The age of the mylonite belts in the basement rocks of the Pyrenees is a subject of debate in the structural geology and petrology communities because of its potential implication on the regional tectonothermal history and on the tectonic evolution of SW Europe. Here we address when and how mylonitisation took place in two key areas of the Eastern Pyrenees, where shear zones are associated with Giant Quartz Veins (GQVs). We conducted zircon U-Pb and muscovite Ar-40/Ar-39 dating coupled with structural, textural, and crystallographic preferred orientation (CPO) analyses of mylonites from the Cap de Creus and Canig & oacute; Massifs. U-Pb zircon dating of a dacite porphyry dyke crosscut by GQVs and mylonitic bands yields a maximum shear zone and GQV formation age of ca. 292 +/- 3 Ma. Ar-40/Ar-39 analyses of muscovite within mylonitised GQVs yield initial crystallisation ages between ca. 164 and 188 Ma, as well as younger recrystallisation ages of ca. 110-118 Ma. A qualitative assessment of the GQV history is inferred from step-heating spectra of muscovite and quartz CPOs. The results indicate that GQV formation and mylonitisation were coupled, coeval, and long-lasting processes that took place from early Jurassic to early Cretaceous times. A comparative evaluation of quartz CPOs reveals inconsistencies regarding the strain distribution, quartz slip systems activity, and deformation temperatures depending on the deformed rock type. Quartz mylonites have stronger CPOs dominated by basal , prism , or prism slip systems, whilst phyllonites and granite mylonites show weaker fabrics mostly dominated by mixed slip. This apparently suggests higher deformation temperatures in quartz mylonites than those inferred from more reliable proxies, such as mineral assemblages, brittle behaviour of K-feldspar, and fluid inclusion data. We suggest that the water-weakening effect caused by coeval formation and deformation of GQVs enabled easier dislocation glide and creep, allowing strain localisation and transitions between slip systems at lower temperatures than commonly inferred due to enhanced ductility. U-Pb zircon dating further suggests the existence of an early Carboniferous (ca. 332 +/- 4 Ma; Visean) magmatic episode in the Pyrenees, in agreement with a cyclic, rather than a progressive, geodynamic history of the region during Variscan times. The present work challenges classical interpretations stating that Pyrenean mylonite belts developed during the retrograde stages of the Variscan Orogeny, highlighting that the structural evolution of this region during Mesozoic times deserves further investigation. Results have implications for interpreting deformation localisation mechanisms and conditions in crustal rocks, for the formation mechanisms of GQVs in worldwide orogenic belts, and for the tectonothermal history of the Pyrenees since late-Variscan times.

The physicochemical signatures of fluid-rock interaction, recorded in fluid inclusions, represent fundamental proxies for understanding the interplay between rock deformation, fluid migration, and ore deposit formation in the Earth's crust. Although fluid-rock interaction can take place simultaneously or sequentially both in the basement and the cover of collisional orogens, these two scenarios are generally investigated separately, thus precluding an integrated understanding of the processes involved. Here, we present a comprehensive study of the fluid evolution in the basement and cover rocks of the Pyrenees (SW Europe) by means of Geographic Information System (GIS)-assisted petrography, microthermometry, Electron Backscatter Diffraction (EBSD), Raman micro-spectroscopy, and Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICP-MS) microanalysis of individual fluid inclusions. The investigated fluids are sampled from giant quartz veins, which are tens of meters wide and up to several kilometres long. Two-phase aqueous fluid inclusions hosted in the basement (Canigo and Cap de Creus massifs) and cover rocks (Roc de Frausa massif) show significant variations regarding their homogenization temperature (Th), salinity, and chemical composition. Basement-hosted H2O-NaCl-CaCl2 fluids have Th and salinity ranging between 190 and 220 degrees C and 12-16 wt% equivalent (eq.) NaCl in the Canigo massif, and between 190 and 260 degrees C and 16-20 wt% eq. NaCl in the Cap de Creus massif. Conversely, Th of 180-240 degrees C and salinity of 4-7 wt% eq. NaCl were obtained for H2O-NaCl cover rock-hosted fluids in the Roc de Frausa massif. Fluid salinity, cation concentrations, and halogen ratios suggest that basement-hosted fluids represent residual basinal brines that originated from seawater which underwent variable degrees of evaporation and organic matter interaction. In contrast, cover rock-hosted fluids represent seawater-like precursor fluids that record strong organic matter interaction without significant evaporative halogen fractionation. The data suggest that neither basement- nor cover-hosted fluids were released at depth from magmatic or metamorphic fluids, which agrees with geological constraints of the investigated areas. However, fluids from both basement and cover rocks infiltrated deep into the subsurface, as revealed by their variable metal and halogen concentration suggesting compositionally stratified fluid compositions at depth. Our data and conclusions differ from fluid inclusion studies reported for other giant quartz vein systems worldwide, suggesting that different fluid origins and evolution histories may drive the formation of these large quartz accumulations. Moreover, the large variations of the Br/Cl, I/Cl, and Br/I ratios show that halogen ratios should be used with caution: they are excellent tracers of the fluid evolution history, but may not provide a straightforward fluid origin classification.

