ORRI

FUNDING CALL:
2021 Call for "Proyectos de Generación de Conocimiento" (Knowledge Generation Projects)

PROJECT TYPE:
Coordinated project, building on the team's previous joint work under reference PGC2018-093903-B-C21/C22.

PARTNER INSTITUTIONS:
Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (UAB) and Universitat de Barcelona (UB)

OBJECTIVE:
This joint project investigates, at different scales, the products of superimposed cycles of rifting and orogenic contraction in mountain belts and their related basins. The project addresses this goal from two complementary perspectives: a tectonic, geophysical and tectono-sedimentary approach (Subproject 1), and a petrological-petrophysical and geofluid approach (Subproject 2). Subproject 2 focuses specifically on characterizing the diagenetic evolution of rocks affected by rifting and compression, meso- to micro-scale fluid circulation, and the processes responsible for the creation and destruction of porosity and permeability.

STUDY AREAS:
NE Iberia (Pyrenees, Catalan Coastal Ranges)
Moroccan Atlas Mountains

OBJECTIVES:
O2.1 — Extent of fluid-rock interactions in the overburden sediments and caprock of diapiric structures, studied at Les Avellanes Diapir (Southern Pyrenees) and several diapirs in the High Atlas Mountains, Morocco.
O2.2 — Study of geologic structures (detachment anticlines, piggy-back basins and minibasins) as analogues for potential geothermal resources or captured CO2 reservoirs, in the Southern Pyrenees and High Atlas.
O2.3 — Study of the spatial-temporal variability of metal content in rift faults with geothermal potential, focusing on the Montmell-Vallès and Baix Penedès faults and the low-enthalpy geothermal system of the Vallès Oriental basin.
O2.4 — Tracing fluid migration in the Eastern Pyrenees through the study of large quartz veins (LQV), including their formation mechanisms and age of emplacement.
O2.5 — Study of fault-controlled dolostones in the Catalan Coastal Ranges and the Maestrat Basin, and the role of stylolites in dolomitizing fluid migration.
O2.6 — Development of a new methodology for point analyses of stable isotopes using secondary-ion mass spectrometry (SIMS).
O2.7 — Dissemination of scientific results to society, including educational activities for children and teenagers through the Minecraft Education platform, and public engagement activities such as exhibitions, talks and a formal salt tasting related to saline waters and salinas in the Pyrenees.

RESEARCH TEAM:
Anna Travé, Juan Diego Martín-Martín, Elisabet Playà, Josep Maria Casas, Irene Cantarero, David Parcerisa, Juan Jose Moreno and Mireia Esparza.

COLLABORATING SCIENTISTS: Antonio Benedicto (Université Paris-Saclay), Carles Fàbrega, Maciej Slivinski (University of Alaska Fairbanks), Mar Moragas (UAB), Eloi Carola (UAB), Mohammed El Gettafi (Mohamed I University, Morocco) and José Daniel Muñoz-López.

PhD STUDENTS: Silvana Magni (stylolite geometries), Pedro Ramirez (geothermal analogues in the South Pyrenean basin), Gabriel Cofrade (salt diapirs in the Southern Pyrenees) and Eloi Gonzalez-Esvertit (large quartz veins in the Pyrenees), supported through FPI/FPU grants.

OUTREACH: As part of the project's commitment to science communication, the team develops interactive educational worlds on the Minecraft Education platform, short videos on the origin of saline waters and salt chemistry aimed at children and teenagers, teacher training workshops, and public-facing activities such as exhibitions and salt-tasting sessions exploring the geochemistry and organoleptic properties of different salts.