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Gypsum-carbonate laminites in a recent sabkha, Kuwait

  • Petrophysics of Carbonate Reservoirs
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Abstract

Primary laminar gypsum, either alone or in couplets with carbonate and/or organic matter has been found in the supratidal zone of a carbonate sabkha in southern Kuwait. The laminites are confined to an area of abandoned, partly filled Holocene tidal channels in the supratidal zone, and not subject to regular tidal flooding at the present time. The gypsum unit is — 9–22 cm thick and the individual laminae are; a) — 1–5 mm in thickness, bounded by smooth to uneven or irregularly crenulated surfaces and b) of uniform thickness over short distances (1–2 m) and traceable for several meters. The laminae are composed of randomly oriented, fine sand to silt sized, occasionally reverse graded, lenticular gypsum crystals, which grew displacively in a host matrix and near to the sediment-brine interface. But for the limited vertical and lateral extent, they are rather similar to the supposedly sub-aqueous laminites so common in the stratigraphic record; their petrographic similarity suggests that no depth significance could necessarily be attached to laminites.

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Author notes

  1. D. J. Shearman

    Present address: Dept. of Geology, Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, SW7 2BP, London

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Dept. of Geology, Kuwait University, Box 5969, 13060, Kuwait

    H. A. Gunatilaka & D. J. Shearman

Authors
  1. H. A. Gunatilaka
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  2. D. J. Shearman
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Gunatilaka, H.A., Shearman, D.J. Gypsum-carbonate laminites in a recent sabkha, Kuwait. Carbonates Evaporites 3, 67–74 (1988). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174413

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03174413

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