Mixing-driven diagenesis and mineral deposition: CaCO3 precipitation in salt water - Fresh water mixing zones

Abstract

We perform a novel set of laboratory experiments that depict CaCO3 precipitation upon mixing between saturated fresh and salt water solutions, thus simulating mixing diagenesis in a coastal aquifer. The experimental results are shown to agree with the result predicted from a relatively simple mathematical model, thus suggesting that the model may be extrapolated to natural environments. Application of the model to the coastal aquifer of Mallorca, Spain indicates calcite precipitation is reducing porosity at a rate of ∼13% per 10,000 years. Consideration of precipitation processes can thus explain contradictory interpretations of natural evolution in carbonate formations.