Lithology and diagenesis of the poorly consolidated Cambrian siliciclastic sediments in the northern Baltic Sedimentary Basin

The present study discusses lithology and diagenetic characteristics of the siliciclastic Cambrian and the enclosing Ediacaran and Ordovician deposits in the northern Baltic Sedimentary Basin (BSB). The Neoproterozoic and Lower Palaeozoic sediments are despite their age unconsolidated with primary porosity of 20-25% for both shales and sandstones. The sparse Fe-dolomite cementation of arenitic and subarenitic sandstones and siltstones occurs mainly at lithological contacts with the massive Ediacaran and Lower Cambrian claystones and is probably related to ions released during llitization. In contrast to weak mechanical and chemical compaction of sandstone, the clay mineral diagenesis of Cambrian deposits is well advanced. The highly illitic (80-90%) nature of illite-smectite (I-S) suggests evolved diagenetic grade of sediments which conflicts with shallow maximum burial and low compaction. Smectite-to-illite transformation has resulted in formation of diagenetic Fe-rich chlorite in claystones. Some porosity reduction of sandstones is due to formation of authigenic kaolinite at the expense of detrital mica or K-feldspar

CO2 storage potential of sedimentary basins of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland and the Baltic States

It has been increasingly realised that geological storage of CO2 is a prospective option for reduction of CO2 emissions. The CO2 geological storage potential of sedimentary basins with the territory of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Poland, and the Baltic States is here assessed, and different storage options have been considered. The most prospective technology is hydrodynamic trapping in the deep saline aquifers. The utilisation of hydrocarbon (HC) fields is considered as a mature technology; however storage capacities are limited in the region and are mainly related to enhanced oil (gas) recovery. Prospective reservoirs and traps have been identified in the Danube, Vienna and East Slovakian Neogene basins, the Neogene Carpathian Foredeep, the Bohemian and Fore-Sudetic Upper Paleozoic basins, the Mesozoic Mid-Polish Basin and the pericratonic Paleozoic Baltic Basin. The total storage capacity of the sedimentary basins is estimated to be as much as 10170 Mt of CO2 in deep saline aquifer structures, and 938 Mt CO2 in the depleted HC fields. The utilisation of coal seams for CO2 storage is related to the Upper Silesian Basin where CO2 storage could be combined with enhanced recovery of coal-bed methane

Baltica in the Cryogenian, 850-630 Ma, in S.V. Bogdanova, X-X. Li, E.M. Moores and S.A. Pisarevsky (Eds.), Testing the Rodinia Hypothesis: Records in its Building Blocks

This new tectonic synthesis provides a framework for understanding the dynamic evolution of Baltica and for constraining tectonic correlations within the context of the Neoproterozoic break-up of Rodinia–Pannotia. Cryogenian Baltica is described with respect to five geographic regions: the northwest, northeast, east, south, and southwest (modern coordinates). These geographic regions define three principal Cryogenian tectonic margins: a rifting northwestern margin, a passive northeastern margin, and a poorly understood southern margin. The northwest region is characterized by Neoproterozoic to lower Ordovician sedimentary successions deposited on Archean to late Mesoproterozoic crystalline complexes, reworked during Caledonian orogenesis. Lare Neoproterozoic to lower Ordovician sedimentary strata record the change from an alluvial setting to a marine environment, and eventually to a partially starved (?) turbidite basin. They document rifting from the Rodinian-Pannotian supercontinent, which was unsuccessful until ca. 620–550 Ma when voluminous dikes and mafic/ultramafic complexes were intruded. Baltica's northeastern and eastern regions document episodic intracratonic rifting throughout the Mesoproterozoic, followed by pericontinental passive margin deposition throughout the Cryogenian. In the northeast platformal and deeper-water basin deposits are preserved, whereas the eastern region was later affected by Paleozoic rifting and preserves only shelf deposits. The northeastern and eastern regions define Baltica's Cryogenian northeastern tectonic margin, which was an ocean-facing passive margin of the Rodinia–Pannotia supercontinent. It remained a passive margin until the onset of Timanian orogenesis at ca. 615 Ma, approximately synchronous with the time of Rodinia–Pannotia rifting. Baltica's southern and southwestern regions remain enigmatic and controversial. Precambrian basement is generally hidden beneath thick successions of Ediacaran and younger platform sediments. Similarities between these regions exist, however, and suggest that they may share a similar tectonic evolution in the Cryogenian and therefore define the southern tectonic margin of Baltica at this time. Paleo- to Mesoproterozic basement was affected by Neoproterozoic and younger tectonism, including Cryogenian (?) and Ediacaran rifting. This was followed by Ediacaran (ca. 550 Ma) passive margin sediment deposition at the time of Rodinia–Pannotia break-up, until Early Paleozoic accretion of allochthonous terranes record the transition from rifting to a compressional regime. Paleomagnetic and paleontological data are consistent with Baltica and Laurentia drifting together between ca. 750 and 550 Ma, when they had similar apparent polar wander paths. Microfossil assemblages along the eastern margin of Laurentia and the western margin of Baltica (modern coordinates), suggest proximity between these two margins at this time. At ca. 550 Ma, Laurentia and Baltica separated, consistent with paleomagnetic, paleontological, and geological data, and a late break-up for Rodinia–Pannotia.Neoproterozoic microbial diversificatio