Crystal Fans Research Articles

Dolostone-barite-phosphorite sequence in the basal Doushantuo Formation: Origin and implications for post-Marinoan ocean chemistry and phosphogenesis

Barite (BaSO4) represents a major component of many post-Marinoan cap dolostones worldwide, recording important information on climate upheavals during the terminal Neoproterozoic. However, its origins and relations with other lithofacies remain to be explored. Here we report new occurrences of barite in the basal Ediacaran Doushantuo Formation at a major phosphate mine in Weng'an, South China, and present results of detailed petrographic and geochemical investigations on the barites and related phases. At the outcrop scale, barite is mainly present as a 1–2 cm-thick layer at the contact of the cap dolostones and overlying phosphorites. Detailed petrographic observations reveal a lithofacies transition from dolostone through a mixture of barite, dolomite and apatite to barite and finally to granular phosphorite. The barites can be categorized into three generations in stratigraphic order, which are present as loose, randomly-oriented blades (B1), dense aggregates (B2), and radially aligned crystal fans (B3), respectively. B1 is dispersed in a matrix of apatite and dolomite, which has an average δ13Ccarb of −0.61‰. This, along with the common presence of organic matter (OM) in this barite, point to a possible source of Ba from organic degradation. B3 forms a centimeter-scale layer of barite fans that laterally extends over the entire mining pit, whereas B2 is locally distributed between B1 and B3, and occurs as relatively unoriented aggregates. δ34S values of B3 show a narrow range between +25.9‰ and +30.9‰, which is similar to that of contemporaneous seawater and indicate a seawater source of sulfate in barite. Based on the present investigation and a compilation of published data, we propose that B1 is diagenetic barite with a main source of Ba from degradation of organic matter and possibly also from dissolution of previous pelagic barite, whereas B2 and B3 represent seafloor precipitates that resulted from interactions between deep, anoxic Ba-rich waters and oxic, sulfate-rich surface waters during the post-glacial transgression. This episode of barite precipitation was immediately followed by massive accumulations of phosphorites in Weng'an and many areas of South China. The consecutive deposition of cap dolostone, barite and phosphorite signifies the transition from an alkalinity-rich, stagnant anoxic ocean to a dynamic marine regime featuring oxygenated surface waters and upwelling currents. These pH and redox changes likely facilitated the cycling and enrichment of phosphate in the shallow waters that was necessitated by the unprecedented accumulation of Ediacaran phosphorites in South China.

Sedimentary environment of basal Ediacaran barite growth on Baltica in E. Finnmark, N. Norway, and subsequent dissolution/reprecipitation

Basal Ediacaran barite, which has mass-anomalous depleted 17O, supporting Snowball Earth models, likely grew in shallow-marine settings, but sedimentological constraints lack details. Environmental conditions in the Varanger Palaeovalley during the basal Ediacaran are well preserved in the Nyborg Formation, where barite forms < 15 mm high synsyn-sedimentary crystal fans on Archean basement or thin intervening sediments. Sedimentary evidence suggests crystal fans formed in low-energy, very shallow-marine to subaerial facies. Rare earth element and yttrium signatures in associated carbonates suggest non-saline growth environments. Post-depositional fluid-flow replaced crystal fan barite with silica (now quartz) and redeposited barite as: <1 × 0.2 mm “dispersed” grains in sediments below fans; <5 mm grains replacing calcite filling desiccation cracks; <1 mm grains in basement fissures; <3 µm grains replacing matrix calcite; irregular grains in detrital sheet-silicate + calcite grains. Caledonian dissolution-reprecipitation reworked barite into brittle fractures and stylolites. Barite Δ17O values are amongst the most negative (-0.9 – -1.25 ‰) and δ18O values the lowest recorded (9.9 – 16.9 ‰) anywhere, consistent with a high latitude Baltica at ∼ 635 Ma. δ34S values (17.7 – 24.5 ‰) lie within the known range for basal Ediacaran barite.

