CIRCULACION DE FLUIDOS DURANTE LA EVOLUCION DE CUENCAS INVERTIDAS Y CINTURONES OROGENICOS: APLICACION EN EL ALMACENAMIENTO DE CO2

PGC2018-093903-B-C22

Nombre agencia financiadora Agencia Estatal de Investigación
Acrónimo agencia financiadora AEI
Programa Programa Estatal de Generación de Conocimiento y Fortalecimiento Científico y Tecnológico del Sistema de I+D+i
Subprograma Subprograma Estatal de Generación de Conocimiento
Convocatoria Proyectos de I+D de Generación de Conocimiento
Año convocatoria 2018
Unidad de gestión Plan Estatal de Investigación Científica y Técnica y de Innovación 2017-2020
Centro beneficiario UNIVERSIDAD DE BARCELONA
Identificador persistente http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/501100011033

Publicaciones

Found(s) 32 result(s)
Found(s) 1 page(s)

Fracturing and near-surface diagenesis of a silicified miocene deltaic sequence, the montjuïc hill (Barcelona)

Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
  • Cantarero, Irene|||0000-0001-5744-6773
  • Parcerisa i Duocastella, David|||0000-0001-8071-9936
  • Plata, Maria Alexandra
  • Gómez-Gras, David|||0000-0002-8539-5739
  • Gomez-Rivas, Enrique|||0000-0002-1317-6289
  • Martín-Martín, Juan Diego|||0000-0002-6530-6196
  • Travé i Herrero, Anna|||0000-0002-2735-3733
Near-surface diagenesis has been studied in the Langhian siliciclastic rocks of the Montjuïc Hill (Barcelona Plain) by means of petrographical (optical and cathodoluminescence) and geochemical (electron microprobe, δO, δC, δS andSr/Sr) analyses. In the hill, these rocks are affected by strong silicification, but the same unit remains non-silicified at depth. The results reveal that fracturing took place after lithification and during uplift. Fracture cementation is clearly controlled by the previous diagenesis of the host rock. In non-silicified areas, cementation is dominated by calcite, which precipitated from meteoric waters. In silicified areas, fractures show multiepisodic cementation produced firstly by barite and secondly by silica, following the sequence opal, lussatite, chalcedony, and quartz. Barite precipitated only in fractures from the mixing of upflowing seawater and percolating meteoric fluids. The presence of silica stalactites, illuviation, and geopetal structures, and δO values indicate that silica precipitation occurred in the vadose regime from low-temperature percolating meteoric fluids, probably during a glacial period. Moreover, the presence of alunite suggests that silica cement formed under acidic conditions. Karst features (vugs and caverns), formed by arenisation, reveal that silica was derived from the dissolution of surrounding silicified host rocks.




Cadomian metabasites of the Eastern Pyrenees revisited

Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
  • Pujol-Solà, Núria|||0000-0001-6378-6811
  • Casas Tuset, Josep Maria|||0000-0001-7760-7028
  • Proenza, Joaquín A|||0000-0001-8738-7305
  • Blanco-Quintero, Idael Francisco|||0000-0001-9644-1916
  • Druguet, Elena|||0000-0001-5907-7721
  • Liesa Torre-Marín, Montserrat|||0000-0003-2830-3065
  • Román-Alpiste, Manuel J.|||0000-0001-5771-6526
  • Álvaro, Jose Javier|||0000-0001-6294-1998
This study presents a new geochemical, petrological, and geochronological U-Pb dataset from Ediacaran metabasites of the Canigó and Cap de Creus massifs, Eastern Pyrenees. The rocks are composed of calcic amphibole + plagioclase + chlorite + epidote ± quartz plus titanite + apatite + ilmenite ± biotite ± rutile as accessory phases and show relict igneous textures. Peak pressure-temperature determinations share common conditions, ranging 452-482ºC and 5.2-7.7kbar. These intermediate P-T conditions suggest Barrovian-type metamorphism, most likely related to a collisional setting. The metabasites correspond to evolved basaltic rocks (Mg#<0.55) with moderate TiO2 content (up to 2.08wt.%) and relatively low Cr (43-416ppm). The rocks are moderately enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE) relative to heavy rare earth elements (HREE) (average (La/Lu)n of 2.7) and the N-MORB normalized multi-element patterns show negative slopes, with prominent negative Nb anomalies ((Nb/La)NMORB=0.33-0.78). These variations are akin to island arc tholeiites generated in back-arc basins and to other metabasites described in the Eastern Pyrenees with a putative Ediacaran age, and they differ from the Ordovician tholeiitic metabasites from the Canigó massif, which derived from a contaminated E-MORB source. The positive ƐNd(T) values (0.82-3.05) of the studied metabasites preclude a notable contribution from an older continental crust. U-Pb dating (LA-ICP-MS) of one chlorite-rich schist sample in contact with the metabasites from the Canigó massif yielded a main peak at ca. 632Ma. We argue that the Cadomian metabasites from the Pyrenees formed during back-arc extension in the continental margin of Gondwana and were later affected by (probably early Variscan) medium-P metamorphism before the HT-LP metamorphism classically described in the Pyrenees.




Origin of the coloured karst fills in the neogene extensional system of ne iberia (Spain)

Dipòsit Digital de Documents de la UAB
  • Travé i Herrero, Anna|||0000-0002-2735-3733
  • Rodríguez Morillas, Noelia
  • Baqués, Vinyet
  • Playà i Pous, Elisabet
  • Casas Duocastella, Lluís|||0000-0003-0948-8658
  • Cantarero, Irene|||0000-0001-5744-6773
  • Martín-Martín, Juan Diego|||0000-0002-6530-6196
  • Gomez-Rivas, Enrique|||0000-0002-1317-6289
  • Moragas Rodríguez, Mar
  • Cruset, David
Karst fills from the onshore Penedès Basin and offshore València Trough display red, pink, orange and ochre colours. Their Mössbauer spectra indicate that Fe contained in goethite is the dominant species in reddish-pink fills, whereas Fe contained in dolomite and clays is more dominant in the orange and ochre ones. The lower δ C values and higher Sr/ Sr ratios of the karst fills with respect to their host carbonates can reflect the input of soil-derived CO and an external radiogenic source into the karst system. This geochemical composition, together with the non-carbonate fraction of the fills, consists of authigenic and transported illite, illite-smectite interlayers, as well as kaolinite, chlorite, pyrite, quartz, ilmenite, magnetite, apatite and feldspar, account for a mixed residual-detrital origin of fills. This polygenic origin agrees with that of the terra rossa sediments described worldwide. The different colours of karst fills are attributed to fluctuations in the water table, which control the Eh/pH conditions in the karst system. Thus, reddish colours reflect low water table levels and oxidising episodes, and orange and ochre ones reflect high water table levels and more reducing episodes. The greenish colours of fills could be related to fluctuations in the Fe /Fe ratio.




Cadomian metabasites of the Eastern Pyrenees revisited

RUA. Repositorio Institucional de la Universidad de Alicante
  • Pujol-Solà, Núria
  • Casas, Josep Maria
  • Proenza, Joaquín A.
  • Blanco-Quintero, Idael Francisco
  • Druguet, Elena
  • Liesa, Montserrat
  • Román-Alpiste, Manuel J.
  • Álvaro, J. Javier
This study presents a new geochemical, petrological, and geochronological U–Pb dataset from Ediacaran metabasites of the Canigó and Cap de Creus massifs, Eastern Pyrenees. The rocks are composed of calcic amphibole + plagioclase + chlorite + epidote ± quartz plus titanite + apatite + ilmenite ± biotite ± rutile as accessory phases and show relict igneous textures. Peak pressure-temperature determinations share common conditions, ranging 452–482ºC and 5.2–7.7kbar. These intermediate P-T conditions suggest Barrovian-type metamorphism, most likely related to a collisional setting. The metabasites correspond to evolved basaltic rocks (Mg#<0.55) with moderate TiO2 content (up to 2.08wt.%) and relatively low Cr (43–416ppm). The rocks are moderately enriched in light rare earth elements (LREE) relative to heavy rare earth elements (HREE) (average (La/Lu)n of 2.7) and the N-MORB normalized multi-element patterns show negative slopes, with prominent negative Nb anomalies ((Nb/La)NMORB=0.33–0.78). These variations are akin to island arc tholeiites generated in back-arc basins and to other metabasites described in the Eastern Pyrenees with a putative Ediacaran age, and they differ from the Ordovician tholeiitic metabasites from the Canigó massif, which derived from a contaminated E-MORB source. The positive ƐNd(T) values (0.82–3.05) of the studied metabasites preclude a notable contribution from an older continental crust. U-Pb dating (LA-ICP-MS) of one chlorite-rich schist sample in contact with the metabasites from the Canigó massif yielded a main peak at ca. 632Ma. We argue that the Cadomian metabasites from the Pyrenees formed during back-arc extension in the continental margin of Gondwana and were later affected by (probably early Variscan) medium-P metamorphism before the HT-LP metamorphism classically described in the Pyrenees., This research was financially supported by the Spanish Projects CGL2017-87631-P and PGC2018-093903-B-C22, Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea. Additional funding was provided by a Margarita Salas grant to NPS by the Universitat de Barcelona with funds from the Ministerio de Universidades/NextGenerationEU/PRTR/Plan de recuperación, transformación y resiliencia.