This contribution presents (i) an overview of how the characteristics of sedimentary facies (composition, grain size distribution, and texture) control the morphology and spatial distribution of stylolite networks, revealing that muddy versus grainy facies and the skeletal component size are the primary controls on the degree of stylolite network connectivity; and (ii) an analysis of how bedding-parallel stylolites may act as barriers and/or conduits for fluids depending on the characteristics of their host rocks, the stress state, fluid pressure, and the forces that drive fluids. This analysis is based on outcrops from the Benicàssim area (Maestrat Basin, Eastern Spain).

Seismic interpretation has revealed a hitherto unreported honeycomb pattern of carbonate buildups within the Orchard Platform (Southern North Sea). The Z2 Stassfurt Halite Fm. onlaps the southern margin of the Orchard Platform and is also found infilling Z2 intra-platform lagoons to form salt lakes. Post Z2 evaporation, the deeper Z3 water column drowned the Orchard Platform inhibiting the platform recovery attempted by the Z3 Plattendolomit Fm. The palaeobathymetric variability of the drowned Orchard Platform was sufficient to bring parts of the seafloor into the photic zone allowing for the sporadic growth of the Z3 Plattendolomit Fm. However, the palaeobathymetric lows remained beneath the photic zone ensuring an incomplete regeneration of the Orchard Platform with the creation of a high-frequency network of intra-platform lagoons which mimic the polygonal texture of a honeycomb. Whilst previously accepted as collapse structures or karst systems, this study correlates the development of the honeycomb buildups to variations in seafloor palaeobathymetry which in turn mimic the structural lineaments of the Zechstein subcrop. Syn-depositional instability in the Zechstein subcrop caused the topsets of the Z2 salt lakes to become warped. The warped halite provided seed points for Z3 Plattendolomit Fm. growth which allowed for linear ridges of carbonate to traverse the Z2 salt lakes and eventually connect with the honeycomb buildups. Deposition in the Mesozoic lead to loading of the Zechstein. Halite-filled Z3 lagoons accommodated this loading, which caused a pinching effect on the Z3 honeycomb buildups. The sedimentological understanding provided by this study not only de-risks frontier exploration but also provides insight into carbonate growth in restricted platform recovery scenarios.

