Nature 285, 470 - 472 (12 June 1980); doi:10.1038/285470a0

Major evaporite deposition from groundwater remobilized salts

J. E. Rouse^* & N. Sherif^†

^*Geochemistry and Petrology Division, Institute of Geological Sciences, 64−78 Gray's Inn Road, London WC1X 8NG, UK
^†Department of Geology, Imperial College of Science and Technology, Prince Consort Road, London SW7 2BP, UK

The coastal sabkhas of the western Gulf of Sirte, Libya developed in two stages behind a barrier-ridge complex following the penultimate and the last major sea-level rises. A strong north-to-south littoral drift led to the isolation of coastal lagoons by a seaward sand ridge following the stabilization of sea level and produced isolated basins in which evaporites have been and are depositing. A sulphur isotopic study of the groundwaters and sediments described here demonstrated that the brines mostly originated in continental groundwaters supplied from the deep aquifer by surface and sub-surface flows which carry sulphate and other ions remobilized from Cretaceous sediments.

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