Microspar development during early marine burial diagenesis: a comparison of Pliocene carbonates from the Bahamas with Silurian limestones from Gotland (Sweden)

Comparison of ultrastructures in Pliocene periplatform carbonates from the Bahamas with Silurian limestones from Gotland (Sweden) reveals that despite the differences in primary sediment composition and age, they reflect a similar mechanism of lithification. In both sequences calcite microspar was formed as a primary cement at an early stage of marine burial diagenesis. Neither significant compression nor meteoric influence are necessary for the formation of calcite microspar. A model is proposed for the process of microsparitic cementation of fine-grained aragonite needle muds comprising four stages: (1) unconsolidated, aragonite-dominated carbonate mud; (2) precipitation of microspar that engulfs aragonite needles; (3) dissolution of aragonite, resulting in pitted surfaces of the microspar crystals; and (4) slight recrystallization. Our results contradict the widespread opinion that microspar necessarily is a product of secondary recrystallization of a previously lithified micrite.     

Calcareous crust (caliche) profiles and early subaerial exposure of Carboniferous carbonates, northeastern Kentucky

Sequences of laminated limestones found within thin Carboniferous carbonate strata of northeastern Kentucky were studied to determine their origin and palaeo-environmental significance. These laminated zones are strikingly similar to Holocene and Pleistocene surficial calcareous crusts (caliche) profiles that occur in various parts of the world. Carboniferous laminated carbonates are associated with shallow marine carbonate units, palaeokarst, and overlying palaeosol zones. A typical laminated profile ranges in thickness from 1 to 2 m and contains brecciated, light olive-grey to brown micrite that lacks distinctive bedding. Structures and textures common in most profiles include: (1) calcareous and silicious laminae (laminae form diffuse, alternating light and dark bands that generally parallel bedding but often fill fractures and vugs within the rocks); (2) particles (allochems, and micrite and microspar fragments) coated by brown microcrystalline calcite; (3) brecciated texture; (4) circular to elliptical fossil moulds (occur in sinuous patterns and fill fractures within the rocks); (5) large and small scale fracture patterns. Subaerial weathering and vadose diagenesis of carbonate mud banks or islands is suggested as a mechanism for the formation of these Carboniferous calcareous crust profiles. These ‘crusts’ formed by a combination of solution (karsting), brecciation, and soil development that transformed an exposed marine biomicrite (‘host’ rock) into a porous subsoil rubble. Laminated ‘crusts’ and coated particles developed as the result of dissolution and reprecipitation of CaCO₃ and SiO₃ from the soil and carbonate bedrock. Carboniferous laminated carbonates in northeastern Kentucky are often referred to as ‘algal limestones’ because of their superficial similarity to some modern and ancient algal structures. This study, however, reveals numerous characteristics that can only be explained by diagenesis in a subaerial environment.     

Brick-like texture and radial rays in Triassic pisolites of Lombardy,Italy: A clue to distinguish ancient aragonitic pisolites

Triassic pisolites from the Calcare Rosso, Lombardy, Italy, were formed in a hypersaline vadose environment and now show alternating dolomite and calcite laminae. The calcite consists either of microsparite laminae with a brick-like fabric, or of a mass of mosaic crystals with the external form of square-ended rays.These features suggest that the original laminae and rays were aragonitic, like those of the Holocene supratidal pisolites of the Persian Gulf, which consist of alternating laminae of unoriented nannomicrite with Mg-rich mucilaginous material, and aragonitic fibers with radial orientation separated by mucilaginous films. It is suggested that the transformation to brick-like and ray textures passed through the following diagenetic path: (1) original formation of fibrous aragonite laminae; (2) local aggrading recrystallization of aragonite fibers to large square-ended rays during hypersaline phases; (3) dolomitization of Mg-rich mucilaginous nannomicrite laminae during hyposaline phases; (4) inversion of the aragonite fibers and rays to calcite on a piece-by piece basis that preserved the original textural details, when the pH or Mg/Ca ratio dropped.The brick-like and ray fabrics have not been found in laminae of continental freshwater pisolites because these were deposited as equant and stable crystals of low-Mg calcite. These textures consequently make it possible to establish the chemistry of the depositional and early diagenetic milieu for some ancient pisolitic rocks.     

