Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Diagenetic paths in the margin of a Triassic Basin: NW zone of the Iberian Chain, Spain

  • Original paper
  • Published:
International Journal of Earth Sciences Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Buntsandstein deposits generated in a slowly subsiding basin on the western margin of the Iberian Chain are represented by a stratigraphic succession of fluvial deposits less than 100 m thick (conglomerates, sandstones, and shales). Diagenetic processes in sandstones can be grouped as eodiagenetic, mesodiagenetic, and telodiagenetic. Eodiagenesis can be associated with Muschelkalk, Keuper, and probably early Jurassic times. Mesodiagenesis is probably related to Jurassic times. Diagenetic chemical reactions suggest a maximum burial less than 1.5 km and low temperatures (<120°C). Patterns of porosity reduction by compaction and cementation suggest four diagenetic stages: (1) Loss of primary porosity by early mechanical compaction; (2) early cementation (K-feldspar and dolomite); (3) dissolution of cements; and (4) framework collapse by re-compaction. These stages are manifested by the presence of two types of sandstone. Type I sandstones present high intergranular volume (mean, 30%). Type II sandstones are characterized by high compactional porosity loss and exhibit low values of intergranular volume (mean, 16.9%). Type II sandstones are associated with the dissolution of cement and later re-compaction of type I sandstones. An intermediate telodiagenetic phase is deduced and related to the sharp unconformity between Lower Cretaceous sediments and the underlying sediments. This suggests that a mechanically unstable framework collapsed during the Cretaceous, generating type II sandstones. The analyzed diagenetic paths have a wide applicability on similar marginal areas of rift basins.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Arche A, López-Gómez J (1999) Subsidence rates and fluvial architecture of rift-related Permian and Triassic alluvial sediments of the southeast Iberian Range, eastern Spain. IAS Spec Publ 28:283–304

    Google Scholar 

  • Arribas J (1984) Sedimentología y diagénesis del Buntsandstein y del Muschelkalk de la Rama Aragonesa de la Cordillera Ibérica (provincias de Soria y Zaragoza). Editorial de la Universidad Complutense, Madrid, 354 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Arribas J (1987) Origen y significado de los cementos en las areniscas de las facies Buntsandstein (Rama Aragonesa de la Cordillera Ibérica). Cuad Geol Ibérica 11:535–556

    Google Scholar 

  • Arribas J, Soriano J (1984) La porosidad en las areniscas triásicas (Rama Aragonesa, Cordillera Ibérica). Estud Geol 40:341–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Arribas J, Marfil R, De la Peña J (1985) Provenance of Triassic feldspathic sandstones in the Iberian Range (Spain): significance of quartz types. J Sediment Petrol 55:864–868

    Google Scholar 

  • Aurell M, Melendez G, Olóriz F, Bádenas B, Caracuel JE, García –Ramos JC, Goy A, Linares A, Quesada S, Robles S, Rodríguez-Tovar FJ, Rosales I, Sandoval J, Suárez de Centi C, Tavera JM, Valenzuela M (2002) Jurassic. In: Gibbons W, Moreno MT (eds) The geology of Spain. Geological Society, London, pp 213–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Beard DC, Weyl PK (1973) Influence of texture on porosity and permeability of unconsolidated sand. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Bull 57/2:349–369

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjørlykke K (1980) Clastic diagenesis and basin evolution. Rev Instituto Invest Geol 34:21–24

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjørlykke K (1983) Diagenetic reactions in sandstones. In: Parker A, Sellwood BW (eds) Sediment diagenesis NATO ASI series 115. Reidel, Dordrecht, pp 169–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Bjørlykke K, Aagaard P, Egeberg PK, Simmons SP (1995) Geochemical constraints from formation water analyses from the North Sea and the Gulf Coast Basins on quartz, feldspar and illite precipitation in reservoir rocks. In: Cubitt JM, England WA (eds) The geochemistry of reservoirs. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 86:33–50

  • Burley SD, Mullis J, Matter A (1989) Timing diagenesis in the Tartan Reservoir (UK North Sea): constraints from combined cathodoluminiscence microscopy and fluid inclusion studies. Mar Petrol Geol 6:98–104

    Google Scholar 

  • Chayes F (1952) Notes of the staining of potash feldspar with sodium cobaltinitrite in thin section. Am Mineral 37:337–340

