The fate of foramol (“temperate-type”) carbonate platforms

On rimmed shelves of Bahamian-type, characterized by chlorozoan associations and typical of tropical seas, carbonate production keeps pace with normal sea-level rise except when rapid rise or drastic environmental changes occurs. On the other hand, open temperate carbonate shelves are characterized by low carbonate production of the foramol association (molluscs, benthic foraminifera, bryozoans, coralline algae, etc.) and generally show seaward relict sediments, because carbonate production cannot keep pace with normal rate of sea-level change.

Several examples of recent drowning foramol carbonate platforms (e.g., large areas of the Mediterranean Sea, eastern-northeastern Yucatan Shelf) as well as analogous ancient drowned foramol-type carbonate platforms (e.g., early to middle Miocene of the Southern Apennines; Miami Terrace) may support the idea that the drowning of many ancient carbonate platforms has been favoured by their biogenic (foramol sensu lato) constitution. Because of their typically low rate of growth, foramol carbonate platforms are fated to be drowned even if the sea-level rise is one with which the normal growth of chlorozoan platforms can keep pace. Similar conditions may also occur in tropical areas where variations in environmental conditions, such as the presence of cold waters, changes in salinity and increased nutrients, preclude the development of chlorozoan associations.     

Environmental factors influencing skeletal grain sediment associations: a critical review of Miocene examples from the western Mediterranean

The presence of foramol, rhodalgal and bryomol skeletal grain associations in ancient shallow‐marine limestones is commonly interpreted as evidence for non‐tropical palaeoclimate, despite temperature being only one of several factors influencing skeletal grain associations. Such interpretations neglect the multitude of factors other than temperature that influence carbonate‐producing biota. These include nutrients, water energy, water transparency, depth of the sea floor, salinity, oxygen, Ca²⁺ and CO₂ concentrations, Mg/Ca ratio, alkalinity, substrate requirements, competitive displacement as well as biological and evolutionary trends. This uniformitarian approach also disregards the probability that conditions of present‐day biological systems may not be representative of past conditions of analogous systems. Here, the importance of considering these other factors is illustrated through two examples of carbonate platforms in the western Mediterranean. These platforms are dominated by foramol, rhodalgal and bryomol associations of Miocene age in spite of having formed in tropical conditions. The platforms discussed are: (1) the Lower Tortonian ramp on Menorca, Balearic Islands; and (2) the Lower–Middle Miocene ramps of the central Apennines, Italy. Evidence for tropical conditions in the Mediterranean during the period of growth of these platforms is provided by species of red algae and larger foraminifera, by data from coeval continental basins and by global oxygen isotope data.     

Decline and recovery of the Aptian carbonate factory in the southern Apennine carbonate shelves (southern Italy): Climatic/oceanographic vs. local tectonic controls