The Mid North Sea High (MNSH) Seaway, otherwise known as Jenyon's Channel, was the only major marine connection between the Northern and Southern Zechstein Basins during the latest Permian. Current understanding favours a model where marine replenishment began with a northern connection to the Panthalassic Ocean (along a network of basins that were precursors to the North Atlantic Rift System), after which marine water passed into the Northern Zechstein Basin, travelled through the MNSH Seaway before finally reaching the Southern Zechstein Basin. This study delineates evaporite formations in an extensive petrophysical dataset to analyse marine connections and whether they influenced Zechstein facies distribution. The first four Zechstein Cycles (Z1-Z4) are identified on the MNSH platform which shows that this structure was always covered by a thin water column during sea-level highstand; however, during Z2 sea-level lowstand, the MNSH Seaway provided the main connection between the basins. As relative sea-level fell, the MNSH Seaway became increasingly constricted resulting in hypersalinity due to limited volumes of marine water reaching the Southern Zechstein Basin. This system precipitated vast volumes of Z2 (late Wuchiapingian) halite in the Southern Zechstein Basin, whereas this facies remains reduced in the Northern Zechstein Basin. In Z3 and Z4 (Changhsingian) times relative average sea-level was higher resulting in sustained communication between the basins, even in times of sea-level lowstand. This is evidenced through a regionally traceable blanket of Z3 halite, along with occasional examples of Z2 carbonate platforms becoming entombed in Z3 halite. This work provides revised palaeoenvironmental understanding for the latest Permian. The workflow could also aid in the study of other oceanic gateways with further implications for hydrocarbon exploration efforts and emerging energy transition technologies such as subsurface storage on the UK Continental Shelf.

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We review published studies characterizing the Thamama-B reservoir zone in the upper Kharaib Formation (late Barremian) in Abu Dhabi oilfields and at outcrops in Oman. Available data for oxygen and carbon isotope compositions, fluid inclusion measurements, cement abundance and formation water composition are interpreted in terms of a paragenetic model for the Thamama-B in field F in Abu Dhabi where the interval is deeply buried. The present synthesis provides a useful basis for understanding and predicting reservoir quality in static models and undrilled prospects, as well as for planning promising directions for further research. The goals of this study were to summarize the geologic setting and petrology of the Thamama-B reservoir and its surrounding dense zones, and to examine how sedimentology, stratigraphy and diagenesis have interacted to control porosity and permeability. Results that may have useful applications for similar microporous limestone reservoirs in general include:the depositional environments and stratigraphy of the subject strata; a model for how porosity variations result mainly from calcite cementation sourced from stylolites, with little dependence on lithofacies other than the localization of chemical compaction by depositional clay linked to sequence stratigraphy; the use of solidity (rock thickness with porosity removed) as a check on porosity creation by burial dissolution; observations linking high-permeability streaks with storm lag beds and fractures; the concept of strata being gradually buried through a relatively static salinity-stratified water column; integration of conventional and clumped stable-isotope data with petrologic observations to constrain the timing of porosity evolution.

There is an ongoing debate on whether stylolites act as barriers or conduits for fluids, or even play no role in terms of fluid transport. This problem can be tackled by examining the spatial and temporal relationships between stylolites and other diagenetic products at multiple scales. Using the well-known Lower Cretaceous Benicàssim case study (Maestrat Basin, E Spain), we provide new field and petrographic observations of how bedding-parallel stylolites can influence different diagenetic processes during the geological evolution of a basin. The results reveal that stylolites can serve as baffles or inhibitors for different carbonate diagenetic reactions, and act as fronts for dolomitization, dolomite recrystallization and calcitization processes. Anastomosing stylolites, which pre-date burial dolomitization, likely acted as a collective baffle for dolomitization fluids in the study area, resulting in stratabound replacement geometries at the metre-to-kilometre scale. The dolomitization front weaves up and down following consecutive anastomosing stylolites, which are typical of mud-dominated facies that characterize limestone-dolostone transition zones. Contrarily, dolostone bodies tend to correspond to grain-dominated facies characterized by parallel (non-anastomosing) stylolites. The same stylolites subsequently acted as fluid flow conduits and barriers again when the burial and stress conditions changed. Stylolites within dolostones close to faults are found corroded and filled with saddle dolomite riming the stylolite pore, and high-temperature blocky calcite cements filling the remaining porosity. The fluids responsible for these reactions were likely released from below at high pressure, causing hydraulic brecciation, and were channelised through stylolites, which acted as fluid conduits. Stylolites are also found acting as baffles for subsequent calcitization reactions and occasionally appear filled with iron oxides released by calcitization. This example demonstrates how the same type of stylolites can act as barriers/inhibitors and/or conduits for different types of diagenetic reactions through time, and how important it is to consider their collective role when they form networks.