Revisiting the Yudongzi microbialites (basal Triassic, northwestern Sichuan, South China): Fabric textures and paleoenvironmental implication

Unusual sedimentary deposits such as stromatolites, thrombolites, dendrolites, and giant ooids are widely distributed in the Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) successions of shallow platform facies worldwide. These microbial fabrics, however, are rarely present in the same section. The genesis of these PTB microbialites and the oceanographic conditions linking to the end-Permian mass extinction still remain disputed despite intense study. Here, we report a stromatolite-dendrolite-thrombolite-giant ooid association from the PTB beds of the Yudongzi section on the northwestern margin of the Yangtze Platform, South China, which was situated in low latitudes during the Permian-Triassic (P-Tr) transition. The Yudongzi microbialites rest on an irregular contact with underlying Permian bioclastic limestone and are comprised of lower bedded stromatolite, digitate dendrolite, upper bedded stromatolite, and thrombolite units. The bedded stromatolite is characterized by undulating laminated structures and various amalgamated and layered clots. The digitate dendrolite is made up of digitate-like branches, formed by clots distributed in an arched arrangement, and characterized by abundant branching dendroids. The thrombolite displays distinct clotted textures that comprise a mixture of dark-colored microbial fabric and light-colored interstitial sediment. In microbialite, columnar structures identified as Gakhumella-like calcimicrobe are very abundant. Each individual of Gakhumella-like structure has densely arranged segments forming a columnar- to fan-shaped micro-structure. Single segments are arch-shaped and form a thin chamber between segments. Coccoid-like, bacterial clump-like, and other spheroidal aggregates are also commonly present and suggestive of a biogenetic origin for the Yudongzi microbialites. Moreover, distinct aragonite crystal fans are also for the first time found in the PTB microbialites in South China, suggesting that the fans may have resulted from high inorganic carbon concentrations, and thus high levels of carbonate dioxide in the seawater. The Yudongzi microbialites are capped by shelly grainstone and a massive giant oolite, implying that the demise of the Yudongzi microbialites may be due to destruction by strong wave currents in a high energy setting. Some ooids are coated unevenly by micritic laminae (or envelopes) indicating the possibility of a microbe-related origin. These microbial-coated giant ooids, together with the massive microbialites, may imply the long-term of microbial bloom in the oceans immediately after the end-Permian extinction. The co-existence of abundant Gakhumella-like microorganisms and oxygen-dependent invertebrates, together with some coccoid-like spheroids, aragonite cement crystal fans, and pyrite framboids indicative of oxygen-poor conditions, implies that oxygenation state of the PTB microbialites is much more complex than previously recognized, demonstrating need for continued multidisciplinary examination of facies changes associated biotic mass extinction.

Biotic-Abiotic Radial-Acicular Crystal Fan Fabrics with Rosickýite at the Angel Springs Tufa-Travertine Deposit in Southern British Columbia

Abstract The tufa-travertine deposit at Angel Springs developed through the interaction of thermal waters with bedrock of the Proterozoic Okanagan Gneiss, which extends along the eastern margin of the Okanagan Valley fault system in south-central British Columbia. This warm spring is proximal to Miocene plateau basalt flows that cut the Okanagan Gneiss bedrock eastward of the Okanagan Valley. The carbonate deposit, which is widely referenced as tufa, consists of a tufa and an overlying travertine. These texturally and petrographically different deposits developed in response to a shift in the groundwater pathway wherein the surface discharge transitioned from multiple vents of the tufa to a single downslope vent pool of the overlying travertine. Lower interval tufa fabrics are characterized by networks of fenestral-type porosity supported by a framework of curvilinear stromatolitic sheets of calcite that resulted from the partial coalescence of sub-horizontal arrays of calcite-encrusted cyanobacteria. These tufa fabrics aligned with the strong stream flow emanating from multiple vents. In contrast, radial crystal fan fabrics of the upper interval travertine developed with the transition from biotic calcite encrustations of upward branching cyanobacteria to the abiotic development of radial crystal fans. Length-long mouldic porosity tubules were occluded as the abiotic sheaf- and fan-shaped crystal growth surfaces expanded radially with rapid degassing. Core areas of the radial crystal arrays coalesced and were partially recrystallized, resulting in spheroidal crystalline fabrics that preserve inclusion-delineated concentric growth surfaces. Syntaxial overgrowths of radially aligned acicular crystals rapidly expanded from these core areas of coalesced calcite, resulting in the formation of abiotic radial-acicular and starburst crystal arrangements. The biotic–abiotic transition resulted in the rapid growth of abiotic crystal fans as the dominant deposition process of the upper interval travertine fabrics, but not in the lower interval tufa fabrics. Activities of sulfate-reducing bacteria in the sulfate-rich thermal water of both intervals resulted in precipitation of rosickýite, the monoclinic polymorph of S, as nanocrystalline globular protuberances on surfaces of calcite crystals. This is the first recorded occurrence of rosickýite in a tufa-travertine deposit and the first recognition of this mineral in Canada.

