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The relationship between deformation-induced pressure solution and fracturing in carbonate rocks can be complex and may be interactive. Multiple episodes of pressure solution and fracturing are common in strongly deformed carbonate units such as the Mississippian Madison Group of the western Overthrust Belt. Paragenetic relationships in these rocks suggest that fractures both modify and enhance continued pressure solution by opening the host rock to fluid migration.

The composition of vein and stylolite mineralization may be used to evaluate the history of fluid migration during deformation. In the Madison carbonates, the earliest veins were filled by dolomite or calcite, while all subsequent veins were filled with calcite. Host limestone and dolomite are non-luminescent while filled veins are variably luminescent. The isotopic compositions of vein-filling calcite and dolomite are distinct from host rock compositions and document changes in fluid chemistry during burial and deformation. Taken together, the temporal change in mineralogy, luminescence and isotopic compositions of various vein-filling carbonate cements vs. host rock carbonates are strongly suggestive of rapid allochthonous fluid migration during deformation of the Madison Group in the western Overthrust Belt.

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