T E R R I G E N O U S D O L O M I T E IN T H E M I O C E N E OF M E N O R C A (SPAIN):

PROVENANCE AND DIAGENESlS I

TOM FREEMAN ANDDAVID ROTHBARD

Department of Geology
University of Missouri
Columbia, Missouri 65211
AND

ANTONIO OBRADOR
Departamento de Estratigrafia
La Universidad Autrnoma
Barcelona, Spain
AasTnAc'r: Miocene calcarenites of Menorca (Spain) exhibit abundant terrigenous dolomite, both as medium-grained polycrystalline rock fragments and as fine-grained individual abraded crystals. Petrographically, this detritus looks both like neighboring Jurassic dolostones and like Triassic Muschelkalk dolostones
of the same general area. In order to determine which stratigraphic unit(s) provided this terrigenous dolomite, the iron contents of Triassic and Jurassic dolostones were analyzed, with an electron microprobe,
and compared with that of the Miocene terrigenous dolomite. As was expected from their present greater
surface exposure, Jurrassic dolostones proved to be the principal source. The trace of probable Triassic
dolomite detritus in Miocene samples analyzed is proportionate to the small area of Triassic exposure
relative to that of the Jurassic.
Diagenetic dolomite in Miocene host calcarenites occurs as l) pervasive crystals of fine- to mediumcrystalline dolomite and 2) overgrowths on the terrigenous dolomite crystals. These two varieties commonly
occur together, but overgrowths occur in some samples in the absence of the pervasive variety, which
indicates that "seeding" by terrigenous dolomite promoted diagenetic dolomitization.
Calcitization of Miocene dolomite favored centers of the pervasive variety of dolomite crystals and the
inner margins of dolomite overgrowths. These patterns of dedolomite indicate that the two varieties of
dolomite are behaviorly correlative, which suggests that they are temporally correlative as well.

INTRODUCTION

Earlier Reports of Terrigenous Dolomite

O c c u r r e n c e . - - A m s b u r y ' s (1962) interpreta-

tion of terrigenous dolomite in the Cretaceous

of central Texas was based on the abraded
shapes of dolomite grains. His examples commonly exhibit dolomite overgrowths, which are
clearly indicated by the fact that the irregular
shapes of the nuclei are discordant with those
of their rhombic overgrowths. As pointed out
by Amsbury, a higher degree of concordance
should exist were the more turbid dolomite cores
the product of simple crystallographic zonation.
Lindholm's (1969) interpreting a terrigenous
origin for dolomite in the Devonian of New
York was based on reasoning different from

~Manuscript received April 12, 1982; revised September 9, 1982.

that of Amsbury. Lindholm documented similarities, both in abundance and in grain size,
between dolomite grains and associated terrigenous quartz. These similarities were taken to
mean that the dolomite, like the quartz, is terrigenous. Reed (1968) applied similar reasoning in his study of the Ordovician Dutchtown
Formation of southeast Missouri.
Provenance.--ln earlier studies of terrigenous
dolomites, authors' interpretations of provenance have been based largely on the proximity of likely source rocks. A petrographic
approach to recognizing provenance, like that
applied to silicate sands, is generally precluded by the lithic sameness among dolostones of various ages. Amsbury (1962) reasoned that terrigenous dolomite in the
Cretaceous of central Texas was derived from
Cretaceous and Ordovician dolostones of the
Llano Uplift. He supported his contention by
describing terrigenous dolomite from modem
sediments in stream courses traversing these

JOURNAL OF SEDIMENTARYPETROLOGY, VOL. 53, NO. 2, JUNE, 1983, P. 0543--0548

Copyright 1983, The Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists 0022-4472/83/0053-0543/$03.00

544

TOM FREEMAN, DAVID ROTHBARD, AND ANTONIO OBRADOR

45

MENORCA
40

55

|g.

