Variety of stylolites' morphologies and statistical characterization of the amount of heterogeneities in the rock

Brouste, Alexandre; Renard, François; Gratier, Jean‐Pierre; Schmittbuhl, Jean

doi:10.1016/j.jsg.2006.09.014

Cited by 39 publications

(32 citation statements)

References 17 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…It is not clear how variations in these parameters may 445 affect the stylolite growth and what kind of noise is present in a real rock. The nature of the 446 noise may influence pinning of the surface and thus may influence the growth and structure of 447 the stylolite [31]. However, since our simulations can reproduce natural stylolites quite 448 realistically, one can argue that the exact nature of the noise is less important than the effects 449 of elastic energy, surface energy and stress.…”

Section: Deterministic 418mentioning

confidence: 95%

Growth of stylolite teeth patterns depending on normal stress and finite compaction

Koehn¹,

Renard²,

Toussaint³

et al. 2007

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

107

115

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

14Stylolites are spectacular rough dissolution surfaces that are found in many rock types. 15They are formed during a slow irreversible deformation in sedimentary rocks and therefore 16 participate to the dissipation of tectonic stresses in the Earth's upper crust. Despite many 17 studies, their genesis is still debated, particularly the time scales of their formation and the 18 relationship between this time and their morphology. 19We developed a new discrete simulation technique to explore the dynamic growth of 20 the stylolite roughness, starting from an initially flat dissolution surface. We demonstrate that 21 the typical steep stylolite teeth geometry can accurately be modelled and reproduce natural 22 patterns. The growth of the roughness takes place in two successive time regimes: i) an initial 23 non-linear increase in roughness amplitude that follows a power-law in time up to ii) a critical 24 time where the roughness amplitude saturates and stays constant. We also find two different 25 spatial scaling regimes. At small spatial scales, surface energy is dominant and the growth of 26 the roughness amplitude follows a power-law in time with an exponent of 0.5 and reaches an 27 early saturation. Conversely, at large spatial scales, elastic energy is dominant and the growth 28 follows a power-law in time with an exponent of 0.8. In this elastic regime, the roughness 29 does not saturate within the given simulation time. 30Our findings show that a stylolite's roughness amplitude only captures a very small 31 part of the actual compaction that a rock experienced. Moreover the memory of the 32 * Manuscript Click here to download Manuscript: Styloteeth_EPSL.doc -2 -compaction history may be lost once the roughness growth saturates. We also show that the 33 stylolite teeth geometry tracks the main compressive stress direction. If we rotate the external 34 main compressive stress direction, the teeth are always tracking the new direction. Finally, we 35 present a model that explains why teeth geometries form and grow non-linearly with time, 36 why they are relatively stable and why their geometry is strongly deterministic while their 37 location is random. 38

show abstract

Section: Deterministic 418mentioning

confidence: 95%

Growth of stylolite teeth patterns depending on normal stress and finite compaction

Koehn¹,

Renard²,

Toussaint³

et al. 2007

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

107

115

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Modeling (of data sets of stylolites in Italy, southern France, and Germany) showed that stylolite roughness is not a function of (homogeneous or heterogeneous) grain size (Karcz and Scholz 2003;Ebner et al 2010), and that heterogeneities, such as clay particles, play a crucial role in the formation of the distinctive roughness of stylolites because their resistance to dissolution differs (Brouste et al 2007;Ebner et al 2009a;Ebner et al 2010;Renard et al 2004;Schmittbuhl et al 2004).…”

Section: Control On Stylolite Amplitude and Densitymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The orientation of these oblique stylolites was controlled by the distribution of structures in the host rock, such as bioturbation (burrows) or thin fractures (similar to observations from Lind 1993 in the Ontong Java Plateau). The influence of pre-existing microfractures or by competent components, such as pyrite crystals, on stylolite geometry was suggested by modeling results (Brouste et al 2007). …”

Section: Timing and Burial Depth During Stylolitizationmentioning

confidence: 99%

Diagenetic Implications of Stylolitization In Pelagic Carbonates, Canterbury Basin, Offshore New Zealand