Pleistocene speleothems of Mallorca: implications for palaeoclimate and carbonate diagenesis in mixing zones

The Pleistocene speleothems of Sa Bassa Blanca cave, Mallorca, are excellent indicators of palaeoclimate variations, and are samples that allow evaluation of the products and processes of mixing‐zone diagenesis in an open‐water cave system. Integrated stratigraphic, petrographic and geochemical data from a horizontal core of speleothem identified two main origins for speleothem precipitates: meteoric‐marine mixing zone and meteoric‐vadose zone. Mixing‐zone precipitates formed at and just below the water–air interface of cave pools during interglacial times, when the cave was flooded as a result of highstand sea‐level. Mixing‐zone precipitates include bladed and dendritic high‐Mg calcite, microporous‐bladed calcite with variable Mg content, and acicular aragonite; their presence suggests that calcium‐carbonate cementation is significant in the studied mixing‐zone system. Fluid inclusion salinities, δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O compositions of the mixing‐zone precipitates suggest that mixing ratio was not the primary control on whether precipitation or dissolution occurred, rather, the proximity to the water table and degassing of CO₂ at the interface, were the major controls on precipitation. Thus, simple two‐end‐member mixing models may apply only in mixing zones well below the water table. Meteoric‐vadose speleothems include calcite and high‐Mg calcite with columnar and bladed morphologies. Vadose speleothems precipitated during glacial stages when sea level was lower than present. Progressive increase in δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O of the vadose speleothems resulted from cooling temperatures and more positive seawater δ¹⁸O associated with glacial buildup. Such covariation could be considered as a valid alternative to models predicting invariant δ¹⁸O and highly variable δ¹³C in meteoric calcite. Glacio‐eustatic oscillations of sea‐level are recorded as alternating vadose and mixing‐zone speleothems. Short‐term climatic variations are recorded as alternating aragonite and calcite speleothems precipitated in the mixing zone. Fluid‐inclusion and stable‐isotope data suggest that aragonite, as opposed to calcite, precipitated during times of reduced meteoric recharge.     

Diagenetisch gebildeter Magnesit und Dolomit in den Grödener Schichten des Dobratsch im Gailtal,Kärnten — österreich

Dolomite, magnesite, calcite and aragonite are described from sandstones and conglomerates of the Grödener Schichten of the Dobratsch in the Gailtal Alps, Carinthia — Austria. The carbonates occur as early and late diagenetic cements, as recrystallized matrix of more or less laminated carbonate layers (up to 0.5 m thick), as concretions, as fillings of early diagenetic shrinkage cracks and late diagenetic fissures and as crystals in open cavities and clefts. The formation of dolomite and magnesite may have been caused by pore solutions highly enriched in magnesium, which are likely to have formed by evaporation in a hypersaline environment. Magnesite and dolomite most probably have been formed diagenetically from aragonite and/or calcite during progressive evaporation cycles. Because of magnesite is a common constituent in Permo-Scythian sediments of the Eastern Alps, its presence is of importance for the evaluation of the environment. Additionally the wide-spread occurrence of magnesite within these post variscian sediments has important implications regarding the paleogeographical reconstruction and the evaluation of diagenetic processes.     

南海北部甲烷渗漏的沉积地球化学指标(Sr/Ca和Mg/Ca)识别

自生碳酸盐矿物是揭示甲烷渗漏过程及其周期性变化的重要指标。为了方便、快速地识别出自生碳酸盐矿物,在探讨了前人建立的端元组分模型(文石、高镁方解石、生物成因方解石和碎屑)在我国南海北部适用性的基础上,利用沉积物全样中Sr/Ca和Mg/Ca值计算了南海北部神狐海域两支沉积物柱状样中自生碳酸盐矿物的质量分数,计算结果表明,在不同沉积深度均有含量不等的自生碳酸盐矿物。这一结果被X射线衍射结果和沉积物中存在晶形完好的自生高镁方解石和文石矿物所验证,表明利用前人建立的端元组分模型计算的结果具有可靠性。自生碳酸盐矿物的出现显示该海域深受甲烷渗漏作用影响。利用地球化学指标(Sr/Ca和Mg/Ca)获得的自生碳酸盐矿物含量垂向变化显示该区域甲烷渗漏具有强弱交替的周期变化。运用端元组分模型来获取沉积物柱状样中自生碳酸盐矿物的高分辨率剖面,从而识别甲烷渗漏信息非常方便,在大范围寻找甲烷渗漏和天然气水合物方面具有较大潜力。     

Diagenesis of Cretaceous limestones in the Edwards aquifer system of south-central Texas: A scanning electron microscope study

