Sandstone petrofacies in the northwestern sector of the Iberian Basin

Abstract

During the most active rifting stages in the northwestern sector of the Iberian Basin (Cameros Basin and Aragonese Branch of the Iberian Range), thick sequences of continental clastic deposits were generated. Sandstone records from Rift cycle 1 (Permo-Triassic) and Rift cycle 2 (Late Jurassic-Early Cretaceous) show similarities in composition. Based on the most recent data, this paper describes sandstone petrofacies developed during both rifting periods. Six petrofacies can be distinguished: two associated with Rift cycle 1 (PT-1 and PT-2) and four with Rift cycle 2 (JC-1 to JC-4). All six petrofacies can be classified as sedimentoclastic or plutoniclastic. Sedimentoclastic petrofacies developed during early rifting stages either through the recycling of pre-rift sediments or significant palaeogeographical changes. These facies comprise a thin succession (<100 m) of clastic deposits with mature quartzose and quartzolithic sandstones containing sedimentary and metasedimentary rock fragments. Carbonate diagenesis is more common than clay mineral diagenesis. Sedimentoclastic petrofacies have been identified in Rift cycle 1 (Saxonian facies, PT-1) and Rift cycle 2 (JC-1 and JC-3; Tithonian and Valanginian, respectively). In the absence of the pre-rift sedimentary cover, metasedimentoclastic petrofacies sometimes develop as a product of the erosion of the low- to medium-grade metamorphic substratum (Petrofacies JC-2, Tithonian-Berriasian). Plutoniclastic petrofacies were generated during periods of high tectonic activity and accompanied by substantial denudation and the erosion of plutonites. Forming thick stratigraphic successions (1000 to 4000 m), these feldspar-rich petrofacies show a rigid framework and clay mineral diagenesis. In Rift cycle 1, plutoniclastic petrofacies (PT-2) are associated with the Buntsandstein. This type of petrofacies also developed in Rift cycle 2 in the Cameros Basin (JC-4) from DS-5 to DS-8 (Hauterivian-Early Albian), and represents the main basin fill interval. Sedimentoclastic and plutoniclastic petrofacies can be grouped into three pairs of basic petrofacies. Each pair represents a 'provenance cycle' that records a complete clastic cycle within a rifting period. Petrofacies PT-1 and PT-2 represent the 'provenance cycle' during Rift-1. In the Cameros Basin, two provenance cycles may be discerned during Rift cycle 2, related both to the Tithonian-Berriasian and the Valanginian-Early Albian megasequences. Tectonics is the main factor controlling petrofacies. Other factors (e.g., maturation during transport, local supply) may modulatethe compositional signatures of the petrofacies yet their main character persists and even outlines the hierarchy of the main bounding surfaces between depositional sequences in the intracontinental Iberian Rift Basin.