Albitization evidences of Mesozoic carbonates: petrological study of authigenic albites in the northwest of the Bortziriak Cinco Villas Massif, eastern Basque-Cantabrian Basin

Abstract

The presence of authigenic Na-feldspars in sedimentary carbonate rocks is unusual and its origin is controversial in terms of genesis and timing. The use of optical microscopy, cathodoluminescence and in situ semi-quantitative EDX analysis techniques, has allowed the identification and characterization of authigenic albite crystals in the Mesozoic pre- and syn-rift carbonates of the northwestern margin of the Bortziriak-Cinco Villas Massif, in the northeastern Basque-Cantabrian Basin (western Pyrenees). The euhedral habit, crystal size, spatial distribution and crosscutting relationships, together with the pure albitic composition, suggest a relatively early replacement origin. Compaction of sediments during burial, besides possible fluid migration linked to the intense syn-rift halokinetic activity, may have been decisive for the mobilisation of cations, and hence, for the albitization of the carbonate rocks.