In interpreting the inception and demise of different carbonate depositional systems, climatic-oceanographic variations together with sea-level oscillations are commonly considered key elements. However, local tectonic controls cannot be ruled out. In attempts to discriminate among the main factors controlling the evolution of the southern Apennine mid-Cretaceous carbonate system, detailed facies analyses have been performed on Aptian–Albian carbonate successions in the Matese Group (southern Apennines). Since the mid Aptian, the analysed successions testify to a tectonically-driven topography, replacing the previous large tropical shallow-water domain with subdomains characterised by diversified sedimentological trends. Nevertheless, around the middle part of the Aptian, the studied successions register palaeoecological signals that cannot be linked exclusively with tectonic disturbance because of the coeval appearance of analogous signals at a global scale, including a significant change in biological assemblages and an outbreak of organisms indicative of stressful conditions in the water mass.Upper Bedoulian strata clearly record open marine settings characterised by a significant richness of the benthic communities. The biota included rudists, gastropods and echinoids plus many different benthic foraminifers and green algae. Rudists considered to be typically “tropical” forms (the caprinid Offneria nicolinae (Mainelli) and Offneria murgensis Masse, the requieniid Lovetchenia Masse and the monopleurid Agriopleura Kühn) characterise thick subtidally deposited strata in which large coral colonies and mollusc shells contributed to occasional storm-related skeletal concentrations.The analysed Gargasian strata show impoverished biota: caprinids totally disappear, both as in situ and storm-related layer components, and hermatypic corals are drastically reduced. Muddy lithofacies prevail in intertidal metric cycles in which cyanobacterial consortia, both in the form of dense laminae and coalescent oncoids, orbitolinids and small gastropods (cerithiids) suggest restricted, nutrient-rich water. Large oncoids of Bacinella irregularis/Lithocodium aggregatum and mollusc (mostly chondrodontids and gastropods) shell fragments significantly contribute to storm-related coarse skeletal intercalations, in which oligotrophic condition-adapted forms (e.g., hermatypic corals) are reduced or absent. This pattern suggests generalised conditions of stress in the water mass and in more marginal open areas.During the mid-Aptian interval, characterised by the flourishing of assemblages adapted to mesotrophic–eutrophic conditions, the southern Apennines shallow-water domain shows a progressive reduction of the previous mainly aragonite-dominated chlorozoan assemblages and an increase of calcite-dominated skeletal components, including rudists with thickened calcitic outer shell layers. Cyanobacteria and polychaetes characteristically marked the first phases of recovery in the shallow-water domains, rapidly evolving into more complex and differentiated assemblages. The outbreak of nerineid and acteonid gastropods seems to be related to a flourishing of cyanobacterial mats and related microphytae and also to the presence of polychaetes tubes (Thartarella cocumeriformis (Wahlman)). Moreover, the grazing activity of the nerineids favoured the flourishing of oyster-like bivalves. Among the rudists, the persistence and radiation of species adapted to a wide range of temperatures, such as Requieniidae and Monopleuridae as well as the first elevator Radiolitidae suggests some kind of oceanographic change (e.g., seawater chemistry and/or temperature).On the basis of the features described above, we propose the existence of a complex environmental scenario in which cooler conditions, presumably coupled with meso/eutrophic and locally oligophotic conditions, related to climatic/oceanographic global changes, cooperated in modifying the carbonate factory characterisation in a tectonically controlled setting.     

Evolution of a carbonate delta generated by gateway‐funnelling of episodic currents

Cool‐water carbonate sedimentation has dominated Mediterranean shelves since the Early Pliocene. Skeletal sand and gravel herein consist of remains of heterozoan organisms, which are susceptible to reworking due to weak early cementation in non‐tropical waters. This study documents the Lower Pleistocene carbonate wedge of Favignana Island (Italy), which prograded from a 5   km wide passage between two palaeo‐islands into a perpendicular, 10 to 15   km wide strait between the palaeo‐islands at one side and Sicily at the other during the Emilian highstand (1·6   Ma to 1·1   Ma). The clinoformed carbonate wedge, which is 50   m thick and 6   km long, formed by east/south‐east progradation of a platform on the submarine sill by currents that were funnelled between the two palaeo‐islands. Platform‐slope clinoforms evolved from initial aggradation (thin and low‐angle) into a progradation phase (thick and high‐angle). Both clinoform types are characterized by a bimodal facies stacking pattern defined by sedimentary structures created by: (i) subaqueous dunes associated with dilute subcritical currents; and (ii) upper‐flow‐regime bedforms associated with sediment‐laden supercritical turbidity currents. Focusing of episodic currents on the platform by funnelling between the islands controlled the downstream formation of a sediment body, here named carbonate delta. The carbonate delta interfingers with subaqueous dune deposits formed in the perpendicular strait. This study uses a reconstruction of bedform dynamics to unravel the evolution of this gateway‐related carbonate accumulation.     

Cenozoic carbonates in Borneo: case studies from northeast Kalimantan

Modern and Tertiary carbonate production is, and was, extensive and diverse in the seas surrounding Borneo, and mirrors the variety of carbonate depositional systems seen in SE Asia. The availability of favourable conditions for carbonate sedimentation around Borneo was related to a combination of factors, including tectonic setting, the formation of large basinal areas, differential subsidence providing shallow marine areas, a tropical climate and a range of local factors, such as currents or limited clastic input. A detailed sedimentological and diagenetic study was undertaken of middle Eocene to Plio–Pleistocene carbonates which developed in the north Kutai Basin and the Mangkalihat Peninsula, northeast Kalimantan. Carbonate sedimentation in this area occurred in a range of depositional environments, from mixed carbonate clastic shelves, localised and transient shoals or reefs, a variety of platform top settings to deep water redeposited carbonates. An understanding of carbonate depositional environments, spatial facies relationships, and diagenesis is essential in order to develop models for these carbonates which can be used as predictive tools in the subsurface. This study also helps to evaluate tropical carbonate development in SE Asia and the evolution of sedimentary environments in Borneo during the Cenozoic.     

