Formation mechanism of carbonate cemented zones adjacent to the top overpressured surface in the central Junggar Basin,NW China

Carbonate cemented zones are normally adjacent to the top overpressured surface in the central Junggar Basin,NW China.Stable carbon and oxygen isotopic compositions and petrological investigations of carbonate cements in the carbonate cemented zones indicate that:(1) carbonate cements are composed dominantly of ferrocalcite,ferroan dolomite,and ankerite;(2) carbonate cements are formed under a high temperature circumstance in the subsurface,and organic fluid migration has an important effect on the formation of them;and(3) carbon and oxygen ions in the carbonate cements migrate from the underlying overpressured system.This suggests that the occurrence of carbonate cemented zones in this region results from multiple phases of organic fluid expulsion out of the overpressure compartment through geological time.This study provides a plausible mechanism of the formation of carbonate cemented zones adjacent to the top overpressured surface in the clastic sedimentary basins,and has an important implication for understanding the internal correlation between the formation of carbonate cemented zones adjacent to top overpressured surface and geofluids expulsion out of overpressured system.