Constraining the diagenesis of the Puga cap carbonate from U–Pb in‐situ dating of seafloor crystal fans, southern Amazonian craton, Brazil

AbstractCap carbonates overlying Marinoan (635 Ma) glacial deposits worldwide record extreme paleoceanographic changes that may have triggered the rise of macroscopic life. However, the lack of geochronological constraints on these successions hinders reconciling climate and environmental change. Their upper part is marked by anomalous aragonite precipitation associated with large transgression and oxygenation of the post‐glacial ocean. Neomorphism of these deposits to low‐Mg calcite often includes centimetre‐scale seafloor crystal fans. We used in‐situ U–Pb dating and C and Sr isotopic analyses in the Puga cap carbonate to estimate the nature and timing of the neomorphism process. An age of 623 ± 3 [9] Ma (δ13C ~ −6‰ and 87Sr/87Sr ~ 0.7071–0.7075) for a blocky calcite cement is consistent with solution‐reprecipitation within the fans during final filling and diagenetic stabilization of the cap carbonate fabric. This result improves previous cap carbonate direct dating, providing a rare Lower Ediacaran chronostratigraphic reference.

Re-appearance of precipitated aragonite crystal fans as evidence for expansion of oceanic dissolved inorganic carbon reservoir in the aftermath of the Lomagundi-Jatuli Event

The initial accumulation of atmospheric oxygen is marked by the unprecedented positive δ13Ccarb excursions of the Lomagundi-Jatuli Event (LJE) and records an interval of abnormal O2 production through elevated rates of organic carbon burial. Emerging evidence suggests that the post-LJE atmosphere-ocean system might have suffered a significant deoxygenation. These dynamic perturbations in the oceanic redox state and biogeochemical cycles would have led to fundamental changes in carbonate precipitation dynamics. Here, we report the discovery of centimeter-sized crystal fans in the post-LJE Huaiyincun Formation, Hutuo Supergroup in the North China Craton. The hexagonal cross-sections and square terminations suggest that these fan-like dolomitic structures were originally aragonite crystal fans (ACF). Variations of stromatolite morphology and frequent occurrences of storm-related deposits in the Huaiyincun Formation point to repeated cycles of sea level changes. The bedding-parallel distribution of the ACF and the homogeneous δ13C values of the ACF-bearing dolostones are consistent with a primary depositional origin for the ACF. An updated compilation of published records of ACF throughout geological history highlights a clear absence of ACF from the initiation of the Paleoproterozoic Great Oxidation Event until the end of the LJE, and a global reappearance of ACF in the post-LJE late Paleoproterozoic. We propose that the reappearance of ACF is in agreement with the expansion of the oceanic dissolved inorganic carbon reservoir. At the same time, consumption of dissolved oxygen during the oxidation of organic matter might have been stimulated by ferruginous deep seawater, facilitating the formation of Huiayincun ACF.

Morphogenesis of crystal fan fabrics of the Wolfenden cool water tufa deposit in western Canada

Morphogenesis of crystal fan fabrics of the Wolfenden cool water tufa deposit in western Canada

Carbonate‐Associated Phosphate (CAP) Indicates Elevated Phosphate Availability in Neoarchean Shallow Marine Environments

AbstractPhosphorus is essential for cell biology, yet scarce in modern marine environments wherein free phosphate is consumed by life or titrated by calcium to form apatite minerals. The environmental conditions under which the early biosphere emerged and phosphorus was integrated throughout biochemistry is yet unknown. We measured the phosphate concentrations of 2.8–2.5 Ga shallow marine carbonate facies across six Neoarchean shelf‐ramp environments. We found that the P/Ca ratios of Neoarchean stromatolites, micrites, and crystal fans were &gt;4‐fold to 12‐fold more enriched in carbonate‐associated phosphate than modern marine coral skeletons and abiotic Phanerozoic carbonates. Our results support the view that Archean productivity was limited by the availability of electrons rather than phosphate or other nutrients, and help explain why phosphorus is so central to the molecules, metabolisms, and bioenergetics observed in cells.

