Diagenetic alterations in temperate shelf carbonates from southeastern Australia

Temperate shelf carbonates form in cool marine waters and have skeletal and mineralogical compositions which are different from their tropical counterparts. They commonly lack non-skeletal grains and are often composed of low- and high-magnesium calcite with subordinate aragonite. Many of the aragonitic components found in tropical carbonates, such as corals, ooids, blue-green algae and lime mud, are absent.

Temperate shelf carbonates undergo diagenesis in marine waters with lower carbonate saturation than do tropical carbonates, and are exposed to cool climates with moderate to low rainfall. Marine cementation is rare because of low carbonate saturations in the surrounding waters. However, aragonite and high-magnesium calcite cements have been reported forming under specialized conditions associated with biogenic precipitation, submarine methane and sulphate-reducing bacteria, and more commonly in the intertidal environment where evaporation has increased carbonate concentrations.

In Pleistocene and Tertiary temperate shelf carbonates from southeastern Australia, evidence of marine diagenesis is rare to absent. Diagenetic stabilization of aragonite and high-magnesium calcite has taken from 80,000 y to 1 My, or longer, during subaerial exposure. This is slower than rates reported from tropical climates. A general lack of aragonite in some facies within these temperate carbonates leads to a lack of secondary porosity and only sparse low-magnesium calcite cement, even after prolonged fresh-water diagenesis. However, with lengthy exposure and under the right climatic conditions, karstic solution and calcrete precipitation can occur.

In sequences containing siliciclastic clays, pyrite and glauconite, abundant iron is present in interstitial waters leading to the precipitation of ferroan calcite cements in the phreatic and shallow burial environments, and to the substitution of iron for magnesium in stabilizing high-magnesium calcite skeletal material.

A unique void-filling, micritic internal sediment occurs in discrete layers in many of the Tertiary temperate shelf carbonate sequences in southeastern Australia. This internal sediment is localized as a pore-filling material above permeability barriers such as fine-grained sediments or volcanics, and above paleo-water tables which formed during periods of subaerial exposure. It is a feature of the vadose zone and lithifies to form a dense micritic low-magnesium calcite cement with characteristic pink/brown coloration, often associated with erosion surfaces and nodule beds.

Dolomite is uncommon in the southeastern Australian temperate shelf carbonates. It forms associated with preferential fluid pathways or mixing zones. Ferroan dolomite forms in siliciclastic clay-rich carbonates in the shallow burial environment. The ubiquitous fine, evaporite-related dolomite so common in tropical carbonates is absent.     

海南岛南部一地全新世生物屑灰岩的成岩作用

引言研究标本由我所碳酸岩组采自海南岛南部的一个地点。在那里,沿岸覆于原生礁之上有一套由生物骨屑(主要是珊瑚)砂、砾所组成的、已被碳酸盐胶结的岩层,其厚约3米左右(图1)。此岩层一般称为“次生礁”。它是由当时原生礁盘上的生物被海浪击碎并冲带到礁盘上沉积下来的,这里属连岛砂堤沉积,它现已完全暴露地表。次生礁在它抬升过程中,下部被海蚀形成海蚀龛。     

莱州湾凹陷北洼沙三段砂岩碳酸盐胶结物特征及地质意义

碳酸盐胶结特征不仅反映了成岩环境,而且可表明成岩阶段及其对储层质量的影响。综合运用岩石学、矿物学和地球化学等方法,对莱州湾凹陷北洼古近系沙三段砂岩中碳酸盐胶结物的分布规律、形成环境、物质来源、沉淀温度以及其对储层物性的影响进行了系统研究。结果表明：沙三段发育两期碳酸盐胶结物,分别为形成于埋藏早期的菱铁矿和隐晶方解石,以及成岩作用中后期形成的方解石、白云石、铁方解石和铁白云石,其中方解石是最主要的胶结物类型。碳酸盐胶结物形成于埋藏作用中后期的高盐度流体环境,与有机质脱羧作用相关,有机碳是最主要的碳来源,Ca2+是长石的溶蚀和粘土矿物转化的产物。包裹体均一温度研究结果表明,碳酸盐胶结物在油气充注的同时或之后形成。形成于成岩作用早期的碳酸盐胶结物在一定程度上增强了岩石骨架颗粒固结和抗压实能力,同时也是后期有机酸溶蚀的主要对象,对储层物性起到促进作用;溶蚀作用之后形成的碳酸盐胶结物占据粒间孔隙和部分溶蚀孔隙,对储层物性起到破坏作用。     

