Abstract:
Due to excellent preservation, the Werra Anhydrite (Al), the upper member of the Upper Permian Zechstein cycle I (Ist cycle, Z1), is readily studied in terms of the distribution of sulfate facies and sequence stratigraphy that can be interpreted from these facies. In this study cores taken from seven wells in the Southern Zechstein Basin were examined for their sedimentary structures and various petrographic features. Facies interpretation and depositional sequences are based on detailed examination of core material. Four main facies environments have been identified: (I) supratidal (II) intertidal (III) shallow subtidal, and (IV) deeper (hypersaline) subtidal. These are further subdivided into 10 subfacies types: (1) karst and (2) sabkha within the supratidal environment (I), (3) algal tidal-flat, (4) tidal flat and (5) beach deposit within the intertidal environment (II), (6) salina, and (7) sulfate arenites within the shallow subtidal enviromnent (III). The (8) slope subfacies type commonly associated with (9) turbidites and the (10) basin subfacies type subdivide the deeper subtidal environment (IV). Vertical stacking patterns of these facies and subfacies types reveal the sequence stratigraphic development of the sulfate cycles in response to sea-level and salinity fluctuations. The lower Werra Anhydrite (belonging to Zechstein Sequence ZS2) is characterized by a transgressive systems tract (IST) overlying the transgressive surface of Zechstein Sequence ZS2 within the Al-underlying upper Zechstein Limestone (Cal). The TST of the AT is several tens of meters thick in platform areas, where it is built up by sulfate arenites and swallow-tail anhydrite-after-gypsum, and thins out to a few meters of thickness toward the condensed basinal section, where laminites ('Linien-Anhydrit') are predominant. Most of the Al succession consists of three relatively thick parasequences belonging to the highstand systems tract (HST) that shows typical prograding sets. Enhanced platform Buildup, including sulfate arenites, salina deposits, intertidal sediments, and sabkha precipitation as well as turbidite shedding off the platforms produced marginal ''sulfate walls' up to 400 m thick as platform to slope portions of the Werra Anhydrite. Seaward, the Al thins to a few tens of meters of laminated sulfate basin muds. Increasingly pronounced Al topography during highstand narrowed the slope subfacies belt parallel to the platform margin This contrasts with the broad but considerably thinner slope deposits of transgressive times with much shallower slopes. The ensuing sea-level lowstand is reflected by a sequence boundary on top of the karstified Al-platform and a lowstand wedge (Zechstein Sequence ZS3) overlying portions of the slope and basinal subfacies of the Al highstand systems tract Beyond the lateral limits of the lowstand wedge, the sequence boundary merges with the transgressive surface of ZS3, shown by the lithologic change from the Al anhydrites to the overlying carbonates of the Stassfurt Carbonates ('Haupt Dolomit' Main Dolomite, Ca2). The Basal Anhydrite (A2), which overlies and seals the carbonate reservoir of the Ca2, can also be subdivided into systems tracts by means of facies analysis. It is, however, much less complex than the Al and is comprised almost exclusively of a transgressive systems tract of Zechstein Sequence ZS4