Trace element and rare earth element of cap carbonate in Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation in Yangtze Gorges

Abstract

For the Doushantuo cap carbonate at the Jiulongwan section in the Yangtze Gorges, its concentrations of redox sensitive elements suggest two distinct enrichments in stratigraphy. These enrichments occur at about 0.8 m and 3.3 m above the bottom of cap carbonate, respectively. They are interpreted as the temporary anoxic depositional conditions due to the oxidation of seeped methane. REE+Y patterns of the cap carbonate are classified into three types with different styles: (1) from the bottom to 2.45 m, representing the behaviors of freshwater and suggesting that massive meltwater swarmed into surface oceans during the deglaciation; (2) from 2.45 m to 3.3 m, indicating the pattern of ancient seawater possibly due to upwelling of deep water; and (3) from 3.3 m to the top, showing “MREE bulge” pattern with HREE-depletion as a result of diagenesis. The three-stage REE+Y patterns represent the transformations of shallow water in the wake of the Marinoan glaciation in this region: the fresh meltwater was dominant first, and then it interfused into the oceanic basin by the transgression and upwelling. Bloom of plankton further introduced anoxia near the water-sediment interface.