Appraisal of CO2 storage potential in compressional hydrocarbon-bearing basins: Global assessment and case study in the Sichuan Basin (China)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Sun, Xiaolong
  • Alcalde, Juan
  • Gómez-Rivas, Enrique
  • Struth, Lucía
  • Johnson, Gareth
  • Travé, A.
Carbon capture and storage (CCS) has been proposed as a potential technology to mitigate climate change. However, there is currently a huge gap between the current global deployment of this technology and that which will be ultimately required. Whilst CO2 can be captured at any geographic location, storage of CO2 will be constrained by the geological storage potential in the area the CO2 is captured. The geological storage potential can be evaluated at a very high level according to the tectonic setting of the target area. To date, CCS deployment has been restricted to more favourable tectonic settings, such as extensional passive margin and post-rift basins and compressional foreland basins. However, to reach the adequate level of deployment, the potential for CCS of regions in different tectonic settings needs to be explored and assessed worldwide. Surprisingly, the potential of compressional basins for carbon storage has not been universally evaluated according to the global and regional carbon emission distribution. Here, we present an integrated source-to-sink analysis tool that combines comprehensive, open-access information on basin distribution, hydrocarbon resources and CO2 emissions based on geographical information systems (GIS). Compressional settings host some of the most significant hydrocarbon-bearing basins and 36% of inland CO2 emissions but, to date, large-scale CCS facilities in compressional basins are concentrated in North America and the Middle East only. Our source-to-sink tool allows identifying five high-priority regions for prospective CCS development in compressional basins: North America, north-western South America, south-eastern Europe, the western Middle East and western China. We present a study of the characteristics of these areas in terms of CO2 emissions and CO2 storage potential. Additionally, we conduct a detailed case-study analysis of the Sichuan Basin (China), one of the compressional basins with the greatest CO2 storage potential. Our results indicate that compressional basins will have to play a critical role in the future of CCS if this technology is to be implemented worldwide., This research was performed within the framework of DGICYT Spanish Projects CGL2015-66335-C2-1-R and PGC2018-093903-B-C22, Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017-SGR-824), and was also funded by the China Scholarship Council (CSC) (201806450043). JA received funding by EIT Raw Materials – SIT4ME Project (17024) and is now funded by MICINN (Juan de la Cierva fellowship - IJC2018-036074-I). EGR acknowledges funding by the AGAUR (Agència de Gestió d’Ajuts Universitaris i de Recerca) of the Generalitat de Catalunya (“Beatriu de Pinós” fellowship 2017SGR-824) and the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (“Ramón y Cajal” fellowship RYC2018-026335-I). GJ is funded by the University of Strathclyde Faculty of Engineering., Peer reviewed




Significance of Fracture-Filling Rose-Like Calcite Crystal Clusters in the SE Pyrenees

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Cruset, David
  • Ibáñez Insa, Jordi
  • Cantarero, Irene
  • John, Cédric M.
  • Travé, A.
Fracture-filling rose-like clusters of bladed calcite crystals are found in the northern sector of the Cadí thrust sheet (SE Pyrenees). This unusual calcite crystal morphology has been characterized by using optical and electron microscope, X-ray diffraction, Raman spectroscopy, δ18O, δ13C, 87Sr/86Sr, clumped isotopes, and major and rare earth elements + yttrium (REEs + Y) analysis. Petrographic observations and powder X-ray diffraction measurements indicate that these bladed crystals are mainly made of massive rhombic crystals with the conventional (104) faces, as well as of possibly younger, less abundant, and smaller laminar crystals displaying (108) and/or ( 1¯ 08) rhombic faces. Raman analysis of liquid fluid inclusions indicates the presence of aromatic hydrocarbons and occasionally alkanes. Clumped isotopes thermometry reflects that bladed calcite precipitated from meteoric fluids at ~60–65 °C. The 87Sr/86Sr ratios and major elements and REEs content of calcite indicate that these fluids interacted with Eocene marine carbonates. The presence of younger ‘nailhead’ calcite indicates later migration of shallow fresh groundwater. The results reveal that rose-like calcite clusters precipitated, at least in the studied area, due to a CO2 release by boiling of meteoric waters that mixed with benzene and aromatic hydrocarbons. This mixing decreased the boiling temperature at ~60–65 °C. The results also suggest that the high Sr content in calcite, and probably the presence of proteins within hydrocarbons trapped in fluid inclusions, controlled the precipitation of bladed crystals with (104) rhombohedral faces, This research was funded by DGICYT Spanish Project PGC2018-093903-B-C22 Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión
Europea, Grup Consolidat de Recerca ”Geologia Sedimentària” (2017SGR-824)., Peer reviewed




From hydroplastic to brittle deformation: Controls on fluid flow in fold and thrust belts. Insights from the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet (SE Pyrenees)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Cruset, David
  • Cantarero, Irene
  • Benedicto, Antonio
  • John, Cédric M.
  • Vergés, Jaume
  • Albert, Richard
  • Gerdes, A.
  • Travé, A.
We present a multidisciplinary study to decipher the controls of deformation on fluid flow regime in fold and thrust belts using the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet in the SE Pyrenees as an example. We integrate field-based and petrographic observations and geochemical and geochronological data to differentiate seven types of fractures, eight types of calcite cement (Cc1 to Cc8) and two sets of stylolites during the deformation stretching the studied thrust sheet. During syn-sedimentary hydroplastic normal faulting affecting poorly consolidated Upper Cretaceous and Eocene syn-orogenic sediments, calcite cement did not precipitate. During burial, bed-parallel stylolites formed and Cc1 and Cc2 precipitated from formation waters in a closed palaeohydrological system. During the layer-parallel shortening, Cc3 precipitated from formation waters (~+5.4‰ VSMOW) with 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.707922 and at ~70 °C. Cc4 precipitated from formation waters recording different burial conditions, as the up to 4‰ dispersion in δ18O of this cement suggests. Contrarily, during folding and thrusting, Cc5 to Cc7 precipitated in an open palaeohydrological system. Cc6 precipitated from formation waters (~+5‰ VSMOW), with 87Sr/86Sr ratios of 0.707817 and at ~75 °C. These fluids carried hydrocarbons and probably interacted with Upper Triassic evaporites. An 87Sr/86Sr ratio of 0.708230 for Cc5 indicates that formation waters also interacted with clays within continental deposits. During this period, stylolites formed in relation to faulting, and previous hydroplastic normal faults reactivated as reverse and strike-slip faults allowing fluid flow. Cc7 precipitated after Cc6, also from fluids in isotopic disequilibrium with their adjacent host rock. The fluid system continued open during the Oligocene, when Cc8 precipitated in normal faults affecting syn-orogenic conglomerates deposited during the reactivation of the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet. The influence of deformation on fluid flow observed in the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet is similar to that observed in other fractured areas worldwide., This research was performed within the framework of DGICYT Spanish Project PGC2018-093903-B-C22 Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea, Alpimed (PIE-CSIC-201530E082), Subtetis project (PIE-CSIC-201830E039), and Grup Consolidats de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017SGR-824) and “Geodinàmica Interna” (2017SGR–847)., Peer reviewed




Geochronological and geochemical data from fracture-filling calcites from the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet (SE Pyrenees)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Cruset, David
  • Cantarero, Alejandro
  • Benedicto, Antonio
  • John, Cédric M.
  • Vergés, Jaume
  • Albert, Richard
  • Gerdes, A.
  • Travé, A.
U-Pb dating using laser ablation-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS), δ13C, δ18O, clumped isotopes and 87Sr/86Sr analysis, and electron microprobe have been applied to fracture-filling calcites and host carbonates from the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet, in the SE Pyrenees. These data are used to determine the type and origin of migrating fluids, the evolution of the palaeohydrological system and timing of fracturing during the emplacement of this thrust sheet, as described in the article “From hydroplastic to brittle deformation: controls on fluid flow in fold and thrust belts. Insights from the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet (SE Pyrenees)” – Marine and Petroleum Geology (2020). The integration of these data is also used to compare the fluid flow evolution of the Southern Pyrenees with that of other orogens worldwide and to generate a fluid flow model in fold and thrust belts. At a more local scale, the U-Pb dataset provides new absolute ages recording the deformation in the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet, which was previously dated by means of indirect methods such as biostratigraphy of marine sediments and magnetostratigraphy of continental deposits., The isotopic and electron microprobe analyses were carried out at “Centres Científics i Tecnològics” of the Universitat de Barcelona. Strontium analyses were done at the “CAI de Geocronología y Geoquímica Isotópica (UCM-CEI)” of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. U-Pb geochronology was accomplished at FIERCE (Frankfurt Isotope and Element Research Center, Goethe University). This is FIERCE contribution No. 37. The clumped isotopes analyses were performed in the Qatar Stable Isotope Laboratory of Imperial College of London. This research was performed within the framework of DGICYT Spanish Project PGC2018–093903-B-C22 Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea, Alpimed (PIE-CSIC-201530E082), Subtetis project (PIE-CSIC-201830E039), and Grup Consolidats de Recerca ”Geologia Sedimentària” (2017SGR-824) and “Geodinàmica Interna” (2017SGR–847)., Peer reviewed




Fluid Dynamics in a Thrust Fault Inferred from Petrology and Geochemistry of Calcite Veins: An Example from the Southern Pyrenees

