Sedimentary characteristics, formation mechanisms and geological significance of the Shiniulan Formation reefs (lower Silurian) in the Upper Yangtze Platform

Abstract

The lower Silurian Shiniulan Formation of the Upper Yangtze Platform contains small-scale coral–stromatoporoid reefs, generally from less than 10 km long and from 10 to 30 m in thickness, especially in the middle–upper parts. The reef-building organisms were dominantly tabulate and rugose corals, with fewer stromatoporoids. Reef-inserted organisms include bryozoans, brachiopods, cephalopods, algae, crinoids and bivalves. The Shiniulan Formation is characterised by biohermal limestone, bioclastic limestone, sandstone and mudstone, and is divided into four members according to lithological characteristics. The reefs generally occur in the middle–upper layer, which corresponds to four growth stages: stabilisation, colonisation, diversification and domination. In the reefs, the argillaceous and sandy contents decrease, and the carbonates increase from the base to the top. The growth characteristics, evolution, scale and size of the reefs in the Shiniulan Formation were influenced by three factors: agitation of terrigenous debris, fluctuation of sea level and seawater temperature. The Upper Yangtze region was mainly a shallow marine environment with a warm or torrid tropical and subtropical climate and high salinity in the late Aeronian. However, the Shiniulan Formation has significant differences in growth, evolution and extension scale compared with corresponding reefs in Laurentia and the Siberia and Kazakhstan blocks. Analysis of the geological factors of the Shiniulan Formation and the Menier Formation of Anticosti Island, which has revealed that the two sections have similar reef types, lithology and biology, aims to explain the under-development of large-scale reefs in the Upper Yangtze Platform during the middle–upper Silurian.