Danian cool-water coral reefs in southern Scandinavia localised over seafloor highs

Danian (Paleocene) reefs formed by ahermatypic scleractinian corals in relatively deep water are known in a few localities in southern Scandinavia. Reflection and shallow seismic profiles, and samples from drilling and scuba diving in bridge pier excavations in Øresund, the strait between Denmark and Sweden, for the first time allow interpretation of the factors that controlled the localisation of the reefs.     

Diagenesis of silica-rich mound-bedded chalk,the Coniacian Arnager Limestone,Denmark

The Coniacian Arnager Limestone Formation is exposed on the Danish island of Bornholm in the Baltic Sea. It is composed of mound-bedded siliceous chalk, and X-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy indicate a content of 30–70% insoluble minerals, including authigenic opal-CT, quartz, clinoptilolite, feldspars, calcite, dolomite, and barite. Opal-CT and clinoptilolite are the most common and constitute 16–53% and 2–9%, respectively. The content of insoluble minerals varies laterally both within the mounds and in planar beds, and the opal-CT content varies by up to 10% vertically. The mounds consist of two microfacies, spiculitic wackestone and bioturbated spiculitic wackestone, containing 10–22% and 7–12% moulds after spicules, respectively.Subsequent to deposition and shallow burial, dissolution of siliceous sponge spicules increased the silica activity of the pore water and initiated precipitation of opal-CT. The opal-CT formed at temperatures around 17 °C, the precipitation lowered the silica activity and the Si/Al ratio of the pore water, resulting in precipitation of clinoptilolite, feldspar and smectite. Calcite formed synchronously with the latest clinoptilolite. Minor amounts of quartz precipitated in pore water with low silica activity during maximum burial, probably to depths of 200–250 m. The dissolution of sponge spicules and decomposition of the sponge tissue also resulted in the release of Ba²⁺, Sr²⁺, Mg²⁺, Ca²⁺ and CO₃^2?, facilitating precipitation of barite and dolomite. Precipitation of especially opal-CT reduced the porosity to an average of 40% and cemented the limestone. The study highlights the diagenetic pathways of bio-siliceous chalk and the effects on preservation of porosity and permeability.     

Physical behaviour of Cretaceous calcareous nannofossil ooze: Insight from flume studies of disaggregated chalk

Geomorphic features such as drifts, sediment waves and channels have been documented in the Upper Cretaceous of north‐west Europe. These features are interpreted to result from bottom currents and have been used to refine chalk depositional models and quantify palaeocirculation patterns. Chalk was first deposited as calcareous nannofossil ooze and geomorphic features are the result of sediment reworking after deposition. There is limited knowledge on the processes that govern nannofossil ooze mobility, thus forcing uncertainty onto numerical models based on sedimentological observations. This article provides an extensive view of the erosional and depositional behaviour of calcareous nannofossil ooze based on experimental work using annular flumes. A fundamental observation of this study is the significant decrease of nannofossil ooze mobility with decreasing bed porosity. Erosion characteristics, labelled as erosion types, vary with total bed porosity (φ) and applied shear stress (τ₀). High‐porosity ooze (φ >80%) is characterized by constant erosion rates (E_m). At φ <77%, however, erosion characteristics showed greater variance. Surface erosion was typically followed by transitional erosion (with asymptotically decreasing E_m), and stages of erosion with constant, and exponential erosion rates. The estimated erosion thresholds (τ_c) vary from ca 0·05 to 0·08 Pa for the onset of surface erosion and up to ca 0·19 Pa for the onset of constant erosion (φ of 60 to 85%). Variability of deposition thresholds (τ_cd) from ca 0·04 to 0·13 Pa reflects the influence of variable suspended sediment concentration and τ₀ on settling particle size due to the identified potential for chalk ooze aggregation and flocculation. Additionally, deposition thresholds seem to be affected by the size of eroded aggregates whose size correlates with bed porosity. Lastly, slow sediment transport without resuspension occurred in high‐porosity ooze as surface creep, forming low‐relief sedimentary features resembling ripples. This process represents a previously undescribed mode of fine‐grained nannofossil ooze transport.     

