Mineralogy, Petrography, Distribution, and Origin of the Messinian Mediterranean Evaporites

Nesteroff, Wladimir D.

doi:10.2973/dsdp.proc.13.121.1973

Cited by 25 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…They resemble very closely Messinian cycles described in Sicily (Richter-Bernburg, 1973;Heimann and Mascle, 1974;Schreiber, 1974;Schreiber et al, in press) arid in the Ionian Islands (Braune et al, 1973;Fabricius et al, this volume be similar cycles marked by extensive diagenesis of calcium sulfate sediments Nesteroff, 1973a;. Our reconstruction of the events within each of the members of the cycle suggests that the change from member A through B to C records a general lowering of water level, increasing salinity and increasing degrees of subaerial exposure ( Figure 17).…”

Section: Interpretation Of the Cycle In Cores 16-20supporting

confidence: 77%

“…Somewhat similar Messinian cycles of nodular anhydrite and barren dolomite muds were recovered during Leg 13 at Site 124 on the Balearic Rise Nesteroff, 1973a; and during Leg 23 at Site 225 in the Red Sea (Stoffers and Kuehn, 1974).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

“…The anhydrite in Section 1 of Core 22 is mainly white with thin dark interlayers and closely resembles the anhydrite in Core 8 at Site 371 and in Cores 8-13, Site 124 of Leg 13 Nesteroff, 1973a;. Nearly all of the anhydrite at Site 374 is layered, but locally it becomes nodular, with the development of small-scale chicken wire structure (Figure 32).…”

Section: Layered Anhydrite and Halite Of Cores 21 And 22mentioning

confidence: 85%

“…Thus many of our interpretations rely heavily upon comparisons with similar, more completely exposed sequences, both ancient and modern, in other regions. In particular, we have made frequent comparisons of late Miocene evaporites from Leg 42A with contemporaneous rocks in the Gesesso-Solfifera Formation of Sicily (Ogniben, 1957;Selli, 1973, Decima and Wezel, 1971Richter-Bernburg, 1973;Nesteroff, 1973b;Schreiber, 1974;Schreiber and Friedman, 1976;Schreiber et al, 1976).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sedimentary Petrology and Structures of Messinian Evaporitic Sediments in the Mediterranean Sea, Leg 42A, Deep Sea Drilling Project

Hsü¹,

Montadert²

1978

Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project

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Analysis of the petrology and sedimentary structures of Messinian evaporites recovered during Leg 42A yields tentative interpretations of the depositional environments at the various sites. At Site 371, on the southern edge of the Balearic Abyssal Plain, coring retrieved about 2 meters of nodular to laminated anhydrite overlying 2 meters of barren dolomitic mudstone. We interpret this sequence as part of a prograding sabkha cycle. Site 372, on the flank of the East Menorca Rise, contained a thin Messinian sequence of laminated and nodular gypsum with minor dolomitic marls; these rocks lie stratigraphically between pelagic nannofossil marls. The most prominent lithology at Site 372 is laminated gypsum which contains cross bedding, ripple marks, and other indications of current deposition. We believe deposition of this gypsum occurred in a very shallow water evaporite flat that may have been exposed subaerially from time to time.Evaporitic sediments at Site 374, in the Ionian Sea, comprise a sequence beginning with halite and nodular anhydrite, and progressing stratigraphically upward into cycles of gypsum and dolomitic mudstone and then into dolomitic marl. This succession records a progressive decrease in average salinity as well as an increase in average water depth. The gypsum-mudstone cycles were the result of shorter term fluctuations of water level that produced depositional environments ranging from shallow subaqueous to subaerial.Coring at Sites 375 and 376, west of Cyprus in the eastern Mediterranean, yielded a variety of Messinian evaporitic rocks including halite, anhydrite, and several kinds of gypsum. Most prominent among the latter are laminated gypsum, selenite, and resedimented gypsiferous deposits (gypsarenite and gypsrudite). Deposition of all of these evaporitic rocks occurred in either very shallow subaqueous or subaerial environments. Lying stratigraphically above them is a sequence of Messinian dolomitic marlstones with interbedded turbiditic arenite and siltites, indicating markedly less saline conditions and deeper water.Coarse selenitic gypsum was the main deposit of Messinian age recovered at Site 378, in the North Cretan Basin. Precipitation of this gypsum occurred in shallow water. Periodic influxes of less saline water caused some dissolution of the selenite and produced dissolution breccias of slightly reworked selenite crystals. At least brief periods of subaerial exposure are indicated by the presence of small amounts of dolomitic caliche breccia.

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Section: Interpretation Of the Cycle In Cores 16-20supporting

confidence: 77%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 73%

Section: Layered Anhydrite and Halite Of Cores 21 And 22mentioning

confidence: 85%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Sedimentary Petrology and Structures of Messinian Evaporitic Sediments in the Mediterranean Sea, Leg 42A, Deep Sea Drilling Project

Hsü¹,

Montadert²

1978

Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project

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“…This late Miocene glacial event on Antarctica (Hayes and Frakes, 1974) might have produced a significant drop in eustatic sea level which some workers have postulated as the mechanism which cut off the Mediterranean from the open ocean and induced the late Miocene salinity crisis there Nesteroff, 1973;van Couvering et al, 1976).…”

Section: Specific Scientific Objectivesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Objectives, Principal Results, Operations, and Explanatory Notes of Leg 40, South Atlantic

Ryan¹,

Bolli²,

Foss³

et al. 1978

Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling Project

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A Shallow‐Basin Model for ‘Saline Giants’ Based on Isostasy‐Driven Subsidence

Belt

Boer

2007

Sedimentary Processes, Environments and Basins

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The common assumption that 'saline giants' must have formed in deep basins and that their thickness reflects initial basin depth ignores the principle of isostasy. Due to the high density of anhydrite and high precipitation rates for evaporite minerals, isostatic compensation is much more important in evaporite than in non-evaporite settings. The main implication is that evaporite precipitation drives subsidence rather than the other way round, and that thick evaporite deposits require an initial basin depth much less than their final thickness. Once initiated, evaporite precipitation and consequent isostatic subsidence is a self-sustaining process that can result in kilometre-scale evaporite stratigraphy. Rapid isostatic compensation is facilitated by thin, fractured crust in extensional basins, which explains the typical occurrence of saline giants in such settings. It is shown that a shallow-basin origin in combination with rapid isostatic compensation can well explain the extreme thickness of saline giants as well as the commonly associated shallow-water sedimentary facies. Although there is no reason to exclude the possibility of a basin-wide dropdown of a few thousand metres as proposed for some saline giants, a desiccated deep basin is certainly not a requirement. An initially shallow basin that rapidly deepens by isostatic adjustment in response to the precipitation of evaporites eliminates the need for deep-basin desiccation, gigantic waterfalls, and repeated opening and closure of a connection to the world ocean, and makes the extreme thickness of saline giants less enigmatic.

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Mineralogy, Petrography, Distribution, and Origin of the Messinian Mediterranean Evaporites

Cited by 25 publications

References 11 publications

Sedimentary Petrology and Structures of Messinian Evaporitic Sediments in the Mediterranean Sea, Leg 42A, Deep Sea Drilling Project

Sedimentary Petrology and Structures of Messinian Evaporitic Sediments in the Mediterranean Sea, Leg 42A, Deep Sea Drilling Project

Objectives, Principal Results, Operations, and Explanatory Notes of Leg 40, South Atlantic

A Shallow‐Basin Model for ‘Saline Giants’ Based on Isostasy‐Driven Subsidence

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