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Muñoz-López, D.
  • Cruset, David
  • Cantarero, Irene
  • Benedicto, Antonio
  • John, Cédric M.
  • Travé, A.
Petrographic and geochemical analyses (δ18O, δ13C, 87Sr/86Sr, clumped isotopes, and elemental composition) coupled with field structural data of synkinematic calcite veins, fault rocks, and host rocks are used to reconstruct the episodic evolution of an outstanding exposed thrust zone in the Southern Pyrenees and to evaluate the fault behavior as a conduit or barrier to fluid migration. The selected thrust displaces the steeply dipping southern limb of the Sant Corneli-Bóixols anticline, juxtaposing a Cenomanian-Turonian carbonate unit against a Coniacian carbonate sequence. Successive deformation events are recorded by distinct fracture systems and related calcite veins, highlighting (i) an episodic evolution of the thrust zone, resulting from an upward migration of the fault tip (process zone development) before growth of the fault (thrust slip plane propagation), and (ii) compartmentalization of the thrust fault zone, leading to different structural and fluid flow histories in the footwall and hanging wall. Fractures within the footwall comprise three systematically oriented fracture sets (F1, F2, and F3), each sealed by a separate generation calcite cement, and a randomly oriented fracture system (mosaic to chaotic breccia), cemented by the same cements as fracture sets F1 and F2. The formation of fractures F1 and F2 and the mosaic to chaotic breccia is consistent with dilatant fracturing within the process zone (around the fault tip) during initial fault growth, whereas the formation of the latest fracture system points to hybrid shear-dilational failure during propagation of the fault. The continuous formation of different fracture systems and related calcite cementation phases evidences that the structural permeability in the footwall was transient and that the fluid pathways and regime evolved due to successive events of fracture opening and calcite cementation. Clumped isotopes evidence a progressive increase in precipitation temperatures from around 50°C to 117°C approximately, interpreted as burial increase linked to thrust sheet emplacement. During this period, the source of fluid changed from meteoric fluids to evolved meteoric fluids due to the water-rock interaction at increasing depths and temperatures. Contrary to the footwall, within the hanging wall, only randomly oriented fractures are recognized and the resulting crackle proto-breccia is sealed by a later and different calcite cement, which is also observed in the main fault plane and in the fault core. This cement precipitated from formation fluids, at around 95°C, that circulated along the fault core and in the hanging wall block, again supporting the interpretation of compartmentalization of the thrust structure. The integration of these data reveals that the studied thrust fault acted as a transverse barrier, dividing the thrust zone into two separate fluid compartments, and a longitudinal drain for migration of fluids. This study also highlights the similarity in deformation processes and mechanisms linked to the evolution of fault zones in compressional and extensional regimes involving carbonate rocks., This research was carried out within the framework of the Dirección General de Investigación Científica y Técnica Spanish Project (PGC2018-093903-B-C22) (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea) and the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017-SGR-824). The PhD research of DM-L is supported by the FPI2016 (BES-2016-077214) Spanish program from MINECO., Peer reviewed




Influence of basement rocks on fluid evolution during multiphase deformation: The example of the Estamariu thrust in the Pyrenean Axial Zone

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Muñoz-López, D.
  • Alías, G.
  • Cruset, David
  • Cantarero, I.
  • John, Cédric M.
  • Travé, A.
Calcite veins precipitated in the Estamariu thrust during two tectonic events are studied in order to (i) decipher the temporal and spatial relationships between deformation and fluid migration in a long-lived thrust and (ii) determine the influence of basement rocks on the fluid chemistry during deformation. Structural and petrological observations constrain the relative timing of fluid migration and vein formation, whilst geochemical analyses (13C, 18O, 87Sr=86Sr, clumped isotope thermometry, and elemental composition) applied to the related calcite cements and host rocks indicate the fluid origin, pathways, and extent of fluid rock interaction. The first tectonic event, recorded by calcite cements Cc1a and Cc2, is attributed to the Alpine reactivation of the Estamariu thrust. Analytical data indicate that these cements precipitated from heated meteoric fluids (temperatures in the range of 50 to 100 C) that had interacted with basement rocks (87Sr=86Sr 0.71) before upflowing through the thrust zone. The second tectonic event, attributed to the Neogene extension, is characterized by the reactivation of the Estamariu thrust and the formation of normal faults and shear fractures sealed by calcite cements Cc3, Cc4, and Cc5. Analytical data indicate that cements Cc3 and Cc4 precipitated from hydrothermal fluids (temperatures between 130 and 210 C and between 100 and 170 C, respectively) that had interacted with basement rocks (87Sr=86Sr 0.71) and been expelled through fault zones during deformation. In contrast, cement Cc5 probably precipitated from meteoric waters that likely percolated from the surface through small shear fractures. The comparison between our results and already published data in other structures from the southern Pyrenees suggests that regardless of the origin of the fluids and the tectonic context, basement rocks have a significant influence on the fluid chemistry, particularly on the 87Sr=86Sr ratio. Accordingly, the cements precipitated from fluids that have interacted with basement rocks have significantly higher 87Sr=86Sr ratios (0.710) with respect to those precipitated from fluids that have interacted with the sedimentary cover (0.710), which involves younger and less radiogenic rocks. © 2020 Copernicus GmbH. All rights reserved., This research was carried out within the framework of the DGICYT Spanish project PGC2018-093903-B-C22 (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea) and the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017-SGR-824). The PhD research of DML is supported by the FPI2016 (BES-2016-077214) Spanish program from MINECO., Peer reviewed




Insights into the structural evolution of the pre-Variscan rocks of the Eastern Pyrenees from La Molina quartz veins; constraints on chlorite and fluid inclusion thermometry

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • González-Esvertit, Eloy
  • Canals, Angels
  • Casas-Sánchez, José Miguel
  • Nieto, Fernando
Quartz veins hosted in the infra and overlying series to the (Sardic) Upper Ordovician Unconformity provide new insights into the structural and thermal evolution of the pre-Variscan rocks of the Eastern Pyrenees. In the La Molina area (Canigó massif), two generations of metric quartz veins (V1 and V2) are distinguished by their distribution patterns and their relationships to the deformational macro, meso, and microstructures. P-T formation conditions are obtained by combining chlorite geothermometry and fluid inclusion microthermometry data. Discrepancy on formation temperature for chlorites located at different positions within the veins are discussed, concluding that veins grew in a low fluid/rock ratio regime. V1 veins can be related to the Late Ordovician syn-sedimentary faulting episode as revealed by their distribution patterns, formation mechanisms, and fluid-rock interactions. We propose an Alpine age for the V2 veins, based on their structure and the emplacement conditions of 318 ± 12°C and 2.4 ± 0.2kbar, with an estimated geothermal gradient of 34°C¿km-1 and a burial depth of ca. 9km. Results obtained here are compared with other quartz veins spread throughout the Paleozoic basement of the Eastern Pyrenees, This paper is a contribution to 2017SGR-1733 Research Group and to projects CGL2017-87631-P and PGC2018-093903-B-C22 from the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea.




Fracture distribution in a folded fluvial succession: the Puig-reig anticline (South-eastern Pyrenees)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Sun, XIaolong
  • Gómez-Rivas, Enrique
  • Alcalde, Juan
  • Martín-Martín, J. D.
  • Ma, Cunfei
  • Muñoz-López, D.
  • Cruset, David
  • Cantarero, Irene
  • Griera, Albert
  • Travé, A.
Sedimentary rocks of foreland fold-and-thrust belts typically undergo intensive fracturing as fold grows. The resulting fracture networks can present significant variations depending on the distribution of sedimentary facies and the complex structural characteristics of fold-and-thrust belts. The Puig-reig anticline, located in the south-eastern Pyrenees, mainly exposes proximal fluvial deposits in the north limb and medial fluvial deposits in the rest of the anticline. Thus, this anticline constitutes an excellent case study to investigate the main controls on the distribution of fracture networks in folded fluvial deposits, in terms of structural position and lithofacies variations. Outcrops were selected to be representative of different structural positions, from the fold hinge to its limbs, and of a variety of the main lithofacies, from proximal to medial fluvial deposits. Fracture data were acquired using the linear scanline method. Results indicate that the anticline is affected by four sets of fractures. The north limb is dominated by thick conglomerate bodies with interlayered sandstones deposited from unconfined flash floods and wide-shallow channel streams in the proximal fluvial fan, and presents large fracture spacing and low fracture intensity but relatively large fracture length and aperture. The crest and the crest-limb transition zones are mainly composed of interlayered conglomerates, sandstones, siltstones and clays, deposited from braided channel streams and overbanks in the medial fluvial fan and present fractures with relatively high fracture intensity and variable fracture length and aperture. The south limb, composed of channel filling sandstone layers and stable overbank fine deposits in the medial fluvial fan, is characterised by low fracture intensity and small fracture length and aperture. Based on multiple linear regression analysis, fracture intensity is mainly controlled by the structural position, bedding thickness and lithological associations, with relatively more intense fracturing in thin sandstone layers with multiple interlayers of fine deposits in the anticline crest. The fracture length is mainly controlled by bedding thickness and is affected lithological associations. The fracture apertures are mainly controlled by lithofacies, with relatively higher apertures affecting conglomerate bodies. The results of this study are relevant for characterising similar systems in the subsurface, where data is scarce., Funding was provided by the Catalan Council to the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017SGR-824) and the DGICYT Spanish Project PGC2018-093903-B-C22 (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea). XS acknowledges funding by the China Scholarship Council for a PhD scholarship (201806450043). EGR acknowledges funding provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (“Ramón y Cajal” fellowship RYC2018-026335-I). JA is funded by MICINN (Juan de la Cierva fellowship - IJC2018-036074-I)., Peer reviewed




