Hydrothermal dolomitization of basinal deposits controlled by a synsedimentary fault system in Triassic extensional setting, Hungary

Dolomitization of relatively thick carbonate successions occurs via an effective fluid circulation mechanism, since the replacement process requires a large amount of Mg-rich fluid interacting with the CaCO3 precursor. In the western end of the Neotethys, fault-controlled extensional basins developed during the Late Triassic spreading stage. In the Buda Hills and Danube-East blocks, distinct parts of silica and organic matter-rich slope and basinal deposits are dolomitized. Petrographic, geochemical, and fluid inclusion data distinguished two dolomite types: (1) finely to medium crystalline and (2) medium to coarsely crystalline. They commonly co-occur and show a gradual transition. Both exhibit breccia fabric under microscope. Dolomite texture reveals that the breccia fabric is not inherited from the precursor carbonates but was formed during the dolomitization process and under the influence of repeated seismic shocks. Dolomitization within the slope and basinal succession as well as within the breccia zones of the underlying basement block is interpreted as being related to fluid originated from the detachment zone and channelled along synsedimentary normal faults. The proposed conceptual model of dolomitization suggests that pervasive dolomitization occurred not only within and near the fault zones. Permeable beds have channelled the fluid towards the basin centre where the fluid was capable of partial dolomitization. The fluid inclusion data, compared with vitrinite reflectance and maturation data of organic matter, suggest that the ascending fluid was likely hydrothermal which cooled down via mixing with marine-derived pore fluid. Thermal gradient is considered as a potential driving force for fluid flow

Eastern Olympus Mons Basal Scarp: Structural and mechanical evidence for large-scale slope instability

The expression of the Eastern Olympus Mons Basal Scarp (EOMBS) is seemingly unique along the edifice. It exhibits two slope-parallel structures: a nearly 100 km long upslope extensional normal fault system and a downslope contractional wrinkle ridge network, a combination that is found nowhere else on Olympus Mons. Through structural mapping and numerical modeling of slope stability of the EOMBS, we show that these structures are consistent with landsliding processes and volcanic spreading. The EOMBS is conditionally stable when the edifice contains pore fluid, and critically stable, or in failure, when the edifice contains a dipping overpressured confined aquifer and mechanical sublayer at depth. Failure of the fault-bounded portion of the flank results in estimated volumes of material ranging from 5600–6900 km3, or 32–39% of the estimated volume of the “East” Olympus Mons aureole lobe. We suggest that the EOMBS faults may be an expression of early stage flank collapse and aureole lobe formation. Ages of deformed volcano adjacent plains associated with the wrinkle ridges indicate that this portion of the edifice may have been tectonically active at < 50 Ma and may be coeval with estimated ages of adjacent outflow channels, 25–40 Ma. This observation suggests that conditions that favor flank failure, such as water at depth below the edifice, existed in the relatively recent past and potentially could drive deformation to the present day