Benthic carbonate factories of the Phanerozoic

Marine carbonate precipitation occurs in three basic modes: abiotic (or quasi-abiotic), biotically induced, and biotically controlled. On a geologic scale, these precipitation modes combine to form three carbonate production systems, or "factories" in the benthic environment: (1) tropical shallow-water factory, dominated by biotically controlled (mainly photo-autotrophic) and abiotic precipitates; (2) cool-water factory, dominated by biotically controlled (mainly heterotrophic) precipitates; and (3) mud-mound factory, dominated by biotically induced (mainly microbial) and abiotic precipitates. Sediment accumulations of the factories differ in composition, geometry, and facies patterns, and some of these differences appear prominently in seismic data, thus facilitating subsurface prediction. The characteristic accumulation of the tropical factory is the flat-topped, often reef-rimmed platform. In cool-water systems, reefs in high-energy settings are scarce and hydrodynamic influence dominates, producing seaward-sloping shelves and deep-water sediment drifts often armored by skeletal framework. The typical accumulation of the mud-mound factory is groups of mounds in deeper water. Where the mud-mound factory expands into shallow water, it forms rimmed platforms similar to the tropical factory. The tropical factory is most productive; the mud-mound factory reaches 80–90%, and the cool-water factory 20–30% of the tropical growth rate. The three factories represent end members connected by transitions in space. Transitions in time are linked to biotic evolution.     

Comparison of tropical,carbonate and temperate,siliciclastic tidally dominated sedimentary deposits: Examples from the Australian continental shelf

Surficial deposits of the tidally influenced Australian shelf seas exhibit a variation in fades related to energy gradient. These deposits comprise a high energy gravelly facies, a mobile sand sheet facies and a low energy muddy sand facies. Such a facies distribution conforms generally with the existing model of continental shelf tidal sedimentation, derived for the west European tidal seas. However, the carbonate rich and mainly warm water deposits of the Australian shelf differ from the mainly quartzose and temperate cold‐water deposits of the European type case in terms of: (i) the role of seagrasses in trapping fine‐grained sediment; and (ii) the relative importance of the production of carbonate mud by mechanical erosion of carbonate grains. Seagrasses in Spencer Gulf, Gulf of St Vincent and Torres Strait are located in regions of strong tidal currents, associated with bedforms and gravel lag deposits. Thus, in the case of tropical carbonate shelves, seagrass deposits containing fine‐grained and poorly sorted sediments are located in close proximity to high energy gravel and mobile sand facies. In contrast, the European model (for temperate, siliciclastic shelves) places facies in a regional gradient with a wide separation (in the order of 50–100 km).

Of the locations reviewed, the Gulf of St Vincent, Bass Strait, southern Great Barrier Reef, Torres Strait and Gulf of Carpentaria exhibit zones of carbonate mud accumulation. The production and winnowing of carbonate mud from the mobile sand facies is a factor that must be taken into account in the assessment of a sediment budget for this facies, and which is of relatively greater importance for carbonate shelves. Insufficient data are presently available from the macrotidal North West Shelf to test the applicability of the model to this region.     

A Late Ordovician high-energy temperate-water carbonate ramp,southern Quebec,Canada: implications for Late Ordovician oceanography*

The Trenton Group (Late Ordovician), the youngest carbonate unit in the Taconic foreland basin of southern Quebec, is a tripartite unit with a distinctive coarse-grained middle part, the Deschambault Formation. Lithofacies of the Deschambault Formation are dominated by coarse-grained bioclastic/intraclastic limestones; finer-grained lithofacies are ubiquitous but subordinate. The complete spectrum of lithofacies indicates sedimentation ranging from above fairweather- to below storm-wave base. Skeletal components are indicative of the modern temperate-water bryomol association. Non-skeletal elements are represented by peloids and intraclasts. Accretion rates from areas of continuous sedimentation were low (<14 cm/10³ years). From sedimentological and faunal evidence, it is proposed that the Late Ordovician Deschambault ramp was bathed by temperate waters. The model compares favourably with modern cool-water shelves rimming the southern edge of the Australian continent. Palaeomagnetic data locate southern Quebec in a low latitudinal setting during the Late Ordovician. Upper Ordovician facies distribution in eastern Canada and progressive disappearance of some faunal provinces through Late Ordovician time are used to conclude that the initiation of the Late Ordovician glaciation that covered most of Gondwana was instrumental in easing northward movement of cold oceanic currents. This resulted in the rapid contraction of the southern hemisphere warm-water tropical belt from a 30° latitudinal-wide zone in the early Caradoc to a 15° zone in the late Caradoc.     

