The timing of quartz cementation in Mesozoic sandstones from Haltenbanken, offshore mid-Norway: fluid inclusion evidence

The temperature of quartz cementation in Mesozoic sandstones from the Haltenbanken area, offshore mid-Norway has been evaluated by micro-thermometry of primary aqueous fluid inclusions in quartz overgrowths. Samples were collected from a wide range of burial depths (1.6 to 4.4 km) and large area (7500 km 2 ). There is a systematic increase in homogenization temperatures ( T h ) of approximately 75 °C between the shallowest and deepest wells. When converted to time using burial histories, the T h data indicate that cementation was short-lived and started roughly synchronously throughout Haltenbanken within the last 5 Ma. It therefore seems that depth and/or temperature alone are not enough to bring about quartz cementation, some other factor(s) must also be involved.