Copyright 2012, The Society of Economic Paleontologists and Mineralogists (SEPM)

Marine Evaporites (SC4), 1987

Section 9

DEPOSITIONAL ENVIRONMENTS OF EVAPORITE DEPOSITS

Gerald M. Friedman

Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute

Troy, New York
INTRODUCTION
composed of minerals
Evaporites are sedimentary deposits
Some
concentrated by evaporation.
from brines
precipitated
desert
inland
evaporites were deposited from the waters of
are products of evaporitic concentration within
Others
basins.
the
the interstitial waters of bodies of sediment located along
evaporites
formed
from
the
Stll other
the
sea.
of
margins
evidently have
some evaporites
Finally,
waters of the ocean.
replacement - minerals of preexisting rocks that
from
resulted
are not evaporites have been replaced by evaporite minerals.
Although the term evaporite is appropriate for all of these kinds
sedimentary processes by which each formed
the
materials,
of
differ drastically. Moreover, the kinds of rocks with which each
In
a
of these kinds of evaporites interfinger likewise differ.
(1) bring
discussion of evaporites, therefore, one has a choice:
together materials about diverse environments under the heading
of evaporites, or (2) focus the discussion on environments, and
the products, including evaporites, where appropriate.
in
bring
first
the
In this symposium, the attention has been on
VtPrinciples
of
new book on
in
the
contrast,
choice.
By
the
have chosen
(1978)
Sedimentology", Friedman and Sanders
alternative. They have no chapter entitled tlEvaporitesU,
second
Far
but this does not mean that they have left out evaporites.
in at least four chapters,
discuss evaporites
They
from
it.
of
The ocurrence
representing four different environments.
evaporites in these environments will now be discussed.

CONTINENTAL SABKHAS

- interior continental and sea

two
kinds
Sabkhas are of
deflation-sedimentation
equilibrium
are
Sabkhas
marginal.
through to the
surfaces or tdeflation_sedimentation windows"
local water table (Kinsman, 1969). The capillary fringe above
the water table marks the base of wind deflation. Sediment above
removed by the wind, hence a flat
is
capillary fringe
this
surface is formed that is related to the groundwater table.

An example of a continental sabkha is the Yotvata Sabkha in

southern Arava Valley between the Dead Sea and the Red Sea
the
the
streams within
Intermittent
1971).
(Amiel and Friedman,
-177-

valley flow southward toward the Red Sea, but most of them do not
reach
it.
The intermittent streams are short, and do not form a
continuous drainage basin.
Fans
prevent
the
sediment
from
reaching
the Red Sea; hence, the water seeps into the soil where
it forms a water table close to the surface.
The sediments
of
the
sabkha consist
of
sand,
silt, and clay brought in by the
intermittent streams from the slopes of the graben and by the
wind
from the north.
The sabkha surface slopes away from the
walls of the graben and is nearly horizontal in the center of the
valley.
Depth to groundwater, composition of the groundwater,
and
distribution of vegetation form the bases for distinguishing
three zones in the sabkha:
(1)
a
central zone barren of
vegetation,
(2)
a transitional zone, and (3) an outer zone with
sparce vegetation
(including
tamarisks,
rushes,
and
palms).
Traced
from
outer
to central zone, the groundwater table rises
towards the floor of the sabkha and
chiorinity of the water
increases
in
this
direction.
Gypsum precipitates within the
framework of sedimentary particles in the outer and part of the
transitional
zone;
halite
precipitates
in
part
of
the
transitional and in the central zone.
Commonly, sabkhas are marginal to playa lakes.
Permian
deposits of
northwest Europe have been interpreted as having
formed in a continental sabkha adjacent to a playa lake (Glennie,
1972).
The
inferred sabkha deposits,
studied
in
boreholes,
consist
of
interbedded sandstones and shales analogous to the
sands, silts, and clays of the Yotvata Sabkha;
the
evaporite
mineral
is
anhydrite rather than gypsum. In the subsurface, at
the depth at which these deposits were cored,
anhydrite rather
than gypsum is the stable sulfate mineral.
The deposits of the
inferred sabkha
interfinger with
facies
that
have
been
interpreted as deposits
formed
in
dunes,
playa
lakes,
and
intermittent streams.
PLAYAS