Upper Ordovician facies in the Lac Saint-Jean outlier, Québec (eastern Canada): palaeoenvironmental significance for Late Ordovician oceanography

Upper Ordovician (Caradocian) carbonates of eastern North America were deposited along the Iapetus continental margin and record a transition from warm- to cool-water settings despite this margin having been within the southern hemisphere tropical belt. This event has been documented from Virginia (USA) to southern Québec (Canada) although, not previously from areas close to the palaeoequator. Field, petrographic and major element geochemistry data have been gathered from the poorly-known Upper Ordovician carbonate succession outcropping in the Lac Saint-Jean outlier in central Québec. The succession consists of a lower siliciclastic formation (Tremblay) overlain by three limestone formations (Simard, Shipshaw and Galets) and capped by shales (Pointe-Bleue Shale). From macro- and microfaunal evidence, carbonate sedimentation occurred during the late Caradoc and is younger than the early- to mid-Caradoc carbonate succession present farther south. Relative sea level fluctuations recorded in the sediments suggest an overall sea level rise briefly halted by a minor end-Caradocian sea level fall. The lower limestone formation (Simard) consists of muddy sediments with algal-coral-stromatoporoid boundstones; green algae are abundant. This unit reflects low energy sedimentation on a shallow warm-water carbonate ramp colonized by a diverse chlorozoan fauna. The upper limestone formation (Galets) is typified by coarse-grained bioclastic sediments punctuated by numerous phosphate-rich hardgrounds with evidence for high energy shallow marine conditions. Faunas were dominated by crinoids and bryozoans. This unit represents high energy sedimentation on a cool shallow water carbonate ramp colonized by a brynoderm faunal association. Between both units, a deeper marine (outer shelf) limestone formation (Shipshaw) was developed. In the Lac Saint-Jean area, a transition from warm- to cool-water carbonate ramps occurred in latest Caradoc times and is litho- and biofacies-wise, similar to what is documented for lower Caradocian limestones present farther south. Upwelling of nutrient-rich cool bottom oceanic waters was a probable cause for this transition.     

Controls on the evolution and demise of Lower Carboniferous carbonate platforms,northern margin of the Dublin Basin,Ireland

Shallow water platform limestones of the Chadian–Asbian Milverton Group are restricted to the north-eastern part of the Lower Carboniferous (Dinantian) Dublin Basin. Here, they are confined to two granite-cored fault blocks, the Kentstown and Balbriggan Blocks, known to have been active during the late Dinantian. Three areas of platform sedimentation are delimited (the Kentstown, Drogheda and Milverton areas), although in reality they probably formed part of a single carbonate platform. Resedimented submarine breccias and calciturbidites (Fingal Group) composed of shallow water allochems and intraclasts sourced from the platform accumulated, along with terrigenous muds, in the surrounding basinal areas. Sedimentological evidence suggests that the Kentstown and Balbriggan Blocks possessed tilt-block geometries and developed during an episode of basin-wide extensional faulting in late Chadian time. Rotation of the blocks during extension resulted in the erosion of previously deposited sequences in footwall areas and concomitant drowning of distal hangingwall sequences. Antithetic faults on the northern part of the Balbriggan Block aided the preferential subsidence of the Drogheda area and accounts for the anomously thick sequence of late Chadian platform sediments present there. Continued subsidence and/or sea-level rise in the late Chadian–early Arundian resulted in transgression of the Kentstown and Balbriggan Blocks; carbonate ramps developed on the hangingwall dip slopes and transgressed southward with time. Subsequent progradation and aggradation of shallow water sediments throughout the Arundian to Asbian led to the development of carbonate shelves. Several coarse conglomeratic intervals within the contemporaneous basinal sequences of the Fingal Group attest to periodic increases of sediment influx associated with the development of the shelves. Sedimentological processes controlled the development of the carbonate platforms on the hangingwall dip slopes of the Kentstown and Balbriggan Blocks, though periodic increases of sediment flux into the basinal areas may have been triggered by eustatic falls in sea level. In contrast, differential subsidence along the bounding faults of these blocks exerted a strong control on the margins of the late Dinantian shelves, maintaining relatively steep slopes and inhibiting the progradation of the shelves into the adjacent basins. Tectonically induced collapse and retreat of the platform margins occurred in the late Asbian–early Brigantian. Platform sediments are overlain by coarse-grained proximal basinal facies which fine upwards before passing into a thick shale sequence, indicating that by the late Brigantian carbonate production had almost stopped as the platforms were drowned.     

