scholarly journals Origin of fabric-selective dolomitization recognizable in the field: two case studies from Anisian carbonate rocks in the western Balkanides

2018 ◽  
Vol 47 (1) ◽  
pp. 43-60
Author(s):  
Athanas Chatalov

The origin of dolomitized burrows (Cruziana ichnofacies) in limestones and dolomitic layers in limestone-dolostone ribbon rocks was studied on the basis of petrography, X-ray diffractometry, geochemical data and isotope signatures of the dolomites. Selective dolomitization of the burrows with a local source of Mg occurred in a near-surface setting from non-evaporitic solutions with low Mg/Ca ratio. The low-temperature precipitation of non-stoichiometric (with Ca excess) dolomite was microbially mediated and controlled by bacterial sulphate reduction. The carbon for dolomite formation was largely derived from seawater and/or dissolution of precursor carbonate sediments, and partly derived from the decomposition of organic matter. Selective dolomitization of primarily argillaceous carbonate layers in the ribbon rocks was mainly associated with an autochthonous source of Mg. Clay mineral transformations (i.e., illitization of smectite) at intermediate burial depths supplied Mg ions for the formation of Ca-rich (locally ferroan) dolomite. However, differential diagenesis of the originally clay-rich and clay-poor layers may also have favoured early dolomite precipitation, whereupon contemporaneous seawater was the primary Mg source during shallow burial. The obtained results show that various factors control the formation of fine-grained, non-stoichiometric dolomite with macroscopically recognizable fabric-selective character of replacement.

2016 ◽  
Vol 53 (2) ◽  
pp. 93-114
Author(s):  
Jesús Pinto ◽  
John Warme

We interpret a discrete, anomalous ~10-m-thick interval of the shallow-marine Middle to Late Devonian Valentine Member of the Sultan Formation at Frenchman Mountain, southern Nevada, to be a seismite, and that it was generated by the Alamo Impact Event. A suite of deformation structures characterize this unique interval of peritidal carbonate facies at the top of the Valentine Member; no other similar intervals have been discovered in the carbonate beds on Frenchman Mountain or in equivalent Devonian beds exposed in ranges of southern Nevada. The disrupted band extends for 5 km along the Mountain, and onto the adjoining Sunrise Mountain fault block for an additional 4+km. The interval displays a range of brittle, ductile and fluidized structures, and is divided into four informal bed-parallel units based on discrete deformation style and internal features that carry laterally across the study area. Their development is interpreted as the result of intrastratal compressional and contractional forces imposed upon the unconsolidated to fully cemented near-surface carbonate sediments at the top of the Valentine Member. The result is an assemblage of fractured, faulted, and brecciated beds, some of which were dilated, fluidized and injected to form new and complex matrix bands between beds. We interpret that the interval is an unusually thick and well displayed seismite. Because the Sultan Formation correlates northward to the Frasnian (lower Upper Devonian) carbonate rocks of the Guilmette Formation, and the Guilmette contains much thicker and more proximal exposures of the Alamo Impact Breccia, including seismites, we interpret the Frenchman Mountain seismite to be a far-field product of the Alamo Impact Event. Accompanying ground motion and deformation of the inner reaches of the Devonian carbonate platform may have resulted in a fall of relative sea level and abrupt shift to a salt-pan paleoenvironment exhibited by the post-event basal beds of the directly overlying Crystal Pass Member.


We present an overview of geochemical data from pore waters and solid phases that clarify earliest diagenetic processes affecting modern, shallow marine carbonate sediments. Acids produced by organic matter decomposition react rapidly with metastable carbonate minerals in pore waters to produce extensive syndepositional dissolution and recrystallization. Stoichiometric relations among pore water solutes suggest that dissolution is related to oxidation of H 2 S which can accumulate in these low-Fe sediments. Sulphide oxidation likely occurs by enhanced diffusion of O 2 mediated by sulphide-oxidizing bacteria which colonize oxic/anoxic interfaces invaginating these intensely bioturbated sediments. Buffering of pore water stable isotopic compositions towards values of bulk sediment and rapid 45 Ca exchange rates during sediment incubations demonstrate that carbonate recrystallization is a significant process. Comparison of average biogenic carbonate production rates with estimated rates of dissolution and recrystallization suggests that over half the gross production is dissolved and/or recrystallized. Thus isotopic and elemental composition of carbonate minerals can experience significant alteration during earliest burial driven by chemical exchange among carbonate minerals and decomposing organic matter. Temporal shifts in palaeo-ocean carbon isotope composition inferred from bulk-rocks may be seriously compromised by facies-dependent differences in dissolution and recrystallization rates.


