Stylolites: Development, Properties, Inversion and Scaling

A special issue of Minerals (ISSN 2075-163X).

Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 May 2025 | Viewed by 2160

Special Issue Editors


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GeoZentrum Nordbayern, Friedrich-Alexander University of Erlangen-Nuremberg (FAU), Schlossgarten 5, 91054 Erlangen, Germany
Interests: geology; tectonics; field geology; numerical simulation

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Laboratoire des Fluides Complexes et Leurs Réservoirs, Université de Pau et des Pays de l’Adour, E2S UPPA, CNRS, TotalEnergies, LFCR, 64000 Pau, France
Interests: tectonics; structural geology; sedimentology; sedimentary basins; isotope geochemistry; geology; geochemistry

Special Issue Information

Dear Colleagues,

Stylolites are seams of localized dissolution that develop in a variety of rocks that undergo pressure solutions. They recenty received growing interest among the scientific community because they can be used as inversion tools to derive paleo-burial depth, tectonic stresses, and compaction. In addition, they can significantly alter the properties of rocks in terms of mechanics and anisotropic permeability, and are thus important in mineral deposits, as well as for fluid flow and geo-engineering. However, there are significant gaps in our knowledge about these structures, especially with regards to their nucleation, as well as their mechanical and flow properties. The way stylolites can develop as a population is also a complex research question. In addition, inversion based on stylolites is a new concept and requires more testing and application for validation purposes, along with further methodological developments. This Special Issue will focus on how this somehow overlooked ubiquitous features of sedimentary rocks by covering a broad variety of topics in order to enhance our knowledge and use of stylolites in geology and beyond.

Prof. Dr. Daniel Koehn
Dr. Nicolas Beaudoin
Guest Editors

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Keywords

  • stylolite
  • pressure solution
  • stress inversion
  • chemical compaction
  • sedimentary rocks
  • permeability

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Published Papers (2 papers)

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Research

23 pages, 7270 KiB  
Article
Stylolites in Carbonate Rocks: Morphological Variability According to the Host Rock Texture
by Silvana Magni, Juan Diego Martín-Martín, Paul D. Bons and Enrique Gomez-Rivas
Minerals 2025, 15(2), 132; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15020132 - 29 Jan 2025
Viewed by 869
Abstract
Stylolites are ubiquitous structures in carbonates that present a variety of morphologies. Besides being important structures in terms of rock compaction and deformation, stylolites control limestone permeability, which is influenced by their morphology and arrangement in connected networks. This study characterizes stylolite morphological [...] Read more.
Stylolites are ubiquitous structures in carbonates that present a variety of morphologies. Besides being important structures in terms of rock compaction and deformation, stylolites control limestone permeability, which is influenced by their morphology and arrangement in connected networks. This study characterizes stylolite morphological parameters, such as length, thickness, filling by insoluble material, spacing and connectivity, to provide quantitative data on the relationships between stylolite morphology and carbonate host rock textures. A collection of thin sections from a variety of lithologies and geological settings was analyzed, showing that the stylolite length, thickness and morphology are interrelated and are controlled by the host rock textures. The results show that stylolite linearity, calculated as the ratio between the straight length and the length measured along the stylolite trace, varies according to the stylolite type. Higher stylolite thickness is observed in mud-dominated textures compared to grain-dominated ones but is independent of the stylolite type. There is no clear trend in terms of the amount of insoluble material collected by the stylolites and the rock texture or stylolite type. Analysis of stylolite spacing reveals that heterogeneity in grain size, grain sorting and composition controls stylolite formation. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stylolites: Development, Properties, Inversion and Scaling)
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24 pages, 4166 KiB  
Article
Reconstruction of the Temperature Conditions of Burial-Related Pressure Solution by Clumped Isotopes Validates the Analysis of Sedimentary Stylolites Roughness as a Reliable Depth Gauge
by Nicolas E. Beaudoin, Daniel Koehn, Einat Aharonov, Andrea Billi, Matthieu Daeron and Adrian Boyce
Minerals 2025, 15(1), 73; https://doi.org/10.3390/min15010073 - 14 Jan 2025
Viewed by 730
Abstract
Rough surfaces known as stylolites are common geological features that are developed by pressure solution, especially in carbonate rocks, where they are used as strain markers and as stress gauges. As applications are developing in various geological settings, questions arise regarding the uncertainties [...] Read more.
Rough surfaces known as stylolites are common geological features that are developed by pressure solution, especially in carbonate rocks, where they are used as strain markers and as stress gauges. As applications are developing in various geological settings, questions arise regarding the uncertainties associated with quantitative estimates of paleostress using stylolite roughness. This contribution reports for the first time a measurement of the temperature at which pressure solution was active by applying clumped isotopes thermometry to calcite cement found in jogs linking the tips of the stylolites. This authigenic calcite formed as a redistribution of the surrounding dissolved material by the same dissolution processes that formed the extensive stylolite network. We compare the depth derived from these temperatures to the depth calculated from the vertical stress inversion of a bedding parallel stylolite population documented on a slab of the Calcare Massiccio formation (early Jurassic) formerly collected in the Umbria-Marches Arcuate Ridge (Northern Apennines, Italy). We further validate the coevality between the jog development and the pressure solution by simulating the stress field around the stylolite tip. Calcite clumped isotopes constrain crystallization to temperatures between 35 and 40 °C from a common fluid with a δ18O signature around −1.3‰ SMOW. Additional δ18O isotopes on numerous jogs allows the range of precipitation temperature to be extended to from 25 to 53 °C, corresponding to a depth range of 650 to 1900 m. This may be directly compared to the results of stylolite roughness inversion for stress, which predict a range of vertical stress from 14 to 46 MPa, corresponding to depths from 400 to 2000 m. The overall correlation between these two independent depth estimates suggests that sedimentary stylolites can reliably be used as a depth gauge, independently of the thermal gradient. Beyond the method validation, our study also reveals some mechanisms of pressure solution and the associated p,T conditions favouring their development in carbonates. Full article
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Stylolites: Development, Properties, Inversion and Scaling)
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