Late Paleocene–early Eocene Tethyan carbonate platform evolution — A response to long- and short-term paleoclimatic change

The early Paleogene experienced the most pronounced long-term warming trend of the Cenozoic, superimposed by transient warming events such as the Paleocene–Eocene Thermal Maximum (PETM). The consequences of climatic perturbations and associated changes on the evolution of carbonate platforms are relatively unexplored. Today, modern carbonate platforms, especially coral reefs are highly sensitive to environmental and climatic change, which raises the question how (sub)tropical reef systems of the early Paleogene reacted to gradual and sudden global warming, eutrophication of shelf areas, enhanced CO₂ levels in an ocean with low Mg/Ca ratios. The answer to this question may help to investigate the fate of modern coral reef systems in times of global warming and rising CO₂ levels.Here we present a synthesis of Tethyan carbonate platform evolution in the early Paleogene (~ 59–55 Ma) concentrating on coral reefs and larger foraminifera, two important organism groups during this time interval. We discuss and evaluate the importance of the intrinsic and extrinsic factors leading to the dissimilar evolution of both groups during the early Paleogene. Detailed analyses of two carbonate platform areas at low (Egypt) and middle (Spain) paleolatitudes and comparison with faunal patterns of coeval platforms retrieved from the literature led to the distinction of three evolutionary stages in the late Paleocene to early Eocene Tethys: Stage I, late Paleocene coralgal-dominated platforms at low to middle paleolatitudes; stage II, a transitional latest Paleocene platform stage with coralgal reefs dominating at middle paleolatitudes and larger foraminifera-dominated (Miscellanea, Ranikothalia, Assilina) platforms at low paleolatitudes; and stage III, early Eocene larger foraminifera-dominated (Alveolina, Orbitolites, Nummulites) platforms at low to middle paleolatitudes. The onset of the latter prominent larger foraminifera-dominated platform correlates with the Paleocene/Eocene Thermal Maximum.The causes for the change from coral-dominated platforms to larger foraminifera-dominated platforms are multilayered. The decline of coralgal reefs in low latitudes during platform stage II is related to overall warming, leading to sea-surface temperatures in the tropics beyond the maximum temperature range of corals. The overall low occurrence of coral reefs in the Paleogene might be related to the presence of a calcite sea. At the same time larger foraminifera started to flourish after their near extinction at the Cretaceous/Paleogene boundary. The demise of coralgal reefs at all studied paleolatitudes in platform stage III can be founded on the effects of the PETM, resulting in short-term warming, eutrophic conditions on the shelves and acidification of the oceans, hampering the growth of aragonitic corals, while calcitic larger foraminifera flourished. In the absence of other successful carbonate-producing organisms, larger foraminifera were able to take over the role as the dominant carbonate platform inhabitant, leading to a stepwise Tethyan platform stage evolution around the Paleocene/Eocene boundary. This szenario might be also effective for threatened coral reef sites.     

藏北安多-巴青地区侏罗纪含礁层系岩相及沉积环境

根据岩性及其组合特征,本文将西藏北部安多—巴青地区侏罗纪含礁地层划分为流水成因的颗粒岩岩相、流水成因的碎屑岩岩相、复成因的泥晶—泥质灰岩岩相、生物及生物化学成因的障积岩岩相、生物及生物化学成因的粘结—障积岩岩相和生物及生物化学成因的骨架岩岩相等6大类型,计16种岩相。它们构成了潮坪相组合、台地浅滩相组合、开阔台地相组合和台地生物礁相组合共4种岩相组合,并由下而上有规律地形成2种岩相序列,即陆源碎屑与碳酸盐混合台地相序列和碳酸盐台地相序列。     