东营凹陷中央隆起带沙河街组碳酸盐胶结物发育特征及其形成机制

碳酸盐胶结物是东营凹陷中央隆起带砂岩储层中重要的自生矿物,但其形成机制目前尚无深入研究.首先在岩相观察下针对东营凹陷中央隆起带沙河街组的碳酸盐胶结物进行期次划分并归纳其发育特征,再依据各期碳酸盐胶结物的共生矿物、碳氧同位素组成、流体包裹体温度、元素化学成分等信息对其形成机制进行研究.研究结果表明:研究区碳酸盐胶结物的碳不仅受到有机质成熟过程中排放的有机酸的影响,还受到沙四段沉积的湖相碳酸盐岩溶解的影响.研究区沙河街组主要发育四期碳酸盐胶结物:第一期碳酸盐胶结物以白云石为主,其形成过程与甲烷细菌对有机质的分解作用有关;第二期碳酸盐胶结物以方解石为主,与第一期碳酸盐胶结物之间夹有一层绿泥石薄膜,胶结物的形成与孔隙流体的浓缩导致的Ca、HCO₃-过饱和现象相关;第三期碳酸盐胶结物主要为方解石、白云石和铁白云石,以充填长石溶孔和原生孔隙为特征,其物质来源于长石的溶蚀及泥岩的脱水作用;第四期碳酸盐胶结物多为铁方解石和铁白云石,以充填早期碳酸盐溶蚀后形成的次生孔隙为特征,物质来源于粘土矿物的转化,多与黄铁矿颗粒共生,其形成过程受到烃类流体活动的影响.      

Calcite cementation during bacterial manganese, iron and sulphate reduction in Jurassic shallow marine carbonates

Faunally restricted argillaceous wackestones from the Middle Jurassic of eastern England contain evidence of early diagenetic skeletal aragonite dissolution and stabilization of the carbonate matrix, closely followed by precipitation of zoned calcite cements, and precipitation of pyrite. Distinctive cathodoluminescence and trace element trends through the authigenic calcites, their negative δ¹³C compositions and the location of pyrite in the paragenetic sequence indicate that calcite precipitation took place during sequential bacterial Mn, Fe and sulphate reduction. Calcite δ¹⁸O values are compatible with cementation from essentially marine pore fluids, although compositions vary owing to minor contamination with ¹⁸O-depleted ‘late’cements. Mg and Sr concentrations in the calcites are lower than those in recent marine calcite cements. This may be a result of kinetic factors associated with the shallow burial cementation microenvironments. Bicarbonate for sustained precipitation of the authigenic calcites was derived largely from aragonite remobilization, augmented by that produced through anaerobic organic matter oxidation in the metal and sulphate reduction environments. Aragonite dissolution is thought to have been induced by acidity generated during aerobic bacterial oxidation of organic matter. Distinction of post-oxic metal reduction and anoxic sulphate reduction diagenetic environments in modern carbonate sediments is uncommon outside pelagic settings, and early bacterially mediated diagenesis in modern platform carbonates is associated with extensive carbonate dissolution. High detrital Fe contents of the Jurassic sediments, and their restricted depositional environment, were probably the critical factors promoting early cementation. These precipitates constitute a unique example of calcite authigenesis in shallow water limestones during bacterial Mn and Fe reduction.     

