A Multi-fluid Constrain for the Forming of Potash Deposits in the Savannakhet Basin: Geochemical Evidence from Halite

The Khorat Plateau on the Indochina Terrane is known to have formed during the closure of the Tethys Ocean, although the origin of its potash mineral deposits is a topic of current debate. Data from a borehole on Savannakhet Basin is used in this study to re-define the evaporation processes of the study area. Geochemical analyses of halite from various borehole-derived evaporite strata have elucidated the fluid sources from which these ores formed. Measured delta B-11 indicated that ore deposits formed primarily due to evaporation of seawater, although non-marine fluids affected the later stages of the evaporation process. Fluctuations in B and Br concentrations in carnallite- and sylvite-rich strata indicate the influence of fresh water. Boron concentration in carnallite unit indicated the influence of hydrothermal fluids. From the relative timings of these various fluid influxes, the evolution of these evaporates can be divided into four stages: (1) an initial marine evaporation at the beginning of the deposit's formation, where seawater (and minor fresh water) trapped on the uplifted Khorat Plateau produced sediments and salts with Br contents lower than those of normal marine-derived evaporites; (2) a transgression stage, where seawater recharged the basin; (3) a hydrothermal infiltration stage, which was coeval with the late Yanshan movement; and (4) a stage of fresh water supply, as recorded by fluctuations in B and Br contents, inferring intermittent fresh water influx into the basin. Thus, although evaporites on the Savannakhet Basin primarily formed via marine evaporation, they were also influenced to a significant degree by the addition of non-marine fresh water and hydrothermal fluids.