下扬子地区寒武纪层序格架及古地理演化

下扬子地区在寒武纪处于相对稳定的克拉通盆地背景,盆地沉积格局基本上为两坳夹一隆的特点,中部以碳酸盐岩台地沉积为特征,南北为深水碎屑沉积与碳酸盐沉积为特征。作者以下扬子发育的野外露头为主要研究对象,通过精细测量与观测南京、巢湖、杭州等12个露头点露头资料,建立了下扬子地区寒武纪的层序地层格架。寒武纪可划分为2个二级层序及14个三级层序,作者首次以二级层序体系域为单元对寒武纪进行了岩相古地理编图,并对寒武纪层序—古地理演化3个关键的控制因素进行了分析。下扬子区寒武纪古地理格局相对稳定,继承性地发育了开阔台地、局限台地、台地边缘斜坡、盆地等沉积相类型。     

鲁西豫东地区奥陶纪岩相古地理特征及其演化*

鲁西豫东地区奥陶系碳酸盐岩地层是重要的石油和地下热水储集层。受限于基础地质资料,前人对鲁西豫东地区奥陶系层序划分存在争议,缺少对岩相古地理演化的精细刻画。为明确奥陶系层序地层特征与各期岩相古地理演化特征,通过对鲁西豫东地区周缘野外地质剖面考察、19口井岩心观察以及测井曲线特征分析,在层序地层格架内,对奥陶纪岩相古地理展布及其演化特征进行了研究。结果表明,根据层序界面类型和最大海泛面发育位置,研究区奥陶系可划分为SSQ1-SSQ2共2个二级层序和SQ1-SQ4共4个三级层序; 沉积相类型为海相碳酸盐岩台地,包括局限台地、开阔台地和蒸发台地3种亚相,并进一步细分为灰坪、颗粒滩、泥灰坪、灰-云坪、云坪、潟湖、含膏云坪和膏云坪8种沉积微相; 岩相古地理单元整体表现出陆表海的沉积建造特征,各期旋回性沉积为储集层叠置发育奠定了物质基础,云坪、膏云坪、含膏云坪、颗粒滩微相易于形成有利储集空间,是区域地热资源勘探开发的重点领域。     

Tertiary syntectonic carbonate platform development in Indonesia

Cenozoic tropical carbonate sedimentation was strongly influenced by local and regional tectonics in SE Asia. This paper outlines the evolution of the syntectonic Eocene to middle Miocene Tonasa Formation of South Sulawesi, evaluating controls on sedimentation, facies distribution and sequence development. Development of a facies model for this Cenozoic tropical carbonate platform provides a meaningful analogue for similar, less well‐studied SE Asian carbonates, which commonly comprise targets for hydrocarbon exploration. This study also has considerable implications for the study of syntectonic carbonates, controls on carbonate sedimentation, carbonate platform development in backarc areas and SE Asian tectonics. Detailed facies mapping, logging, petrographic and biostratigraphic analyses indicate that the Tonasa Formation was deposited initially as part of a transgressive sequence in a backarc setting. By late Eocene times, shallow‐water carbonates were being deposited over much of South Sulawesi forming a widespread (100‐km long) platform area. Shallow‐water sedimentation continued unabated in some areas of the platform until the middle Miocene. Elsewhere, active normal faulting resulted in fault‐block platforms, with local subaerial exposure of footwall blocks and the formation of basinal graben in adjacent hangingwall areas. Platform‐top facies were aggradational and dominated by larger benthic foraminifera. Low‐angle slopes, particularly hangingwall dip slopes, were characterized by the development of ramps. Faults, controlled in part by pre‐existing structures, were periodically active and formed steep escarpment margins. Variable regional subsidence strongly influenced the development of the Tonasa Carbonate Platform, whereas platform‐wide effects caused by regional eustacy have not been identified. Computer modelling of the Tonasa Platform confirms that the accommodation space and sedimentary geometries observed can be produced by block faulting and regional subsidence alone. Modelling also reveals that regional subsidence and extension, oblique to the main stretching direction, were low on the margins of the backarc basin. Shallow‐water accumulation rates for this foraminifera‐dominated tropical carbonate platform were an order of magnitude lower than those for modern warm‐water platforms dominated by corals or ooids.     