Diagenesis in shallow cores from the Lower Cretaceous Edwards Limestone was investigated in thin sections and with the scanning electron microscope (SEM). The SEM is a particularly useful tool in the study of diagenesis in porous fine-grained carbonate rocks because of its good resolution and depth of field.The Edwards Group was deposited in shallow-marine environments and underwent normal early diagenesis. Dolomite and evaporite minerals such as gypsum formed penecontemporaneously in some tidal-flat sediments. Slightly later, when the carbonate sediments were flushed by fresh water, carbonate mud recrystallized to micrite and aragonite allochems altered to calcite or were leached. Some cementation by calcite occurred in a fresh-water phreatic environment.The Edwards Limestone was divided into two zones by Miocene faulting along the Balcones Fault Zone. On the upthrown side of the fault a circulating fresh-water aquifer developed, whereas relatively stagnant brackish water remained present on the down-thrown side. Differences in the chemistry of the interstitial fluids in these zones resulted in different types of diagenesis. The presence of fresh water caused extensive oxidation, solution along fractures, recrystallization of micrite to coarse microspar and pseudospar, precipitation of equant sparry-calcite crystals in a variety of shapes and sizes, and extensive dedolomitization. The dedolomitization is thought to have been caused by the high Ca/Mg ratio of the circulating fresh water in a shallow subsurface environment.In the brackish-water zone, textures and fabrics related to deposition or early diagenesis, such as primary porosity, unoxidized organic material, framboidal pyrite, and evaporite minerals have been preserved. Some precipitation of authigenic dolomite, celestite, and kaolinite occurred in the brackish-water zone. In contrast to the fresh-water zone, precipitation of coarse calcite spar, dedolomitization, and recrystallization of micrite to microspar occurred only rarely in the brackish-water zone.     

Aragonite laminae in hot water travertine crusts, Rapolano Terme, Italy

Small (5–30 μm) aggregates of aragonite needles occur in calcite crystal crusts of present day hot water slope travertines at Rapolano Terme in Tuscany, Italy. The aggregates are mainly concentrated in irregular, wispy and dark laminae which cross-cut calcite crystal feathers to create a pervasive millimetre scale banded appearance in the deposit; they also occur less commonly scattered irregularly through the calcite layers. The aragonite needle aggregates are in the form of crosses, fascicles (sheaf shaped bundles, or dumbbell shaped), rosettes and spherulites. Locally, irregular masses of needles also occur. The fascicles, rosettes and spherulites have hollow centres which resemble microbial components (?fungal spores, bacterial colonies and pollen), suggesting that the aragonite crystals are biotically nucleated. The lamination is interpreted to reflect diurnal control. Stimulation of microbial activity during daylight concentrates cells in laminae and promotes aragonite calcification. Calcite feather crystals, although traversed by the aragonite aggregate laminae, have a clear appearance under the light microscope. They form more or less continuously through the diurnal cycle by abiotic precipitation. The constant association of aragonite with organic nuclei, irrespective of whether the latter are in laminae or scattered through the calcite layers, supports a biotic control on aragonite formation. Lamination in Pleistocene travertines is superficially similar to that in the present day deposits, but is diagenetically altered. In the Pleistocene deposits, the calcite feathers appear dark under the light microscope and the aragonite aggregates, where they are not altered to dark calcite, are dissolved, together with parts of the adjacent spar calcite, and therefore appear light coloured.     

The formation and transformation mechanism of calcium carbonate in water

Highly supersaturated solutions of Ca²⁺ and CO²⁻₃ ions rapidly precipitate amorphous calcium carbonate, ACC, the logarithmic thermodynamic solubility product of which is about −6.0 at 25°C. The ACC initially formed is transformed to a mixture of several crystalline calcium carbonate polymorphs within several minutes. The transformed polymorphs are vaterite and calcite at low temperature (14 to 30°C), and aragonite and calcite at high temperature (60 to 80°C). At intermediate temperatures (40 to 50°C) the formation of all three polymorphs was observed. Metastable polymorphs are gradually transformed to the stable form, calcite. It takes about 200 min at 25°C and 370 min at 30°C for the complete transformation of vaterite to calcite, and 1000–1300 min for that of aragonite to calcite at 60–80°C. At 50°C, vaterite is predominantly transformed at first to aragonite within 60 min, and then the aragonite is transformed to calcite in about 900 min. The results of the change in the ion activity product of the solution and the abundances of the polymorphs strongly suggest that the polymorphic transformation of vaterite and aragonite to calcite takes place through dissolution of the metastable phase and growth of the stable phase, calcite. The rate-determining step of the transformation is the growth of calcite. The relative abundance of vaterite becomes higher at 25°C with increasing concentrations of calcium and carbonate ions in the supersaturated solution. When the ion activity product of the initial supersaturated solution is lower than the solubility product of ACC at 25°C, only vaterite directly precipitates after some induction period. The vaterite crystals formed are free of calcite seeds and the vaterite saturated solutions are stable for several days.     

