Origin and timing of stratabound dolomitization in the Cretaceous carbonate ramp of Benicàssim

Abstract

Hydrothermal dolomitization is one of the most important processes that may enhance or degrade carbonate porosity and permeability. Burial, high emperature or hydrothermal dolomite forms due to the interaction of one or more solutions, mainly seawater-derived or deep brines, with limestone. The Early Cretaceous Benicassim ramp (Maestrat Basin, E Spain) is an excellent outcrop analog for partially dolomitized petroleum reservoirs. In this area seismic-scale sub-stratiform dolomitized bodies extend for several kilometers, away from large-scale faults, in Aptian limestones (Fig. 1). In the present work the Benicassim ramp is used as a case study to characterize dolomite events and to evaluate controls on dolomitization via reactive transport simulations.