2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Haitao Zhang ◽  
Guangquan Xu ◽  
Mancai Liu ◽  
Minhua Wang

AbstractWith the reduction of oil and gas reserves and the increase of mining difficulty in Northern China, the carbonate rocks in Southern North China Basin are becoming a significant exploration target for carbonate reservoirs. However, the development characteristics, formation stages, formation environments and mechanisms of the carbonate reservoirs in Southern North China Basin are still unclear, which caused the failures of many oil and gas exploration wells. This study focused on addressing this unsolved issue from the Ordovician carbonate paleokarst in the Huai-Fu Basin, which is located in the southeast of Southern North China Basin and one of the key areas for oil and gas exploration. Based on petrology, mineralogy and geochemical data, pore types, distribution characteristics, and formation stages of the Ordovician paleokarst were analyzed. Then, in attempt to define the origins of porosity development, the formation environments and mechanisms were illustrated. The results of this study showed that pore types of the Ordovician carbonates in the Huai-Fu Basin are mainly composed of intragranular pores, intercrystalline (intergranular) pores, dissolution pores (vugs), fractures, channels, and caves, which are usually in fault and fold zones and paleoweathering crust. Furthermore, five stages and five formation environments of the Ordovician paleokarst were identified. Syngenetic karst, eogenetic karst, and paleoweathering crust karst were all developed in a relatively open near-surface environment, and their formations are mainly related to meteoric water dissolution. Mesogenetic karst was developed in a closed buried environment, and its formation is mainly related to the diagenesis of organic matters and thermochemical sulfate reduction in the Permian-Carboniferous strata. Hydrothermal (water) karst was developed in a deep-buried and high-temperature environment, where hydrothermal fluids (waters) migrated upward through structures such as faults and fractures to dissolve carbonate rocks and simultaneously deposited hydrothermal minerals and calcites. Lastly, a paleokarst evolution model, combined with the related porosity evolution processes, nicely revealed the Ordovician carbonate reservoir development. This study provides insights and guidance for further oil and gas exploration in the Southern North China Basin, and also advances our understanding of the genesis of carbonate paleokarst around the world.


2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed S. Hashim ◽  
Stephen E. Kaczmarek

Abstract Numerous Phanerozoic limestones are characterized by diagenetic calcite microcrystals formed during mineralogical stabilization of metastable carbonate sediments in various diagenetic environments. Laboratory experiments show that calcite precipitating under conditions similar to those that characterize meteoric settings (impurity-free, low supersaturation, high fluid:solid ratio) exhibits the rhombic form, whereas calcite precipitating under conditions similar to those that prevail in marine burial settings (impurity-rich, high supersaturation, low fluid:solid ratio) exhibits non-rhombic forms. This prediction is tested here using new and previously published textural and geochemical data from the rock record. These data show that the vast majority of Phanerozoic limestones characterized by rhombic microcrystals also exhibit petrographic and/or geochemical evidence (depleted 𝛿13C, 𝛿18O, and trace elements) indicative of meteoric diagenesis. In contrast, non-rhombic forms are associated with marine burial conditions, suggesting that rhombic calcite microcrystals may provide a valuable textural proxy for meteoric diagenesis in Phanerozoic limestones.


2012 ◽  
Vol 9 (3) ◽  
pp. 1041-1051 ◽  
Author(s):  
C. Zindler ◽  
I. Peeken ◽  
C. A. Marandino ◽  
H. W. Bange

Abstract. Dimethylsulphide (DMS) and dissolved and particulate dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSPd, DMSPp) were measured in near-surface waters along the Mauritanian coast, Northwest Africa, during the upwelling season in February 2008. DMS, DMSPd and DMSPp surface concentrations of up to 10 nmol L−1, 15 nmol L−1 and 990 nmol L−1, respectively, were measured. However, the DMS concentrations measured are in the low range compared to other upwelling regions. The maximum DMSPp concentration is the highest reported from upwelling regions so far, which might indicate that the Mauritanian upwelling is a hot spot for DMSP. Within the phytoplankton groups, dinoflagellates were identified as important contributors to DMS concentrations, while other algae seemed to have only a minor or no influence on DMS and DMSP concentrations. A pronounced switch from high DMSP to high DMS concentrations was observed when the nitrogen to phosphorus ratio (N:P) was below 7. The high DMS/DMSP ratios at N:P ratios <7 indicate that nitrogen limitation presumably triggered a switch from DMSP to DMS independent of the species composition. Our results underline the importance of coastal upwelling regions as a local source for surface seawater sulphur.


