Scientific article
OA Policy
English

Pore-water evolution and solute-transport mechanisms in Opalinus Clay at Mont Terri and Mont Russelin (Canton Jura, Switzerland)

Published inSwiss Journal of Geosciences, vol. 110, no. 1, p. 129-149
Publication date2017
Abstract

Data pertinent to pore-water composition in Opalinus Clay in the Mont Terri and Mont Russelin anticlines have been collected over the last 20 years from longterm in situ pore-water sampling in dedicated boreholes, from laboratory analyses on drillcores and from the geochemical characteristics of vein infills. Together with independent knowledge on regional geology, an attempt is made here to constrain the geochemical evolution of the pore-waters. Following basin inversion and the establishement of continental conditions in the late Cretaceous, the Malm limestones acted as a fresh-water upper boundary leading to progressive out-diffusion of salinity from the originally marine pore-waters of the Jurassic low-permeability sequence. Model calculations suggest that at the end of the Palaeogene, pore-water salinity in Opalinus Clay was about half the original value. In the Chattian/Aquitanian, partial evaporation of sea-water occurred. It is postulated that brines diffused into the underlying sequence over a period of several Myr, resulting in an increase of salinity in Opalinus Clay to levels observed today. This hypothesis is further supported by the isotopic signatures of SO4 2- and 87Sr/86Sr in current pore-waters. These are not simple binary mixtures of sea and meteoric water, but their Cl- and stable water-isotope signatures can be potentially explained by a component of partially evaporated sea-water. After the re-establishment of fresh-water conditions on the surface and the formation of the Jura Fold and Thrust Belt, erosion caused the activation of aquifers embedding the low-permeability sequence, leading to the curved profiles of various pore-water tracers that are observed today. Fluid flow triggered by deformation events during thrusting and folding of the anticlines occurred and is documented by infrequent vein infills in major fault structures. However, this flow was spatially focussed and of limited duration and so did not markedly affect the bulk pore-water.

Keywords
  • Geochemical evolution
  • Pore-water tracers
  • Sea-water evaporation
  • Diffusion
  • Fluid flow
  • Veins
  • Nuclear waste disposal
Citation (ISO format)
MAZUREK, Martin, DE HALLER, Antoine. Pore-water evolution and solute-transport mechanisms in Opalinus Clay at Mont Terri and Mont Russelin (Canton Jura, Switzerland). In: Swiss Journal of Geosciences, 2017, vol. 110, n° 1, p. 129–149. doi: 10.1007/s00015-016-0249-9
Main files (1)
Article (Published version)
Identifiers
Additional URL for this publicationhttp://link.springer.com/10.1007/s00015-016-0249-9
Journal ISSN1661-8726
510views
234downloads

Technical informations

Creation21/12/2017 17:25:00
First validation21/12/2017 17:25:00
Update time15/03/2023 07:42:52
Status update15/03/2023 07:42:52
Last indexation31/10/2024 09:15:55
All rights reserved by Archive ouverte UNIGE and the University of GenevaunigeBlack