Episodic massive release of methane during the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse

Abstract Methane-derived carbonates (MDCs) are common along modern and ancient continental margins, and the majority of such formations are associated with seafloor cold seeps. Here, we document petrographic, rare earth element + yttrium (REE + Y), carbonate clumped isotope temperature (TΔ47), and carbon-isotopic evidence from a shale succession in southern Tibet spanning a ~28 m.y. interval (ca. 113–85 Ma) that coincided with the mid-Cretaceous greenhouse event. At least nine limestone nodule-bearing horizons exhibit seep-associated sedimentary structures, including carbonate fabrics (e.g., micritic crusts, crystal fans, and botryoidal textures) and 13C-depleted isotopic compositions (δ13Ccarb &amp;lt; –32.3‰), which are indicative of methane-derived carbon sources. Along with sedimentary evidence, the patterns of TΔ47–δ13Ccarb–δ18Ocarb support precipitation of these MDCs over a large temperature range. The REE + Y compositions and europium (Eu) anomalies indicate that the release of methane was associated with hydrothermal fluids. Methane may have been derived from both thermogenic and biogenic sources based on the inorganic carbon isotopic signatures of the carbonate. These nodular carbonate horizons document multiple episodes of seafloor methane release during the mid-Cretaceous and represent exceptionally long-lived, active methane seepage. Massive methane release events may have played a role in generating the greenhouse climate of the mid-Cretaceous.

Early Mesoproterozoic Ca-carbonate precipitates record fluctuations in shallow marine oxygenation

Oxygenation, a key control on marine life, has a long and varied history. This is well seen in the early Mesoproterozoic. During this critical period, midway between the Great Oxidation (GOE) and Neoproterozoic Oxidation (NOE) events, low marine levels of pulsed oxygenation - likely driven by fluctuations in cyanobacterial productivity - alternated with episodic anoxia. However, since baseline oxygen levels were low, deciphering the scale and variability of redox evolution during this prolonged interval is challenging. This in turn has made it difficult to confidently identify key underlying controls on redox evolution. Combining sedimentological and geochemical methods, we studied shallow ∼1.57 Ga shelf carbonates with contrasting depositional fabrics. Carbonate I/(Ca + Mg) data indicate that (i) carbonate mud precipitated in a weakly oxygenated water column, whereas (ii) seafloor crystal fans formed in more poorly oxygenated seawater, containing Fe2+ and Mn2+. We infer that in (i) weakly oxygenated (hypoxic-oxic) conditions reflect increased planktic cyanobacterial productivity that, in the absence of carbonate precipitation inhibitors (Fe2+ and Mn2+), promoted water column carbonate mud (‘whiting’) precipitation. At the same time, aerobic degradation of settling organic matter lowered seafloor CaCO3 saturation. In contrast, in (ii) more poorly oxygenated seawaters containing Fe2+ and Mn2+ inhibited calcite precipitation but permitted aragonite which formed seafloor crystal fans. Together, these contrasting precipitates indicate relatively rapid pulsed redox fluctuations. These were relatively subtle, but sufficient to result in contrasting carbonate sediments, readily recognizable in the field. We hypothesize that cyanobacterial productivity, possibly linked to the availability of nutrients such as phosphate, was a key influence on water column redox cyclicity during the Mesoproterozoic.

Sedimentological and stratigraphic constraints on depositional environment for Ediacaran carbonate rocks of the São Francisco Craton: Implications for phosphogenesis and paleoecology

The Una and Bambuí Groups of northeastern and central Brazil are remnants of a vast intracratonic carbonate platform formed on the São Francisco Craton during the Ediacaran Period. Their basal stratigraphic units contain early phosphatic cements and phosphatic intraclasts in association with elongate digitate stromatolites in the more northern Irecê and Salitre paleobasins (Salitre Formation), and microbial laminites and aragonite crystal fan pseudomorphs in the more southern São Francisco paleobasin (Sete Lagoas Formation). Previous studies have drawn comparisons to other Precambrian phosphorites, as well as modern phosphogenetic environments, suggesting mechanisms of phosphogenesis dependent on the accumulation of porewater phosphate via microbial activity in low flow velocity environments, such as relatively quiescent tidal flats, where an absence of wave-driven advection and porewater refreshment could have allowed oversaturation with respect to carbonate fluorapatite. Here, we present new sedimentological data that characterize the depositional setting of the Salitre and Sete Lagoas formations as a shallow, wave-swept carbonate platform notable for its extensive high-energy lithofacies. In this setting, phosphatic and non-phosphatic stromatolite buildups formed within the same depositional facies, often in close (meter- and decimeter-scale) spatial association with one another. These data suggest that early phosphate mineralization of the Salitre and Sete Lagoas formations was likely not a function of low porewater advection in paleogeographically sheltered regions, but rather highly local processes of phosphate enrichment on a high-energy, wave-swept platform environment.