The peterson limestone — early cretaceous lacustrine carbonate deposition in western wyoming and southeastern idaho

The lacustrine Peterson Limestone of western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho comprises six lithofacies throughout its 20,000 km² aerial extent. These are: (1) calcareous sandstone and shale, (2) red nodular limestone, (3) pink sandy micrite, (4) biomicrite, (5) graded silty micrite, and (6) limestone conglomerate. The first two represent floodplain deposition and paleosols, whereas the remaining are shallow nearshore and deeper lacustrine sediments.This sequence was developed in a large fresh, hardwater lake surrounded by fluvial systems and associated flood plains in a warm temperate climate. Well-oxidized sandy terrigenous rocks, together with calcareous paleosol nodules, indicate that flood-plain deposition both preceded and was concurrent with lacustrine carbonate deposition. Micrite and biomicrite formed in deeper parts of the basin while sandy and silty carbonate accumulated in shallower lake-margin areas. Less-calcareous shale units which are interbedded with deeper-water carbonate were deposited either during rapid basin subsidence and deepening of the lake center or during periods of slower carbonate precipitation. Turbidity currents and subaqueous debris flows generated along steeper lake margins, resulted in the deposition of rhythmic layers of graded silty micrite and diamictic limestone conglomerate in the deepest part of the basin. The carbonate-rich sediments comprising these two lithofacies were originally deposited on shallow lake-margin benches and subsequently were transported downslope toward the lake center.Comparison with other carbonate-precipitating lacustrine systems indicates that this lake was not like modern playas. Although no known modern lacustrine system is precisely like Lake Peterson, the flora, fauna, composition, and distribution of facies within modern temperate-region lakes most closely resemble those of the Peterson Limestone.     

Lithofacies associations and stable isotopes of palustrine and calcrete carbonates: examples from an Indian Maastrichtian regolith

Detailed information on semi‐arid, palustrine carbonate–calcrete lithofacies associations in a sheetwash‐dominated regolith setting is sparse. This is addressed by studying the Lower Limestone of the Lameta Beds, a well‐exposed Maastrichtian regolith in central India. The general vertical lithofacies assemblage for this unit comprises: (a) basal calcareous siltstones and marls with charophytes, ostracods and gastropods; (b) buff micritic limestones associated in their upper parts with calcretized fissure‐fill sandstones; (c) sheetwash as fissure‐fill diamictites and thin pebbly sheets, locally developed over a few metres; and (d) sandy, nodular, brecciated and pisolitic calcretes at the top. The sequence is ‘regressive’, with upsection filling of topographic lows by increased sheetwash. Lateral lithofacies change is marked, but there are no permanent open‐water lake deposits. In topographic lows close to the water table, marshy palustrine or groundwater calcretes formed, whereas on better drained highs, brecciation and calcretization occurred. Prolonged exposure is implied, suggesting that shrinkage was the main cause of brecciation. Evidence for rhizobrecciation and other biological calcrete fabrics is sparse, contrasting with the emphasis on root‐related brecciation in many studies of palustrine lithofacies. Stable isotope (δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C) values are consistent with the palustrine limestones being fed from meteoric‐derived groundwater with a strong input of soil‐zone carbon. There is overlap of both δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values from the various palustrine and calcrete fabrics co‐occurring at outcrop. This suggests that, in groundwater‐supported wetlands, conversion from palustrine carbonate to calcrete need not show isotopic expression, as the groundwater source and input of soil‐zone carbon are essentially unchanged. Cretaceous–Tertiary δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values from palustrine lithofacies and associated calcretes appear to be strongly influenced by the inherited values from lakes and wetlands. Hydrologically closed lakes and marine‐influenced water bodies tend to result in low negative palustrine δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C values. During brecciation and calcretization, the degree of isotopic inheritance depends on whether or not alteration occurs in waters that are different from those of the original water body or wetland. Marked biological activity (e.g. rhizobrecciation or root mat development) during calcretization may lower δ¹³C values where C₃ plants are abundant but, in shrinkage‐dominated systems, δ¹³C values will be largely inherited from the palustrine limestones.     