Solution-collapse breccias of the Minkinfjellet and Wordiekammen Formations, Central Spitsbergen, Svalbard: a large gypsum palaeokarst system

Large volumes of carbonate breccia occur in the late syn-rift and early post-rift deposits of the Billefjorden Trough, Central Spitsbergen. Breccias are developed throughout the Moscovian Minkinfjellet Formation and in basal parts of the Kazimovian Wordiekammen Formation. Breccias can be divided into two categories: (i) thick, cross-cutting breccia-bodies up to 200 m thick that are associated with breccia pipes and large V-structures, and (ii) horizontal stratabound breccia beds interbedded with undeformed carbonate and siliciclastic rocks. The thick breccias occur in the central part of the basin, whereas the stratabound breccia beds have a much wider areal extent towards the basin margins. The breccias were formed by gravitational collapse into cavities formed by dissolution of gypsum and anhydrite beds in the Minkinfjellet Formation. Several dissolution fronts have been discovered, demonstrating the genetic relationship between dissolution of gypsum and brecciation. Textures and structures typical of collapse breccias such as inverse grading, a sharp flat base, breccia pipes (collapse dolines) and V-structures (cave roof collapse) are also observed. The breccias are cemented by calcite cements of pre-compaction, shallow burial origin. Primary fluid inclusions in the calcite are dominantly single phase containing fresh water (final melting points are ca 0 °C), suggesting that breccia diagenesis occurred in meteoric waters. Cathodoluminescence (CL) zoning of the cements shows a consistent pattern of three cement stages, but the abundance of each stage varies stratigraphically and laterally. δ¹⁸O values of breccia cements are more negative relative to marine limestones and meteoric cements developed in unbrecciated Minkinfjellet limestones. There is a clear relationship between δ¹⁸O values and the abundance of the different cement generations detected by CL. Paragenetically, later cements have lower δ¹⁸O values recording increased temperatures during their precipitation. Carbon isotope values of the cements are primarily rock-buffered although a weak trend towards more negative values with increasing burial depth is observed. The timing of gypsum dissolution and brecciation was most likely related to major intervals of exposure of the carbonate platform during Gzhelian and/or Asselian/Sakmarian times. These intervals of exposure occurred shortly after deposition of the brecciated units and before deep burial of the sediments.     

Origin and diagenesis of lacustrine algal bioherms at the margin of the Ries crater, Upper Miocene, southern Germany

The marginal carbonate facies of the Miocene Ries meteorite crater lake in southern Germany contain bioherms up to 7 m high and 15 m across built by the green alga Cladophorites. The algae were externally encrusted during life by micrite, probably precipitated in response to photosynthetic uptake of CO₂, which produced tufts of fine (100 μm diameter), calcareous tubes. Coalescence of tufts, together with incorporation of peloidal and skeletal sand, created nodules and cones of algal tufa which in turn formed larger masses some of which are in the form of compound cones up to 2 m high. The bioherms are constructed by beds and groups of these cones and masses, and are surrounded by poorly cemented peloid, ostracod and gastropod sands. Five depositional and diagenetic stages of development can be distinguished: (1) growth and calcification (probably calcitic) of Cladophorites in shallow fresh- or slightly brackish water; (2) emergence due to a temporary fall in lake level and veneering of the algal tufa and adjacent sediments by laminated sinter; (3) resubmergence and deposition of peloidal and skeletal sands; (4) burial and partial phreatic dolomitization, together with dissolution of aragonite and penecontemporaneous deposition of thin isopachous rims of dolomite rhombs; (5) local vadose cementation by rhombs, spar and spikes of low-magnesian calcite. Stages 1–3 probably occurred several times. Most of the biohermal and surrounding sediments were produced by biological processes in the lake; subaerial sinter deposition and meteoric cementation have contributed relatively minor amounts of material and the majority of the sediments retain porosities of 10–30%.     

