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This study concerns the absolute LA ICP-MS U-Pb dating of hydrothermal cementation, particularly in tectonically controlled fractures filling saddle dolomites and blocky calcites in the carbonate succession of Bekhme Formation (Campanian–Maastrichtian). Dating of multiphase hydrothermal cementation combined with δ18O and δ13C analyses, petrography and field observations shows two major episodes of hydrothermal fluid circulation. The first was measured at ~73.8 Ma and is associated with the Zagros folding-faulting tectonic event (Late Cretaceous) and with the depositional age of the Bekhme Formation (75.1 Ma), and the second was at 30.3 Ma and is associated with the second folding-faulting tectonic event during the Tertiary. The δ18O and δ13C values grouped into two populations corroborate the two episodes of hydrothermal fluid flow. Late Cretaceous folding and faulting tectonics and reactivation during the Tertiary in the study area provided conduits for the hydrothermal fluids along deeply seated faults. This work shows for the first time through U-Pb dating that the hydrothermal diagenetic processes in Upper Cretaceous Bekhme Formation are directly linked with the timings of the major regional tectonics in the Zagros Fold-Thrust Belt (ZFTB) through the flow of hot fluid fluxes in a fractured sedimentary basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A field, petrographic and geochemical study of two Triassic–Jurassic carbonate successions from the Maritime Alps, SE France, indicates that dolomitization is related to episodic fracturing and the flow of hydrothermal fluids. The mechanism governing hydrothermal fluids has been documented with the best possible spatio-temporal resolutions specifying the migration and trapping of hydrothermal fluids as a function of depth. This is rarely reported in the literature, as it requires a very wide range of disciplines from facies analysis (petrography) to very diverse and advanced chemical methods (elemental analysis, isotope geochemistry, microthermometry). In most cases, our different recognized diagenetic phases were mechanically separated on a centimetric scale and analyzed separately. The wide range of the δ18OVPDB and 87Sr/86Sr values of diagenetic carbonates reflect three main diagenetic realms, including: (1) the formation of replacive dolomites (Type I) in the eogenetic realm, (2) formation of coarse to very coarse crystalline saddle dolomites (Types II and Type III) in the shallow to deep burial mesogenetic realm, respectively, and (3) telogenetic formation of a late calcite cement (C1) in the telogenetic realm due to the uplift incursion of meteoric waters. The Triassic dolomites show a lower 87Sr/86Sr ratio (mean = 0.709125) compared to the Jurassic dolomites (mean = 0.710065). The Jurassic calcite (C1J) shows lower Sr isotopic ratios than the Triassic C1T calcite. These are probably linked to the pulses of the seafloor's hydrothermal activity and to an increase in the continental riverine input during Late Cretaceous and Early Cenozoic times. This study adds a new insight into the burial diagenetic conditions during multiple hydrothermal flow events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper integrates Mg-, C-, O-, Sr-isotopes, fluid-inclusions microthermometry, and radiometric dating of dolostones and vug-filling saddle dolomite and calcite of the Upper Cretaceous Bekhme Formation, the Kurdistan Region of Iraq, provide new insights into the origin, timing and geochemical evolution of hydrothermal dolomitizing fluids. Similar isotopic compositions and fluid-inclusion microthermometry of the dolostones and saddle dolomite suggest formation by similar fluids. The U–Pb ages of dolostones and saddle dolomite suggest that dolomitization (74.8 Ma) was accomplished in 300 Ka at near Earth's surface by flow of hydrothermal fluids followed by dolostone dissolution and precipitation of vug-filling saddle dolomite (73.8 Ma). Mg isotopic compositions of the dolomites (26Mg DSM3= −0.81‰ to −0.76‰) are interpreted to indicate derivation of Mg from marine connate waters entrapped in overpressured basinal mudstones. Relatively high Sr-isotope ratios of the dolomites precludes the role of ophiolites as an important source of Mg in the basin. • Similar ranges of isotopes and microthermometry values of the dolostones and saddle dolomite suggest formation by similar fluids. • Dolomitization was accomplished in 300 Ka at near earth's surface by flow of hydrothermal fluids. • The source of Mg is interpreted to be basinal marine connate waters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]