Abstract
Sedimentary magnesite deposits are commonly present in evaporite successions in the Tertiary Calatayud basin (NE Spain). Outcropping evaporite sequences, mainly composed of secondary gypsum after anhydrite–glauberite, show centimetre-thick layers of magnesite passing laterally into calcite pseudospar. Petrographic and stable isotope data indicate that calcite pseudospar formed via late-stage calcitization of magnesite under near-surface conditions. Calcitization occurred by the interaction between magnesite and Ca-enriched waters derived from the dissolution of gypsum and/or glauberite. The geochemical simulation of this process, petrographic evidence, and the correlation between the magnesite/calcite ratio and the δ 18O values of both magnesite and calcite samples across the reaction front are in agreement with the existence of neoformed 18O-depleted magnesite during the waning stages of the calcitization process.
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