine limestones and meteoric cements developed in unbrecciated Minkinfjellet limestones. There is a clear relationship between δ18O values and the abundance of the different cement generations detected by CL. Paragenetically, later cements have lower δ18O values recording increased temperatures during their precipitation. Carbon isotope values of the cements are primarily rock‐buffered although a weak trend towards more negative values with increasing burial depth is observed. The timing of gypsum dissolution and brecciation was most likely related to major intervals of exposure of the carbonate platform during Gzhelian and/or Asselian/Sakmarian times. These intervals of exposure occurred shortly after deposition of the brecciated units and before deep burial of the sediments.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Solution‐collapse breccias of the Minkinfjellet and Wordiekammen Formations, Central Spitsbergen, Svalbard: a large gypsum palaeokarst system

Eliassen

Talbot²

2005

Sedimentology

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“…Vugs, caverns and breccias can form in the deep subsurface because of deep‐burial dissolution by basinal fluids independent of subaerial exposure (Dravis & Muir 1993). An abrupt change in lithology at stratigraphic boundaries, such as the point at which unit V overlies unit IV, can influence the flow of subsurface fluids during deeper burial, resulting in creation of substantial secondary porosity and brecciation beneath unit IV (Fig.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Tectonic and stratigraphic significance of the Middle Ordovician carbonate breccias in the Ogcheon Belt, South Korea

Ryu

2002

Island Arc

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Carbonate breccias occur sporadically in the Lower–Middle Ordovician Maggol Limestone exposed in the Taebacksan Basin in the northeastern part of the northeast–southwest‐trending Ogcheon Belt, South Korea. These carbonate breccias have been previously interpreted as intraformational or fault‐related breccias. Thus, little attention has been focused on tectonic and stratigraphic significance of these carbonate breccias. The present study, however, indicates that the majority of these carbonate breccias are solution–collapse breccias, which are causally linked to paleokarstification. Carbonate facies analysis in conjunction with conodont biostratigraphy suggests that an overall regression toward the top of the Maggol Limestone probably culminated in subaerial exposure of platform carbonates during the early Middle Ordovician (earliest Darriwilian). Extensive subaerial exposure of platform carbonates resulted in paleokarst‐related solution–collapse breccias in the upper Maggol Limestone. This subaerial exposure event is manifested as a major paleokarst unconformity at the Sauk–Tippecanoe sequence boundary elsewhere beneath the Middle Ordovician succession and its equivalents, most notably North America and North China. Due to its global extent, this paleokarst unconformity has been viewed as a product of second‐ or third‐order eustatic sealevel drop during the early Middle Ordovician. Although a paleokarst breccia zone is recognized beneath the Middle Ordovician succession in South Korea, the Sauk–Tippecanoe sequence boundary appears to be a conformable transgressive surface on the top of the paleokarst breccia zone in the upper Maggol Limestone. The paleokarst breccia zone beneath the conformable transgressive surface is represented by a thinning‐upward stack of exposure‐capped tidal flat‐dominated cycles that are closely associated with multiple occurrences of paleokarst‐related solution–collapse breccias. This paleokarst breccia zone was a likely consequence of repeated fourth‐ and fifth‐order sealevel fluctuations. It suggests that second‐ and third‐order eustatic sealevel drop may have been significantly tempered by substantial tectonic subsidence near the end of the Maggol deposition. The tectonic subsidence in the basin is also evidenced by the occurrence of coeval off‐platform lowstand siliciclastic quartzite lenses as well as debris flow carbonate breccias (i.e. the Yemi Breccia). With the continued tectonic subsidence, subsequent rise in the eustatic cycle caused drowning and deep flooding of carbonate platform, forming a transgressive surface on the top of the paleokarst breccia zone. This tectonic implication contrasts notably with the slowly subsiding carbonate platform model for the basin as has been previously interpreted. Thus, it is proposed that the Taebacksan Basin in the northeastern part of the Ogcheon Belt evolved from a slowly subsiding carbonate platform to a rapidly subsiding intracontinental rift basin during the early Middle Ordovician. The proposed tectonic model in the basin gi...

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“…Moreover, similar features are characteristic of other major paleokarst zones, such as the Sauk paleokarst at and below the Early-Middle Ordovician unconformity, which is the mostextensive paleokarstsystem in NorthAmerica (Harris 1971;Kyle 1976;Mussman et al 1988;Furman 1993). Many carbonate breccias in other strata, traditionally interpretedas the resultofcaverncollapse, wereactually produced by reduction and dissolution of evaporites (Dravis and Muir 1993). The evolutionary details and environments of these paleokarstzonesprobably do notprecisely match thoseof the Kaskaskia paleokarst, but theyare likelyto share manyof the same processes and relationships.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Kaskaskia paleokarst of the northern Rocky Mountains and Black Hills, northwestern U.S.A.

Palmer

1995

Carbonates Evaporites

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The Kaskaskia paleokarst, part of the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian unconformity in North America, is typified by sinkholes, fissures, and dissolution caves at and near the top of the Kaskaskia Sequence (Madison limestone and equivalents) and is covered by basal Absaroka siliciclastics (Chesterian to Morrowan). In the Rocky Mountains and Black Hills of the northwestern U. S. A. it postdates earlier features produced by sulfate-carbonate interactions, including breccias, dissolution voids, bedrock alteration, and mineralization. Both the paleokarst and earlier features have been intersected by post-Laramide caves. Ore deposits, aquifers, and petroleum reservoirs in the region are also concentrated along both the paleokarst horizons and earlier sulfate-related features. Each phase of karst modified and preferentially followed the zones of porosity and structural weakness left by earlier phases, producing an interrelated complex of now-relict features. All should be considered together to explain the present aspect of the paleokarst

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Deep-Burial Brecciation in the Devonian Upper Elk Point Group, Rainbow Basin, Alberta, Western Canada

Cited by 17 publications

References 0 publications

Solution‐collapse breccias of the Minkinfjellet and Wordiekammen Formations, Central Spitsbergen, Svalbard: a large gypsum palaeokarst system

Solution‐collapse breccias of the Minkinfjellet and Wordiekammen Formations, Central Spitsbergen, Svalbard: a large gypsum palaeokarst system

Tectonic and stratigraphic significance of the Middle Ordovician carbonate breccias in the Ogcheon Belt, South Korea

The Kaskaskia paleokarst of the northern Rocky Mountains and Black Hills, northwestern U.S.A.

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