HELIOTHERMAL LAKE MODEL OF BORATE DEPOSITION IN THE MIOCENE FURNACE CREEK FORMATION, DEATH VALLEY REGION, CALIFORNIA.

Heliothermal lakes are density-stratified with shallow submerged margins surrounding areally restricted deep pool(s) containing a dense brine overlain by a much less dense brine. The reflective brine interface allows solar energy to be trapped in the dense brine which may warm to over 90 degree C. Carbonate precipitated from the dense brine is the typical sediment produced in warm deep pool. Miocene borate deposits of the Death Valley region are typically contained within areally limited carbonate-rich pods that interfinger with a finely interlaminated (varve-like) mudstone and limestone. Primary borates there are predominately either Na-Ca borates or Ca-borates. This bimodal evaporite assemblage suggests that brine chemistries and (or) crystallization paths varied significantly in temporally and spatially related portions of this apparently continuous lacustrine deposit.