Deep‐burial alteration of early‐diagenetic carbonate concretions formed in Palaeozoic deep‐marine greywackes and mudstones (Bardo Unit, Sudetes Mountains, Poland)

Abstract

AbstractCarbonate concretions formed in bathyal and deeper settings have been studied less frequently than those formed in shallow‐marine deposits. Similarly, concretions affected by catagenetic conditions have rarely been reported. Calcite concretions in deep‐marine mudstones and greywackes of the Bardo Unit (Sudetes Mountains, Poland) formed during early diagenesis and were buried to significant depths. Petrographic and geochemical (elemental and stable C and O isotopic) analyses document their formation close to the sediment–water interface, prior to mechanical compaction within the sulphate reduction zone and their later burial below the oil window. Although the concretions were fully formed during early diagenesis, the effects of increased temperature and interaction with late‐diagenetic interstitial fluids can be discerned. During maximum burial, the concretions underwent thorough recrystallization that caused alteration of fabric and elemental and O isotope composition. The initial finely crystalline cement was replaced by more coarsely crystalline, sheaf‐like, poikilotopic calcite in the concretions. These large calcite crystals engulf and partially replace unstable detrital constituents. The extremely low δ18O values (down to −21·2‰ Vienna Pee Dee Belemnite) in the concretions are the result of the increased temperature in combination with alteration of volcanic glass, both causing a significant 18O‐depletion of bicarbonate dissolved in the interstitial fluids. Recrystallization led to uniform O isotope ratios in the concretions, but did not affect the C isotope signature. The δ13C values of the late‐diagenetic cements precipitated in the greywacke and in cracks cutting through concretions imply crystallization in the catagenetic zone and decarboxylation as a source of the bicarbonate. These late‐diagenetic processes took place in a supposedly overpressured setting, as suggested by clastic dykes and hydrofractures that cut through both concretions and host rock. All of these features show how the effects of early and late diagenesis can be distinguished in such rocks.