The word playa is Spanish, and means

a
shore,
strand,
or
bank of a body of water.
It is commonly used by English-speaking
geologists
for
a
dry
bed
of a playa lake.
Playas are broad,
shallow depressions in desert regions that occasionally may be
covered with a thin sheet of water.
Playa depressions
lack external
drainage;
they form the
lowest topographic surface of the area. Material is removed from
a playa only by subsurface flow, by evaporation, or by deflation.
All three
are
important,
but subsurface
flow removes
less
material than evaporation or deflation because the sediment
composing the floors of most playas is relatively
impermeable
(Friedman and Sanders, 1978).
Salt
Flat Graben,
an
intermontane basin
in west Texas,
typifies a playa (Friedman, 1966). The average width of this
basin is approximately 17 km.
Wells have been drilled to depths
of
between 500 and 600 m without
penetrating
the
entire
succession of
Quaternary sediments.
The sediments of this fill
consist of terrigenous debris and evaporites. The color of the
-178-

sediments
in
the
upper 0.5 m is brown.
This color indicates
oxidizing conditions.
Below this depth,
the
of
color
most
sediment
is
gray,
which reflects reducing
conditions.
The
evaporite deposits are finely laminated, the laminae consisting
of
different minerals.
The predominant minerals are gypsum and
halite, but calcite, aragonite, and dolomite locally are also
present.
Some
layers are blackened by iron sulfide and occur
with discontinuous lenses of
sulfur.
If
one
punches
a
rod
through the dolomite
that
locally forms surface hardpans, the
presence of abundant 11A5
iron
sulfide,
and
native sulfur
suggests that gypsum has been reduced by bacterial processes.

MARINE EVAPORITE ENVIRONMENTS

One
of
the
most satisfying
concepts in
the
study
of
sediments has been the origin of marine evaporite deposits.
According
to the prevailing hypothesis, evaporites are formed by
the evaporation of a standing body of water that
has
only
restricted access to the open sea.
This restriction could be in
shallow lagoons behind barrier bars
(Ochsenius,
1877),
or
in
deep-water barred basins similar in bathymetry to the Norwegian
fjords or the Mediterranean Sea (Schmalz, 1969).
Alternatively,
evaporite deposits could form the gentle shelves of epeiric seas
without the presence of a barrier restriction,
provided the
solubility products of individual evaporite minerals exceed those
of
marine waters
(Richter-Bernburg, 1955 and 1968).
In recent
years, the classical bar theory for the origin of evaporites has
been seriously challenged. The concept has been advanced that an
important
environment in which evaporites are forming is the
supratidal environment in arid climates, specifically that
known
as
the
sabkha (Shearman,
1966;
Friedman and
Sanders, 1967;
Kinsman, 1969; Shearman and Fuller, 1969). Hence, evaporites are
considered to form under multiple conditions - in sabkhas,
in
barred basins, and on shallow epeiric shelves. The sabkha origin
has been
sufficiently documented along the coastal belt of the
Persian Gulf in Abu Dhabi (Shearman,
Kinsman,
and
1966;
1966
1969;
Butler, 1969), and applications of the sabkha concept have
been extended to ancient rock in many parts of the
stratigraphic
record
(Murray,
1964;
Illing
and
others, 1967; Schenk, 1967;
Holliday, 1968 and 1969;
Rooney and French,
West and
1968;
others,
1968;
Hardie and Eugster, 1971; Friedman, 1972b; see
also Section 2 of these notes).
The
barred-basin concept has
benefited
from
increasing
knowledge of the chemistry of
evaporites (see Borchert and Muir, 1964, and Section 4
of
these
notes),
but
it
has
failed to advance on a comparable level to
that of sabkhas because, to our knowledge, no barred basins exist
at present in which extensive evaporite deposition is taking
place.
Hence, we cannot make measurements in modern environments
that lead
to
an understanding of physical processes, as can be
done with the sabkha.
The old Ochsenius (1877) concept was based on evaporation of
seawater
in
an
enclosed
vessel,
and
the
computation of a
theoretical evaporite succession (see section 4 of these notes).

