鲕粒成因研究的新进展

鲕粒的成因一直是一个谜一样的沉积学难题。Brehm等在2006年的实验室研究的结果表明,将鲕粒的形成可以与叠层石进行类比,是一个特殊的球状微生物席的产物,从而将鲕粒归为微生物成因。最近,来自于巴哈马现代鲕粒的研究,Duguid等在2010年认为,鲕粒形成与微生物活动不存在一个直接的关系,重新强调了鲕粒形成的化学过程,即...     

鲕粒原生矿物识别及对海水化学成分变化的指示意义

鲕粒是碳酸盐沉积过程中一类非常特殊的颗粒类型, 为研究当时的沉积背景、水动力条件、气候环境, 甚至储层特征提供了重要线索。然而, 鲕粒的矿物组成及控制因素问题, 长期受到忽视。组成鲕粒的原生矿物类型在地质历史时期呈周期性变化, 在显生宙表现为三个以文石和高镁方解石占主导的时期以及两个以低镁方解石占主导的时期, 这也被称作“文石海”和“方解石海”时期。原生矿物的组成, 制约着鲕粒的纹层结构、保存程度以及成岩特征, 还蕴含着海水化学成分变化的线索。鲕粒原生矿物识别主要依据:①原生纹层结构;②保存程度;③微量元素浓度, 尤其是Sr-Mg的浓度。文石质鲕粒受文石不稳定性的影响, 原生结构保存程度较差;一般保存有典型的文石残余纹层结构(例如砖砌结构、溶解变形结构以及偏心结构等);在封闭成岩环境下原生矿物为文石质的鲕粒Sr浓度往往大于2 000 ppm;纹层结构主要为切线状(占主导)和放射状。方解石质鲕粒包括低镁方解石和高镁方解石两种类型:低镁方解石为稳定矿物, 原生结构一般保存良好。尽管高镁方解石也为亚稳定矿物, 但成岩转换后的保存程度好于文石。两者Sr含量一般均低于1 000 ppm, Mg含量一般在0~20 mol % MgCO₃(两者以4 mol % MgCO₃为界)。高镁方解石受成岩作用影响, 在纹层中往往保留有微粒白云石包裹体;海相地层中保存的方解石质鲕粒为放射状或同心-放射状结构。另外还存在一类由两种矿物共同构成的双矿物鲕粒, 可以通过分析两类纹层在结构和保存特征上的差异进行区分。鲕粒原生矿物成分随时间的波动变化受到海水化学条件, 尤其是Mg/Ca比值, 大气二氧化碳分压以及碳酸盐饱和度的控制。Mg/Ca比值的波动决定着鲕粒原生矿物类型的长期变化规律。一些突发性事件可能会扰动(区域)短时间尺度下鲕粒原生矿物的组成, 造成鲕粒原生矿物的转换。通过研究碳酸盐鲕粒原生矿物特征以及控制因素进而了解海水的化学特征, 是独立于古生物学和地球化学分析之外的一种较为可靠的沉积学方法。     

Ooids in Purbeck limestones (lowermost Cretaceous) of the Swiss and French Jura

ABSTRACT Ooids occurring in the shallow-water Purbeckian carbonate sediments of the Jura mountains can be grouped into six types. Gradations from one type to another and coexistence of the various types are common. Type 1 ooids are small and well rounded. They display fine concentric micritic laminae. In many cases their cortices are dissolved and replaced by void-filling spar. Microsparitic neomorphic replacement occurs locally. Type 2 ooids are large and have irregular shapes. They show fine micritic laminae and occasional layers of fine-radial crystals. They commonly evolve into oncoids. Ooids of type 3 display many fine-radial cortical laminae and are patchily micritized. They are medium in size and mostly well rounded. This type of ooid may pass into large, irregularly shaped coated grains. Type 4 ooids have 1 to 4 cortical laminae with a fine-radial structure and patchy micritization. They are medium in size and well rounded. Type 5 ooids have only one lamina with a coarse-radial structure. They are small and well rounded. Associated are spherical grains containing bundles of elongate crystals. Ooids of type 6 show superpositions of two or more different, radial and or fine micritic laminae. The cortical structure may also change laterally in the same lamina. The preferential dissolution of type 1 ooid cortices to form oomoulds indicates a primary composition of unstable carbonate. Sedimentological features and comparison with modern ooid occurrences point to formation on high-energy sandbars in normal-marine waters. Type 2 ooids grew in marine-lagoonal environments with quiet water and abundant cyanobacteria. The radially structured ooid cortices of types 3, 4 and 5 show no dissolution features. This implies that they were originally composed of stable carbonates, or that an unstable carbonate phase was transformed into a stable one at an early stage of diagenesis. Type 3 ooids occur together with marine faunas and indicate high water energy. Ooids of type 4 and type 5 originated probably from relatively quiet water of variable salinity. Coexistence of different ooid types and mixed forms of type 6 implies gradual or rapid changes in hydrodynamic, geochemical and microbiological conditions which were a feature of the Purbeckian depositional environments.     