FIG. 1 .--General geology of Menorca (from Mapa Geologico, Ibiza-Mahon, Instituto Geologico y Minero de Espafia). Twelve samples (1 through 12) were collected from equally spaced road-cuts along each of five principal
highways (A through E).

probable source rocks. Lindholm (1969) was

less sure about the source of terrigenous dolomite in the Devonian of New York but suggested that the grains were a mixture of penecontemporaneous supratidal d o l o m i t e ,
redistributed by wind, and detritus from older
(for example, Silurian) dolostones.
The iron content of Menorcan Miocene terrigenous dolomite, compared with that of possible source rocks on the island, allows for an
interpretation of provenance for the Miocene
detritus. Additional petrographic observations
reveal a history of dolomitization, favored by
the occurence of terrigenous dolomite, and
subsequent dedolomitization.

ern half, the Tramuntana region, is a mountainous area characterized by Paleozoic rocks
reflecting intense Hercynian deformation and

Geologic Setting o f Menorca

Menorca, the northernmost of Spain's Baleafic Islands, lies approximately 200 km east
of the coastal province of Barcelona (Fig. 1).
The island is divided subequally into two
physiographic/geologic provinces: The north-

FIG. 2.--Photomicrograph of Miocene calcarenitic

limestone showing three types of terrigenous grains: A)
polycrystallinedolostone, B) individual crystal of dolomite, and C) quartz. Plain light.

MIOCENE TERRIGENOUS DOLOMITE

545

FIG. 3.--Photomicrograph of Miocene dolomite limestone showing an abraded terrigenous dolomite grain (A) cloaked
with a diagenetic rhombic overgrowth (B). Staining shows that the crystalline material along the inner margin of the
overgrowth (C) is calcite. Fine- to medium-crystalline diagenetic dolomite rhombs, some with dedolomitized centers,
are abundant in the right half of the photomicrograph. Plain light.

by Mesozoic rocks exhibiting more gentle

structural features of Alpine age. The southern
half of the island, the Migjorn region, is a costal plain province characterized by Miocene
marine carbonate rocks. This costal plain slopes
seaward parallel to the dip of underlying rocks,
so that the present land surface approximates
the Miocene sea floor. Miocene rocks are
largely mantled by recent dune deposits, but
shallow road-cuts provide exposures across essentially isochronous marine strata.
The nearly straight boundary separating the
two physiographic regions (Fig. 1) was produced by down-to-the-south faulting of Miocene age (Obrador, Mercadal, and Rosell,
1971).
TERRIGENOUS DOLOMITE--THIS REPORT

Sedimentologic Setting
Obrador (1972-1973) assigned exposures of
Menorcan Miocene carbonates to various near-

shore environments, including shoreface, foreshore, and backshore settings, and interpreted
local terrigenous sandstones and conglomerates marginal to the Tramuntana block as deltaic in origin. His conclusions were based on
a combination of textural features and bed
forms, supported by fossil faunas and floras.
The age of these carbonates, judged from a variety of published accounts, is Early Miocene
(Burdigalian) and/or Middle Miocene (Langhian).
In an earlier study (Obrador and Freeman,
1975) terrigenous dolomite was recognized in
calcarenites of Cala St. Esteve, the easternmost exposure of Menorcan Miocene. The terrigenous dolomite occurs both as polycrystalline dolostone fragments and as individual
abraded crystals (Fig. 2). Figure 3 shows an
abraded dolomite grain with a diagenetic
rhombic overgrowth. Figure 4 shows a similar
grain, with overgrowth, that is contiguous with

546

TOM FREEMAN, D A V I D R O T H B A R D , A N D A N T O N I O O B R A D O R

FIG. 4 . - - P h o t o m i c r o g r a p h of M i o c e n e limestone
showing an abraded terrigenous dolomite grain (A) cloaked
with a diagenetic rhombic o v e r g r o w t h (B). The dolomite
grain is contiguous with a terrigenous quartz grain (C).
Plain light.

a terrigenous quartz grain, a result of the detrital dolomite grain's having been sedimented
along with the quartz. (The term detrital merely
refers to grains that have been transported and
sedimented. Detrital grains can be synsedimentary--intrabasina~--in origin. Requiting a
higher degree of interpretation is the term terrigenous, which means that the detrital grains
were eroded from pre-existing rock.)
On the basis of Lindholm's (1969) study, the
detfital dolomite of Menorca might be viewed
as tertigenous, as suggested by its association
with terrigenous quartz (Table l). The detrital
dolomite is everywhere accompanied by terrigenous quartz, but both dolomite and quartz
are absent in some samples. This association
(terrigenous quartz/detfital dolomite) suggests
that the dctfital dolomite is indeed terrigenous,
rather than being intrabasinal detritus like that
reported by Sabins (1962).