Different accretion and diagenetic patterns within the fabrics of the Permian\u2013Triassic boundary microbialites on the Leye isolated carbonate platform, South China Block

A comprehensive study on the accretion and diagenesis of the Permian–Triassic boundary microbialites is conducive to a better understanding of the ecological community after the end-Permian mass extinction. Here we studied the special microbialite sequences at the Tianba section of Leye isolated carbonate platform, South China Block. The microbialites are shown as small columnar stromatolites, stromatolitic thrombolites, spotted thrombolites, and domical digitate thrombolites in an ascending order. Thin section analyses, coupled with cathodoluminescence photos and oxygen isotopic data, reveal that all types of microbially-mediated laminae/clots are partly recrystallized. Layers of the Polybessurus-like fossils commonly occur in the recrystallized fabrics of stromatolitic laminae. However, the Polybessurus-like fossils are rare in quantity and generally fragmentary and structureless in stromatolitic clots and spotted clots. Such taphonomic features are likely interpreted as the early decomposition by heterotrophic bacteria in an oxygen-depleted microenvironment caused by rapid accumulations of organic matter in the calm water. More enrichments of 13C in the laminae of stromatolite and in the clots of stromatolitic thrombolite and spotted thrombolite than in adjacent interstitial matrixes signify the photosynthesis-dominated isotopic fractionation during the growth of microbial communities. Rare calcimicrobial structures but many calcite crystal fans were found in the 13C-depleted digitate clots. These phenomena indicate that seawater on the carbonate platform was 12C-enriched and supersaturated, accelerating carbonate precipitations and decompositions of organic matter within the microbial community. Different preservations of the Polybessurus-like fossil revealed the complicated microbially-dominated sedimentation and post-depositional diagenesis in the abnormal seawater after the catastrophe.

Microfacies, diagenesis and hydrocarbon potential of the Neoproterozoic cap carbonate of the southern Amazon Craton

The low-latitude Marinoan glaciation (635 Ma) record in the southern Amazon Craton has been one of the most important sites with strong evidence for the Neoproterozoic Snowball Earth hypothesis. In Central Brazil, the 50-m-thick carbonate succession of the post-Marinoan cap carbonate exposed in the Tangará da Serra region, Central Brazil, represents a complementary section of the classical occurrence of the Puga cap carbonate in Mirassol d'Oeste region, that overlies glaciogenic deposits marking the well-preserved Cryogenian-Ediacaran boundary in South America. The 8-m-thick cap dolostone that represents the Mirassol d'Oeste Formation consists of pinkish microcrystalline peloidal dolomudstone, exhibiting even parallel to low-angle lamination locally tubestone, and megaripple bedded dolopackstone. The cap dolostone is succeeded upsection by the cap cementstone limestone (basal Guia Formation), comprising laminated lime mudstone rich in silt-sized terrigenous grains (quartz), and subordinately bituminous shale, dolomitic marls, intraformational breccias, and abundant calcite crystal fans and crusts. Crystal fans occur in isolated and decimetre-scale arrays and are considered aragonite pseudomorphs. Primary precipitation of dolomite, crystal fans, and micrite and the formation of tubestone are related to depositional processes. The cap dolostone was affected by the neomorphism of the dolomicrite, development of vug and intercrystalline porosity, euhedral dolomite precipitation, synsedimentary fracturing, calcite and quartz precipitation, chemical compaction, Fe-oxide substitution, and precipitation. The diagenetic processes of the cap cementstone limestone were pyrite precipitation, calcite cementation, neomorphism of micrite and crystal fan, partial crystal fan dissolution, dolomitization, chemical compaction, fracturing, ferrous dolomite and calcite precipitation, pyrite (pseudomorph) and micrite replacement with Fe-oxide and replacement of rhombohedral dolomite by Mn-oxides. Hydrocarbons are rare and its migration represents the last diagenetic event being found: 1) in fractures and interpeloidal, vug and intercrystalline pores (~2%) with low permeability and connectivity of the cap dolostone; and 2) in intercrystalline pores, fractures, and rare pores in crystal fans of the cap cementstone limestone.During the post-Marinoan sea-level rise occurred the establishment of a shallow to moderately deep microbially induced dolomitic platform locally influenced by storm-action. The progressive transgression led the implantation of a deep anoxic and CaCO3-oversaturated aragonitic platform. The similarities of cap carbonate microfacies among the post-Marinoan succession worldwide reflects an extraordinary and non-recurring global precipitation event in geological history. In contrast, besides the majority of cap carbonate have the same textural and compositional framework, the diagenetic history seems to be regional and completely dependent on the tectonic, thermal, and burial history of the depositional basins where they were deposited.