New interpretations of Great Salt Lake ooids and of ancient non-skeletal carbonate mineralogy

Earlier interpretations of textural alteration affecting Great Salt Lake ooids have greatly influenced concepts of ooid diagenesis. Scanning electron microscope study shows, however, that the coarse radial aragonite rays are depositional, that no recrystallization of pellet cores has occurred, and that Great Salt Lake ooids have not suffered noticeable diagenesis. As suggested by Kahle (1974), radial texture in ancient calcitic ooids is probably mainly original, not diagenetic. Retention of such fine textures has been attributed to organic matter (since found to be equivalent in modern skeletal and non-skeletal grains) or to paramorphic replacement (proposed for non-skeletal grains whose original aragonite mineralogy was only inferred from modern analogs). Pleistocene ooids known to have been aragonite alter like aragonite shells to coarse neomorphic calcite, often with aragonite relics. The striking uniformity of that coarse texture in neomorphic calcite replacing known skeletal aragonites throughout the geologic record has been noted for over 100 years. In contrast, Mississippian ooids retain fine texture as do calcite layers of coexisting gastropods, but unlike the strongly altered aragonite layers of these same gastropods. Therefore, inferences of original aragonitic mineralogy of ancient non-skeletal carbonate grains (including muds) which are now calcite but retain fine texture appear unwarranted, as do assumptions of differential diagenetic behaviour of ancient aragonitic skeletal and non-skeletal grains. Accordingly, modern depositional environments of marine ooids and carbonate muds must be rejected as chemically unrepresentative of comparable ancient environments. It is inferred that ancient non-skeletal carbonates were originally predominantly or exclusively calcite because of an earlier lower oceanic Mg/Ca ratio (<2/1) which altered progressively to values favouring aragonite (modern Mg/Ca value = 5/1). Major influencing factors are: selective removal of calcium by planktonic foraminifers and coccolithophorids since Jurassic-Cretaceous time and by abundant younger, Mg-poor aragonite skeletons and an erratic trend toward decreasing dolomite formation (decreasing removal of oceanic Mg). The change to aragonite dominance over calcite for non-skeletal carbonates was probably during early to middle Cenozoic time.     

Pyritized ooids,stringed ooids and reticulate tubular structures from within the black shale at Amjhor,Bihar, India

Carbonate ooids, notionally incompatible with an euxinic environment, and some curious reticulate tubular structures with fibrous carbonate walls are described from intraclasts occurring in Proterozoic black shales containing the pyrite deposit at Amjhor. While some of the tubes are visibly due to coalescence of ooids, others are interpreted as worm burrows on the basis of their strata-transgressive orientation, branching nature and larger diameter than those of the ooids.All stages of pyritization of ooids and tube-cores, displaying truncation of the growth-fabric of calcite grains by growing pyrite crystals, point to a late- or post-diagenetic age of pyritization. The clasts containing ooids and tubes are believed to have been transported from a shallow-bank and/or a nearshore environment into a lagoonal, euxinic basin. An environmental model, consistent with the observed data, is proposed to account for the ooid—black shale association.     

