Ruin marble: a record of fracture-controlled fluid flow and precipitation

Authors

  • Frantisek Marko Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Comenius University, Mlynská Dolina G, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
  • Daniel Pivko Department of Geology and Palaeontology, Comenius University, Mlynská Dolina G, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic
  • Vratislav Hurai Department of Mineralogy and Petrology, Comenius University, Mlynská Dolina G, 842 15 Bratislava, Slovak Republic

Keywords:

Western Carpathians, fluids, healed joints, Liesegang rings, ruin marble, banded structures

Abstract

The ruin marble structure of the Cretaceous/Paleogene fine-grained marly limestone from the Outer Flysch Belt of the Western Carpathians has a non-tectonic origin, according to structural and sedimentological evidence. Distinctive offsets of coloured red-brownish ferric oxyhydroxide bands are not due to displacements along rock-cutting fractures, as they superficially appear to be. Evidences for shear movement along these pseudo-faults were not observed. Band offsets result from different velocities of pervasively diffusing fluids, precipitating ferric oxyhydroxides in corridors bounded by sets of mineralised systematic joints. During rock weathering, calcite-filled joints operated as barriers for lateral fluid diffusion, but enabled longitudinal diffusion along healed joints. Simple laboratory experiments have been performed to simulate the formation of natural ruin marble structure.

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Published

2010-03-27

Issue

Vol. 47 No. 3 (2003)

Section

Articles

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