塔里木盆地乌什地区上震旦统奇格布拉克组地球化学特征及其地质意义*

塔里木盆地寒武系盐下地层资源量巨大,上震旦统奇格布拉克组是该领域风险勘探的重要层系之一,但当前该层系勘探尚未取得重大突破,其中岩相古地理格局及储集层主控因素认识不深是制约勘探突破的重要因素之一。文中以乌什地区昆盖阔坦剖面为研究对象,通过地层精细描述和104块岩石薄片分析,并优选样品开展常微量元素、稀土元素、碳氧锶同位素、白云石有序度及U-Pb同位素年龄测试,分析了奇格布拉克组沉积环境及白云岩成因。结果表明: (1)塔里木盆地乌什地区昆盖阔坦剖面奇格布拉克组厚约141 m,主要发育叠层石、凝块石、泡沫绵层石3种微生物白云岩和鲕粒、粘结颗粒2种与微生物作用相关的颗粒岩,并根据相序组合可以划分为4个段,自下而上构成碳酸盐缓坡背景下的内缓坡潮坪—微生物丘滩沉积序列;(2)地球化学分析表明,奇格布拉克组沉积时期研究区整体处于温暖、干旱气候条件下的近岸浅水环境,海水具有较高盐度、较高水温和氧化—弱氧化特征,海平面先逐渐上升后快速下降;(3)奇格布拉克组白云岩形成于准同生—浅埋藏期,白云石化流体为具有较高盐度的海水。该研究成果不仅可以为塔里木盆地晚震旦世岩相古地理研究提供依据,还可以为储集层主控因素分析提供依据。     

湘西-黔东地区寒武系都匀阶清虚洞期 岩相古地理与铅锌成矿关系研究

依据地层记录中的两种相变面和两种穿时性,结合上扬子地区寒武系十余条代表性剖面的沉积特征及其横向展布规律,应用等时面优势相成图方法编制了寒武系都匀阶清虚洞期岩相古地理图.区内古地理格局具有西高东低、北浅南深(水深)的特点,沉积自北西向南东超覆,层位逐渐抬高穿时;岩性、厚度、颜色和沉积相类型上的差异是统一沉积背景下沉积物相变、穿时的结果.清虚洞组由灰岩段和白云岩段组成,以发育缓坡型碳酸盐台地为特征,纵向上构成总体向上变浅的沉积相序列,同时反映了缓坡型碳酸盐台地的生长发育过程;横向上从北西至南东发育从混积潮坪相、浅缓坡相、中缓坡相、深缓坡相和陆棚-盆地等沉积.岩相古地理对层控铅锌矿具有明显的控制作用,主要分布于中缓坡相藻灰岩微晶丘中,浊积岩、微晶丘、砾(粒)屑灰岩构成一完整的铅锌控矿序列.     

Capturing and modelling metre‐scale spatial facies heterogeneity in a Jurassic ramp setting (Central High Atlas,Morocco)

Each simulation algorithm, including Truncated Gaussian Simulation, Sequential Indicator Simulation and Indicator Kriging is characterized by different operating modes, which variably influence the facies proportion, distribution and association of digital outcrop models, as shown in clastic sediments. A detailed study of carbonate heterogeneity is then crucial to understanding these differences and providing rules for carbonate modelling. Through a continuous exposure of Bajocian carbonate strata, a study window (320 m long, 190 m wide and 30 m thick) was investigated and metre‐scale lithofacies heterogeneity was captured and modelled using closely‐spaced sections. Ten lithofacies, deposited in a shallow‐water carbonate‐dominated ramp, were recognized and their dimensions and associations were documented. Field data, including height sections, were georeferenced and input into the model. Four models were built in the present study. Model A used all sections and Truncated Gaussian Simulation during the stochastic simulation. For the three other models, Model B was generated using Truncated Gaussian Simulation as for Model A, Model C was generated using Sequential Indicator Simulation and Model D was generated using Indicator Kriging. These three additional models were built by removing two out of eight sections from data input. The removal of sections allows direct insights on geological uncertainties at inter‐well spacings by comparing modelled and described sections. Other quantitative and qualitative comparisons were carried out between models to understand the advantages/disadvantages of each algorithm. Model A is used as the base case. Indicator Kriging (Model D) simplifies the facies distribution by assigning continuous geological bodies of the most abundant lithofacies to each zone. Sequential Indicator Simulation (Model C) is confident to conserve facies proportion when geological heterogeneity is complex. The use of trend with Truncated Gaussian Simulation is a powerful tool for modelling well‐defined spatial facies relationships. However, in shallow‐water carbonate, facies can coexist and their association can change through time and space. The present study shows that the scale of modelling (depositional environment or lithofacies) involves specific simulation constraints on shallow‐water carbonate modelling methods.