Calcitic, aragonitic and mixed calcitic-aragonitic ooids from the mid-Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Montana

A great variety of ooid types occurs within the Siyeh and Snowslip Formations of the mid-Proterozoic Belt Supergroup, Montana. Cortical layers are inferred to have been composed either of calcite in a radial-concentric or radial-with-dark-rays fabric or, aragonite in a radial or concentric fabric. The calcitic cortical layers record their original fabrics but the originally aragonitic cortical layers have been replaced by calcite in a range of textures and by quartz and dolomite. Some formerly aragonitic cortical layers are replaced by calcite spar which contains relics of the original cortical structure. Others consist of calcite spar without inclusions, or columnar calcite which grew radially from the nucleus, commonly a calcitic ooid. Some ooids were wholly composed of calcite, others were of aragonite, but two phase ooids were common, mostly consisting of an inner calcitic part and an outer aragonitic part. Probable microdolomite inclusions suggest a high Mg content of the calcitic cortical layers. The depositional environment of these oolites was probably analogous to Baffin Bay, Texas, where a similar range of ooid types is forming today.     

寒武纪丝状蓝细菌生物膜主导和诱发的巨型鲕粒:以河南新安县石井剖面苗岭统徐庄组为例*

多样化的产出环境和30×10⁸年的分布历史表明,鲕粒成因一直是一个谜一样的沉积学难题,争论的关键问题是其究竟是有机(微生物)成因还是无机成因。来自于华北地台寒武系苗岭统徐庄组鲕粒滩相灰岩顶部的方解石巨鲕表现出同心状、放射—同心状和泥晶质的沉积组构,在鲕粒核心和鲕粒皮层中保存着精美的葛万菌(Girvanella)化石所主导的光合作用生物膜的钙化作用残余物,这为研究鲕粒形成与光合作用生物膜之间复杂的成因联系提供了一个较为直接的微生物证据,因为葛万菌可相对较为肯定地类比于近代的钙化织线菌(Plectonema)丝状蓝细菌化石。所以说,在伴随着后生动物辐射的寒武纪蓝细菌繁盛的方解石海中,尽管形成放射状鲕粒皮层的放射纤维状方解石的沉淀作用机理还没有得到完全彻底的了解,但是这些巨鲕确实表现出光合作用生物膜诱发、滋养并促进了鲕粒形成的直接证据,进一步支持了“鲕粒沉积可以作为一种不同的微生物岩体系新类型”的重要科学理念。     

Selective and reversible carbonate—silica replacements in Lower Cretaceous carbonate-bearing turbidites of the Eastern Alps

In the diagenetic history of calcareous sandstones, silicacementation and silicification may be followed by carbonatecementation and replacement and vice versa, and the change-over from one to the other may occur more than once. This is well illustrated by calcareous and siliciclastic turbidites of the Gault Formation (Aptian to Albian) of the Eastern Alps which have been interpreted as deep-sea trench plain and deep-sea fan deposits. In these turbidites silicification selectively affects ooids and a few other biogenic carbonate fragments rich in organic matter (algae and bryozoans) which form a small fraction of the bulk sediment. The type and sequence of diagenetic changes are largely controlled by host-rock composition and may vary vertically within individual beds as a result of compositional grading. In the carbonate turbidites, silicification follows widespread calcite cementation. The process is slow, resulting in relatively coarsely crystalline replacement quartz. In ooids with quartz nuclei, rim-quartz forms mostly monocrystalline ‘overgrowths’ by outward replacement of the concentrically laminated carbonate cortex. This type of silicification is often incomplete leaving parts of the ooid cortices unaffected. In quartz arenites and sublitharenites silicification precedes calcite cementation. There the process is rapid, forming microcrystalline quartz. Even if the ooid nucleus consists of quartz, a syntaxial ‘overgrowth’ does not normally form. The replacement quartz is almost always polycrystalline. Late-stage diagenetic calcite and dolomite which develop euhedral crystal shapes and cut across grain boundaries may replace the earlier secondary rim-quartz of the ooids as well as other minerals. Possible sources of the silica are pressure-solution of quartz, dissolution of opaline silica of radiolarian tests and of sponge spicules, and feldspar in the host bed. In a number of examples an increase in the degree of silicification can be observed towards the lower bedding planes of individual turbidites requiring an additional external source of silica which seems to necessitate cross-formational flow of pore solutions. Silicification in both the carbonate and the siliciclastic turbidites probably took place at about the same time; in the carbonate turbidites it was preceded, however, by calcite cementation, which significantly reduced porosity and permeability before silicification took place. The greater degree of alteration experienced by the Gault turbidites of the Falknis and Tasna Nappes, which are more internal structural units of the Alps (compared to the Flysch Zone of the Eastern Alps), is reflected by the growth of quartz ‘beards’ and spikes from the ooids in the direction perpendicular to maximum stress. This is the only case observed where the rim quartz of the ooids grows beyond the original grain boundaries.     