Upper Campanian-Maastrichtian nannofossil biostratigraphy and high-resolution carbon-isotope stratigraphy of the Danish Basin: Towards a standard δC curve for the Boreal Realm

High-resolution carbon isotope stratigraphy of the upper Campanian-Maastrichtian is recorded in the Boreal Realm from a total of 1968 bulk chalk samples of the Stevns-1 core, eastern Denmark. Isotopic trends are calibrated by calcareous nannofossil bio-events and are correlated with a lower-resolution δ¹³C profile from Rørdal, northwestern Denmark. A quantitative approach is used to test the reliability of Upper Cretaceous nannofossil bio-events and provides accurate biohorizons for the correlation of δ¹³C profiles. The Campanian-Maastrichtian boundary (CMB) is identified through the correlation of dinoflagellate biostratigraphy and δ¹³C stratigraphy between Stevns-1 and the Global boundary Standard Stratotype-section and Point at Tercis les Bains (SW France), allowing the identification of new chemical and biostratigraphic markers that provide a precise placement of the stage boundary on a regional scale. The boundary interval corresponds to the third phase of a stepwise 0.8‰ negative δ¹³C excursion, lies in calcareous nannofossil subzone UC16d^BP, and encompasses the last occurrence of nannofossil Tranolithus stemmerikii and first occurrence of nannofossil Prediscosphaera mgayae. Fifteen δ¹³C events are defined and correlated to sixteen reliable nannofossil biohorizons, thus providing a well-calibrated standard high-resolution δ¹³C curve for the Boreal Realm.     

Tempestite facies variability and storm-depositional processes across a wide ramp: Towards a polygenetic model for hummocky cross-stratification

The hydrodynamic mechanisms responsible for the genesis and facies variability of shallow-marine sandstone storm deposits (tempestites) have been intensely debated, with particular focus on hummocky cross-stratification. Despite being ubiquitously utilized as diagnostic elements of high-energy storm events, the full formative process spectrum of tempestites and hummocky cross-stratification is still to be determined. In this study, detailed sedimentological investigations of more than 950 discrete tempestites within the Lower Cretaceous Rurikfjellet Formation on Spitsbergen, Svalbard, shed new light on the formation and environmental significance of hummocky cross-stratification, and provide a reference for evaluation of tempestite facies models. Three generic types of tempestites are recognized, representing deposition from: (i) relatively steady and (ii) highly unsteady storm-wave-generated oscillatory flows or oscillatory-dominated combined-flows; and (iii) various storm-wave-modified hyperpycnal flows (including waxing–waning flows) generated directly from plunging rivers. A low-gradient ramp physiography enhanced both distally progressive deceleration of the hyperpycnal flows and the spatial extent and relative magnitude of wave-added turbulence. Sandstone beds display a wide range of simple and complex configurations of hummocky cross-stratification. Features include ripple cross-lamination and ‘compound’ stratification, soft-sediment deformation structures, local shifts to quasi-planar lamination, double draping, metre-scale channelized bed architectures, gravel-rich intervals, inverse-to-normal grading, and vertical alternation of sedimentary structures. A polygenetic model is presented to account for the various configurations of hummocky cross-stratification that may commonly be produced during storms by wave oscillations, hyperpycnal flows and downwelling flows. Inherent storm-wave unsteadiness probably facilitates the generation of a wide range of hummocky cross-stratification configurations due to: (i) changes in near-bed oscillatory shear stresses related to passing wave groups or tidal water-level variations; (ii) multidirectional combined-flows related to polymodal and time-varying orientations of wave oscillations; and (iii) syndepositional liquefaction related to cyclic wave stress. Previous proximal–distal tempestite facies models may only be applicable to relatively high-gradient shelves, and new models are necessary for low-gradient settings.     