Multiple fluid flow events from salt-related rifting to basin inversion (Upper Pedraforca thrust sheet, SE Pyrenees)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Cruset, David
  • Vergés, Jaume
  • Benedicto, Antonio
  • Gómez-Rivas, Enrique
  • Cantarero, Irene
  • John, Cédric M.
  • Travé, A.
Fluid systems in inverted rifted margins are challenging to interpret because fractures formed before compression were often reactivated acting as fluid pathways as new ones formed. Deciphering the fracture and fluid flow history in such complex settings has key implications for the prediction of the distribution of mineral resources. As an example, we reconstruct the fluid flow evolution of a portion of the inverted Pyrenean rift, the Upper Pedraforca thrust sheet, from the Mesozoic extension to the Alpine orogeny. We combine structural analysis and petrographic, geochemical and geochronological data obtained from 87 samples of fracture-filling carbonate cements. During the Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous, low-temperature seawater produced dolomitization of Jurassic and Lower Cretaceous limestones in an extensional setting. During the Early Cretaceous salt-related extension, formation waters, probably evolved seawater or fluids that interacted with Triassic evaporites, at temperatures from 125 to 149°C migrated through fractures. The formation of breccias within post-salt rocks in primary weld zones facilitated the upward migration of formation waters that interacted with pre-salt rocks with high 87Sr/86Sr ratios. Formation waters at temperatures of 80°C migrated during the emplacement of the Upper Pedraforca thrust sheet in the Late Cretaceous-Palaeocene. These fluids interacted with Upper Cretaceous Carbonates and/or Triassic evaporites. In contrast, the influence of meteoric fluids increased in shallower positions due to the exhumation of the SE Pyrenees during the Eocene-Oligocene. Coevally, hot dolomitizing fluids migrated along diapir walls during the formation of secondary welds. Supergene ores documented in diapiric areas worldwide related to meteoric fluids, and the similar meteoric percolation occurred in the Upper Pedraforca thrust sheet, suggest that supergene mineralization could be found in the Pyrenees. Brecciation of rocks in primary weld zones and evaporite detachments, where mineralization accumulate in fractures from basement-derived fluids, also suggests that similar ores could be found in the Pyrenees., This research was performed within the framework of DGICYT Spanish Project PGC2018-093903-B-C22 Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea, SUBTETIS (PIE-CSIC-201830E039), ALORBE (PIE-CSIC-202030E310) and Grup Consolidat de Recerca ”Geologia Sedimentària” (2017SGR-824) and Generalitat de Catalunya, Grant/Award Number AGAUR 2017SGR-847. The isotopic analyses were carried out at “Centres Científics i Tecnològics” of the Universitat de Barcelona. Strontium analyses were done at the “CAI de Geocronología y Geoquímica Isotópica” of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid. The high resolution inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometry analyses were carried out at labGEOTOP of the GEO3BCN-CSIC, a cofounded structure by FEDER-UE (Ref. CSIC08-4E-001). The clumped isotopes analyses were performed in the Qatar Stable Isotope Laboratory of Imperial College of London. E.G.R. acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities for the “Ramón y Cajal” fellowship RYC2018-026335-I., Peer reviewed




Distribución de cementos de calcita en un sistema aluvial-fluvial: el anticlinal de Puig-reig (Pirineos Surorientales)., Distribution of calcite cements in a folded alluvial-fluvial succession: the Puig-reig anticline (South-eastern Pyrenees).

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Sun, X.
  • Gómez-Rivas, Enrique
  • Alcalde, Juan
  • Cruset, David
  • Muñoz-López, D.
  • Cantarero, I.
  • Martín-Martín, J. D.
  • Travé, A.
X Congreso Geológico de España, 5-7 Julio 2021, Vitoria - Gasteiz, Como mineral autigénico predominante, el cemento de calcita tiene un efecto muy significativo en la potencial calidad como reservorio del anticlinal de Puig-Reig, que constituye un excelente análogo para el estudio de la distribución de cementos en diferentes facies sedimentarias gracias a la cantidad y calidad de los afloramientos. Tras un exhaustivo estudio estratigráfico y de recogida muestras, se han realizado análisis petrográficos con microscopio óptico y de cátodo-luminiscencia de facies y sus cementos. Se han identificado dos generaciones principales de cementación calcítica que se desarrollaron durante y después del crecimiento del anticlinal, aunque la mayor parte del cemento cristalizó de manera simultánea a su formación. La distribución del cemento está controlada por la posición estructural dentro del pliegue y por las facies y litofacies de la roca encajante. Los depósitos de canales fluviales en la cresta del anticlinal, de grano especialmente grueso, tienden a desarrollar más cementación. Es necesario profundizar en el estudio de las características de la cementación de calcita para producir mejores estimaciones sobre la calidad de los reservorios y para guiar las actividades de exploración relacionada con los hidrocarburos o el almacenamiento geológico de CO2 en estructuras subterráneas similares., As the most prevalent authigenic mineral, calcite cement exerts a significant effect on reservoir quality of the Puig-reig anticline, which is an excellent outcrop analogue to study calcite cement distribution due to good and continuous exposure. After stratigraphic logging and rock sampling, two major generations of calcite cementation have been identified using petrographic observations under optical and cathodoluminescence microscopes. They formed during and after anticline growth, respectively. Most calcite cement formed simultaneously with the anticline. Calcite cement distribution is controlled by the structural position of sediments in the fold and also by host sedimentary facies and lithofacies. Fluvial channel deposits of the anticline crest, especially relatively coarse deposits, tend to host more calcite cement. A more detailed study on calcite cementation is required to predict high-quality reservoirs and further guide petroleum exploration or carbon storage in similar subsurface structures., Funding was provided by the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017SGR-824) and the DGICYT Spanish Project PGC2018-093903-B-C22. XS acknowledges funding by the China Scholarship Council for a PhD scholarship (201806450043). EGR acknowledges funding provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (“Ramón y Cajal” fellowship RYC2018-026335-I). JA is funded by MICINN (Juan de la Cierva fellowship - IJC2018-036074-I)




Flujo de fluidos durante la deformación compresiva y extensiva en el cabalgamiento de Estamariu (Zona Axial de los Pirineos), Fluid Flow during compressional and subsequent extensional regimes in the Estamariu thrust (Pyrenean Axial Zone).

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Muñoz-López, D.
  • Alías, G.
  • Cruset, David
  • Cantarero, I.
  • Travé, Anna
X Congreso Geológico de España, 5-7 Julio 2021, Vitoria - Gasteiz, Calcite veins precipitated in the Estamariu thrust during two tectonic events have been investigated in order to
decipher the relationships between deformation and fluid migration in Paleozoic basement rocks. Structural observations
constrain the timing of vein formation and fluid migration, whilst geochemical analyses (¿13C, ¿18O, 87Sr/86Sr and elemental
composition) of the related calcite cements indicate the fluid origin, pathways and extent of fluid-rock interaction. The first
tectonic event, related to the Alpine reactivation of the Estamariu Variscan thrust, is characterized by the upward migration
of fluids derived from the crystalline basement, giving rise to the precipitation of calcite cements Cc1 and Cc2. The second
tectonic event, developed during the Neogene extension, was responsible of the reactivation of the Estamariu thrust and the
development of normal faults and shear fractures in which calcite cements Cc3, Cc4 and Cc5 precipitated. Cc3 and Cc4 precipitated
from meteoric fluids that interacted at depth with basement rocks before upflowing through fault zones and related
structures. Cc5 precipitated from meteoric fluids percolating from the surface through small fractures., This research was funded by the Spanish Projects CGL2015-66335-C2-1-R and PGC2018-093903-B-C22, and by the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017-SGR- 824). The PhD research of DM-L is supported by the FPI2016 (BES-2016-077214) Spanish program from MINECO.




Origin of the Coloured Karst Fills in the Neogene Extensional System of NE Iberia (Spain)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Travé, A.
  • Rodríguez-Morillas, Noelia
  • Baqués, Vinyet
  • Playà, E.
  • Casas, Lluís
  • Cantarero, Irene
  • Martín-Martín, J. D.
  • Gómez-Rivas, Enrique
  • Moragas, Mar
  • Cruset, David
Karst fills from the onshore Penedès Basin and offshore València Trough display red, pink, orange and ochre colours. Their Mössbauer spectra indicate that Fe3+ contained in goethite is the dominant species in reddish-pink fills, whereas Fe2+ contained in dolomite and clays is more dominant in the orange and ochre ones. The lower δ13C values and higher 87Sr/86Sr ratios of the karst fills with respect to their host carbonates can reflect the input of soil-derived CO2 and an external radiogenic source into the karst system. This geochemical composition, together with the non-carbonate fraction of the fills, consists of authigenic and transported illite, illite-smectite interlayers, as well as kaolinite, chlorite, pyrite, quartz, ilmenite, magnetite, apatite and feldspar, account for a mixed residual-detrital origin of fills. This polygenic origin agrees with that of the terra rossa sediments described worldwide. The different colours of karst fills are attributed to fluctuations in the water table, which control the Eh/pH conditions in the karst system. Thus, reddish colours reflect low water table levels and oxidising episodes, and orange and ochre ones reflect high water table levels and more reducing episodes. The greenish colours of fills could be related to fluctuations in the Fe3+/Fe2+ ratio, This research was performed within the framework of DGICYT Spanish Projects PGC2018-093903-B-C22 and PID2020-118999GB-I00 funded by the Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional. EGR acknowledges the funding provided by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (“Ramón y Cajal” fellowship RYC2018-026335-I). The isotopic, electron microprobe and XRD analyses and the SEM and TEM observations were carried out at “Centres Científics i Tecnològics” of the Universitat de Barcelona. Mössbauer spectroscopy analyses were carried out at Institut de Ciència de Materials de Barcelona. Strontium isotope analyses were carried out at “CAI de Geocronología y Geoquímica Isotópica” of the Universidad Complutense de Madrid., Peer reviewed




The role of mantle and crust in the generation of calc-alkaline Variscan magmatism and its tectonic setting in the Eastern Pyrenees

