Halite depositional facies in a solar salt pond: A key to interpreting physical energy and water depth in ancient deposits

Journal Article · Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 EDT 1990 · Geology; (USA)

DOI:https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1990)018<0691:HDFIAS>2.3.CO;2· OSTI ID:6313708

Handford, C R ^[1]

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1. ARCO Oil and Gas Co., Plano, TX (USA)

Subaqueous deposits of aragonite, gypsum, and halite are accumulating in shallow solar salt ponds constructed in the Pekelmeer, a sea-level salina on Bonaire, Netherlands Antilles. Several halite facies are deposited in the crystallizer ponds in response to difference in water depth and wave energy. Cumulate halite, which originates as floating rafts, is present only along the protected, upwind margins of ponds where low-energy conditions foster their formation and preservation. Cornet crystals with peculiar mushroom- and mortarboard-shaped caps precipitate in centimetre-deep brine sheets within a couple of metres of the upwind or low-energy margins. Downwind from these margins, cornet and chevron halite precipitate on the pond floors in water depths ranging from a few centimetres to {approximately} 60 cm. Halite pisoids with radial-concentric structure are precipitated in the swash zone along downwind high-energy shorelines where they form pebbly beaches. This study suggests that primary halite facies are energy and/or depth dependent and that some primary features, if preserved in ancient halite deposits, can be used to infer physical energy conditions, subenvironments such as low- to high-energy shorelines, and extremely shallow water depths in ancient evaporite basins.

• OSTI ID: 6313708
• Journal Information: Geology; (USA), Journal Name: Geology; (USA) Vol. 18:8; ISSN GLGYB; ISSN 0091-7613
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

14 SOLAR ENERGY
140905
58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CALCIUM SULFATES
COASTAL REGIONS
CORRELATIONS
CRYSTALLIZATION
DEPOSITION
DEPTH
DIMENSIONS
ENERGY
ENERGY SOURCES
EQUIPMENT
EVAPORITES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGIC STRUCTURES
GYPSUM
HALIDE MINERALS
HALITE
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
MINERALS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PHASE TRANSFORMATIONS
PONDS
POWER
RENEWABLE ENERGY SOURCES
ROCKS
SALINITY GRADIENTS
SEDIMENTARY BASINS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEDIMENTATION
SOLAR COLLECTORS
SOLAR EQUIPMENT
SOLAR PONDS
SULFATE MINERALS
SULFATES
SULFUR COMPOUNDS
SURFACE WATERS
WATER
WAVE POWER