A high-TOC shale in a low productivity world: The late Mesoproterozoic Arctic Bay Formation, Nunavut

Abstract

The latest Mesoproterozoic Arctic Bay Formation (Borden Basin, Nunavut, Canada) is up to ∼1130 m-thick and contains a significant proportion of unusually organic-rich black shale (up to 12.3 wt% total organic carbon). Insofar as increased biological productivity is related to organic matter burial, this organic-rich succession is seemingly incongruent with the low biological productivity world hypothesised for much of the Proterozoic. To better understand the conditions leading to development of this organic-rich unit, we explore the redox geochemistry of the Arctic Bay Formation using a multi-proxy approach (nitrogen isotopes, iron speciation, total organic carbon, total sulphur, and trace metal abundances). Redox proxy data support a stratified water column, with oxic surface waters underlain by intermittently euxinic waters, which are in turn underlain by persistently ferruginous deeper waters. The highly alkaline, restricted marine basin in which the Arctic Bay Formation was deposited may have allowed for rapid sequestration of highly reactive iron in carbonate minerals, resulting in an ‘excess’ of sulphur that resulted in sulphurisation of organic matter. Estimates for organic matter burial rates during deposition of the Arctic Bay Formation suggest that they were perhaps ∼5–6 times mid-Proterozoic average values (although there are permissible scenarios in which it was extremely productive), underscoring that such organic-rich sedimentary rocks could be produced in a low productivity world.