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Liesa, Montserrat
  • Aguilar, C.
  • Castro Dorado, Antonio
  • Gisbert, G.
  • Reche, J.
  • Muñoz, J. A.
  • Vilà, M.
The lower structural levels of the Variscan orogen exposed in the Eastern Pyrenees reveal three genetically associated magmatic suites: (i) a batholitic sized calc-alkaline granitoid (Sant Llorenç – La Jonquera, SL–LJ); (ii) minor mafic intrusions with local ultramafic cumulates (Ceret and Mas Claret mafic complexes); and (iii) peraluminous leucogranite bodies. These suites were emplaced in a syn- to post-collisional setting during the Late Carboniferous – Early Permian (ca. 315–290 Ma) in an Upper Proterozoic-Upper Ordovician metasedimentary sequence. We carried out field and petrographic work and whole-rock geochemistry (including Sr–Nd radiogenic isotopes) in order to constrain the petrogenetic relationships between them and to determine the interplay of the igneous suites with the country rock. We compare geochemical data to those from the neighbouring massifs of the Pyrenees and Catalan Coastal Ranges. The granitoids and the mafic complexes underwent variable degrees of lower crustal assimilation as demonstrated by the Sr and Nd isotopic ratios of SL–LJ granitoids and mafic rocks. Contaminated gabbro-diorites are high in Fe and Zr and contain magmatic garnet in equilibrium with an Fe–Mg amphibole. A supra-subduction metasomatized mantle source for the mafic complexes is inferred. The magma that formed the SL–LJ granitoids was of intermediate composition and may have formed by differentiation of of magmas derived from partial melting of a subduction-metasomatized mantle caused by active subduction or mantle delamination or by partial melting of the lower crust triggered by underplating of mantle-derived mafic magmas. Leucogranite magmas formed later by partial melting of crustal rocks with compositions similar to the outcropping metapelites and orthogneisses. We deduce a retrograde cooling decompression path from 0.75 GPa down to 0.55 GPa from phase equilibria for a garnet-bearing diorite. This path is compatible with a local extensional context linked to a regional dextral strike-slip regime that provided space for the ascent and emplacement of the pluton. This strike-slip system is consistent with late-Variscan shear zones displacing Gondwana to the west with respect to Laurasia during the orogenic collapse., This work was benefited from the Spanish Commission for Science and Technology research projects CGL2015-66335-C2-2-R, PGC2018-096534-B-I00 (IBERCRUST) and PGC2018-093903-B-C22. It has also been financed by PID2020-117332GB-C21, PID2020-117332GB-C22,PID2019-109018RB-I00 and PID2020-117598GB-I00, funded by MCIN/AEI /10.13039/501100011033. C. Aguilar is indebted to prof. K.
Schulmann and P. Sipska from the Centre for Lithospheric Research, Czech Geological Survey for their guidance and support over the past few years




Origin and distribution of calcite cements in a folded fluvial succession: The Puig-reig anticline (south-eastern Pyrenees)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Sun, Xiaolong
  • Gómez-Rivas, Enrique
  • Cruset, David
  • Alcalde, Juan
  • Muñoz-López, D.
  • Cantarero, I.
  • Martín-Martín, J. D.
  • John, Cédric M.
  • Travé, A.
As one of the predominant diagenetic products in clastic rocks, calcite cements are typical fingerprints of cement-forming fluids and are key controls on reservoir quality. The Puig-reig anticline, in the south-eastern Pyrenees (Spain), exposes excellent outcrops of conglomerates, sandstones and claystones, which were deposited from a proximal to medial fluvial system and underwent folding, fracturing and cementation. This anticline constitutes an appropriate case study to investigate the origin and distribution of calcite cements during folding evolution and how they affect reservoir quality. Based on structural, petrographic and geochemical analyses (carbon, oxygen, strontium and clumped isotopes and elemental composition), five generations of calcite cements (Cc0 to Cc4) have been identified, filling intergranular porosity of host rocks, faults and four fracture sets (F1 to F4). Calcite cement Cc0 precipitated in intergranular porosity from meteoric fluids in the phreatic zone during the early diagenetic stage. During the most intense phase of thrusting and folding, Cc1 precipitated in intergranular porosity, faults and F1 to F4 fracture sets from hydrothermal fluids that migrated from deeper areas of the Pyrenean chain. During the late stage of fold growth, Cc2 precipitated in faults and their associated fractures in the anticline crest from hydrothermal fluids but at shallower burial depths than that of Cc1. Calcite cement Cc3 mainly precipitated in fractures with the same strike as F1 and F4 fracture sets in the north-western part of the anticline, from formation fluids that probably migrated through the frontal thrust of the south-eastern Pyrenees. During the continuous fold denudation, Cc4 precipitated from meteoric fluids in F1 to F4 fracture sets across the anticline. Results indicate that at foreland basin margins, external fluids coeval with compressional deformation and/or alteration of detrital carbonates contribute to intensive calcite cementation. This can result in an overall occlusion of porosity and significantly damaged reservoir quality., was provided by the Catalan Council to the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària”
(2017SGR-824) and research projects PGC2018-093903-B-C22 and PID2020-118999GB-I00, funded by
the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation (MCIN) / State Research Agency of Spain (AEI)
/10.13039/501100011033. XS acknowledges funding by the China Scholarship Council for a PhD
scholarship (201806450043). EGR acknowledges the Ramón y Cajal fellowship RYC2018-026335-I and
JA the Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación fellowship IJC2018-036074-I, both funded by the Spanish Ministry
of Science and Innovation (MCIN) / State Research Agency of Spain (AEI) / European Regional
Development Fund (ERDF) /10.13039/501100011033., Peer reviewed




Stylolites and stylolite networks as primary controls on the geometry and distribution of carbonate diagenetic alterations

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Gómez-Rivas, Enrique
  • Martín-Martín, Juan Diego
  • Bons, Paul Dirk
  • Koehn, Daniel
  • Griera, Albert
  • Travé, Anna
  • Llorens, Maria-Gema
  • Humphrey, Elliot
  • Neilson, Joyce
There is ongoing debate on whether stylolites act as barriers, conduits, or play no role in fluid transport. This problem can be tackled by examining the spatial and temporal relationships between stylolites and other diagenetic products at multiple scales. Using the well-known Lower Cretaceous Benicàssim case study area (Maestrat Basin, E. Spain), we provide new field and petrographic observations of how bedding-parallel stylolites can influence different diagenetic processes during basin evolution. The results reveal that stylolites can serve as baffles or inhibitors for different carbonate diagenetic reactions, and act as fronts for dolomitization, dolomite recrystallization and dolomite calcitization processes. Anastomosing stylolites that pre-date burial dolomitization probably acted as a collective baffle for dolomitization fluids in the study area, resulting in stratabound replacement geometries at the metre-to-kilometre scale. The dolomitization front coincides with stylolites, and can be traced along consecutive anastomosing ones. Such anastomosing stylolites are typical of mud-dominated facies that characterize limestone-dolostone transition zones. Conversely, dolostone bodies tend to correspond to more grain-dominated facies characterized by parallel (non-anastomosing) stylolites. Stylolites subsequently acted as fluid flow conduits and barriers when the burial and stress conditions changed. Stylolitic porosity enhanced by dissolution within dolostones close to faults appears filled with saddle dolomite riming the stylolite pore, and high-temperature blocky calcite cements filling the remaining porosity. The fluids responsible for these reactions were likely released from below at high pressure, causing hydraulic brecciation, and were channelised through stylolites, which acted as fluid conduits. Stylolites are also found acting as baffles for subsequent dolomite calcitization reactions during meteoric diagenesis and occasionally appear filled with iron oxides likely released by calcitization. This example demonstrates how the same type of stylolites (bedding-parallel) can act as barriers/inhibitors and/or conduits for different types of diagenetic reactions through time, and how important it is to consider their collective role when they form networks., This research was carried out within the framework of the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation Projects PGC2018-093903-B-C22 and PID2020-118999GB-I00, the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017-SGR- 824, funded by the Agency for Management of University and Research Grants, Catalan government, Spain) and the DGMK (German Society for Petroleum and Coal Science and Technology) project 718, funded by the companies ExxonMobil Production Deutschland GmbH, GDF SUEZ E&P Deutschland GmbH, RWE Dea AG, and Wintershall Holding GmbH. EGR acknowledges funding by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (“Ramón y Cajal” fellowship RYC2018-026335-I), and the Geological Society of London Elspeth Matthews Fund 2015 grant. MGL acknowledges funding by the Spanish Ministry of Science, Innovation and Universities (“Juan de la Cierva-Incorporación” fellowship IJC2018-036826-I)., Peer reviewed




Depositional Environment Changes during the Cenozoic in the Northeastern Margin of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Wang, Yetong
  • Sun, Guoqiang
  • Zhang, Shuncun
  • Cantarero, Irene
  • Cruset, David
  • Baqués, Vinyet
  • Guo, Hui
  • Bo, Shangshang
  • Travé, Anna
The uplift of the Tibetan Plateau (TP) during the late Cenozoic is thought to be one of the crucial factors controlling the Asian climate. However, the complex interaction between tectonics and climate change remains unclear. The carbon and oxygen isotopes and elementary geochemistry of rocks from the early Eocene Lulehe Formation to the Miocene Youshashan Formation in the northern margin of Qaidam Basin, shows important variations in the Rb/Sr, MgO/CaO, Sr/Cu, and V/Cr ratios, together with CMI and CIA, which are interpreted as reflecting relevant regional climate and environmental changes. Combining the above mentioned parameters, we reconstructed the evolution of the sedimentary environment in the Qaidam Basin. The climate is roughly divided into four stages: (1) warm and humid; (2) cold and dry; (3) alternations of cold and dry with warm and humid; and (4) cold and arid. At the same time, there are also minor short-term changes of dry, wet, cold, and warm in each stage. The early Eocene to Miocene climate changes in the Qaidam Basin were mainly affected by global climate changes, the uplift of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau, and the long-lasting plate collision, but there was no continuous drought due to the uplift of the Qinghai Tibet Plateau. From the early Eocene to the late Miocene, the climate of the Qaidam Basin became warm and humid., This research was funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China, grant No.
41872145 and the China scholarship council, grant No. 202104910423. This research also was carried
out within the framework of the DGICYT Spanish project PGC2018-093903-B-C22 (Ministerio de Ciencia,
Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/10.13039/501100011033/Fondo
Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea) and the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària”
(2017-SGR-824). David Cruset acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation
for the “Juan de la Cierva Formación” fellowship FJC2020-043488-I AEI/10.13039/501100011033., Peer reviewed