    Google Scholar 

  • Choquette PW, Pray LC (1970) Geologic nomenclature and classification of porosity in sedimentary carbonates. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Bull 54(2):207–250

    Google Scholar 

  • Chuhan A, Bjørlykke K, Lowrey C (2000) The role of provenance in illitization of deeply buried reservoir sandstones from Haltenbanken and north Viking Graben, offshore Norway. Mar Petrol Geol 17:673–689

    Google Scholar 

  • Chuhan A, Bjørlykke K, Lowrey C (2001) Closed-system burial diagenesis in reservoir sandstones: examples from the Garn Formation at Haltenbanken area, offshore mid-Norway. J Sediment Res 71:15–26

    Google Scholar 

  • Ehrenberg SN, Nadeau PH (1989) Formation of diagenetic illite in sandstones of the Garn Formation, Haltenbanken, mid-Norwegian continental shelf. Clay Miner 24:233–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery D, Myers RJ, Young R (1990) Ancient subaerial exposure and freshwater leaching in sandstones. Geology 18:1178–1181

    Google Scholar 

  • Garrels RM, Christ ChL (1965) Solutions, minerals and equilibria. Harper and Row, New York, 450 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Giles MR, Stevenson S, Martin SV, Cannon SJC, Hamilton PJ, Marshall JD, Samways GM (1992) The reservoir propierties and diagenesis of the Brent Group: a regional perspective. In: Morton AC, Haszeldine RS, Giles MR, Brown S (eds) Geology of the Brent Group. Geological Society, London, Special Publication 61:289–327

  • Gluyas JG, Grant SM, Robinson A (1993) Geochemical evidence for a temporal link control on sandstone cementation. In: Horbury AD, Robinson AG (eds) Diagenesis and basin development. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Studies in Geology 36:23–33

    Google Scholar 

  • Groot K De (1967) Experimental dedolomititation. J Sediment Petrol 37:1216–1220

    Google Scholar 

  • Haszeldine RS, Samson IM, Cornford C (1984) Dating diagenesis in a petroleum basin: a new fluid inclusion method. Nature 307:354–357

    Google Scholar 

  • Heald MT (1959) Significance of stylolites in permeable sandstones. J Sediment Petrol 29:251–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Houseknecht DW (1987) Assessing the relative importance of compaction processes and cementation to reduction of porosity in sandstones. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Bull 71:633–642

    Google Scholar 

  • IGME (1981) Mapa Geológico de España, E: 1/50.000. Hoja n° 461, Sigüenza

  • Ketzer JM, Morad S, Nystuen JP, De Ros LF (2003) The role of the Cimmerian Unconformity (Early Cretaceous) in the kaolinitization and related reservoir-quality evolution in Triassic sandstones of the Snorre Field, North Sea. In: Worden RH, Morad S (eds) Clay mineral cements in sandstones. Int Assoc Sedimentol Spec Publ 34:361–382

    Google Scholar 

  • Lindholm RC, Finkelman RB (1972) Calcite staining; semiquantitative determination of ferrous iron. J Sediment Petrol 42:239–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Lundegard PD (1992) Sandstone porosity loss—A “Big Picture” view of the importance of compaction. J Sediment Petrol 62:250–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Machel HG (1985) Cathodoluminescence in calcite and dolomite and its chemical interpretation. Geosci Can 12:139–147

    Google Scholar 

  • Machel HG (1999) Effects of groundwater flow on mineral diagenesis, with emphasis on carbonate aquifers. Hydrogeol J 7:94–107

    Google Scholar 

  • Marfil R, Buendía E (1980) La evolución diagenética de los sedimentos detríticos del Pérmico y Triásico del Sondeo de Sigüenza (provincia de Guadalajara). Rev Instituto Invest Geol 34:59–74

    Google Scholar 

  • Marfil R, Cruz B, de la Peña J (1977) Procesos diagenéticos de las areniscas del Buntsandstein de la Cordillera Ibérica. Cuad Geol Ibérica 4:411–422

    Google Scholar 

  • Marfil R, Scherer M, Turrero MJ (1996) Diagenetic processes influencing porosity in sandstones from the Triassic Buntsandstein of the Iberian Range, Spain. Sediment Geol 105:203–219

    Google Scholar 

  • Mitra S, Beard WC (1980) Theoretical models of porosity reduction by pressure solution for well-sorted sandstones. J Sediment Petrol 50:1347–1360

