Estimation of burial depth using stylolite roughness from the Neoproterozoic Narji Limestone, Cuddapah Basin, India.

We use the stylolite roughness inversion technique (SRIT) to decipher the principal vertical stress and corresponding burial depth of the Narji Limestone, Cuddapah Basin, India. The method is applied to bedding parallel stylolites (BPS), which are present in carbonate rocks and originated due to pressure dissolution along the contact points between layers and are caused by compaction and deformation of sedimentary rocks. In this study, we analyse the surface roughness of a set of 25 stylolites that run parallel to the sedimentary bedding. The study area is replete with Class 2 (seismogram pinning type) and Class 3 (suture and sharp peak) types of BPS, of which Class 3 is more appropriate for determining the burial depth, which is the dominant type. The results confirm that there are two self-affine scaling regimes in the stylolite morphology, with cross-over lengths (Lc) varying from 0.32 to 0.95. The calculated vertical stress varies from 19.0 to 43.6 MPa, estimating the range of burial depth of the Narji Limestone between 718 m and 1649 m, with a median of 923 ± 92 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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