The use of environmental markers to distinguish marine vs. continental deposition and to quantify the significance of recycling in evaporite basins

Abstract

Abstract Environmental markers, namely the bromine content of halite samples, the electrolyte content of primary fluid inclusions in halite and the isotopic composition of sulphates from two Tertiary evaporite sequences, provide complementary information on the depositional environment (marine vs. continental). The use of these markers, together with lithofacies and thicknesses of precipitated evaporites, enable the detection and quantification of evaporite recycling within evaporite basins. The information provided by the isolated use of each of these geochemical markers should be used with caution, as this could lead to erroneous interpretations of the depositional environment or may not detect significant evaporite recycling processes. The complementary information provided by geochemical markers enable quantification of solute input from recycling of previous precipitates within the basins themselves or from older evaporites. The input of recycled evaporites increases progressively, together with evaporite basin restriction to the open ocean.