Fault‐related dolomitisation is responsible for the development of numerous hydrocarbon reservoirs hosted in diagenetically‐altered carbonates and is therefore critical to hydrocarbon exploration, subsurface storage (i.e. CO2), the formation of associated mineralisation (i.e. MVT‐deposits) and for understanding the key controls on subsurface fluid flow. Multiple dolomitised outcrop analogues have been characterised in recent years, but uncertainty still remains as to the controls on dolomitisation in terms of dolostone geobody size and geometries, their distribution and how they impact reservoir quality. Late Tithonian shallow‐marine carbonates at Serra Esparreguera in the Maestrat Basin (E. Spain) were partially dolomitised on the seismic scale, resulting in a spectrum of geobodies with varying degrees of spatial connectivity. Dolostone predominantly replaces Polpís Fm wackestones and packstones, and bioclastic grainstones of the Bovalar Fm. Dolostone geobodies transition through vertical stratigraphy from being massive and spatially extensive to localised stratabound bodies as textural heterogeneity increases. Irregular dolostone geometries occur in the Polpís Fm, which is texturally homogenous relative to the overlying Bovalar Fm, cross‐cutting bedding in areas with high abundance of faults. Faults occur adjacent to dolostone and constrain its lateral extent across the outcrop. Dolomitisation fronts are typically sharp with morphologies affected by small‐scale faults and bedding‐parallel stylolites. Dolomitisation occurred under burial conditions and dolostones were later overprinted by phases of calcite and saddle dolomite cementation. The spatial distribution of dolostone is strongly influenced by the depositional heterogeneity and faults, while smaller structures (i.e. metre‐scale fractures and stylolites) and bedding surfaces controlled the dolomitisation front geometry. Dolostone geobodies at Serra Esparreguera provide new insights into the structural, depositional and diagenetic controls on dolomitisation at a seismic scale, which can be used as a predictive guide to improve the understanding of carbonate reservoirs with complex paragenetic histories.

Abstract The Late Cambrian Steptoean Positive Carbon Isotope Excursion marks a time of significant change in ocean chemistry and trilobite faunas. On the lead up to the carbon isotope excursion and at the excursion itself, there is global evidence from Laurentia and Gondwana of cementation by primary aragonite in shallow subtidal environments accompanied by deposition of aragonitic ooids. However, this occurred at a time widely considered to have been characterised by ‘calcite seas’ when the primary inorganic phases (marine cements and ooids) are normally presumed calcitic. This study has investigated the chemostratigraphy of the Middle–Late Cambrian Port au Port Group, Newfoundland, including the early marine cements. Here, the marine cements contain increasing concentrations of strontium towards the peak carbon isotope excursion (up to 5500 ppm at the peak excursion) before dropping off post‐peak excursion, consistent with the original cements having been aragonitic. This trend is accompanied by relict oomouldic porosity, again suggesting an aragonitic precursor. Primary inorganic mineralogy is largely controlled by the Mg/Ca ratio of sea water but estimates of the Mg/Ca ratio of Late Cambrian oceans are variable (0.8–2). At this level, other factors such as water temperature and pCO2 have been shown to affect mineralogy with warm waters and high levels of CO2 favouring aragonite. It is possible that the warm waters and anoxia that caused the carbon isotope excursion created conditions favourable for the precipitation of aragonite at the same time as major trilobite faunal turnover.

The presence of residual oil below the present day free water level (FWL) and oil water contact (OWC) is common in many fields of the Middle East. This residual oil is seen in reservoirs prior to the start of production. A rock typing study was carried out to investigate the effect of rock types on the presence and distribution of residual oil below the free water level (FWL) and oil water contact (OWC) and potential recovery from ROZ's following water flooding. The rock typing study was carried out by integration of different data sources i.e. core description, thin section study, conventional core analysis (CCAL), special core analysis (SCAL) and petrophysical logs. Six major rock types with unique reservoir quality and behaviour were classified in cored wells and subsequently predicted in un-cored wells. Reservoir quality increases from rock type 1 to 6. The residual oil saturation (Sor) of each rock type was defined and it was concluded that all rock types except for rock type 1 contain residual oil below the present day FWL and OWC. The absence of residual oil in rock type 1 was related to the fact that it is unlikely that oil migration into it ever occurred and consequently no residual oil is seen below the present day FWL and OWC. It was also revealed that rock type 6, with better porosity and permeability, includes the highest residual oil saturation. This was attributed to its bimodal pore throat size distribution and the effect of this on water flooding and hence potential recovery.