U-Pb dating and geochemical dataset of fracture-filling calcite veins from the Boixols-Sant Corneli anticline (Southern Pyrenees)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Muñoz-López, D.
  • Cruset, David
  • Vergés, Jaume
  • Cantarero, Irene
  • Benedicto, Antonio
  • Baqués, Vinyet
  • Mangenot, Xavier
  • Albert, Richard
  • Gerdes, Axel
  • Beranoaguirre de Miguel, Aratz
  • Travé, A.
U-Pb dating and geochemical analyzes (δ18O, δ13C, Δ47, 87Sr/86Sr and elemental composition) have been applied to fracture-filling calcite veins and host carbonates from the Bóixols-Sant Corneli anticline, which developed along the front of the Bóixols thrust sheet in the Southern Pyrenees. This robust dataset is used to determine: (i) the absolute timing of fracturing and mineralization from fluid flow; (ii) the age and duration of fold evolution; and (iii) the variations and implications of fluid behavior across the anticline, as has been described in the article “Spatio-temporal variation of fluid flow behavior along a fold: The Bóixols-Sant Corneli anticline (Southern Pyrenees) from U–Pb dating and structural, petrographic, and geochemical constraints – Marine and Petroleum Geology (2022) (Muñoz-López et al., 2022). In this new contribution, we present the raw data that have been analyzed and discussed in the related research article and, also, the whole elemental and REE composition of calcite veins and host carbonates that has not been published yet. These data may be used to unravel the age and origin of veins, to understand their sequential evolution in orogenic belts and to compare our results with those obtained in similar settings worldwide., This is a contribution to the DGICYT Spanish projects PGC2018-093903-B-C22 and PID2021-122467NB-C22 (Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación /10.13039/501100011033/ Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea), the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017-SGR-824) and the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Modelització Geodinàmica de la Litosfera” (2017SGR-847). This work was also partially funded by ALORBE project (PIE–CSIC–202030E310)., Peer reviewed




Is the Ibero-Armorican Arc primary or secondary? An analysis of the contraction required to form it by rotation around a vertical axis

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Casas, Josep Maria
  • Guimerà, J.
  • Alvarez-Marrón, Joaquina
  • Días da Silva, Ícaro
Various models have been proposed to explain the formation of the Ibero-Armorican Arc (IAA) as either primary or secondary (rotational). Models for secondary arc formation require significant rotation around a vertical axis at the end of the Variscan orogeny. Estimates for the amount of north–south (present coordinates) contraction (horizontal shortening) required for these rotations range from 54 at the core to 91% at the SE tip of the arc, near to the present day Mediterranean coast. These estimates are compared with coeval deformational structures developed in three areas of the orogen: (1) in the autochthonous hinterland in the southern branch of the arc; (2) in the Cantabrian Zone foreland fold–thrust belt in the core of the arc; and (3) in the SE continuation of the southern branch of the IAA in the present day Iberian Chain. From this analysis it follows that the contraction associated with late Variscan deformation is much less than that needed to explain the formation of the IAA from a formerly linear orogen via rotation around a vertical axis. We therefore propose that the geometry of the arc should be re-evaluated. We discuss the palaeomagnetic data purported to support the secondary origin, as well as the role of late Variscan regional strike-slip faults in modifying the geometry of the Iberian and Armorican massifs. Our analysis suggests that the IAA formed mainly from a primary non-rotational margin-controlled curvature, slightly modified by c. 5–20% of superposed contraction during late Carboniferous and/or Alpine times., Financial support was provided by CGL2017-87631-P, CGL2016-76438-P, PGC2018-093903-B-C22 and SALTCONBELT-CGL2017-85532-Pprojects, funded by Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI) and Fondo Europeode Desarrollo Regional (FEDER), and by project 2014SGR-467 (UB-GEOMODELS Research Institute and the Grup de Geodinàmica i Anàlisi deConques). IDS is grateful for financial support given by the Estímulo ao EmpregoCientífico–Norma Transitória national science contract in the Faculdade deCiências da Universidade de Lisboa, Peer reviewed




Cadomian metabasites of the Eastern Pyrenees revisited

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Pujol-Solà, Núria
  • Casas, Josep Maria
  • Proenza, Joaquín A.
  • Blanco-Quintero, Idael Francisco
  • Druguet, Elena
  • Liesa, Montserrat
  • Román-Alpiste, Manuel Jesús
  • Álvaro, J. Javier
This study presents a new geochemical, petrological, and geochronological U-Pb dataset from Ediacaran metabasites and associated rocks of the Canigó and Cap de Creus massifs, Eastern Pyrenees. Metabasites are composed of calcic amphibole + plagioclase + chlorite + epidote ± quartz plus titanite + apatite + ilmenite ± biotite ± rutile as accessory phases and show relict igneous textures. Peak pressure-temperature determinations share common conditions, ranging 452-482ºC and 5.2-7.7kbar, which suggest Barrovian-type metamorphism, most likely related to a collisional setting. The metabasites correspond to evolved basaltic rocks (Mg#<0.55) with moderate TiO content (up to 2.08wt.%) and relatively low Cr (43-416ppm). The rocks are moderately enriched in Light Rare Earth Elements (LREE) relative to Heavy Rare Earth Elements (HREE) (average (La/Lu) of 2.7) and the N-MORB normalized multi-element patterns show negative slopes, with prominent negative Nb anomalies ((Nb/La)=0.33–0.78). These variations are akin to island arc tholeiites generated in back-arc basins and to other metabasites described in the Eastern Pyrenees with a putative Ediacaran age, and they differ from the Ordovician tholeiitic metabasites from the Canigó massif, which derived from a contaminated E-MORB source. The positive Ɛ values (0.82-3.05) of the studied metabasites preclude a notable contribution from an older continental crust. Detrital zircon U-Pb dating Laser Ablation-Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) of one chlorite-rich schist sample in contact with the metabasites from the Canigó massif yielded a main peak at ca. 632Ma and apparent maximum age of deposition at ca. 550Ma. We argue that the Cadomian metabasites from the Pyrenees formed during back-arc extension in the continental margin of Gondwana and were later affected by (probably early Variscan) medium-P metamorphism before the Low-Pressure High-Temperature (LP-HT) metamorphism classically described in the Pyrenees., Spanish Government CGL2017-87631-P PGC2018-093903-B-C22; Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovacion y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigacion/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Union Europea; Margarita Salas grant; Universitat de Barcelona; Ministerio de Universidades/NextGenerationEU/PRTR/Plan de recuperacion, transformacion y resiliencia




Effects of fluvial sedimentary heterogeneity on CO2 geological storage: Integrating storage capacity, injectivity, distribution and CO2 phases

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Sun, X.
  • Cao, Y.
  • Liu, K.
  • Alcalde, Juan
  • Cabello, P.
  • Traveset, Anna
  • Cruset, David
  • Gómez-Rivas, Enrique
Fluvial system deposits often form suitable reservoirs for CO geological storage (CGS). These potential storage sites usually present heterogeneous fluvial architectures at multiple scales. This heterogeneity can exert varied effects on different aspects of CGS, resulting in significant storage efficiency variability. Here, we investigate the effects of variable fluvial lithofacies associations on CO storage, using the Puig-reig anticline in the SE Pyrenees (Spain) as a reservoir analog. To test this, we employ a multidisciplinary approach that integrates field sedimentology, reservoir modeling, and numerical simulation of CO injection to produce models akin to different fluvial lithofacies associations. The storage volume and injectivity of CO are found to decrease in reservoirs with decreasing fractions and sizes of high-permeable facies from the proximal to the medial-distal lithofacies associations. The flow barriers created by low-permeable facies can hinder the vertical migration of the CO plume and prevent it from reaching the reservoir top, hence reducing the direct contact between the CO plume and the overlying caprock. Furthermore, an optimal amount of low-permeable layers (around 30% in this study) can increase the swept area of CO and reduce the proportions of free CO phase. These aspects can collectively increase the amount of permanently trapped CO and reduce the leakage risks of the injected CO. Based on the characteristics of the resulting models (i.e., storage volume, injectivity, distribution and phases of CO), a multi-criteria decision-making method has been used to quantitatively rank the different lithofacies associations according to their suitability for CO storage. In this analysis, the proximal-medial fluvial lithofacies associations are assessed to be the most suitable ones because they feature low proportions of the injected CO reaching the reservoir top and in free phase while maintaining the high storage volume and injectivity. This study reveals that heterogeneous reservoir architectures have mixed effects on CO storage, and that reservoirs featuring moderately heterogeneous architectures (i.e., fractions of low-permeable facies ranging from 30% to 40%) are beneficial to keeping the balance among different aspects of CO storage. This provides new insights for the screening and selection of potential geological sites for CO storage., Funding was provided by the China University of Petroleum (East China) to the Independent Innovation Research Project 22CX06004A and by the Catalan Council to the Grup Consolidat de Recerca “Geologia Sedimentària” (2017SGR-824) and the DGICYT Spanish Projects PGC2018-093903-B-C22, PID2020-118999GB-I00 and PID2021-122467NB-C22 (MCIN/AEI/10.13039/501100011033/FEDER, Unión Europea). JA acknowledges funding from MICINN (Juan de la Cierva fellowship - IJC2018-036074-I)., Peer reviewed




Paleostress evolution in the South Pyrenean fold and thrust belt based on the structural analysis of fractures and U-Pb dating of carbonates

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Cruset, David
  • Muñoz-López, D.
  • Vergés, Jaume
  • Travé, Anna
Structural analyses of vein and faults related with the growth of the South Pyrenean fold and thrust belt are coupled with the U-Pb ages of fracture-filling calcites compiled in Cruset et al. (2020) and Muñoz-López et al. (2022). Fractures include conjugated vein systems and reverse, strike-slip and normal faults cemented by calcite. The results reveal the orientation of tectonic stresses during the Pyrenean compression and their spatial and temporal evolution since the Late Cretaceous.

