Geochemical Patterns of Meteoric Diagenetic Systems and Their Application to Studies of Paleokarst

Abstract

The isotopic and cation chemistry of meteoric waters changes in response to the effects of rock—water interaction, uptake of organically derived CO2, and primary mineralogic differences among carbonate terranes. Moreover, variations in the dominance of these factors produce diverse chemical conditions within the meteoric systems which allow the sub- environments of vadose-phreatic, mixed-water, and spelean diagenesis to be distinguished. Therefore, geochemical patterns within the meteoric water system are examined to provide criteria for recognition of these subenvironments of meteoric diagenesis in ancient carbonate sequences.