Vandeginste¹,

John²

2013

Journal of Sedimentary Research

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stylolites are irregular discontinuity surfaces that are thought to result from localized stress-induced dissolution during burial or tectonic compression. The genesis of stylolites and the controls on stylolitization are still debated, and the interplay between stylolitization, generation of carbonate-rich fluids, diagenetic fluid flow within fractures and matrix, cementation, and porosity modifications is complex. All of these processes have important diagenetic effects potentially altering the intrinsic properties of the host rock, with implications for hydrocarbon exploration and water resources in aquifers. We investigate the process of stylolitization by a macroscopic, petrographic, and geochemical study of pressure-solution features in Eocene to early Oligocene limestones in cores from the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program (IODP) Hole 317-U1352C (Canterbury Basin). The results indicate correlations among stylolite amplitude, stylolite density, and siliciclastic content of the host rock. These relationships are interpreted to suggest that siliciclastic content in carbonate rocks increases heterogeneity, which in turn impacts stylolite nucleation. Moreover, the geochemical data support that clay along the stylolite is not authigenic, but a relict from impurities in the limestone host rock. The statistical approach of stylolite spacing used in this study, which is different than previous studies, reinforces the model of random occurrence of stylolites in (carbonate) lithologic units.This study shows that local stresses in tectonically passive areas may allow the formation of rare oblique stylolites with peaks perpendicular to the stylolite plane. Estimation of the amount of limestone dissolved during stylolitization (minimum 7% to 12% of the depositional limestone) and the volume of sparite in the host rock (up to 1.6% of the compacted limestone) suggests that the pressure-solution fluids cemented the micropores, reducing porosity to about 10% (from a common porosity of about 40% in mechanically compacted chalk). This study thus highlights the importance of microporosity as a sink for burial cements, an observation difficult to make in thin-section. Analysis of stylolite infills at Site U1352 shows no evidence that the stylolites acted as conduits for diagenetic fluids, unless if the fluid was host-rock buffered and thus its chemistry indistinguishable from that of the host rock.The link between siliciclastic content in carbonate rocks and the spacing and amplitude of stylolites improves understanding of burial compaction processes. Predicting the morphology and spacing of stylolites in the subsurface can be used to identify baffles to cross-stylolite fluid flow or cementation (of microporosity) influencing heterogeneity of petrophysical properties in (subsurface reservoir) host rocks.

show abstract

“…A significant step in stylolite morphogenesis modeling has been obtained from extended roughness measurements in particular 3D profiling of open stylolites. These data have allowed quantitative approaches based on fractal analysis tools (Drummond and Sexton, 1998) and demonstrated fractal scaling invariance over several orders of magnitude of stylolite roughness Schmittbuhl et al, 2004;Gratier et al, 2005;Karcz and Scholz, 2003;Brouste et al, 2007). In addition Schmittbuhl et al (2004) and Renard et al (2004) observed the existence of a crossover-length (L) that separates two scaling regimes with different roughness exponents for small and large scales.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Stress sensitivity of stylolite morphology

Ebner

Koehn

Toussaint

et al. 2009

Earth and Planetary Science Letters

Self Cite

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stylolites are rough surfaces that form by localized stress-induced dissolution. Using a set of limestone rock samples collected at different depths from a vertical section in Cirque de Navacelles (France), we study the influence of the lithostatic stress on the stylolites morphology on the basis of a recent morphogenesis model. We measured the roughness of a series of bedding-parallel stylolites and show that their morphology exhibits a scaling invariance with two self-affine scaling regimes separated by a crossover-length (L) at the millimeter scale consistent with previous studies. The importance of the present contribution is to estimate the stylolite formation stress σ from the sample position in the stratigraphic series and compare it to the crossover-length L using the expected relationship: L ∼ σ −2 . We obtained a successful prediction of the crossover behavior and reasonable absolute stress magnitude estimates using relevant parameters: depth of stylolite formation between 300 to 600 m with corresponding normal stress in the range of 10-18 MPa. Accordingly, the stylolite morphology contains a signature of the stress field during formation and we thus suggest that stylolites could be used as paleo-stress gauges of deformation processes in the upper crust.

show abstract

Variety of stylolites' morphologies and statistical characterization of the amount of heterogeneities in the rock

Cited by 39 publications

References 17 publications

Growth of stylolite teeth patterns depending on normal stress and finite compaction

Growth of stylolite teeth patterns depending on normal stress and finite compaction

Diagenetic Implications of Stylolitization In Pelagic Carbonates, Canterbury Basin, Offshore New Zealand

Stress sensitivity of stylolite morphology

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About