The Persistence of Brines in Sedimentary Basins

Section 1: Publication

Publication Type

Authorship

Ferguson, G., McIntosh, J.C. Grasby, S.E., Hendry, M.J. Jasechko, S., Lindsay, M.B.J and Luijendijk, E

Title

The Persistence of Brines in Sedimentary Basins

Year

2018

Publication Outlet

Geophysical Research Letters

DOI

https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078409

ISBN

ISSN

Citation

Ferguson, G., McIntosh, J. C., Grasby, S. E., Hendry, M. J., Jasechko, S., Lindsay, M. B. J., & Luijendijk, E. (2018). The persistence of brines in sedimentary basins. Geophysical Research Letters, 45, 4851– 4858. https://doi.org/10.1029/2018GL078409

Abstract

Brines are commonly found at depth in sedimentary basins. Many of these brines are known to be connate waters that have persisted since the early Paleozoic Era. Yet questions remain about their distribution and mechanisms for retention at depth in the Earth's crust. Here we demonstrate that there is insufficient topography to drive these dense fluids from the bottom of deep sedimentary basins. Our assessment based on driving force ratio indicates that sedimentary basins with driving force ratio > 1 contain connate waters and frequently host large evaporite deposits. These stagnant conditions appear to be relatively stable over geological time and insensitive to factors such as glaciations, erosion, compaction, and hydrocarbon generation.

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