New interpretation of the basal Bambuí Group, Sete Lagoas High (Minas Gerais, E Brazil) by sedimentological studies and regional implications for the aftermath of the Marinoan glaciation: Correlations across Brazil and Central Africa

Along the preserved southeast border (i.e., the Sete Lagoas High) of the Bambuí basin, the Pedro Leopoldo Member, basal succession of the Sete Lagoas Formation, unconformably overlies the Archean basement, and mostly includes carbonates with thin pelite intercalations and rare ruditic deposits. One of these, the so-called Carrancas conglomerate in its type-section, has been considered one of the lowermost rudite deposits of the Bambuí basin, being frequently ascribed to a Neoproterozoic glaciation. However, our detailed study, based on facies analysis, reveals that the Carrancas conglomerate was deposited by sediment gravity flow currents within the basal Pedro Leopoldo Member. Two outcrop sections in the São José de Lapa and Vespasiano areas, including thirteen abandoned quarry-cut and cliff outcrops, display eight distinct lithofacies (LF1 to LF8) forming a shallowing-upward carbonate ramp succession. It is composed, from the base to the top, by a mixed siliciclastic-carbonate outer ramp distally bounded by a slope-outer ramp system with sediment gravity flow deposits, a deep outer ramp developed below storm-wave base environments, an outer-middle ramp with aragonite pseudomorph crystal fans developed in a CaCO3 oversaturated below storm-wave base environment in suboxic/anoxic conditions. According to published isotope data correlating δ13C trends and values in basal carbonates of the Pedro Leopoldo Member of the Sete Lagoas and Januária highs, the relatively deep outer-slope ramp mixed siliciclastic-carbonate units of the study area appear to be coeval in age with the cap dolostone of shallow-water inner ramp of the Januária High. The absence of a cap dolostone in the Sete Lagoas High could be explained by lack of accommodation space or a regional erosion due to the tectonically driven forebulge uplift of the Sete Lagoas High. The Pedro Leopoldo Member in the Sete Lagoas High was accumulated in a brine-seawater bottom waters under suboxic/anoxic conditions in the relatively deeper portion of the carbonate ramp system, whilst the cap dolostone in the Januária High was developed in oxygenated mixed layer and intermediate water near the surface water in the shallower portion of the carbonate ramp system. Such lateral variations of facies and δ13C fluctuations are similar to those recorded by the cap carbonate sequences of the basal Schisto-Calcaire/Lukala (Sub)Group in the West Congo Belt and the basal Araras Group in the Paraguay Belt, which display a similar wide range of sub-environments like the studied part of the Pedro Leopoldo Member.

Modelling the impact of depositional and diagenetic processes on reservoir properties of the crystal-shrub limestones in the ‘Pre-Salt’ Barra Velha Formation, Santos Basin, Brazil

Abstract The Cretaceous Barra Velha Formation (‘Pre-Salt’) of the Santos Basin, Brazil, includes lacustrine crystal-shrub limestones which represent important hydrocarbon reservoirs. Neither single nor multi-phase flow behaviour of these unusual fabrics has been modelled to date. Here we quantify the impact of depositional and diagenetic processes on selected reservoir properties of the crystal-shrub limestones using highly flexible 3D synthetic pore-scale models that can explore parameter space. Rather than producing models validated to actual reservoir properties, this seeks to establish trends and identify emergent clustering behaviour. Shrubby aggregates nucleate from a surface to form upward and outward-growing, branching, fascicular optical calcite crystal fans that are diverse in size and form. The model allows exploration of the impact of primary growth parameters: number of bifurcations (or branching), shrub height, angle of cone (or fan) inflation as well as subsequent inter-shrub cementation and dissolution, on resultant porosity, permeability, and multiphase flow. Simulations show that depositional parameters, as well as two major diagenetic processes - cementation and dissolution - control porosity and permeability. In some cases, these trends diverge considerably from widely-referenced Kozeny-Carman (KC) porosity-permeability relationships. The angle of shrub inflation produces data clusters that traverse KC bands. By contrast, the number of bifurcations and the degree of dissolution follows KC trends, so providing guidance for potential rock type subdivision of similar lithologies. On this basis we propose that the crystal-shrub limestones in the Barra Velha Formation can be subdivided into three broad petrophysical reservoir rock types based on the degree of shrubby aggregate bifurcation and extent of dissolution. The trends explored here can be used to link conceptual and process-based geological models to data, so enabling more accurate prediction and upscaling of heterogeneous reservoir properties and their reservoir-scale distribution.