美国得克萨斯古生界和中生界鲕粒的微孔隙度

本文所述的由1-5μm自形菱形方解石组成的微晶化鲕粒采自得克萨斯奥陶系-侏罗系的鲕粒灰岩和泥粒灰岩,其中:露头样品4个,岩心样品3个,岩屑样品7个。微晶化鲕粒的孔隙度可大于15%,渗透率为1毫达西.鲕粒的微晶化不是由淋滤作用所引起,而是在矿物稳定化过程中由文石转化而成方解石。     

寒武纪丝状蓝细菌生物膜主导和诱发的巨型鲕粒:以河南新安县石井剖面苗岭统徐庄组为例

多样化的产出环境和30×108年的分布历史表明,鲕粒成因一直是一个谜一样的沉积学难题,争论的关键问题是其究竟是有机(微生物)成因还是无机成因.来自于华北地台寒武系苗岭统徐庄组鲕粒滩相灰岩顶部的方解石巨鲕表现出同心状、放射—同心状和泥晶质的沉积组构,在鲕粒核心和鲕粒皮层中保存着精美的葛万菌(Girvanella)化石所主...     

山东省长清县中寒武统张夏组的微相组分、微相类型及沉积相分析

山东省长清县中寒武统的张夏-崮山剖面为华北地区张夏组的正层型剖面,其岩石地层、生物地层研究都较为成熟.从碳酸盐岩微相的角度,对其微相组分、微相类型和沉积环境作了进一步研究.在张夏-崮山地区的张夏组碳酸盐岩中识别出了6种微相类型:异地生物碎屑泥粒灰岩、附枝藻黏结灰岩、具再搬运鲕粒的粒泥-泥粒灰岩、含介壳及完整底栖化石的泥粒-粒泥灰岩、放射状鲕粒泥粒-粒泥灰岩和同心圆状鲕粒颗粒灰岩.微相类型的垂向叠覆及野外露头观察指示了5种沉积相带,自下而上分别为:局限台地鲕粒滩相、开阔台地海相、台地边缘鲕粒滩相、台地边缘藻礁相及台地边缘滩前斜坡相,表明山东省长清县张夏组为典型的镶边型碳酸盐岩台地沉积.     

川东北飞仙关组鲕粒特征与水动力相关性研究

早三叠世鲕粒在全球范围内广泛发育,且出现巨鲕。川东北飞仙关组台缘鲕粒滩非均质性强,鲕粒类型复杂。选择川东北龙潭村、莱溪及鱼洞子剖面进行野外实测、镜下鉴定及粒度分析,对鲕粒类型及粒度参数演化与水动力相关性进行研究。研究发现川东北飞仙关组发育7种原生沉积鲕粒,9种后生改造成因鲕粒,其中后生改造成因的破碎鲕可进一步细分。除偏度外,平均粒径、标准偏差、峰度等粒度参数及粒度资料图解曲线形态具有很强的相关性,与鲕粒类型结合判断龙潭村鲕粒滩由活动边缘带转变为稳定鲕粒砂坪沉积,水动力逐渐减小;莱溪呈活动边缘带—稳定鲕粒砂坪—活动边缘带沉积旋回,水动力先减小再增大;鱼洞子向上水动力逐渐减小。但含巨鲕的层位与整体的鲕粒类型及粒度变化趋势相关性较差,这可能是由于巨鲕异常大的粒径形成主要受微生物作用和海水碳酸盐岩饱和度的快速增大复合影响,而非水动力快速变化。因此,在利用粒度参数判断具有巨鲕发育的沉积环境水动力条件时,不能简单地凭借粒度便做出结论,需对鲕粒粒度参数进行相关性分析,去除相关性较差的样品数据。     