Relationships between lithology and diagenesis in a limeston—marl facies transition: an electron microprobe study

A 3 km long lateral facies transition from Oligo-Miocene skeletal grainstones into packstones and mudstones displays systematic variation in carbonate skeletal fragment alteration and secondary carbonate mineral composition. Within the skeletal grainstone end-member all aragonitic grains have dissolved, all Mg-calcite skeletal fragments have altered to calcite, and calcite has been precipitated as both void-filling spar and as syntaxial overgrowths on echinoid fragments. Within the transitional grainstone-packstone lithologies some skeletal fragments show preservation of their original mineralogy, while calcite, ferroan calcite spar and dolomite have precipitated in void spaces. Within the packstone-mudstone end-member of the transition, aragonitic grains have been preserved and Mg-calcite skeletal fragments have retained most of their magnesium. Thin, originally porous grainstone layers within the pack-stone-mudstones contain sideroplesite and ferroan calcite spar in void spaces, and iron has been incorporated in skeletal fragments which were originally Mg-calcite. In these grains iron has been incorporated at the expense of magnesium until the grains approach the composition of the surrounding ferroan calcite cement. The lateral variation in diagenetic alteration across this facies transition is a function of differing groundwater movement and composition, controlled ultimately by the composition, porosity and permeability of the host lithologies.     

Late-stage calcites in the Permian Capitan Formation and its equivalents, Delaware Basin margin, west Texas and New Mexico: evidence for replacement of precursor evaporites

Comparison of Upper Guadalupian fore-reef, reef and back-reef strata from outcrops in the Guadalupe Mountains with equivalent subsurface cores from the northern and eastern margins of the Delaware Basin indicates that extensive evaporite diagenesis has occurred in both areas. In both surface and subsurface sections, the original sediments were extensively dolomitized and most primary and secondary porosity was filled with anhydrite. These evaporites were emplaced by reflux of evaporitic fluids from shelf settings through solution-enlarged fractures and karstic sink holes into the underlying strata. Outcrop areas today, however, contain no preserved evaporites in reef and fore-reef sections and only partial remnants of evaporites are retained in back-reef settings. In their place, these rocks contain minor silica, very large volumes of coarse sparry calcite and some secondary porosity. The replacement minerals locally form pseudomorphs of their evaporite precursors and, less commonly, contain solid anhydrite inclusions. Some silicification, dissolution of anhydrite and conversion of anhydrite to gypsum have occurred in these strata where they are still buried at depths in excess of 1 km; however, no calcite replacements were noted from any subsurface core samples. Subsurface alteration has also led to the widespread, late-stage development of large- and small-scale dissolution breccias. The restriction of calcite cements to very near-surface sections, petrographic evidence that the calcites post-date hydrocarbon emplacement, and the highly variable but generally ‘light’carbon and oxygen isotopic signatures of the spars all indicate that calcite precipitation is a very late diagenetic (telogenetic) phenomenon. Evaporite dissolution and calcitization reactions have only taken place where Permian strata were flushed with meteoric fluids as a consequence of Tertiary uplift, tilting and breaching of regional hydrological seals. A typical sequence of alteration involves initial corrosion of anhydrite, one or more stages of hydration/dehydration during conversion to gypsum, dissolution of gypsum and precipitation of sparry calcite. Such evaporite dissolution and replacement processes are probably continuing today in near-outcrop as well as deeper settings. This study emphasizes the potential importance of telogenetic processes in evaporite diagenesis and in the precipitation of carbonate cements. The extensive mineralogical and petrophysical transformations which these strata have undergone during their uplift indicates that considerable caution must be exercised in using surface exposures to interpret subsurface reservoir parameters in evaporitic carbonate rocks.     

贵州紫云二叠纪生物礁的胶结作用

应用岩石学和地球化学方法研究了中国西南地区发育最好的紫云二叠纪生物礁组合的胶结作用,识别出七种胶结物类型,详细描述了它们的岩石学及地球化学特征,探讨了礁组合的胶结作用史。     

Magnesian calcite cements and their diagenesis: dissolution and dolomitization, Mururoa Atoll

