Alterations in guano phosphates and mio-pliocene carbonates of table mountain Santa Barbara, Curacao

Abstract

The Table Mountain Santa Barbara, consisting of the Mio-Pliocene Seroe Domi Limestone Formation, was probably covered with a guano layer in the Pleistocene (?). Solutions, carrying guano-derived phosphate, percolated downwards, resulting in partial phosphatization of the underlying limestones. Only two phosphate minerals are present in the Table Mountain: apatite, and whitlockite. Phosphatization includes both replacement of the original carbonate or (pre-phosphate) dolomite, and cementation in primary- as well as secondary porosity (cryptocrystalline, isotropic phosphate cement, (micro)crystalline apatite, isopachous apatite fringe cement, multiple-zoned apatite crusts, rhombic whitlockite cements). Two factors controlled the final distribution of the phosphate within the Table Mountain. Firstly, changing positions of the sea level (and, therefore, of the diagenetic environments) determined the overall distribution of the phosphatized interval, a horizontal layer (98–128 m above sea level) sandwiched between two non-phosphatized limestone units. Original carbonate facies and -mineralogy was the second controlling factor causing the final variations in degree of phosphatization. The limestones comprise two lithofacies: (a) coralliferous limestone lenses erratically distributed amidst; and (b) micritic limestones. These coralliferous limestones are phosphatized preferentially forming so-called “phosphate pockets”, sharply outlined within a non-phosphatized micritic limestone “host”. These pockets are characteristically organized into five zones which are described in detail. Higher original porosity/permeability of the coralliferous limestone lenses as compared to the micrites, additionally enhanced by a phase of pre-phosphate dolomitization, determined preferential phosphatization of this facies type. A second controlling factor was the original carbonate mineralogy and resulting dia-