Upper Carboniferous cyclic shelf deposits, Kapp Kåre Formation, Bjørnøya, Svalbard: response to high frequency, high amplitude sea level fluctuations and local tectonism

The upper Bashkirian-Moscovian Kapp KIre Formation is well-exposed in coastal cliff sections along the west coast of Bjørnøya, Svalbard. It is composed of stacked cycles of nixed siliciclastics and carbonates in the lower Bogevika Member and of cyclic shelf carbonates in the overlying Efuglvika Member. The uppermost Kobbebukta Member consists of shelf carbonates and syntectonic conglomerates and sandy turbidites. The shift in cycle types reflects an overall transgression of the region during the Moscovian combined with renewed tectonic activity and uplift of eastern Bjørnøya during the late Moscovian. Twelve carbonate facies and 6 siliciclastic facies are distinguished. The carbonate facies range from intertidal dolomitic mudstones with pseudomorphs after gypsum to subwavebase, intensely bioturbated wackestones. Most carbonates are deeper subtidal facies and shallow marine carbonate facies are only common in the transgressive part of mixed siliciclastic-carbonate cycles of the Bogevika Member. Incorporating the effects of high amplitude, high frequency glacioeustacy and active extensional tectonism, a dynamic model is developed to explain the spatial variability of facies observed within the Kapp Kke Formation. Observations from Bjørnøya are placed within the context of the regional structural and stratigraphic framework so that significance of the study to ongoing exploration efforts in the Barents Sea can be evaluated. Most important, our observations suggest that dolomitized, porous carbonate buildups are most likely to be found in the upper Moscovian succession in areas where accommodation space increased temporarily due to local tectonism.     

Deep saltwater in Chalk of North-West Europe: origin, interface characteristics and development over geological time

High-concentration saltwaters occur in many places in the regional Chalk aquifers of North-West Europe; to investigate deep occurrences, profiles of interstitial porewater chemistry have been studied from three 250–450m deep cores drilled in the eastern parts of Zealand, Denmark. At the studied location, saline water in the Chalk resides at depths from 40 to 80m and salinity increases with depth. Concentrations of chloride up to ca. 30,000ppm have been observed at depths of 400m. Measured vertical hydraulic heads in open boreholes suggest that advective groundwater flow is now restricted in deeper parts of the Chalk formation and diffusive transport is thus the predominant transport mechanism. Laboratory-measured porosity and effective diffusion coefficients were used as input to a numerical 1D diffusion model of the interface between freshwater in an upper, fractured aquifer and modified connate formation water below. The model satisfactorily simulated the observed chloride and δ¹⁸O profiles. The diffusive refreshening of the Chalk formation has been going on for about 0.9 million years. The connate water in the Chalk of parts of the sedimentary basin seems to have been modified by transport of saltwater from underlying Mesozoic and Paleozoic sediments during compaction, which presumably ceased around 4 million years ago.     

Sequence stratigraphy of a low productivity carbonate platform succession: the Upper Permian Wegener Halvø Formation, Karstryggen Area, East Greenland

The carbonate platform of the Upper Permian Wegener Halvø Formation in the Karstryggen area of central East Greenland is an example of a carbonate system with low production rates (2–3 cm kyr^–1) and differs from most other carbonate platforms by the lack of well-developed highstand progradation. The platform consists of three depositional sequences that formed in response to Kazanian sea-level cycles. Pinning point curves for the subaerial exposure surfaces separating the depositional sequences quantify the amplitude of the relative sea-level fluctuations in the range of 70–140 m. The platform developed on the karstified surface of an older Permian carbonate platform with a topographic relief locally exceeding 70 m. The predepositional relief influenced deposition in all three sequences. Transgressive systems tracts are thin and commonly dominated by condensed siliciclastic deposits in off-platform areas and palaeo-lows. Over palaeotopographic highs they consist of aggrading cementstones. Highstand deposits are limited to palaeotopographic elevated areas and consist of cementstone build-ups along the basin margin, and shallow subtidal to intertidal carbonates and evaporites in the platform area. Elsewhere, carbonate deposition took place during falling sea-level, and thin laterally extensive units of shallow-marine grainstones rest directly on top of deeper marine shales in the two first sequences, whereas thick prograding units of oolitic grainstones form the forced regressive systems tract of the uppermost sequence.