The most ubiquitous syn-sedimentary cements affecting Mururoa atoll are composed of magnesian calcite. Three main types are distinguished: fibrous, bladed and sparitic on the basis of petrography, morphology and MgCO₃ concentration of the constituting crystals, while peloid infills, a particular form of HMC chemical precipitation, also exist. Petrographic evidence and isotopic signatures are compatible with marine precipitation. Mururoa atoll was exposed several times to meteoric diagenesis resulting in varied diagenetic alterations including selective dissolution and partial dolomitization of Mg-calcite cements. These alterations are responsible for substantial modifications of the initial cement fabrics and may introduce unconformities in the diagenetic chronology. The first stage of the partial dissolution of Mg-calcite induces the development of chalky, white friable zones within the initially crystalline, hard cement layers. At ultrascale, this is due to the creation of micro-voids along the elongate cement fibres. Advanced dissolution includes total disappearance of cement portions as attested to by large voids within the cement crust and/or between superposed cement layers. Mg-calcite dissolution is related to meteoric diagenesis during periods of Quaternary exposure. The creation of voids within Mg-calcite layers is due to the mechanical removal of previously altered calcium carbonate, a process suggesting marine or non-marine water flow, probably in the vadose environment. Selective dolomitization of Mururoa cements involves alternations of calcite and dolomite which form successive cement-like rinds within primary cavities. At Mururoa, these alternations are the result of selective dolomitization of the pre-existing Mg-calcite cements rather than successive precipitation of calcite and dolomite. Selective dolomitization of Mg-calcite cements at Mururoa indicates that a given cement succession is not necessarily a simple chronological sequence. Oxygen isotope values of dolomites are enriched in δ¹⁸6 by about 3‰ PDB within calcite-dolomite pseudo-alternations. The dolomitizing fluid at Mururoa seems similar to present marine water although some mixture with meteoric water is probable to favour dissolution associated with dolomitization.     

Synsedimentary dolospar cementation: a possible Devonian example in the Camsell Formation, Northwest Territories, Canada1

A unique association of beds containing fenestral pore-filling medium crystalline dolomite with beds of dolospar and quartz sandstone occurs in the Lower Devonian Camsell Formation. Many of these sandstones consist almost entirely of dolospar sand. Sedimentological, petrographic, cathodoluminescent and chemical data indicate that the dolospar sands consist of grains that have been eroded and reworked during Camsell deposition from fenestral dolostone beds that directly underlie these sandstones. Erosional truncation of individual dolomite crystals and of intracrystalline cathodoluminescent zonations along the edges of sand grains indicates that either dolomitization, or dolomite cementation of the pore-filling carbonate cements within fenestrae of the fenestral fabrics, occurred before erosion and deposition of dolospar sand. The fine details of the cathodoluminescent zonations suggest that the pore-filling fenestral dolomite originated as primary cements that underwent some annealing recrystallization under the influence of high subsurface temperatures. This unique occurrence may document synsedimentary Devonian cementation by medium to coarsely crystalline dolomite.     

THE CARBONATE FRACTION OF BEACH AND DUNE SANDS

The sand size carbonate fractions of beach and dune sands from the southeastern U.S. Atlantic coast were investigated from the standpoint of mineralogy, roundness and size distribution. The carbonate fractions of beach-dune sands used in this study range in abundance from less than 1% to over 40% and average about 10%. Calcium carbonate is least abundant in Georgia beaches and increases slightly to the north and greatly to the south. The size distribution of the carbonate fraction is similar to that of the non-carbonate fraction since both have been distributed by the same processes. The variable flat shape of calcareous fragments causes the carbonate fraction to be usually coarser and more poorly sorted than the acid insoluble residues of the samples. No regional relationship between roundness and wave energies was found in sand size materials although field observations indicate high energies strikingly round gravel sized calcareous fragments. There is some tendency for angularity to increase with decreasing grain size in the sand sizes as with quartz grains. The mineralogy of beach sand carbonate fractions is characterized by the almost total absence of high My calcite. Aragonite is the dominant mineral.     

