Fluid inclusion and isotopic evidence on dolomitization, Devonian of Western Canada

Abstract

The Presqu'ile and Manetoe Facies are diagenetic features developed in Lower and Middle Devonian Formations of the Elk Point Basin (Presqu'ile) and the Mackenzie Shelf (Manetoe). Both facies contain coarsely crystalline dolomite and white sparry dolomite cement. Less extensive diagenetic phases, in order of paragenesis, include fluorite, anhydrite, barite, calcite, quartz, sphalerite and galena. Conditions of dolomitization are outlined from core and outcrop examination, thin section and cathodoluminescent petrography, fluid inclusion analyses, and C and O isotopic data. Fluid inclusion and stable isotope analyses from dolomite are combined to determine the isotopic composition of the dolomitizing fluids. Chemical analyses of fluid inclusion waters are compared with formation water analyses to derive a proposed origin for the diagenetic fluids. Dolomite formed from hot, high salinity fluids early in the diagenetic history of the basin. Limestone was dolomitized as a result of the same process that created white sparry dolomite cement in the Manetoe Facies. Remnants of the dolomitizing fluids are present as formation waters in some Devonian formations in Alberta. Subsequent invasion of meteoric waters produced more dilute diagenetic fluids which resulted in the precipitation of calcite and quartz cement in the Manetoe Facies. These fluids are present in fluid inclusions and are responsible for the low 18O content of the calcite cement. The temperatures of calcite and quartz formation differ as a function of burial depth within the Manetoe Facies during the Mesozoic and Cenozoic, while the temperature of formation for dolomite does not.