Late Cretaceous to late Palaeocene U-Pb dates between 70.6 and 55.3 Ma registered compressional deformation in the inverted Mesozoic salt-related extensional basins corresponding to the Bóixols and Upper Pedraforca thrust sheets. Calculated paleostresses show a predominant N-S direction of tectonic transport, with more pronounced NW-SE directions in the western termination of the Bóixols and in the northern sector of the Upper Pedraforca.

Fracture data and U-Pb ages between 47.9 and 42.3 Ma measured in the Lower Pedraforca thrust sheet reveal N-S and NW-SE directions of tectonic transport during the middle Eocene, similar to those in the Bóixols and Upper Pedraforca thrust units. Contrarily, younger late Eocene to Oligocene U-Pb ages between 36.2 and 28.4 Ma measured in the lowermost Cadí thrust sheet reveal an homogeneous N-S trend during the emplacement of this unit.

Fractures cutting the Bóixols and Upper Pedraforca thrust sheets, and filled with cements yielding U-Pb ages from 48.8 to 25.68 Ma, show the same directions of tectonic transport than those measured for the Late Cretaceous-Paleocene. These Eocene and Oligocene ages also register the post-emplacement deformation of upper tectonic units on top of the Lower Pedraforca, Cadí, Montsec and Serres Marginals lower thrust sheets., This research was funded by the project ALORBE (PIE-CSIC-202030E310), DGICYT Spanish Projects PID2021-122467NB-C22 and PGC2018-093903-B-C22 Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional, Unión Europea. David Cruset acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the "Juan de la Cierva Formación¿ contract FJC2020-043488-I AEI/10.13039/501100011033.




Detrital zircon U[sbnd]Pb dating and geochemistry of the Paleogene-Neogene sediments in the Qaidam Basin (China): Implications for provenance and tectonics

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Wang, Y.
  • Sun, G.
  • Bo, S.
  • Fu, S.
  • Cruset, David
  • Martín-Martín, J. D.
  • Guo, H.
  • Cantarero, I.
  • Baqués, Vinyet
  • Chen, G.
  • Zhang, S.
  • Travé, Anna
Provenance analyses provide valuable insights into both the complex interaction between orogenic belts and surrounding sedimentary basins and the role of plate collision in the basin-mountain coupling process. This paper investigates the provenance of the Cenozoic sediments filling the Qaidam Basin (Qinghai Tibetan Plateau, China) by combining petrology, major elements, trace elements, rare earth elements (REEs), and Zircon U[sbnd]Pb dating analysis to provide new insight about the collision of the Indian and Asian plates. The petrographic analysis indicates that the studied sediments are poorly sorted and made of angular to subrounded clasts, suggesting deposition relatively near to the source area. The Chemical Index of Alteration (CIA) of the samples in the study area, which ranges from 68.88 to 74.08, indicates that the study area experienced moderate weathering from the early Eocene to the early Miocene. In addition, Zr/Sc versus Th/Sc shows that most samples did not experience recycling. KO/NaO, SiO, Th, Sc, Zr, La and Co contents indicate that the Cenozoic sediments filling the Qaidam Basin derived mainly from an active continental margin and a continental island arc setting. U[sbnd]Pb dating of detrital zircons denotes that the studied sediments were derived from rocks with five major sets of ages (200–350 Ma, 350–500 Ma, 500–1000 Ma, 1000–1500 Ma, and >1500 Ma), with the two first sets being more common. Based on the regional geology, therefore, these ages indicate that the main provenance source was shifted southwards from the Mesozoic crystalline basement (south Qilian Mountains) in the early-middle Eocene, to the Saishiteng Mountains in the middle-late Eocene, and to Lvliang and Qilian Mountains during the late Eocene-early Miocene. Zircon dating also indicates that the main source area was displaced eastward through time. Finally, it is concluded that the tectonic deformation progressed from west to east in the northern margin of the Qaidam Basin, reflecting a far-field response to the onset of the India-Asia collision., Founding was provided by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (grant No. 41872145) and the China scholarship council (grant No. 202104910423). This research was also carried out within the framework of the DGICYT Spanish projects DGICYT PID2021-122467NB-C22 and PGC2018-093903-B-C22




Paleoenvironmental and diagenetic evolution of the Aptian Pre-Salt succession in Namibe Basin (Onshore Angola)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Moragas, Mar
  • Baqués, Vinyet
  • Martín-Martín, J. D.
  • Sharp, Ian
  • Lapponi, F.
  • Hunt, David
  • Zeller, Michael
  • Vergés, Jaume
  • Messager, G.
  • Gindre-Chanu, L.
  • Swart, Roger
  • Machado, Vladamir
The Aptian Pre-Salt sedimentary succession cropping out in Cangulo palaeovalley onshore Namibe Basin (Angola) was studied by a combination of field and analytical techniques to constrain the sedimentary and diagenetic evolution of the uppermost sag sequence of the South Atlantic passive margin. Field observations allows definition of four transgressive-regressive cycles characterised by fluvial to tidal-influenced mixed clastic-carbonate and carbonate-dominated deposits, that locally show evidence of evaporite dissolution; highlighting that evaporite deposition started earlier than deposition of the regional South Atlantic Loeme-Bambata evaporite formations. Two separate pre-salt carbonate units have been differentiated within the Cangulo Fm; i) a lower transitional to marginal marine, and ii) a younger upper non-marine freshwater travertine system, that is documented for the first time in the west African margin. Transgressive-regressive cycles control the early diagenesis of the tidal carbonates that include dolomitization due to mixing fluids during transgressions, and karstification due to evaporite dissolution by meteoric water circulation during regressive events. Clastic supply appears to have been completely shut down during carbonate deposition, suggesting major climatic change associated with carbonate deposition. During the lowstand between the two carbonate units, fluid flow through Cangulo palaeovalley was re-established resulting in extensive karstification and formation of a large-scale erosional unconformity that is interpreted to be time equivalent to an intra Chela-Cuvo Fm. event. The top of the studied succession corresponds to the transgressive deposits of the Bambata evaporites that are not preserved in the Cangulo palaeovalley due to its erosion but are regionally developed. The results of this study can be directly linked to along strike age equivalent Pre-Salt successions cropping out in the Namibe, Benguela and Kwanza basins, and directly offshore Angola and Brazil using well and seismic data. These new data shed important new light and constraints on the depositional and diagenetic evolution of the complex Pre-Salt reservoir systems of the South Atlantic, and the depositional and bathymetric setting at the time of onset of the main south Atlantic evaporite deposition., The geology of Cangulo palaeovalley was characterised through a combination of remote sensing mapping (RSM), fieldwork and laboratory analysis. Remote sensing mapping was performed using Equinor-Digitizer2, software, using very high resolution orthorectified satellite imagery, and a digital elevation model (DEM) with a resolution of 1.0 m. RSM and field mapping were supported by the interpretation of stratal relationships directly onto field photopanoramas.We thank Israel Cruz Orosa and Emilio Casciello for fruitful discussion during the development of the present study. Thanks to Equinor Angola and Rafael's camp staff for logistical support during field work, and all involved in the Equinor-Sonangol onshore field work collaboration program in the Namibe, Benguela and Kwanza basins between 2010 and 2014. Thank you to TGS for permission to use line drawing of seismic in Fig. 2. We thank associate editor Laura Tomassetti, Pierre-Alexandre Teboul and an anonymous reviewer who helped improve the quality of the manuscript. Carbon and oxygen isotopic analyses, and electron microprobe analyses were carried out at the Centre Científics i Tecnològics of the Universitat de Barcelona. XRD analyses were carried out in the laboratories of the Geoscience Barcelona (Geo3BCN–CSIC). This research is a contribution of the Group of Dynamics of the Lithosphere (GDL), Geosciences Barcelona (Geo3Bcn), Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas (CSIC), Spain. The project work was sponsored by Equinor (Norway), ALORBE Project (PIE–CSIC–202030E310), FEIBOB project (PGC2018-093903-B-C22) and ORRI Spanish project (PID2021-122467NB-C22). This research is within the framework of the Grups Consolidats de Recerca “Modelització Geodinàmica de la Litosfera” (2017SGR-847) and “Geologia Sedimentària” (SGR-Cat 2021 349).