Geochemical evidence of microbial activity within ooids

Ooid formation remains elusive despite their importance as palaeoclimatic indicators and important contributors to global carbonate budget. Based on stable isotopes, nutrient and elemental analyses on solid components and ooidal leachates, this study supports the notion of microbial involvement in the development of ooids from Great Bahama Bank. Carbon and nitrogen isotopic analyses on organic fractions identified geochemical signatures of microbial activity. The δ¹³C values for organic carbon in the bulk (?11·9 to ?16·9‰); intercrystalline/intracrystalline (?11·9 to 16·7‰); and intracrystalline phases (?12·4 to ?17·7‰) were similar and, except for the more enriched values of ooids from Butterfly Beach, were within the range of photosynthesisers. The δ¹⁵N values for the bulk (+0·5 to ?0·2‰); intercrystalline/intracrystalline (?0·3‰ to ?0·7‰) and intracrystalline organic matter (?0·3 to ?1·7‰) showed a narrow range consistent with nitrogen fixation. While positive δ¹⁵N and δ¹⁸O values of the leached from the ooids provided evidence of denitrification, the carbonate associated sulphate δ³⁴S_CAS of the bulk sediments (+19·2 to +19·6‰) and δ³⁴S of the leachates (+16·6 to +18·3‰) provided weak indication of sulphate reduction, suggesting either that high concentrations of isotopically enriched S are overriding bio‐signatures of sulphate reduction or that microbes are preferentially using as an electron acceptor. In contrast, the elevated sulphate concentrations of the leachates suggest the occurrence of microbial sulphide oxidation within ooids. The high Mg/Ca of the leachates and scanning electron microscope analyses provide putative evidence of amorphous calcium carbonate and a formative role in CaCO₃ precipitation. Together, these findings indicate that a redox dependent microbial consortium may influence CaCO₃ precipitation in the form of ooid accretion, cementation and micritization. It is also inferred that ooid deposits are not suitable indicators of palaeoclimate because ooids are affected throughout their life by a complex chain of abiotic and biological processes which can lead to large geochemical offsets.     

鲕粒粒度特征及其指示意义

沉积物的粒度资料是确定沉积环境的重要依据,一直以来多应用在碎屑岩方面,较少用于碳酸盐岩的分析。以北京西山寒武系张夏组鲕粒石灰岩为研究对象,在野外实测、室内薄片粒度统计的基础上,通过分析鲕粒粒度参数、粒度频率曲线及概率累积曲线特征,明确了鲕粒粒度在分析鲕粒灰岩沉积环境上的重要作用,并建立了下苇甸鲕粒粒度特征与鲕粒滩在空间上的耦合关系。研究结果表明:鲕粒粒径大小、分选系数、峰度及概率累积曲线组分截点可以很好地反映鲕粒沉积水动力环境;一般情况下,水动力环境较稳定的间歇高能滩沉积的灰泥鲕粒石灰岩鲕粒粒径较小,分选好,峰度尖锐,频率曲线主要为单峰态,鲕粒以悬浮搬运为主;水动力较为动荡的高能滩沉积的亮晶鲕粒石灰岩鲕粒粒径较大,分选较差,峰度多为平坦、中等,频率曲线主要为多峰态,概率累积曲线多为一跳一悬两段式;鲕粒的粒径与鲕粒圈层类型密切相关,粒径较大的鲕粒多以同心鲕、同心放射鲕为主,粒径较小的鲕粒多为放射鲕。研究结果为分析颗粒石灰岩的沉积环境提供了理论和依据。     