Sedimentology and chemostratigraphy of the terminal Ediacaran Dengying Formation at the Gaojiashan section, South China.

The late Ediacaran Dengying Formation (ca. 551.1-538.8 Ma) in South China is one of two successions where Ediacara-type macrofossils are preserved in carbonate facies along with skeletal fossils and bilaterian animal traces. Given the remarkable thickness of carbonate-bearing strata deposited in less than 12.3 million years, the Dengying Formation holds the potential for a relatively continuous chemostratigraphic profile for the terminal Ediacaran stage. In this study, a detailed sedimentological and chemostratigraphic (δ13Ccarb, δ18Ocarb, δ13Corg, δ34Spyrite, and 87Sr/86Sr) investigation was conducted on the Dengying Formation at the Gaojiashan section, Ningqiang County of the southern Shaanxi Province, South China. Sedimentological results reveal an overall shallow marine depositional environment. Carbonate breccia, void-filling botryoidal precipitates, and aragonite crystal fans are common in the Algal Dolomite Member of the Dengying Formation, suggesting that peritidal facies were repeatedly karstified. The timing of karstification was likely early, probably soon after the deposition of the dolomite sediments. The presence of authigenic aragonite cements suggests high alkalinity in the terminal Ediacaran ocean. Geochemical analysis of micro-drilled samples shows that distinct compositions are registered in different carbonate phases, which should be considered when constructing chemostratigraphic profiles representative of true temporal variations in seawater chemistry. Integrated chemostratigraphic data suggest enhanced burial of organic carbon and pyrite, and the occurrence of extensive marine anoxia (at least in the Gaojiashan Member). Rapid basinal subsidence and carbonate accumulation during a time of elevated seawater alkalinity and increased rates of pyrite burial may have facilitated the evolutionary innovation of early biomineralizing metazoans.

Small microbialites from the basal Triassic mudstone (Tieshikou, Jiangxi, South China): Geobiologic features, biogenicity, and paleoenvironmental implications

We report small microbialites from the calcareous mudstone slightly above the Permian–Triassic boundary (PTB) in the Tieshikou section, southern Jiangxi Province, South China. The newly found microbialite is a bowl-like structure, which contrasts with the surrounding calcareous mudstone. The small microbialite is composed of columnar forms and fan-shaped structures. Mini-columnar structures resemble mini stromatolites. In plane view, most branches are patchy or strip-shaped, with clotted structures, resembling that of a thrombolite. Fan-shaped cement precipitates are comprised of multiple crystal fans that have a radiating texture and that show distinct growth laminae. The radiating fabrics are represented by rod-shaped filaments under SEM, which are interpreted as calcified trichomes/filaments. Prominent micropores occur within the rods, and they may be the plane views of multiple sheaths of the false branching zone of trichomes. Thus, both the columnar forms and radiating fans are probably microbial in origin. Moreover, three types of nano-sized structures: intraparticle micropores, fibrous biofilms, and filamentous sheaths are also pronounced in both the columnar structures and cement fans of the Tieshikou microbialite, all suggestive of biogenicity. These well-preserved fibrous biofilms probably represent calcified extracellular polymeric substances (EPS), and linear sheaths are interpreted as the traces of bacterial activities during the precipitation of dolomite crystals. The Tieshikou microbialite therefore shares similar biogenetic mechanisms with other PTB microbialites. The combination of the absence of pyrite framboids, slightly negative carbon isotope values, and an association with abundant ammonoids, bivalves, and gastropods indicates oxic conditions during the growth of the Tieshikou microbialite. Moreover, the nodular preservational state resembles widely distributed nodular mudstones or muddy limestones of the Lower Triassic successions worldwide. This implies that nodular mudstone or argillaceous limestones may also have been deposited in microbe-rich environments, in which terrigenous supply was abundant.