鄂尔多斯盆地南部奥陶系碳酸盐储层的胶结作用

鄂尔多斯盆地南部奥陶系马家沟组主要由原始沉积的碳酸盐岩和岩溶角砾岩组成。储集空间以次生孔隙为主。中奥陶世沉积作用之后不久,即发生了溶解作用、白云石沉淀、干化脱水作用、机械压实作用、岩溶作用和胶结作用。胶结作用很普遍,主要发生在中石炭世之后的埋藏条件下,是对储层重要的破坏作用。充填于硬石膏结核溶模孔和非组构选择性溶蚀孔、洞、缝的方解石和白云石是最常见的胶结物。这些方解石和白云石胶结物具泥晶、嵌晶状或粒状晶粒结构。泥晶白云石基质的δ18O值-10.98‰~-0.8‰,平均-5.54‰;δ13C值-4.76‰~5.77‰,平均1.51‰。充填于溶蚀孔、缝中的白云石的δ18O值-12.54‰~-2.67‰,平均-7.34‰;δ13C值-5.56
‰~3.48‰,平均0.28‰。充填于溶蚀孔、缝方解石的δ18O值-15.42‰~-6.02‰,平均-9.51‰;δ13C值-12.44‰~1.33‰,平均-3.20‰。总的来说,白云石和方解石胶结物的δ18O和δ13C值低于泥晶白云石基质的,原因是形成晚,受淡水淋滤、埋藏作用和有机质影响较大。泥晶白云石基质的Na含量0~350 μg/g,平均59 μg/g; Sr含量0~380 μg/g,平均10 μg/g;Fe含量0~14 570 μg/g,平均1 040 μg/g;Mn含量0~4 670 μg/g,平均183 μg/g。充填于次生孔隙中的胶结物的Na、Sr、Mn含量与泥晶白云石基质的差别不大,因这些元素含量均低。充填于次生孔隙的碳酸盐胶结物较泥晶白云石基质有明显高的Fe含量。胶结物包裹体的均一温度在90℃~140℃范围内。胶结物沉淀于埋藏较深,温度较高的还原条件下。流体包裹体的气相成分以CH4最为普遍,液相成分以H2O占绝大多数。早期胶结物形成于天然气形成前,晚期胶结物形成于天然气形成之后。岩溶洼地是胶结作用最发育的地带。     

Syntectonic hydrothermal calcite in a faulted carbonate platform margin (Albian of Jorrios, northern Spain)

ABSTRACT A calcite mass more than 1·5 km long and 20 m wide crops outs along the faulted margin of the Albian carbonate platform of Jorrios in northern Spain. The mass contains abundant dissolution cavities up to 7 m long and 1 m high, filled with cross‐stratified quartz sandstone and alternating sandstone–calcite laminae. Similar cavities are also present in a 50‐m‐wide zone of platform limestones adjacent to the calcite mass that are filled with limestone breccias and sandstone. The calcite mass has mean δ¹⁸O values of 19·6‰ (SMOW), whereas platform limestones have mean δ¹⁸O values of 24·4‰ (SMOW). Synsedimentary faulting of the carbonate margin and circulation of heated fault‐related waters resulted in replacement of a band of limestone by calcite. Soon after this replacement, dissolution by undersaturated fluids affected both the calcite mass and the adjacent limestones. Percolating marine quartz sand filled all dissolution cavities, sometimes alternating with precipitating calcite. The resulting cavities and fills, which recall products of meteoric diagenesis, are attributed to a hydrothermal origin based on their geometry, occurrence along the profile and synsedimentary tectonic relationships. The early faulting and diagenesis are related to local extensional tectonism in a large‐scale strike‐slip setting. Movements occurred during the early dispar/appenninica zone of the Late Albian.     

Microbially induced cementation of carbonate sands: are micritic meniscus cements good indicators of vadose diagenesis?

Characteristic fabrics such as micrite envelopes, calcified filaments and micritic grain-to-grain bridges are observed in a modern subtidal firmground (Wood Cay, Bahamas) and in a variety of firm- and hardgrounds of Lower Cretaceous and Upper Jurassic platform carbonates (Swiss and French Jura Mountains). Their similarity to microbial fabrics described in grapestones and in intertidal to continental vadose environments suggests that microbial activity played an important role in the initial stabilization and cementation of carbonate sands. 'Meniscus-type cements' (to distinguish them from vadose meniscus cements), which clearly formed in subtidal environments, are related to filament calcification, trapping of percolating micrite and microbially induced carbonate formation. Such meniscus-type cements are commonly micritic, but meniscus-shaped precipitation of fibrous aragonite or sparitic calcite around organic filaments is also observed. Therefore, an interpretation of vadose early diagenesis should not be based on meniscus cements alone. Similarly, subtidally formed filamentous structures can strongly resemble alveolar septal structures and be interpreted incorrectly as related to subaerial exposure.     