粒滩相与藻坪相沉积--鲁西地区中寒武统张夏组剖析

鲁西地区中寒武统张夏组岩石的各种沉积特征表明:①华北地区普遍发育的鲕粒沉积在许多地点和层位是受海平面和水流条件变化影响的异地沉积物,而并非原始的“滩”。不同地点的鲕粒沉积具穿时性,一般由东和南向西和北层位逐步抬高,而并非同一时间的产物,即它们属同性相,而非同时相;②在鲕层中不同结构的鲕粒在一起,是由于沉积过程中不同地方的鲕粒相混合造成的,可称“沉积混合”,有的是在沉积稳定后受差异成岩作用的影响而造成的,可称“成岩混合”;③鲕粒沉积之后普遍为一套藻沉积,基本组分是Eiphyton,它处于潮坪环境,即藻坪。其中潮渠和干裂较发育。藻沉积的类型有藻斑块,藻丘、叠层石,个别地点发育藻礁;④由于海平面和潮流条件的频繁变化,使藻坪外或藻坪间的鲕粒沉积与藻坪沉积相互交替;⑤张夏组上、下段中鲕粒的形成环境不同,前者主要是较弱扰动条件下的产物,后者主要是较强和中等扰动条件下的产物;⑥综合沉积环境分析归纳出主要沉积相带的基本展布状况,由近陆向外海依次是:潮坪相-受局限水域（或泻湖）相-潮汐坝相-开阔浅海相。     

北京西山地区下苇甸剖面寒武系张夏组鲕粒硅化成因探讨

鲕粒作为碳酸盐岩中非常重要的指相颗粒,其研究主要集中在成因上面,而成岩作用研究较少。北京西山地区下苇甸剖面寒武系张夏组发育大套鲕粒灰岩,通过对该剖面野外实测、薄片观察、XRD测试等手段,结合有机碳、热解等地化参数,对鲕粒的硅化机制及其硅质来源做了系统的研究。结果表明,鲕粒溶蚀再沉淀或者新生变形作用造成鲕粒边缘有机质富集,有机质演化释放的有机酸是硅质沉淀的主要因素,硅质来源主要为陆源输入和黏土矿物的转化。由于有机质主要富集在鲕粒边缘,形成有机质膜,从而造成硅质的沉淀主要沿鲕粒边缘发生,形成鲕粒边缘特有的硅化套,这种结果也从侧面反映了微生物在原始鲕粒形成中发挥了重要作用。     

Depositional environments and iron ooid formation in condensed sections (Callovian–Oxfordian, south-eastern Paris basin, France)

Carbonate platforms across Western Europe were superseded at the Middle–Upper Jurassic (Callovian–Oxfordian) boundary either by alternating marl–limestone and widespread marl deposits or by condensed sections containing iron ooids. The characteristics of marine condensed sections in the south-eastern part of the Paris Basin (France) and their distribution pattern are examined here, and a model of iron ooid formation is developed. Iron ooids are found from the shoreface to the offshore zone. They are most abundant in the median-to-distal offshore transition zone, where they originally formed. They also occur commonly, albeit often as reworked grains, in the proximal offshore zone, to which they were transported. The contemporaneous, thick, predominantly marl sections that occur laterally are devoid of iron ooids and were deposited in deeper settings (distal offshore zone). The iron ooids are composed of goethite. Typically, they have a nucleus made up of a clump of goethite crystals and a laminated cortex. Three distinctive nanostructures are identified in the cortex laminae: (i) a nanograined crystalline structure typical of primary goethite; (ii) a secondary nanoflaked structure thought to have formed mechanically by reorientation of the goethite crystals; and (iii) a coalesced structure acquired by subsequent diagenetic recrystallization. The iron ooids formed successively (i) by lamina growth when goethite precipitated in the surface layer of the sediment (nanograined structure) and (ii) by interruption of growth when the ooids were remobilized by hydrodynamic agents, as reflected by the flaked nanostructure; (iii) these two nanostructures were sometimes transformed into a coalesced structure by recrystallization when ooids were buried.     