Heterogeneous quartzite artefact finds from North America's Late Paleoindian period occur in several areas throughout the Northern Great Lakes region. Standard petrographic analysis, back-scatter scanning electron microscopy and cathodoluminescence are used to identify the properties of a regionally abundant, high-quality orthoquartzite stone as compared with high-quality Hixton silicified sandstone from the Silver Mound Archeological District in Jackson, Wisconsin. The results demonstrate the potential for reducing misidentification among material sources, and also exhibit the acutely discerning tendencies of pre-contact peoples. Lithological interpretations of thin sections identify the different properties of the Hixton material. Conversely, Mesnard quartzite, while it functions adequately as a tool stone, is fundamentally compromised of a tightly packed microstructure. This microstructure produces a hard, less tractable material with erratic breakage, possibly explaining Mesnard quartzite's limited distribution prehistorically.

The presence of residual oil below the present-day free water level (FWL) and oil water contact (OWC) is common in many oil fields in the Middle East, particularly those in the Persian Gulf. This residual oil is seen in both clastic and carbonate reservoirs prior to the start of production. The characterisation and modelling of these fields is difficult in practice. Also, these residual oils below the FWL and OWC could become classified as reserves if ways to produce them could be found. However, the first step is to better understand their origin. Therefore, the goal of this study was to investigate the role of geological events on the presence of the residual oil zone (ROZ) below the FWL and OWC. It has been suggested that the presence of residual oil below the present day FWL and OWC is related to the geotectonic history of the region. From the middle Miocene, reverse faulting and overfolding propagated over the Zagros, leading to the amplification of folds and the migration of the Zagros orogeny towards its foreland basin (Persian Gulf). In response to this additional massive loading on the continental margin, the forebulge amplitude was increased, its location migrated towards the uplifted Zagros Mountains, and consequently the Persian Gulf became narrower. This exerted a north to north-east downward tilting of the entire basin, including all the structures and reservoirs previously filled by hydrocarbons. This basin tilting changed the equilibrium of the structures and their fluid contents, and resulted in the hydrocarbons and water attempting to find a new equilibrium. Under these conditions, the early migrated and accumulated oil was flushed out by water (imbibition), and a ROZ was left below the present day FWL and OWCs. The angle of regional basin tilt has been calculated to be 0.836 degrees based on seismic sections.

Stylolites are rough dissolution surfaces that form due to intergranular pressure-solution resulting from burial compaction or tectonic stress. Despite being ubiquitous in most carbonate rocks, their potential impact on structural diagenesis and fluid flow remains unclear. The Zechstein 2 Carbonate (Ca2) is a diagenetically complex reservoir in the Southern Permian Basin and represents one of the most prolific gas reservoirs in NW Germany. This investigation focuses on evaluating the relationship between stylolites, fractures/veins and their subsequent influence on the spatial variations in reservoir quality. We utilise drill core samples to carry out a combined analysis of cross-cutting relationships between different structures and diagenetic products. We therefore use a combination of petrography and statistical analyses on stylolite networks, focusing on their occurrence, morphology and sealing capacity. In the study area, the Ca2 carbonate mudstone was deposited in a slope environment and dolomitised under shallow burial conditions, followed by bedding-parallel stylolitisation during burial. Results indicate that calcium-rich fluids percolated from neighbouring evaporite units causing widespread calcitisation within the more distal environments of deposition. Some stylolites locally acted as barriers to affect the migration of the calcitising fluids, resulting in a macroscopic diagenetic stratification of relatively porous dolomite and areas of calcitised dolomite with lower porosity. However, pressure-solution continued during burial and bedding-parallel stylolites also appear postdating calcitisation. During inversion, horizontal stylolites were reopened to act as conduits to enable fluid migration that precipitated metal sulphides. This indicates that stylolites acted as both barriers and conduits for fluid flow depending on variations of the overburden pressure and regional stress regime. Stylolites present a range of sealing capacities between 63 and 89%, depending on their morphology, and can result in partial leakage and subsequent invasive calcitisation in their vicinity. This study highlights the importance of understanding the impact of stylolites on structural diagenesis and spatial variations in petrophysical rock properties that determine reservoir quality.