2022 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mohammed S. Hashim ◽  
Stephen E. Kaczmarek

AbstractNumerous Phanerozoic limestones are comprised of diagenetic calcite microcrystals formed during mineralogical stabilization of metastable carbonate sediments. Previous laboratory experiments show that calcite microcrystals crystallizing under conditions similar to those that characterize meteoric diagenetic settings (impurity-free, low degree of supersaturation, high fluid:solid ratio) exhibit the rhombic form/morphology, whereas calcite microcrystals crystallizing under conditions similar to those that prevail in marine and marine burial diagenetic settings (impurity-rich, high degree of supersaturation, low fluid:solid ratio) exhibit non-rhombic forms. Based on these experimental observations, it is proposed here that rhombic calcite microcrystals form exclusively in meteoric environments. This hypothesis is tested using new and previously published textural and geochemical data from the rock record. These data show that the vast majority of Phanerozoic limestones characterized by rhombic microcrystals also exhibit petrographic and/or geochemical evidence (depleted δ13C, δ18O, and trace elements) indicative of meteoric diagenesis whereas non-rhombic forms are associated with marine burial conditions. By linking calcite microcrystal textures to specific diagenetic environments, our observations bring clarity to the conditions under which the various microcrystal textures form. Furthermore, the hypothesis that rhombic calcite microcrystals form exclusively in meteoric environments implies that this crystal form may be a useful textural proxy for meteoric diagenesis.


2015 ◽  
Vol 81 ◽  
pp. 149-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Christopher D. Standish ◽  
Bruno Dhuime ◽  
Chris J. Hawkesworth ◽  
Alistair W. G. Pike

Lead isotope analyses of 50 Irish Chalcolithic and Early Bronze Age gold artefacts favour a gold source in southern Ireland. However when combined with major element analysis, the artefacts are not consistent with any Irish gold deposit analysed to date. Understanding the lead isotope signatures of ore deposits within a study region allows informed inferences to be drawn regarding the likelihood that an unanalysed ore deposit was exploited in the past. If an Irish gold source is assumed, then the gold is most likely to have originated from deposits hosted by Old Red Sandstone in the Variscan ore field of south-west Ireland. However, based on our current understanding of mineralisation in the region, this scenario is considered unlikely. A non-Irish source for the gold is therefore preferred – a scenario that may favour cosmologically-driven acquisition, ie, the deliberate procurement of a material from distant or esoteric sources. Available geochemical data, combined with current archaeological evidence, favour the alluvial deposits of south-west Britain as the most likely source of the gold.


2021 ◽  
pp. 1-28
Author(s):  
Wei Xu ◽  
Zhengyu Li ◽  
Huiyong Li ◽  
Can Zhang ◽  
Meng Zhao ◽  
...  

There are various types of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate sediments developed in the Bohai Sea area during the period of the first to second member of the Shahejie Formation (E2s1-2) of the Paleocene. We have concluded that the period of E2s1-2 was very suitable for the development of carbonate minerals and organisms because of the stable tectonic background, the weak siliciclastic influence of large source systems outside the basin, and the high salinity of the water. There were many local uplifts inside the basin during E2s1-2, and the source area, supply direction, and quantity of the local provenance varied greatly. We summarized that the mixed sediments generally developed in the intermittent and stagnant periods of the source supply, or on the flank or distal end of the source supply direction due to the absence of direct interference of terrigenous clasts. To a large extent, the formation of different types of mixed deposits is controlled by the different spatiotemporal relationship with siliciclastic supply. The background of strong source supply led to the formation of large-scale mixed deposits that were mainly composed of terrigenous clasts. Mixed deposits are mainly composed of organisms and carbonate with relatively large depositional thickness formed on the flank of source supply in the steep slope area. On the flank of source supply in the gentle slope belt, thinner mixed deposits with terrigenous clasts mainly formed and thin-layer carbonate clastic-dominated deposits formed on abandoned deltas. On the uplift of the buried hill far away from the provenance, thick mixed deposits mainly composed of bioclastic were formed whereas fine-grained mixed deposits formed under the low-energy argillaceous background.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hongjie Zhou ◽  
Shambhu Sharma ◽  
Alessandro Amodio ◽  
Noel Boylan ◽  
Peter Gaunt

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