Marine pisolites from Upper Proterozoic carbonates of East Greenland and Spitsbergen

Upper Proterozoic carbonate successions from central East Greenland (the Limestone-Dolomite ‘Series’ of the Eleonore Bay Group) and Svalbard (the Backlundtoppen Formation of the Akademikerbreen Group, Spitsbergen, and the Upper Russö Formation of the Raoldtoppen Group, Nordaustlandet) contain thick sequences dominated by pisolites. These rocks were generated in shallow marine enviroments, and the pisoids are essentially oversized ooids. A marine environment is supported by the thickness and lateral extent of the carbonates; by a sedimentary association of pisolites with stromatolites, flake-conglomerates, calcarenites, calcilutites, microphytolites, and ooids similar to that found in numerous other Proterozoic carbonate successions; by sedimentary structures, including cross-beds and megaripples that characterize the pisolitic beds; and by microfossils of endolithic cyanobacteria that are specifically comparable to microorganisms that inhabit modern marine ooids of the Bahama Banks. Petrographic features and strontium abundances suggest that the pisoids were originally aragonitic, but neomorphism, silicification, calcitization, and dolomitization have extensively modified original mineralogies and fabrics. The East Greenland and Svalbard pisolitic carbonates reflect similar depositional environments and diagenetic histories, reinforcing previous bio-, litho-, and chemostratigraphic interpretations that the two sequences accumulated contiguously in a coastal zone of pisoid genesis which extended for at least 600, and probably 1000 or more, kilometres.     

A comparison of grain‐size analysis methods for sand‐dominated fluvial sediments

Grain‐size distribution is a fundamental tool for interpreting sedimentary units within depositional systems. The techniques assessed in this study are commonly used to determine grain‐size distributions for sand‐dominated sediments. However, the degree of consistency and differences in interpretation when using a combination of grain‐size methods have not yet been assessed systematically for sand‐dominated fluvial sediments. Results obtained from laser diffraction, X‐ray attenuation and scanning electron microscopy grain‐size analysis techniques were compared with those obtained from the traditional sieve/hydrometer method. Scanning electron microscopy was shown to provide an inaccurate quantitative analysis of grain‐size distributions because of difficulties in obtaining representative samples for examination. The X‐ray attenuation method is unsuitable for sand‐dominated sediments because of its upper size range of only 300 μm. The consistently strong correlation between the laser diffraction results and the sieve/hydrometer results shows that these methods are comparable for sand‐dominated fluvial sediments. Provided that sample preparation is consistent, the latter two methods can be used together within a study of such sediments while maintaining a high degree of accuracy. These results indicate that data for sand‐dominated fluvial sediments gained from the long‐established sieve/hydrometer method can be compared with confidence to those obtained by modern studies using laser diffraction techniques.     

Diagenesis and Fluid Flow History in Sandstones of the Upper Permian Black Jack Formation, Gunnedah Basin, Eastern Australia

The fluid flow history during diagenesis of sandstones in the Upper Permian Black Jack Formation of the Gunnedah Basin has been investigated through integrated petrographic observations, fluid inclusion investigations and stable isotope analyses. The early precipitation of mixed-layer illite/smectite, siderite, calcite, ankerite and kaolin proceeded at the presence of Late Permian connate meteoric waters at temperatures of up to 60℃. These evolved connate pore waters were also parental to quartz, which formed at temperatures of up to 87℃. The phase of maximum burial was characterized by development of filamentous illite and late calcite at temperatures of up to -90℃. Subsequent uplifting and cooling led to deep meteoric influx from surface, which in turn resulted in dissolution of labile grains and carbonate cements, and formation of second generation of kaolin. Dawsonite was the last diagenetic mineral precipitated and its formation is genetically related to deep-seated mamagtic sourced CO2.     

Chalcedonic quartz and occurrence of quartzine (length-slow chalcedony) in pelagic sediments

ABSTRACT Chalcedony is the most abundant form of quartz in silicified pelagic sediments from the North Pacific. Varieties of chalcedonic quartz present in chert of deep-sea origin include chalcedony (length-fast and zebraic), quartzine (length-slow), and lutecite.
These occurrences of quartzine in known pelagic sediments emphasize the dangers of using quartzine as an indicator of former evaporitic environments. Quartzine is a diagenetic mineral and does indicate pore fluids rich in sulphate and magnesium. In pelagic sediments, it is always associated with authigenic barite and in many cases with authigenic dolomite. Quartzine should not be used, by itself, as an indicator of any particular environment of deposition.     

Terrace scarp deflation as a renewable source for eolian sediments in an arctic periglacial setting

Glacial, glaciofluvial, and glaciolacustrine sediments deposited by the retreating Vibekes Glacier are being actively reworked into sand dunes and loess sheets on the tops of glaciofluvial terraces down-valley from Vibekes Glacier and Vibekes So. Active permafrost precludes trenching below 0.5 to 1.0 meters. However, sedimentary structures, deflationary and abrasion features in shallow and surface deposits are visible. Although an armored pavement inhibits sediment deflation on the horizontal terrace surfaces, a combination of fluvial erosion, mass-wasting, and eolian processes on terrace scarps provides a continuing source of sand- and silt-size materials for redeposition.