Integrated diagenesis and sequence stratigraphic study of tidal sandstones: the Adedia Formation (Cambro-Ordovician), Sinai, Egypt

This work examines the different effects meteoric versus marine diagenesis had on Cambro-Ordovician tidal sandstones during episodes of fluctuating sea level. The distribution of diagenetic fabrics was compared to a sequence stratigraphic framework. Initially, a rise in relative sea level (RSL) resulted in deposition of transgressive systems tract sands directly onto crystalline basement. These sandstones display evidence of limited cementation by marine, grain-fringing dogtooth-like and fibrous calcite. A fall in RSL resulted in the progradation of a tidal flat complex and deposition of highstand systems tract (HST) and lowstand systems tract (braided fluvial) sandstones. Contemporaneous meteoric-water flux into sands of all the systems tracts occurred. Sequence boundaries (SB) are marked by fluvial incision of tidal sands and by the development of palaeosols. Meteoric incursion during sea-level lowstands resulted in the dissolution and kaolinitization of feldspars, micas and mud intraclasts in all systems tracts, but is most extensive in HST sandstones below the SB. The effect of meteoric-water flux on the dissolution of marine calcite cements is poorly known. Mesogenetic alterations include intergranular pressure dissolution and formation of variable amounts of syntaxial quartz overgrowths in all systems tracts. Telogenetic alteration (i.e. weathering) in the sandstones includes the formation of goethite and calcite. Thus, the integration of diagenesis with sequence stratigraphy provides a useful tool with which to understand reservoir-quality distribution in sand-dominated, tidal sediments.     

Lower Cambrian patch reefs and associated sediments: southern Labrador, Canada

The complex pattern of biological accretion, internal sedimentation, early lithification, and biological destruction, that characterizes modern reefs and many fossil reefs has been recognized in archaeocyathid-rich patch reefs of Lower Cambrian age in the Forteau Formation, southern Labrador. Patch reefs occur as isolated masses or complex associations of many discrete masses of archaeocyathid-rich limestone and skeletal lime sands, surrounded by well-bedded skeletal limestones and shales. Each reef is composed of many loafshaped mounds stacked on top of one another. The limestone of each mound comprises archaeocyathids and Renalcis or Renalcis-like structures in a matrix of argillaceous lime mud rich in sponge spicules, trilobite and salterellid skeletons. Numerous growth cavities roofed by pendant Renalcis-like organisms and Renalcis are partially to completely filled with geopetal sediment indicating that much of the matrix was deposited as internal sediment. Two stages of diagenetic alteration are recognized: (1) syn-depositional, which affected only the reefs, and (2) post-depositional, which affected both reefs and inter-reef sediments. On the sea floor reef sediments were pervasively cemented and fibrous carbonate was precipitated in intraskeletal and growth cavities. These limestones and cements as well as archaeocyathid skeletons, were subsequently bored by endolithic organisms. Later post-depositional subaerial diagenesis resulted first in dissolution of certain skeletons and precipitation of calcite cement above the water table, followed by extensive precipitation of pore-filling calcite below the water table. These carbonate reefs are similar in structure to the basal pioneer accumulations of much younger lower and middle Palaeozoic reefs. They did not develop into massive ‘ecologic’ reefs because archaeocyathids never developed the necessary large, massive, hemispherical skeletons. This occurrence indicates that reefs developed more or less coincident with, and not long after, the appearance of skeletal metazoans in the Lower Cambrian.     