Stylolites are rough surfaces that form by pressure solution, and present variable geometries and spatial distributions. Despite being ubiquitous in carbonate rocks and potentially influencing fluid flow, it is not yet clear how the type and distribution of stylolite networks relate to lithofacies. This study investigates Lower Cretaceous platform carbonates in the Benicàssim area (Maestrat Basin, Spain) to statistically characterise stylolite morphology and stylolite network distributions in a selection of typical shallow-marine carbonate lithofacies, from mudstones to grainstones. Bedding-parallel stylolite networks were sampled in the field to quantify stylolite spacing, wavelength, amplitude, intersection morphology and connectivity. Grain size, sorting and composition were found to be the key lithological variables responsible for the development of rough anastomosing stylolite networks. Poorly-connected stylolites with large vertical spacings were found to be dominant in grain-supported lithofacies, where grains are fine and well sorted. Anastomosing stylolite networks appear well developed in mud-supported lithofacies with poorly-sorted clasts that are both heterogenous in size and composition. Mud-supported facies feature stylolites that are closely spaced, have high amplitudes and intersection densities, and predominantly present suture and sharp-peak type morphologies. Larger grains and poor sorting favour the formation of stylolites with small vertical spacings, low wavelengths and high amplitudes. This statistical analysis approach requires only limited information, such as that from drill core, and can be used to characterise stylolite morphology and distributions in subsurface carbonate reservoirs.

In many basins, Upper Cambrian carbonate successions display intervals with a positive carbon isotope excursion (CIE) of up to +5‰. In North America, this marks the boundary between the Sauk II–III super-sequences. A Steptoean positive carbon isotope excursion (SPICE) locality previously identified in the Port au Port peninsula, western Newfoundland, has been revisited and an additional potential SPICE locality found. In both locations, a CIE is found to be associated with a prominent bioherm and sandstone layer within a sequence of carbonate rocks. At March Point columnar stromatolites occur, whereas at Felix Cove thrombolites can be seen. In the latter, the sandstone immediately overlies the thrombolites coincident with the CIE, whereas at March Point a dolomitized grainstone occurs above the stromatolites. The sandstone at this locality post-dates the CIE. Although lower than the SPICE in some localities, a positive CIE is present in both sections: March Point (+1.1‰) and Felix Cove (+1.8‰). Additionally, δ13Corgrises from −30.0‰ to −22.0‰ at March Point and from −27‰ to −24.0‰ at Felix Cove and, in accordance with previously published work, we suggest that this could be the SPICE. Comparison of the stratigraphy and petrography between the two localities suggest that both depositional and diagenetic factors could have influenced the nature of the interpreted SPICE in Newfoundland. It is also possible that the local carbon isotopic signature may have been influenced by a semi-restricted depositional and early diagenetic environment related to the paleogeographic configuration rather than the global marine excursion.

Stylolites are rough dissolution surfaces that form by intergranular pressure solution resulting from burial compaction or tectonic stress. Despite being ubiquitous in carbonate rocks and potentially influencing fluid flow, it is not yet clear how the type and distribution of stylolite networks relate to lithofacies. This study investigates Lower Cretaceous platform carbonates in the Benicàssim area (Maestrat Basin, Spain) to statistically characterize stylolite network morphology in a variety of typical shallow-marine lithofacies. Stylolites in each lithofacies were sampled in the field and different measuring techniques were applied. Grain size, sorting and composition were found to be the key lithological variables responsible for the development of rough anastomosing networks. A statistical workflow, requiring only limited subsurface information, relating stylolite morphology with lithofacies can subsequently be used to predict fluid flow behavior in stylolitised reservoirs.

