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Formation of wide-blocky calcite veins by extreme growth competition

View ORCID ProfileLiene Spruženiece, View ORCID ProfileMichael Späth, View ORCID ProfileJanos L. Urai, Estibalitz Ukar, View ORCID ProfileMichael Selzer, Britta Nestler and Alexander Schwedt
Journal of the Geological Society, 178, jgs2020-104, 7 December 2020, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2020-104
Liene Spruženiece
1Institute of Structural Geology, Tectonics and Geomechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Lochnerstraße 4-20, 52064 Aachen, Germany
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  • ORCID record for Liene Spruženiece
  • For correspondence: liene.spruzeniece@emr.rwth-aachen.de
Michael Späth
2Institute of Applied Materials – Computational Materials Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Straße am Forum 7, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Roles: [Formal analysis (Supporting)], [Investigation (Supporting)], [Methodology (Supporting)], [Software (Lead)], [Visualization (Supporting)], [Writing – original draft (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
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Janos L. Urai
1Institute of Structural Geology, Tectonics and Geomechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Lochnerstraße 4-20, 52064 Aachen, Germany
Roles: [Conceptualization (Equal)], [Funding acquisition (Lead)], [Methodology (Equal)], [Resources (Lead)], [Writing – review & editing (Equal)]
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Estibalitz Ukar
3Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Austin, 78758, USA
Roles: [Investigation (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
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Michael Selzer
2Institute of Applied Materials – Computational Materials Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Straße am Forum 7, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
4Institute of Digital Materials Science, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Moltkestraße 30, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
Roles: [Software (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
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Britta Nestler
2Institute of Applied Materials – Computational Materials Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Straße am Forum 7, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
4Institute of Digital Materials Science, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Moltkestraße 30, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
Roles: [Software (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
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Alexander Schwedt
5Central Facility for Electron Microscopy, RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Roles: [Formal analysis (Supporting)], [Methodology (Supporting)], [Visualization (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
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Abstract

Liassic limestones on the coast of Somerset in the UK contain dense arrays of calcite microveins with a common, but poorly understood microstructure, characterized by laterally wide crystals that form bridges across the vein. We investigated the mechanisms of formation and evolution of these ‘wide-blocky’ vein microstructures using a combination of high-resolution analytical methods, including virtual petrography, optical cathodoluminescence and scanning electron microscopy techniques (e.g. energy-dispersive X-ray spectrometry, back-scattered electron imaging, cathodoluminescence and electron back-scattered diffraction), laboratory experiments and multiphase field modelling. Our results indicate that the studied veins formed in open, fluid-filled fractures, each in a single opening and sealing episode. As shown by the optical and electron back-scattered diffraction images, the vein crystals grew epitaxially on grains of the wall rock and we hypothesize that their growth rates differed depending on whether the crystals were on a wall rock grain substrate that fractured intergranularly (slow growth rates) or transgranularly (rapid growth rates). Our multiphase field models support this hypothesis, showing that wide, blocky crystals only form where there are significant differences in the growth rate and are dependent on the type of seed grain. These results provide strong evidence for extreme growth competition, a process that we propose controls vein-filling in many micritic carbonate reservoirs, as well as demonstrate that the characteristics of the fracture wall can affect the filling processes in syntaxial veins.

Supplementary material: The description and images of the studied thin sections are available at https://doi.org/10.6084/m9.figshare.c.5172371. High-resolution optical microscopy mosaics (under plane-polarized- and crossed polarized light) of the thin section collection in PetroScan file format are available on request from the authors.

  • © 2020 The Author(s). Published by The Geological Society of London. All rights reserved
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Journal of the Geological Society: 178 (2)
Journal of the Geological Society
Volume 178, Issue 2
March 2021
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Formation of wide-blocky calcite veins by extreme growth competition

Liene Spruženiece, Michael Späth, Janos L. Urai, Estibalitz Ukar, Michael Selzer, Britta Nestler and Alexander Schwedt
Journal of the Geological Society, 178, jgs2020-104, 7 December 2020, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2020-104
Liene Spruženiece
1Institute of Structural Geology, Tectonics and Geomechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Lochnerstraße 4-20, 52064 Aachen, Germany
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Liene Spruženiece
  • For correspondence: liene.spruzeniece@emr.rwth-aachen.de
Michael Späth
2Institute of Applied Materials – Computational Materials Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Straße am Forum 7, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
Roles: [Formal analysis (Supporting)], [Investigation (Supporting)], [Methodology (Supporting)], [Software (Lead)], [Visualization (Supporting)], [Writing – original draft (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Michael Späth
Janos L. Urai
1Institute of Structural Geology, Tectonics and Geomechanics, RWTH Aachen University, Lochnerstraße 4-20, 52064 Aachen, Germany
Roles: [Conceptualization (Equal)], [Funding acquisition (Lead)], [Methodology (Equal)], [Resources (Lead)], [Writing – review & editing (Equal)]
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Janos L. Urai
Estibalitz Ukar
3Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, 10100 Burnet Road, Austin, 78758, USA
Roles: [Investigation (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Michael Selzer
2Institute of Applied Materials – Computational Materials Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Straße am Forum 7, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
4Institute of Digital Materials Science, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Moltkestraße 30, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
Roles: [Software (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
  • ORCID record for Michael Selzer
Britta Nestler
2Institute of Applied Materials – Computational Materials Science, Karlsruhe Institute of Technology, Straße am Forum 7, 76131 Karlsruhe, Germany
4Institute of Digital Materials Science, Karlsruhe University of Applied Sciences, Moltkestraße 30, 76133 Karlsruhe, Germany
Roles: [Software (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site
Alexander Schwedt
5Central Facility for Electron Microscopy, RWTH Aachen University, Ahornstraße 55, 52074 Aachen, Germany
Roles: [Formal analysis (Supporting)], [Methodology (Supporting)], [Visualization (Supporting)], [Writing – review & editing (Supporting)]
  • Find this author on Google Scholar
  • Find this author on PubMed
  • Search for this author on this site

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Formation of wide-blocky calcite veins by extreme growth competition

Liene Spruženiece, Michael Späth, Janos L. Urai, Estibalitz Ukar, Michael Selzer, Britta Nestler and Alexander Schwedt
Journal of the Geological Society, 178, jgs2020-104, 7 December 2020, https://doi.org/10.1144/jgs2020-104
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