over, the occurrence of the terrigenous dolomite is clearly proximal to the probable Tramuntana source to the north (Table 1).
The only two possible dolostone source rocks
in the Tramuntana region are the Triassic Muschelkalk Formation and unnamed Jurassic dolostones. The two are petrographically identical to each other (Fig. 5) and to the Miocene
terrigenous dolomite as well (Figs. 2, 3, and
4). The greater surface area of the Jurassic (Fig.
1) suggests that it was the principal source, but
in an effort to test this assumption we attempted to match minor-element composition
of the terrigenous dolomite with that of each
of the two possible source rocks. The iron contents of Trassic and Jurassic dolostones were
analyzed, with an electron microprobe, and
compared with that of Miocene terrigenous dolomite (Table 2). Triassic dolostone proved to
be ferroan, whereas Jurassic samples were found
to be nonferroan. Miocene terrigenous dolomite is, like that of the Menorcan Jurassic,
nonferroan. (A single sample of Miocene terrigenous dolomite contains 1.2% FeCO3, so it
could reasonably be ascribed to a Triassic
source.) Ferroan dolomite is probably less stable in the weathering environment, so this feature combines with the relatively small surface
area of the Triassic to explain the near absence
of a Triassic fraction in the Miocene terrigenous dolomite.
DIAGENESIS

Dolomitization
Lindholm speculated (1969, p. 1038) that
detrital dolomite should promote later diageTABLE 1.--Occurence of terrigenous grains in the Miocene of

nenorca
Traverse

Provenance
Terrigenous dolomite in the Lower Miocene
of Menorca must be indigenous to the island.
Some studies have suggested rotation of the
Balearic block away from peninsular Spain (for
example, Freeman, 1975), but such rotation
occurred before Early Miocene, as evidenced
by the occurrence of Burdigalian dacites drilled
at D.S.D.P. site 123 (Ferrara Bigazzi, and
Bonadonna, 1973). In addition, the 0.1- to 0.2mm size of the terrigenous dolomite precludes
wind transport from peninsular Spain. More-

Sample
Number

1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12

A
qDd
qd
qd
qDd
q
q
q
q
q

B
qdd
qd
qd
q
q
q
q
q
q
q
q

C
q
q
q
q
q
q

q
q
q

D
q
q
q

qd
q
qDd
qd
qd
qDd
qd

q
q

Note: Distribution of traverses and samples are shown in Figure

1. q = quartz, D = polycrystalline dolostone, and d = singlecrystal dolomite.

547

MIOCENE TERRIGENOUS DOLOMITE

netic dolomitization because "the kinetics

needed to initiate crystallization of dolomite
are more rigorous than those required to continue growth on previously formed nuclei."
Diagenetic dolomite in the Miocene of Menorea occurs as 1) pervasive fine- to mediumcrystalline rhombic crystals and 2) rhombic
overgrowths on terrigenous dolomite grains
(Fig. 3). In some samples, dolomite overgrowths occur in the absence of the pervasive
variety, which demonstrates that terrigenous
dolomite grains can indeed promote diagenetic
dolomitization by acting as "seeds" for dolomite nucleation.
The two varieties of diagenetic dolomite are
believed to be cogenetic, as suggested by common patterns of dedolomite. Partial to total dedolomitization of both the overgrowths and the
finely crystalline variety have occurred. (Cases
of thorough dedolomitization of rhomb-shaped

TABLE 2.--Weight percent FeCO~ in possible dolostone source

rocks (Triassic and Jurassic) and in terrigenous dolomite of the
Miocene, measured with the electron microprobe.
TRIASSIC
16 samples)

JURASSIC
(6 samples)

MIOCENE
(6 samples)

Four sites,
same sample

2.1
3,4
1.8
2,9

0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1

0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1

Four sites,
same sample

4.3
3.8
3.5
3,7

0.1
0.1
0.1
0.1

0.1
0.2

4.8
2.7
2.6
0.6

0.3
0.1
0.1
0.1

Note: The 0.1 values are taken to indicate nonmeasurable

amounts.