巨鲕的微生物成因:来自重庆石柱地区下寒武统的证据

巨鲕的产出时代多见于新元古代和早三叠世,而寒武纪的巨鲕却鲜见报道。近期,笔者在重庆石柱地区下寒武统天河板组中发现厚约35cm的透镜状巨鲕灰岩。在该层巨鲕灰岩中,巨鲕粒径一般为5～7mm,最大可达9mm,约占岩石组分的55％,与大量强烈重结晶的正常鲕粒伴生。钙质生物壳体较常见,颗粒间见亮晶方解石胶结物。研究区巨鲕最外圈纹层上常见蓝细菌化石,形成发育不完全的突起状“夭折的纹层”;巨鲕内的暗色纹层中亦见杂乱交错的、有一定重结晶的蓝细菌等微生物化石。故推测其为微生物成因形成的,且早寒武世频繁的强风暴背景和蓝细菌等微生物的积极参与是该层巨鲕形成的必备条件。     

光合作用生物膜诱发的放射鲕粒:以江苏徐州贾旺剖面寒武系苗岭统张夏组为例*

几年来针对巴哈马现代文石鲕粒的持续性研究表明,微生物和细胞外聚合物质(EPS)在鲕粒的形成和发育中起着关键而重要的作用,从而产生了一个重要的认识,即: 鲕粒可以看作是“纹层状的有机沉积构造”并遵循着微生物岩体系的一些形成特征。但是,鲕粒30亿年的发育历史、多样化的产出环境、特征性的矿物构成和各种各样的沉积组构,确实赋予了鲕粒生长和形成机理的复杂性和神秘性,因为鲕粒在何处而且如何形成、以及鲕粒究竟记录着何种生物与非生物过程的许多问题还存在剧烈争论。来自于江苏徐州贾旺剖面苗岭统张夏组上部鲕粒滩相灰岩,由较为典型的方解石放射鲕粒所组成,表现出放射状、放射—同心状和泥晶质的沉积组构,而且在鲕粒核心、鲕粒皮层以及在鲕粒间的不规则团块或凝块的暗色泥晶质构成中高密度地保存着精美的葛万菌(Girvanella)化石,进一步表明了这些暗色泥晶构成代表着较为特征的光合作用生物膜,从而提供了一个苗岭世方解石海中放射鲕粒形成较为直接的微生物证据,以及与光合作用生物膜之间复杂的成因联系,因为葛万菌是相对较为肯定地类比于近代钙化织线菌(Plectonema)的丝状蓝细菌化石,尽管还可类比于现代的伪枝菌(Scytonema)。虽然形成放射状鲕粒皮层的放射纤维状方解石的沉淀作用确实不能解释为直接的微生物沉淀作用的结果,但是,这些放射鲕粒确实表现出光合作用生物膜诱发、滋养并促进了放射纤维状方解石皮层增生作用的重要证据,为拓宽“鲕粒谜”的阐释提供了一个较为重要的典型实例,而且还成为寒武纪苗岭世方解石海与后生动物辐射相耦合的蓝细菌繁荣的重要证据。     

High-resolution (2–7 kHz) acoustic and geometric characters of submarine creep deposits in the South Korea Plateau, East Sea

A synthesis of high-resolution (Chirp, 2–7 kHz) seismic profiles in the South Korea Plateau reveals that large masses of wavy stratified sediment (≈60–90 m thick) cover broad, gently sloping (<0·5°) ridges in water depths of 1000–2000 m. The wavy stratified sediment (WSS) is characterized by wavy (0·2–5 km in wavelength and <15 m in relief), continuous reflective layers with a basal deformed zone that overlies undeformed, strong reflectors. The WSS exhibits systematic variation in wave dimensions and thickness of internal reflective layers with changes in slope gradient. The troughs of the waves are commonly associated with internal growth faults, and wave amplitude generally increases with subbottom depth. On steep slopes around the ridges, the WSS masses are bounded downslope by slide and slump deposits including slightly translated or rotated WSS blocks. The acoustic and geometric characters, and association with downslope slides and slumps on the steeper slopes, suggest that the WSS masses were most probably formed by slow creep movement before slope failure. In the absence of significant sediment input to the South Korea Plateau, the deep (1000–2000 m in water depth) mass movements were probably triggered by earthquakes that have occurred frequently in this region. Some slightly displaced, intact WSS blocks in the associated slides and slumps downslope reflect a progressive evolution from submarine creep into slide and slump.