Contrasting diagenesis of two Carboniferous Oolites from South Wales: a tale of climatic influence

Two oolites in the Dinantian (Mississippian/Lower Carboniferous) of Glamorgan, SW Britain, were deposited in similar depositional environments but have contrasting diagenetic histories. The Brofiscin and Gully Oolites occur in the upper parts of shallowing-upward sequences, formed through strandplain progradation and sand shoal and barrier growth upon a southward-dipping carbonate ramp. The Brofiscin Oolite is characterized by a first-generation cement of equant calcite spar, preferentially located at grain-contacts and forming non-isopachous fringes around grains, interpreted as meteoric vadose and phreatic in origin. Isopachous fibrous calcite fringes of marine origin are rather rare and occur only at a few horizons. Burial compaction was not important and porosity was occluded by poikilotopic calcite spar. Fitted grain-grain contacts locally occur and could be the result of near-surface vadose dissolution-compaction. Syntaxial overgrowths on echinoderm debris are common. Pre-compaction overgrowths are cloudy (inclusion-rich) and probably of meteoric origin, and post-compaction overgrowths are inclusion-free. By contrast, the Gully Oolite has little first-generation cement. However, marine fibrous calcite is common in oolitic intraclasts, as isopachous fringes of acicular calcite crystals closely associated with peloidal internal sediment; and early equant, drusy calcite spar occurs in the uppermost part of the Gully, beneath a prominent palaeokarst where pedogenic cements also occur. The major feature of Gully diagenesis is burial compaction, resulting in extensive grain-grain dissolution and microstylolitic grain contacts, and post-compaction poikilotopic spar occluded remaining porosity. The Brofiscin Oolite is pervasively dolomitized up-dip but the Gully Oolite for the most part only contains scattered pre-compaction dolomite rhombs and late veins of baroque dolomite, with less pervasive dolomitization. The difference in diagenetic style of the two Dinantian oolites is attributed to prevailing climate. The paucity of early meteoric cements in the Gully is a result of an arid climate, and this is supported by the nature of the capping palaeokarst. The abundant meteoric cements in the Brofiscin reflect a more humid climate, and effective meteoric recharge also resulted in up-dip pervasive mixing-zone dolomitization. The style of early diagenesis in these two oolites exerted a major control on the later burial diagenesis: in the Brofiscin, the early cements inhibited grain-grain dissolution and pressure solution, while these processes operated extensively in the Gully Oolite. Thus, prevailing climate can influence a limestone's diagenetic history from near-surface through into deep burial.     

Hydrothermal mixing,carbonate dissolution and sulfide precipitation in Mississippi Valley-type deposits

A large number of Mississippi Valley-Type (MVT) deposits are located within dissolution zones in carbonate host rocks. Some genetic models propose the existence of cavities generated by an earlier event such as a shallow karstification, that were subsequently filled with hydrothermal minerals. Alternative models propose carbonate dissolution caused by the simultaneous precipitation of sulfides. These models fail to explain either the deep geological setting of the cavities, or the observational features which suggest that the dissolution of carbonates and the precipitation of minerals filling the cavities are not strictly coeval. We present a genetic model inspired by the textural characteristics of MVT deposits that accounts for both the dissolution of carbonate and precipitation of sulfides and later carbonates in variable volumes. The model is based on the mixing of two hydrothermal fluids with a different chemistry. Depending on the proportion of the end members, the mixture dissolves and precipitates carbonates even though the two mixing solutions are both independently saturated in carbonates. We perform reactive transport simulations of mixing of a regional groundwater and brine ascending through a fracture, both saturated in calcite, but with different overall chemistries (Ca and carbonate concentrations, pH, etc). As a result of the intrinsic effects of chemical mixing, a carbonate dissolution zone, which is enhanced by acid brines, appears above the fracture, and another zone of calcite precipitation builds up between the cavity and the surrounding rock. Sulfide forms near the fracture and occupies a volume smaller than the cavity. A decline of the fluid flux in the fracture would cause the precipitation of calcite within the previously formed cavities. Therefore, dissolution of carbonate host rock, sulfide precipitation within the forming cavity, and later filling by carbonates may be part of the same overall process of mixing of fluids in the carbonate host rock.Editorial handling: C. Everett