Phosphogenesis, aragonite fan formation and seafloor environments following the Marinoan glaciation

Carbonates in the Sete Lagoas Formation (São Francisco craton, Brazil) preserve a record of chemical, biological, and oceanographic changes that occurred during the Ediacaran Period. The base of this formation constitutes a post-glacial cap carbonate, which contains seafloor precipitates (carbonate and barite crystal fans) as well as various authigenic and diagenetic minerals (apatite, pyrite, and barite). Here, we present petrographic and geochemical data on this unit, and discuss the significance of its mineral association for marine environments following the Marinoan (‘Snowball Earth’) glaciation. For the first time, we report well-developed apatitic cements in a Neoproterozoic cap carbonate. Isopachous and intergranular void-filling cements encrust and surround seafloor-precipitated fan crystals that precipitated as aragonite. We propose a model for the origin of this mineral association, which relates phosphogenesis and aragonite fan formation to a single set of environmental conditions. According to this model, the boundary between oxic and anoxic conditions was located at or just below the sediment-water interface. Burial of iron (oxyhydr)oxides below this boundary liberated phosphate to pore water and provided fuel for iron reduction. Iron reduction released Fe2+, which inhibited nucleation of carbonate and allowed for aragonite growth on the seafloor. Concurrently, ‘iron-pumping’ shuttled phosphate from the water column to the sediment, and perhaps in conjunction with organic phosphorus remineralization via anaerobic microbial pathways, created conditions conducive to phosphate mineralization. This model corroborates the hypotheses that aragonite crystal fan formation requires the presence of an inhibitor to carbonate nucleation, in addition to high alkalinity, and that Fe2+ serves as this inhibitor. Overall, our work documents a close association between aragonite crystal fan formation and phosphogenesis at the beginning of the Ediacaran, illuminates the paleoenvironments of cap carbonates with seafloor precipitates, and contributes to understanding of phosphogenesis following low latitude glaciations.

Internal fabric of giant domes in the Mesoarchean Steep Rock carbonate platform, Superior Province, Canada

Drivers for accumulation of Archean seafloor carbonate were mostly very different than those operating today. Alternating crystal fan fabric and cuspate fenestral fabric forming meter-scale giant domes is rare in Archean carbonate platforms and limited to this time period. Their genesis is poorly understood. The oldest known examples are in the 2.8Ga Steep Rock Group of northwestern Ontario, Canada, where 200 to 500m of carbonate was deposited on a semi-restricted platform. Here the elongate domes are composed of cm to dm alternations of calcite crystal fans and microbialite, commonly separated by thin, dark ferroan dolomite and quartz replaced areas, which have herein been referred to as alteration surfaces. The cuspate fenestral fabric is formed of draping, mat-like laminae, vertically oriented support structures, and cement-filled voids. The concave-up mat-like laminae attach to the support structures, which, similar to the alteration surfaces, are primarily composed of ferroan dolomite and quartz. One...

Sponge-microbial build-ups from the lowermost Triassic Chanakhchi section in southern Armenia: Microfacies and stable carbon isotopes

The end-Permian mass extinction was the most severe biotic crisis in Earth's history. In its direct aftermath microbial communities colonized some of the space left vacant after the severe decline of skeletal metazoans. The Permian-Triassic boundary microbialites were peculiarly abundant on low-latitude shallow-marine carbonate shelves of central Tethyan continents. Armenia features particularly well preserved and diverse basal Triassic sponge-microbial build-ups (BTSMBs), which were not studied in detail to date. Here, the Chanakhchi section in southern Armenia is described petrographically and by means of stable isotope analyses. The Armenian BTSMBs formed in a distally open marine setting on a pelagic carbonate ramp in the course of two phases of microbial growth during the Induan (Lower Triassic). The BTSMBs are represented by predominantly thrombolitic but also dendrolitic and digitate stromatolite biostromes and mounds that vary in height between 5cm to 12m. The digitate stromatolites are associated with calcium carbonate crystal fans (CCFs). Microfacies analyses revealed that the BTSMBs exhibit a number of different growth forms and internal fabrics. The formation of CCFs was apparently not devoid of biological influence and took place above the sediment surface. The abundance of sponges in the BTSMBs reveals that ecologically complex metazoan-microbial reefs have been present already early after the end-Permian mass extinction. However, the formation of biostromes and mounds did not depend on sponges or other metazoans. BTSMBs that formed during the second microbial growth phase revealed similar δ13C-values like the surrounding sediment. In contrast, the δ13Cmicrobialite and δ13Csediment values from the BTSMBs and CCFs of the first growth phase show a difference of up to +2.3‰, suggesting a significant influence of photoautotrophy during microbially induced carbonate precipitation.