dolomite overgrowths are good evidence that

the calcite within overgrowths is in fact dedolomite, rather than a discontinuous generation of calcite cement.) In cases of partial dedolomitization the innermost parts of both the
overgrowths and the finely crystalline rhombs
have been selectively dedolomitized. In the
lower right quadrant of Figure 3 there occur
scattered crystals of finely crystalline dolomite
with dedolomitization centers. The "plumbing
system" for this centrifugal dedolomitized was
most likely along cleavage traces in the dolomite rhombohedra. The reality of such a system has recently been demonstrated by Frank
(1981) in his study of giant rhombohedra from
the Cambrian Taum Limestone of southeast
Missouri.
CONCLUSIONS

FIG. 5.--Photomicrographs of Triassic Muschelkalk

dolostone (A) and unnamed Jurassic dolostone (B) of
Menorca. Plain light.

1) Detrital dolomite in the Miocene of Menorca, as indicated by its association with terrigenous quartz, is terrigenous.
2) Considerations of the age of this terrigenous dolomite and the time of possible rotation
of Menorca from peninsular Spain show that
the terrigenous dolomite is indigenous to Menorca.
3) A Jurassic source for Miocene terrigenous dolomite is indicated by their both being
nonferroan. (The only other possible source,
the Triassic Muschelkalk, is ferroan.)
4) Terrigenous dolomite in the Miocene of
Menorca promoted diagenetic dolomitization.
5) Patterns of dedolomite in dolomite overgrowths and in finely crystalline diagenetic

548

TOM FREEMAN, DAVID ROTHBARD, AND ANTONIO OBRADOR

dolomite suggest that the two varieties are cogenetic.

6) T h e e x c h a n g e o f f l u i d s r e s u l t i n g in c e n t r i f u g a l d e d o l o m i t i z a t i o n is b e l i e v e d to h a v e
been along cleavage traces within dolomite
rhombohedra.
REFERENCES
AMSatmY, D. L., 1962, Detrital dolomite in central Texas:
Jour. Sed. Petrology, v. 32, p. 5-14.
FERRARA, G., BIGAZZI, G., BONADONNA,F. P., AND GtULIANI, O., 1973, Radiometric dating of the Valencia
Trough volcanic rocks, in Ryan, W. B. F., and Hsii,
K. J., et al., Initial Reports of the Deep Sea Drilling
Project, Volume XIII: Washington, D. C., U.S. Government Printing Office, p. 773.
FRANK, J. R., 198l, Dedolomitization in the Taum Sauk
Limestone (Upper Cambrian), southeast Missouri: Jour.
Sed. Petrology, v. 51, p. 7-18.
FREEMAN, Z., 1975, Dispersal patterns in the Spanish
Buntsandstein suggest clockwise rotation of the Balearic block: Ninth International Congress of Sedimen-

tologists, Theme V, p. 11.

LINDHOLM, R. C., 1969, Detrital dolomite in Onondaga
Limestone (Middle Devonian) of New York: its implications to the "dolomite question": Am. Assoc. Petroleum Geologist Bull., v. 52, p. 1035-1042.
OBRADOR, A., 1972-1973, Estudio Estratigrhfico y Sedimentol6gico de los Materiales Mioc6nicos de la Isla de
Menorca: Talleres Grhficos Coll., Mahon, 182 p.
OBRADOR,A., ANDFREEMAN,T., 1975, Erosional features
and multiple generations of dolomite in the Miocene of
Cala St. Esteve (Menorca, Baleares): Ninth International Congress of Sedemintologists, Theme VII, p. 159164.
OBRADOR, A., MERCADAL,B., AND ROSELL,J., 1971, Geology of Menorca, in Freeman, T. and Simancas, R.,
eds., Tenth International Field Institute Guidebook:
Washington, D. C., Am. Geological Institute, p. 139148.
REED, B. E., Jr., 1968, Petrology of the Dutchtown Formation, Southeast Missouri [unpub. Masters thesis]:
Univ. Missouri-Columbia, 32 p.
SABINS, F. F., Jr., 1962, Grains of detrital, secondary,
and primary dolomite from Cretaceous strata of the
western interior: Geol. Soc. America Bull., v. 73p.
1183-1196.