Hydrothermal Dolomitization in the Upper Triassic Ghalilah Formation, North-eastern United Arab Emirates

The work is a diagenetic study of the Upper Triassic Ghalilah Fm, North-Eastern part of UAE. In particular it is focused on the hydrothermal dolomitization that affected the carbonate rock unit, using fieldwork, petrographic and stable isotopes data. The rock sequence registers a complex diagenetic history, showing early diagenetic cements, compaction-related stylolites, later cements in vugs and veins associated with hydrothermal fluids. The circulation of these fluids is thought to have occurred during compressional tectonic phases. Considering the regional structural geology of the area the tectonic-hydrothermal fluids circulated through faults and fractures either during Late Cretaceous compression related to Oman-UAE ophiolites obduction, or during Cenozoic compression linked to the Zagros fault and thrust belt formation.