-179-

ancient
in
observations
that
explained
(1953)
Scruton
stratigraphic settings, such as in the Permian Castile Formation
of west Texas and New Mexico, are not in agreement with the
that would exist if normal
proportions of evaporite minerals
He
seawater were completely evaporated in a closed system.
that retained the Ochsenus bar, but showed
model
a
introduced
that
that behind the bar a characteristic pattern exists, and
influenced the precipitation of the various
pattern
this
Surface currents flow from regions of low
evaporite minerals.
salinity to regions of high salinity, whereas at depth oppositely
low salinity because of
to
flow from high
currents
directed
these
(1953),
Scruton
to
According
density distribution.
interfingering of evaporite
lateral
the
for
currents account
minerals
evaporite
different
the
facies because
mineral
precipitate as soon as the brine concentration exceeds the
solubility products of these minerals (Friedman, 1972a).
Adherents of the barred-basin concept form two schools of
thought - the "deep-water" school and the "shallow-water" school.

Sea-marginal Sabkhas
In

the sediments of the sabkha of Abu Dhabi, as an example,

been
minerals
have
authigenic
different
nine
eight
or
gypsum, anhydrite,
aragonite,
Although halite,
precipitated.
and
celestite, magnesite, huntite
{Mg3Ca(CO3)41,
dolomite,

perhaps calcite form in the subsurface environment of the sabkha,

In pits dug
anhydrite and dolomite are of particular interest.
This
across the sabkha, anhydrite stands out most prominantly.
the
tan-to-brown host
nodules within
white
forms
mineral
Such nodules vary in diameter from less than i mm to
sediment.
spherical to strongly
from
cm,
15
and
in shape
more than
Section 2 of these notes). The mechanical force
flattened
crystal growth, exerted by the anhydrite growing in a nodule,
of
stromatolites
displaces the surrounding sediment. For example,
the host sediment become physically displaced and bent around
of
The pressure of crystal growth lifts the surface of
the nodules.
the sabkha between 30 cm and i m. The nodular anhydrite is the
sea-marginal sabkha in an arid climate belt
signature of a
1963;
(Butler, 1969; Butler and others, 1964; Curtis and others,
Kinsman, 1969; Shearman,
1967 and 1968;
Sanders,
Friedman and
see also Section 2 of these notes).
1963 and 1966;
Sea-marg mal Pools
bedded
In an area of exceptionally intense evaporation,
These
gypsum accumulates in sea-marginal pools of the Red Sea.
pools lose more than 2.5 m of water by evaporation each year.
water is balanced by influx of water from the Red
loss
of
Such
During the summer, the waters in the pooi become saltier.
Sea.
Cations and anions experience an increase in concentration, but
between the months of June and August, when total salinity
(330 x 103 mg/i), the sulfate
thousand
parts per
reaches
330
In June, at a salinity of
level drops as gypsum is precipitated.

-180-

about 120 parts per thousand (120 x 10 mg/i), and prior to the
imminent precipitation of gypsum, the sulfate concentration has
built to its highest level.
Experimental work on both natural
and
artificial
seawater has shown
that at a concentration of
about 3.35 times that of seawater (at 30b C), or at a salinity of
gypsum is
x
about 124 parts per thousand
(124
lO
mg/i),
precipited.
Although
experience in sedimentology commonly
laboratory
teaches
that
because
of
conflicting
variables,
the
experiments
necessarily duplicated
in
nature,
are not
precipitation of gypsum as a chemical reaction in the Red Sea
confirms
laboratory results.
In
the
pools,
a
pools
the
subsequent drop in salinity in the fall and winter to a level of
near
220 parts per thousand (220 x io mg/i) is accompanied by a
rise in the sulfate concentration which indicates that after
initial
precipitation,
sulfate
levels build up again (Friedman
and Sanders, 1978).
Semi-closed Ba s ins