TEMPERATURE EFFECT ON PRECIPITATION OF CALCIUM CARBONATE FROM CALCIUM BICARBONATE SOLUTIONS AND ITS APPLICATION TO CAVERN ENVIRONMENTS

Solutions of calcium bicarbonate were allowed to lose carbon dioxide and evaporate to dryness under controlled temperature conditions. With filtered solutions prepared from spar calcite, precipitates were 100% calcite in the 2° to 100°C temperature range. When, in analogous experiments, coralline aragonite was the starting material, the precipitates were 100% calcite. Essentially the same was true when carbonate rocks from karst areas were used to prepare the experimental solutions. An artificially prepared mixture (maximum crystal size of about 7 u) of 70% aragonite and 30% calcite was also used in the study. The precipitates from this starting material were apparently affected by seed nuclei which passed through the filter. The stability of calcium carbonate seed nuclei appears to vary with temperature. Natural calcium bicarbonate solutions from caves yielded only calcite at 25°C. Calcite should be the dominant or only polymorph of CaCO₃ formed by the loss of carbon dioxide and evaporation of natural calcium bicarbonate solutions if temperature is the controlling factor. Since appreciable amounts of aragonite are found in many cave deposits, factors other than temperature must influence the polymorphs formed. POBEGUIN (1955) proposed that rapid evaporation and slow diffusion of solutions favor aragonite. If so, layers of aragonite and calcite in speleothems may reprsent alternate wet and dry paleoclimates. During these periods, rate of introduction of solution and rate of evaporation would change markedly.     

The factors controlling the distribution of carbonate content in Kuwait Bay sediments

The present study has been undertaken to determine the nature and the factors controlling the distribution of carbonate content in Kuwait Bay sediments. The carbonate content that may be deposited with Kuwait Bay sediments is attributed to the interplay of the deposits fallout from the dust storms over Kuwaiti territory, the deposits carried in suspension by the currents from Shatt Al-Arab area and to the skeletal parts of microorganisms that may be originated in the sediments. The carbonate content increases in the coarse sediments rather than in the fine sediments. The mineral components of the carbonate present are in the form of calcite, aragonite and some dolomite. Therefore, the texture of the sediments, the rate of deposition in addition to the biological interference may exert a considerable control over carbonate distribution.     

济阳坳陷古近系页岩的纹层组合及成因分类

在济阳坳陷古近系中发育大量湖相页岩及纹层状的碳酸盐岩,页岩类型多样。通过对300多块页岩薄片的显微镜下观察分析表明,这些湖相页岩和纹层状碳酸盐岩均由3种基本纹层构成:富有机质纹层(即富含有机质的黏土矿物纹层)、隐晶碳酸盐纹层和黏土纹层。按纹层组合和比例的不同,可将页岩和纹层状碳酸盐岩系统地划分为黑页岩、钙质纹层页岩、富有机质纹层页岩、泥页岩、钙质页岩、纹层状泥灰岩和纹层状灰岩等7种类型,并尝试提出利用纹层组分划分页岩类型的三角形成因分类方案。由于不同纹层形成的古湖泊条件不同,该分类方案不仅能够反映各种页岩的纹层组成,同时也可反映页岩的成因。     

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.     

Late Proterozoic aragonitic cement crusts, Bambuí Group, Minas Gerais, Brazil

The Late Proterozoic Pedro Leopoldo facies (Bambuí Group) in the vicinity of Belo Horizonte, Brazil, comprises alternating laminated microsparitic limestones (10–35 mm thick beds) and fibrous limestones (10–55 mm thick). The latter are composed of a mosaic of sparry calcite crystals. These irregularly crosscut rays and fans are composed of feathery precursor crystal bundles with squared-off growth zones. Ghosts of an original fibrous mineral, hexagonal in cross-section, are visible. The petrographic characteristics, very high strontium content and low magnesium content of the fibrous beds, as well as microspar beds, strongly argue for an original aragonitic mineralogy. The rays are interpreted as having formed by precipitation at the sediment-water interface, whereas the micrite was precipitated from the water column prior to deposition on the sea floor. The lack of emergence features suggests widespread aragonite precipitation under persistently subtidal conditions.     