Petrological, petrophysical and petrothermal study of a folded sedimentary succession: the Oliana anticline (Southern Pyrenees), outcrop analogue of a geothermal reservoir

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Ramírez-Pérez, P.
  • Cantarero, I.
  • Cofrade, G.
  • Muñoz-López, D.
  • Cruset, David
  • Sizun, J. P.
  • Travé, Anna
The Oliana anticline (Southern Pyrenees) has been characterized as an outcrop analogue of a geothermal reservoir using field data (stratigraphy and fracturing) and petrological, petrophysical and petrothermal analyses. Five lithofacies were established including conglomerates, hybrid arenites, lithic arenites, carbonates and evaporites. Petrophysical measurements indicate widely dispersed values of bulk density, connected porosity, permeability and velocity of compressional acoustic waves. Connected porosity is the factor that mostly influences bulk density, compressional wave velocity and permeability. In turn, diagenetic processes (such as dissolution and cementation) and fracturing, coupled with petrological features such as mineral composition, matrix content and grain size, are the most critical factors controlling rock porosity along the Oliana anticline. Thermal conductivity measures reveal a compositional control on the thermal properties of rocks. Thermal characterization of the structure reveals a low conductive area that matches the carbonate and evaporite succession of the anticline core and a highly conductive zone associated with the detrital succession of the fold limbs. The Oliana anticline has been classified as a petrothermal system due to the low permeability values of the studied sedimentary succession. Despite such classification, this contribution provides a useful exploration tool for future studies of non-conventional geothermal and CO storage sites located in folded sedimentary successions in the proximal domain of foreland basins., This research was performed within the framework of DGICYT Spanish Project PGC2018-093903-B-C22 and PID2021-12246NB-C22 Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional and the Catalan Council to the Grup de Recerca Reconegut Geologia Sedimentària (2021 SGR-Cat 00349). DC acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the “Juan de la Cierva Formación” fellowship FJC2020-043488-I AEI/10.13039/501100011033. PR acknowledges the Universitat de Barcelona and Repsol Exploración. S.A. for the “Repsol-UB 2020” fellowship D/226000900/C2022A/G00/ PDZJK002 and the Universitat de Barcelona for the “PREDOC-UB 2020” fellowship. Authors acknowledge Elisabet Beamud and Eduard Roca of the Universitat de Barcelona for their help interpreting the Oliana anticline chronostratigraphy.




Petrophysical and petrothermal dataset of the sedimentary succession in the Oliana anticline (Southern Pyrenees)

Digital.CSIC. Repositorio Institucional del CSIC
  • Ramírez-Pérez, Pedro
  • Cantarero, Irene
  • Cofrade, G.
  • Muñoz-López, Daniel
  • Cruset, David
  • Sizun, J. P.
  • Travé, Anna
The petrophysical and petrothermal characterization of the sedimentary succession of the Oliana anticline in the Southern Pyrenees has been performed on the basis of mineral density, connected porosity, permeability, P-wave velocity and thermal conductivity measurements of rock samples distributed along this anticline. This dataset was used to explain: (I) the variability of petrophysical rock properties along the Oliana anticline, (II) the distribution of thermal conductivity along the sedimentary units of the anticline, (III) the relationships between the fold and petrology concerning the mineral density, connected porosity, permeability, P-wave velocity and thermal conductivity of rocks and (IV) the tectonic and diagenetic controls underlying the observed relationships, as described in the research article: "Petrological, petrophysical and petrothermal study of a folded sedimentary succession: the Oliana anticline (Southern Pyrenees), outcrop analogue of a geothermal reservoir - Global and Planetary Change Journal (2023)¿.

This contribution presents here the raw and statistical datasets used to discuss the potential of the Oliana anticline as a geothermal reservoir analogue and also includes an extended methodological section that proposes a new procedure to measure the thermal conductivity of highly heterogeneous coarse-grained sedimentary rocks using the Modified Transient Source Plane (MTPS) method on a TCi C-Therm thermal analyzer.

These complete datasets can be used to better discuss and understand the principal limitations of outcrop analogue studies applied to unconventional geothermal reservoirs in foreland basins on the basis of the analysis of rock petrophysical and petrothermal properties. Furthermore, the data obtained in the Oliana anticline can be used to understand the structural, diagenetic and petrological factors that can modify the petrophysical and petrothermal properties of rocks and to discuss the potential of foreland basin margins to be used as geothermal reservoirs, comparing the data obtained in Oliana with studies developed in similar geological settings worldwide., This research was performed within the framework of DGICYT Spanish Project PGC2018-093903-B-C22 and PID2021-12246NB-C22 Ministerio de Ciencia, Innovación y Universidades/Agencia Estatal de Investigación/Fondo Europeo de Desarrollo Regional and the Catalan Council to the Grup Consolidat de Recerca Reconegut Geologia Sedimentària (2021 SGR-Cat 00349).

DC acknowledges the Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation for the “Juan de la Cierva Formación” fellowship FJC2020-043488-I AEI/10.13039/501100011033.

PR acknowledges the Universitat de Barcelona and Repsol Exploración. S.A. for the “Repsol-UB 2020” fellowship D/226000900/C2022A/G00/ PDZJK002 and the Universitat de Barcelona for the “PREDOC-UB 2021” fellowship.




Permian–Triassic red-stained albitized profiles in the granitic basement of NE Spain: evidence for deep alteration related to the Triassic palaeosurface

UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
  • Fàbrega Alsina, Carles
  • Parcerisa Duocastella, David|||0000-0001-8071-9936
  • Thiry, Médard
  • Franke, Christine
  • Gurenko, Andrey
  • Gómez Gras, David Manuel|||0000-0002-8539-5739
  • Solé, Jesús
  • Travé, Anna
This is a post-peer-review, pre-copyedit version of an article published in International Journal of Earth Sciences. The final authenticated version is available online at: http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00531-019-01764-0., Extensive areas of the Variscan granitic basement in NE Spain display profiles of red-stained albitized facies characterized by albitization of Ca-plagioclase, chloritization of biotite and microclinization of orthoclase, along with the alteration of igneous quartz to secondary CL-dark quartz. These profiles have a geopetal structure beneath the Triassic unconformity, with a very intense and pervasive alteration in the upper part that progressively decreases with depth to 150–200 m where the alteration is restricted to the walls of fractures. The red albitized facies contains secondary maghemite and hematite that indicate oxidizing conditions. Dating of microclinized orthoclase and secondary monazite that have formed in the red-stained albitized facies yielded K–Ar and U–Th–Pbtotal ages of 240 and 250 Ma, respectively, suggesting that the alteration developed during the Permian–Triassic period. The geopetal disposition of the red albitized profile with respect to the Triassic unconformity, its large regional extent, and the fracture-controlled alteration in the lower part of the profile indicate groundwater interaction. The d18O values of albitized plagioclase (+¿11‰), microclinized orthoclase (+¿13‰), and secondary CL-dark quartz (+¿12‰) suggest that the alteration temperature was about 55 °C. This “low” temperature suggests that the alteration occurred during interaction of the granitic rocks with Na-rich fluids below a surficial weathering mantle on the Permian–Triassic palaeosurface. The latter is possibly related to Triassic evaporitic environments in long-lasting, stable landscapes in which Na-rich solutions infiltrated deep regional groundwaters., Peer Reviewed




Predicting instrumental mass fractionation (IMF) of stable isotope SIMS analyses by response surface methodology (RSM) [Dataset]

UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
  • Parcerisa Duocastella, David|||0000-0001-8071-9936
  • Rossell Garriga, Josep Maria|||0000-0002-5631-5357
  • Fàbrega Alsina, Carles
  • Gurenko, Andrey
  • Franke, Christine
The dataset contains four files. File S1 corresponds to cathodoluminescence and BSE images of standard minerals. File S2 contains geochemical data of mineral standards ans samples obtained by SIMS and EPMA. File S3 contains the parameters used to obtain response surface models of IMF in mineral standards. File S4 is a response surface methodology tutorial., Instrumental mass fractionation (IMF) of isotopic SIMS analyses (Cameca 1280HR, CRPG Nancy) was predicted by response surface methodology (RSM) for 18O/16O determinations of plagioclase, K-feldspar and quartz. The three predictive response surface models combined instrumental and compositional inputs. The instrumental parameters were: (i) X and Y position, (ii) LT1DefX and LT1DefY electrostatic deflectors, (iii) chamber pressure and, (iv) primary-ion beam intensity. The compositional inputs included: (i) anorthite content (An%) for the plagioclase model and, (ii) orthoclase (Or%) and barium (BaO%) contents for the K-feldspar model. The three models reached high predictive powers. The coefficients R2 and prediction-R2 were, respectively, 90.47% and 86.74% for plagioclase, 87.56% and 83.17% for K-feldspar and 94.29% and 91.59% for quartz. The results show that RSM can be confidently applied to IMF prediction in stable isotope SIMS analyses by the use of instrumental and compositional variables.




Geochemical data of albitized profiles in Europe, Dades geoquímiques de perfils albititzats a Europa, Datos geoquímicos de perfiles albitizados en Europa, Données géochimiques des profiles albitises en Europe

UPCommons. Portal del coneixement obert de la UPC
  • Fàbrega Alsina, Carles
  • Parcerisa Duocastella, David|||0000-0001-8071-9936
  • Gómez-Gras, David
  • Travé, Anna
  • Thiry, Médard
  • Franke, Christine
  • Gurenko, Andrey
  • Solé, Jesús
Analitical data of several minerals (quartz, K-feldspar, plagioclase, Monazite) of the albitized granites of the Variscan basement in Europe. The samples come from the Catalan Coastal Ranges, the Pyrenees, the Morvan massif and the Sudetes. Most of this data have been used in several papers and in the Cares Fàbrega PhD Thesis.