A semi-closed basin in a hot, dry climate loses more water

Consequently,
evaporation
than flows into it from the land.
by
the
If
the
basin
is
connected
to
the water level tends to drop.
Just
as
with
the
surface
water
flows
into
the
basin.
then
sea,
of
the
threshold depths
basins
having
freshwater outflows,
evaporite basins can be great enough to permit a two-way flow, in
depth, or so shallow that only a
out
at
the
and
at
surface,
These
two contrasting patterns of
one-way current flows, inward.
Where
distribution of evaporites.
circulation control the
the
portal,
the
most-saline
through
takes
place
two-way flow
Where
basin.
the
evaporites are deposited at the margins of
prevales, the most-saline evaporites are deposited
flow
one-way
in the center of the basin (Friedman and Sanders, 1978).
The Mediterranean and Red Seas are two examples of large
modern basins losing large amounts of water by evaporation and
having two-way flow through their portals.
o
much
The depth of water in evaporite basins is a subject
imply
any
do
not
Evaporite
deposits
per
se
controversy.
Some evaporites form slightly above
particular depth of water.
other
evaporite mineral particles can be moved by
sea
level;
currents and by gravity, and can be deposited at any depth.
DEEP-WATER MARINE LIMESTONES - POSSIBLE VANISHED EVAPORITES
of
the
sites
one
of
According to traditional
concepts,
barred
basin
having
a
is
accumulation of evaporite deposits
sea.
Evaporite minerals are
the
open
restricted access
to
to
form
in
this
basin
as
precipitates
from seawater that
thought
The
Red
Sea
offers geologic
accumulate on the basin floor.
The Red
the
barred-basin
concept.can
be
tested.
settings where
Sea, which is a partly enclosed body of marine water separated
Indian Ocean by a shallow (ca. 100 m at its shallowest
from
the
depth) threshold, was isolated from the Indian Ocean periodically

-18 1-

If the barred-basin concept is correct,

dur-ing the Pleistocene.
subbottom sediments of the Red Sea should contain evaporite
the
Diligent search was made for gypsum and anhydrite in
minerals.
taken from the entire length of the Red Sea, including the
cores

Gulf of Aqaba (Elat), and which record approximately 70,000 years

of Red Sea sedimentation.
No
sulfate minerals of
evaporite
Yet
the
presence of lithified layers of
origin were found.
aragonite, enrichment of the heavier carbon and oxygen isotopes
sediments and organic remains, abundance of lutite containing
of
low-magnesium calcite, and faunal indications of
high salinity
that
the
Pleistocene sulfate minerals,
suggest
in
late
specifically gypsum, may have been precipitated from the surface
waters across the entire Red Sea.
The absence of sulfates in the
bottom sediments is ascribed to bacterial reduction that resulted
in
the
formation of
low-magnesium calcite.
A
rise
in
pH
accompanying the bacterial degredation of sulfate appears to have
led to an additional precipitation of high-magnesium calcite with
the low-magnesium calcite.
Hence, the Red
Sea shows
that
in
a
deep
barred-basin,
evaporite sulfate minerals may not accumulate even if they should
form.
Instead,
they will
be
degraded to form low-magnesium
calcite with high-magnesium calcite; high-magnesium calcite will
alter diagenetically to form low-magnesium ("ordinary")
calcite.
This calcite,
which forms
as
a
lutite, is a classic basinal
In the presence of
limestone.
an
adequate concentration of
calcium ions, calcite may also form from the bacterial attack of
the sulfate ion in solution followed by. subsequent
reaction of
Hence,
sulfide with bicarbonate.
basinal limestones may form
without
the
intermediate stage of
solid
gypsum.
Basinal
limestones in
the rock record that result from this biochemical
degradation process smell of HIS, and have been blackened with
FeS as an accompaniment of the sulfate-replacement process.
Such
basinal
limestones,
analogous to the sediments in the southern
Red Sea, are commonly rich in organic matter and may constitute
source rocks for petroleum (Friedman, 1972a).
By
contrast to
the
deep
basin in which calcitic lutites
(i.e. basinal limestones) form, thick sequences
of
evaporitic
sulfates
form
on sea-marginal flats (sabkhas), such as marginal
to the Red Sea during the Miocene.
If calcitic (basinal) limestones instead of evaporites
form
in
restricted basins,
andevaporitic sulfates are laid down on
sea-marginal shelves, then the origin of salt deposits becomes an
increasing mystery; after all, salts are
classically considered
to
be
the
final products of evaporation in an isolated basin.
However, the fabric of salts from several ancient basins,
among
them
the
Salina (Silurian), Zechstein (Permian), and Miocene of
the Mediterranean, suggests an in situ replacement of preexisting
anhydrite nodules and stromatolites,
and
hence deposition of
salts
in
sabkha-like, brine-logged flats. Although these salts
are now in deeper parts of their respective basins, and even in
the
centers of basins, the inference is that original deposition
was in shallow flats prior to subsidence (Friedman, 1972a).

-182-

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