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Petrologic and geochemical constraints on the origin of regionally extensive dolomites of the Mississippian Burlington and Keokuk fms. , Iowa, Illinois and Missouri

Thesis/Dissertation ·
OSTI ID:5097352

The marine carbonates of the Mississippian Burlington and Keokuk Formations of Iowa, Illinois and Missouri have been subject to several episodes of pervasive and regionally extensive (100,000 km{sup 2}) dolomitization. Cathodoluminescent petrography defines two major and at least three minor generations of dolomite which can be correlated over a regional extent. Sr and O isotopic compositions and Sr concentrations show significant differences between the early dolomite generation, dolomite I, and the later replacement dolomites II and II{prime}. Compared to dolomite I, dolomites II and II{prime} have significantly higher Sr-isotopic compositions of 0.70885 to 0.70942, lower Sr concentrations of 50 to 63 ppm and depleted d{sup 18}O values of {minus}1.0 to {minus}6.6. The geochemistry of the replacement dolomites and quantitative modeling of water-rock interaction suggest that extraformational brines recrystallized the less stoichiometric dolomite I at fluid/rock ratios on the order of 10{sup 2} or greater. The consistency of REE patterns and the presence of anomalously lower abundances of cerium in most diagenetic phases suggest that seawater-derived REE dominate the system, and that subsequent, non-marine diagenetic fluids did not significantly alter the REE patterns, except in late, vug-filling carbonates associated with minor mineralization. The regional extent of pervasive fluid-rock interaction required for the petrogenesis of second generation replacement dolomite in the Burlington and Keokuk Fms. is an order of magnitude greater than has been previously proposed for carbonate-hosted Pb-Zn ore deposits in the midcontinent region.

Research Organization:
State Univ. of New York, Stony Brook, NY (USA)
OSTI ID:
5097352
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English