洞穴次生碳酸盐沉积的Mg/Ca与Sr/Ca比值研究进展——兼论洞穴次生沉积物Mg/Ca与Sr/Ca的影响机制

微量元素是岩溶洞穴沉积中非常重要的一类古气候环境替代指标,为近20年来国内外的一个研究热点。总结前人的研究,主要取得了以下一些重要认识:（1）洞穴上覆土壤 和围岩是洞穴次生碳酸盐沉积Mg、Sr的主要来源;（2）Mg/Ca与Sr/Ca能够指示气候环境变化,但需结合其它指标综合考虑。（3）洞穴次生碳酸盐沉积Mg/Ca与Sr/Ca受多种气候环境因素（包括土壤和围岩的组成和性质、水-岩相互作用、先期碳酸盐沉积、分配系数等）影响,其古气候环境指示意义具有多解性;（4）矿物结晶作用对Mg/Ca与Sr/Ca有一定的影响,特别是文石在向方解石转变的过程中容易丢失Mg、Sr,此外,杂质的混入也将抑制Mg、Sr进入方解石,从而引起洞穴次生碳酸盐沉积Mg/Ca与Sr/Ca比值的变化。今后应进一步加强对石笋中这些微量元素的影响机制研究,尤其是对一些影响因素与微量元素含量变化之间的定量关系进行探讨。      

The effect of cobalt ion on nucleation of calcium-carbonate polymorphs

Cobalt, like Mg, may cause the precipitation of aragonite rather than calcite in aqueous solutions due to the adsorption and crystal poisoning of calcite by a hydrated ion. Solutions containing NaCl and CaCl₂, having the ionic strength and Ca content of seawater (35‰ salinity), were spiked with known amounts of CoCl₂. Calcium carbonate was precipitated by the addition of 0.7 ml of 1 M Na₂CO₃. All experimental runs were made at 25°C, and all products were examined by X-ray diffraction. At low concentrations of Co (< 5·^?4M) calcite and vaterite formed. At concentrations from 5·10^?4 M to 2·10^?3M, the products consisted of combinations of calcite and vaterite; aragonite and calcite; aragonite and vaterite; calcite, vaterite and aragonite. In solutions of 3·10^?3M CoCl₂, most precipitates were aragonite with only one sample containing a small amount of calcite. All precipitates from 5·10^?3M CoCl₂ solutions either contained aragonite or were amorphous. Solutions with concentrations of 1 · 10^?2M CoCl₂ produced only amorphous precipitates. All precipitates contained an amorphous violet phase, assumed to be basic cobaltous carbonate (2CoCO₃·Co(OH)₂·H₂O).     

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.     

Carbonate cementation of some Pleistocene temperate marine sediments

Carbonate cementation of some carbonate and quartz sands in three raised beaches of temperate origins was investigated. The carbonate of the cements was found to have been derived from the dissolution of skeletal debris. The sandstones, so produced, now possess only low-magnesium calcite, but the original sediments, like adjacent modern beach and blown sands, probably contained low-magnesium calcite, aragonite and some high-magnesium calcite, all of skeletal origin. In meteoric water the dissolution has occurred of all carbonate within minute, tubulelike, volumes of sand. Concurrent deposition in adjacent volumes of sand of low-magnesium calcite formed cements that are irregularly nodular or uneven on a small scale. Aragonite within the minute nodules has been replaced paramorphically by low-magnesium calcite. Additional local carbonate cements were formed at later dates, around and within solution pipes.     

海相碳酸盐矿物的阴极发光性与其成岩蚀变的关系

引言众所周知,原始的海相碳酸盐矿物为文石、高镁方解石和低镁方解石,但它们对成岩蚀变极度敏感,在大气淡水成岩环境中,文石和高镁方解石都会转变为成岩低镁方解石,同时,原始的低镁方解石也会有不同程度的蚀变。在进行古代碳酸盐岩的沉积环境和古海洋学研究时,往往需要测定岩石中的微量元素及氧、碳、锶等同位素组成,用以判断古海水     

Lithification of some modern carbonate sediments in a hypersaline lake adjacent to the Black Sea

In the hypersaline Techirghiol Lake adjacent to the Black Sea, sporadically formed lithified blocks and grapestone are found which are the result of cementation of carbonate sediments with aragonite and possibly kutnahorite (manganesian calcite). The lithified blocks are characterized by a central cavity bordered by a lithified envelope. The formation of the carbonate cement is due to subaquatic bacterial processes of calcium sulfate reduction and the synthesis of calcium carbonate at the expense of gypsum concretions derived from Pleistocene red clays cropping out along the shore of the lake. These lithified blocks have geological significance as they may be usable as criteria for the recognition of sediments deposited in the past near to the shores of hypersaline lakes.