ON THE ORIGIN OF FLUIDS INCLUDED IN PHANEROZOIC MARINE HALITE-BASIC INTERPRETATION STRATEGIES

Abstract

In addition to the use of Janecke units in the NaCl-KCl-MgCl2-Na2SO4-H2O/NaCl-KCl-MgCl2-CaCl2-H2O system to classify brine origins, a fast and efficient method is described to identify inclusions of evaporated seawater in (ancient) marine halite. The method is based on the calculation of degrees of evaporation for various elements (DEELEMENT) of brines created by different salt forming processes. The DEELEMENT patterns of the fluid inclusions serve as fingerprints and are characteristic of different brine types of known origin.