    Google Scholar 

  • Morad S, Marfil R, de la Peña J (1989) Diagenetic K-feldspar pseudomorphs in the Triassic Buntsandstein sandstones of the Iberian Range, Spain. Sedimentology 36:635–650

    Google Scholar 

  • Morad S, Al-Aasm IS, Ramseyer K, Marfil R, Aldahan AA (1990) Diagenesis of carbonate cements in Permo–Triassic sandstones from the Iberian Range, Spain: evidence from chemical composition and stable isotopes. Sediment Geol 67:281–295

    Google Scholar 

  • Morad S, Al-Aasm IS, Longstaffe FJ, Marfil R, De Ros LF, Johansen H, Marzo M (1995) Diagenesis of a mixed siliciclastic/evaporitic sequence of the Middle Muschelkalk (Middle Triassic), the Catalan Coastal Range, NE Spain. Sedimentology 42:749–768

    Google Scholar 

  • Pettijohn FJ, Potter PE, Siever R (1973) Sand and sandstones. Springer, Berlin Heidelberg New York, 618 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Rittenhouse G (1971) Mechanical compaction of sands containing different percentages of ductile grains: a theoretical approach. Am Assoc Petrol Geol Bull 55:92–96

    Google Scholar 

  • Salas R, Guimerà J, Mas R, Martín-Closas C, Meléndez A, Alonso A (2001) Evolution of the Mesozoic Central Iberian Rift System and its Cenozoic inversion (Iberian Chain). In: Cabazza W, Robertson AHFR, Ziegler P (eds) Peri Tethyan Rift/Wrench Basins and Passive Margins Mémoires du Muséum National d’Histoire Naturelle. Tome 186:145–186

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt V, McDonald DA (1979a) The role of secondary porosity in the course of sandstone diagenesis. Soc Econ Paleontol Mineral Spec Publ 26:175–207

    Google Scholar 

  • Schmidt V, McDonald DA (1979b) Texture and recognition of secondary porosity in sandstones. Soc Econ Paleontol Mineral Spec Publ 26:209–225

    Google Scholar 

  • Sopeña A, Sánchez-Moya Y (1997) Tectonic systems tract and depositional architecture of the western border of the Triassic Iberian Trough (central Spain). Sediment Geol 113:245–267

    Google Scholar 

  • Tucker M (1988) Techniques in sedimentology. Blackwell, Oxford, 394 p

    Google Scholar 

  • Walderhaug O, Bjørkum PA, Nadeau PH, Lagnes O (2001) Quantitative modelling of basin subsidence caused by temperature-driven silica dissolution and reprecipitation. Petrol Geosci 7:107–113

    Google Scholar 

  • Worden RH, Burley SD (2003) Sandstone diagenesis: the evolution of sand to stone. In: Burley SD, Worden RH (eds) Sandstone diagenesis. Int Assoc Sedimentol Reprint Series 4:3–44

    Google Scholar 

  • Worden RH, Morad S (2000) Quartz cementation in oil field sandstones: a review of the key controversies. In: Worden RH Morad S (eds) Quartz cementation in sandstones. Int Assoc Sedimentol Spec Publ 29:1–10

    Google Scholar 

  • Worden RH, Morad S (2003) Clay minerals in sandstones: controls on formation, distribution and evolution. In: Worden RH, Morad S (eds) Clay mineral cements in sandstones. Int Assoc Sedimentol Spec Publ 34:3–41

    Google Scholar 

  • Zuffa GG (1985) Optical analyses of arenites: influence of methodology on compositional results. In: Zuffa GG (ed) Provenance of arenites. NATO ASI Series, Serie C–148:165–189

Download references

Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the Spanish DGICYT through project BTE2001–0026. We would like to thank Dra. C. Taberner, Dr. G. Keller and Dr. H.G. Machel for their comments and suggestions that substantially improved the manuscript.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departamento de Petrología y Geoquímica, Facultad de CC. Geológicas, Universidad Complutense de Madrid, 28040, Madrid, Spain

    Maria Ochoa & José Arribas

Authors
  1. Maria Ochoa
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

  2. José Arribas
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Maria Ochoa.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Ochoa, M., Arribas, J. Diagenetic paths in the margin of a Triassic Basin: NW zone of the Iberian Chain, Spain. Int J Earth Sci (Geol Rundsch) 94, 256–266 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-005-0465-4

Download citation

  • Received:

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00531-005-0465-4

Keywords

Search

Navigation