Introducing dolomite seams: hybrid compaction–solution bands in dolomitic limestones

Bedding-parallel dolomite seams occur in a clay-poor carbonate succession of the Apennines. The seams are composed of a high concentration of dolomite crystals compared to the hosting dolomitic limestone. SEM images document microcracking, and in many cases even crushing and fragmentation, of dolomite crystals and accumulation of non-carbonate insoluble material both along micro-stylolites within the seams and around dolomite crystals of the seams. We interpret the seams as hybrid structures between pressure-solution seams and compaction bands, which formed during burial. The euhedral dolomite crystals scattered in the micritic matrix represent the insoluble residue produced by the progressive dissolution of calcite. As calcite dissolution proceeds, the concentration of dolomite crystals increases, eventually resulting in a dolomite seam in which locally a dolomite crystal-supported texture is attained. At this stage, the dolomite crystals within the seam start to collide, crush and fragment, so that the dolomite seam behaves like a compaction band.