Accurate determination of the petrophysical properties of rocks, namely REV, mean pore and grain size and absolute permeability, is essential for a broad range of engineering applications. Here, the petrophysical properties of rocks are calculated using an integrated approach comprising image processing, statistical correlation and numerical simulations. The Stokes equations of creeping flow for incompressible fluids are solved using the Finite-Volume SIMPLE algorithm. Simulations are then carried out on three-dimensional digital images obtained from micro-CT scanning of two rock formations: one sandstone and one carbonate. Permeability is predicted from the computed flow field using Darcy's law. It is shown that REV, REA and mean pore and grain size are effectively estimated using the two-point spatial correlation function. Homogeneity and anisotropy are also evaluated using the same statistical tools. A comparison of different absolute permeability estimates is also presented, revealing a good agreement between the numerical value and the experimentally determined one for the carbonate sample, but a large discrepancy for the sandstone. Finally, a new convergence criterion for the SIMPLE algorithm, and more generally for the family of pressure-correction methods, is presented. This criterion is based on satisfaction of bulk momentum balance, which makes it particularly useful for pore-scale modelling of reservoir rocks.

The Salar de Atacama forms one of a series of forearc basins developed along the western flank of the Central Andes. Exposed along the northwest margin of the basin, a salt‐cored range, the Cordillera de la Sal, records the Mid‐Miocene to recent sedimentological and structural development of this basin. Sediments of the Mid‐Miocene Vilama Formation record the complex interaction between regional/local climate change, halokinesis and compressional deformation. This study reveals how these factors have controlled the facies development and distribution within the Salar de Atacama. Detailed sedimentary logging, cross‐sections and present day geomorphology through the northern Cordillera de la Sal have been used to establish a lithostratigraphy, chronostratigraphy and the regional distribution of the Vilama Formation. The Vilama Formation documents an increase in aridity with a hiatus in sedimentation from Mid‐Miocene to 9 Ma with initial uplift of the Cordillera de la Sal. From 9 Ma to 8.5 Ma deposition of a meandering fluvial system is recorded followed by a rapid decrease in sedimentation till 6 Ma. From 6 to 2 Ma, the deposition of extensive palustrine carbonates and distal alluvial–mudflat–lacustrine demonstrates the existence of an extensive lake within the Salar de Atacama. Post 2 Ma, the lake decreased in size and braided alluvial gravels associated with alluvial fans were widespread through the region suggesting a final shift to hyperarid conditions. By comparing the Vilama Formation with similar age facies throughout northern Chile and southern Peru, several shifts in climate are recognized. Climate signatures within northern Chile appear to be largely diachronous with the last regional event in the Mid‐Miocene. Since that time, humid events have been restricted to either Precordillerian basins or the Central Atacama. Within the Central Atacama, the final switch to hyperarid conditions was not till the earliest Pleistocene, much later than previously estimated within the region.

Transient aragonite seas occurred in the early Cambrian but several models suggest the late Cambrian was a time of calcite seas. Here, evidence is presented from the Andam Group, Huqf High, Oman (Gondwana) that suggests a transient Furongian (late Cambrian) aragonite sea, characterized by the precipitation of aragonite and high-Mg calcite ooids and aragonite isopachous, fibrous, cements. Stable carbon isotope data suggest that precipitation occurred just before and during the SPICE (Steptoean Positive Carbonate Isotope Excursion). Aragonite and high-Mg calcite precipitation can be accounted for if mMg:Ca ratios were around 1.2 given the very high atmospheric CO2 at that time and if precipitation occurred in warm waters associated with the SPICE. This, together with reported occurrences of early Furongian aragonite ooids from various locations in North America (Laurentia), suggests that aragonite and high-Mg calcite precipitation from seawater may have been more than just a local phenomenon.