Sub-surface dissolution of evaporites in the eastern Mediterranean Sea. M.Sc. thesis

The possibility that buried evaporites can dissolve in the marine environment and create a karst morphology on the seafloor is investigated through a quantitative analysis of the fluxes and salt dissolution rates. Three possible gradients are identified between the seawater and the buried evaporites: 1) a pore water pressure gradient due to the hemi-pelagic sediments consolidation which tends to move pore water upward or laterally; 2) a salt concentration gradient due to the molecular diffusion of ions in the pore water of the hemi-pelagic sediments which tends to move ions upward; 3) an osmotic pressure gradient due to the salt-rejecting characteristics of the hemi-pelagic sediments which tends to move seawater downward. -from Author