A Color Guide to the Petrography of Carbonate Rocks

Scholle, Peter A.; Ulmer-Scholle, Dana S.

doi:10.1306/m77973

Cited by 344 publications

(239 citation statements)

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“…Silicification can result from spontaneous precipitation in alkaline water (Platt, 1989) and length slow chalcedony precipitates from sulphate-rich fluids. This silicification suggests that the possible chemical composition of the secondary inflowing waters was sulphate-rich (Scholle & Ulmer-Scholle, 2003;Bustillo, 2010).…”

Section: Sedimentologymentioning

confidence: 96%

Comparison of lacustrine successions and their palaeohydrological implications in two sub‐basins of the Triassic Cuyana rift, Argentina

et al. 2015

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Continental carbonates are rich in palaeoclimatic, palaeoenvironmental and palaeontological information. While carbonate accumulation mechanisms have been described for many types of continental environments, especially in extensional basins, there are still uncertainties that existing facies models fail to address. The Triassic Cerro de las Cabras and Cerro Puntudo formations are alluvial-fluvial-lacustrine sequences that represent a part of the sedimentary infill of two sub-basins of the Cuyana Basin during the early stages of the Triassic rift in west-central Argentina. Previous work has provided absolute dates, confirming that these deposits are coeval (Anisian) allowing a comparative study of carbonate sedimentation in an extensional tectonic context. The description and origin of freshwater carbonate deposits and their surrounding siliciclastic sediments in specific areas of the Cuyana rift, gives insight into the major factors that control carbonate precipitation in all rift basins, including the characterization of the palaeohydrology and the importance of provenance. The Cerro de las Cabras Formation represents an ephemeral, playa-lake depositional system with subaerial exposure and pedogenesis. Its aggradational succession corresponds to the evaporative facies association lake type, diagnostic of underfilled lake basins where persistently closed surface hydrology can lead to thick evaporites. However, this formation lacks thick evaporites and has microbialitic limestones, pointing to an open groundwater supply. The Cerro Puntudo Formation represents an alkaline playa-lake system fed by groundwater and ephemeral surface-water input. The unit is an aggradational-minor progradational succession, pointing to a fluctuating profundal facies association, suggesting a balanced-filled lake type. These two synchronous, lacustrine depositional systems were influenced by tectonics and climate. Provenance and hydrology are key controls in carbonate accumulation in continental rift basins that must be included in future facies models for continental carbonates. Comparison with other rift basins suggests that application of lake-type characterizations coupled with palaeohydrology and provenance patterns will aid in developing new sedimentation models for freshwater limestones in extensional settings.

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Section: Sedimentologymentioning

confidence: 96%

Comparison of lacustrine successions and their palaeohydrological implications in two sub‐basins of the Triassic Cuyana rift, Argentina

et al. 2015

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“…For a more reliable differentiation, isotopic and trace element analyses should be included (e.g. Meyers and Lohmann, 1985;Scholle and Ulmer-Scholle, 2003).…”

Section: Cement Typesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Effect of Micrite Content on Calcite Cementation in an Upper Jurassic Carbonate Reservoir, Eastern Saudi Arabia

Zhang

Lü

2018

Journal of Petroleum Geology

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Cementation is a primary factor reducing the porosity of carbonate rocks. It is a challenge to accurately model cementation for reservoir quality prediction because cementation is often a syndepositional process. In addition, cementation requires fluid flow to transport chemical species for precipitation within the pore spaces in a sediment. The development of fully‐coupled depositional‐hydrogeochemical models for cementation prediction is desirable, but the parameters which control the extent of cementation need to be identified and evaluated. This study uses petrographic data from 583 carbonate samples from 15 wells in an Upper Jurassic (Kimmeridgian) reservoir at a giant oilfield in eastern Saudi Arabia to investigate the controlling effects of micrite content on cementation in carbonate rocks. The results indicate that the amount of cement decreases with increasing micrite content in the carbonate rocks analysed. In addition, a modified Houseknecht method has been developed to assess the relative fractions of porosity reduction in carbonate sediments due to compaction and cementation. The method highlights variations in depositional porosity for different rock textures and distinguishes microporosity from interparticle porosity. In the studied samples, the total porosity loss due to compaction and cementation is generally less than 45%, and samples lose more porosity due to compaction than cementation. The relative importance of compaction and cementation in reducing porosity is different for different rock textures: wackestones and mudstones lose porosity mostly as a result of compaction, while grainstones, mud‐lean packstones and packstones lose porosity due to both compaction and cementation.

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“…12). The lower diversity of the Bivalve Sandy Mud Biofacies is attributed to exclusion of some organisms, which are intolerant to high and variable salinities (for example, echinoids, coralline algae and bryozoans; Johnson, 1961;Melville & Durham, 1966;Diehl, 1986;Nelson et al, 1988;Bone & James, 1993;Scholle & Ulmer-Scholle, 2003). Bottom waters of the Bivalve Sandy Mud Biofacies have the highest salinities and salinity fluctuations of the entire basin (annual variation between 43Á5& and 47Á0&; Figs 2 and 12).…”

Section: Gastropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Bottom waters of the Bivalve Sandy Mud Biofacies have the highest salinities and salinity fluctuations of the entire basin (annual variation between 43Á5& and 47Á0&; Figs 2 and 12). Bivalves are not as sensitive to salinity extremes (Scholle & Ulmer-Scholle, 2003) and thus dominate this region (Figs 2 and 8).…”

Section: Gastropodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Oceanographic controls on shallow‐water temperate carbonate sedimentation: Spencer Gulf, South Australia

et al. 2015

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Spencer Gulf is a large (ca 22 000 km2), shallow (<60 m water depth) embayment with active heterozoan carbonate sedimentation. Gulf waters are metahaline (salinities 39 to 47‰) and warm‐temperate (ca 12 to −28°C) with inverse estuarine circulation. The integrated approach of facies analysis paired with high‐resolution, monthly oceanographic data sets is used to pinpoint controls on sedimentation patterns with more confidence than heretofore possible for temperate systems. Biofragments – mainly bivalves, benthic foraminifera, bryozoans, coralline algae and echinoids – accumulate in five benthic environments: luxuriant seagrass meadows, patchy seagrass sand flats, rhodolith pavements, open gravel/sand plains and muddy seafloors. The biotic diversity of Spencer Gulf is remarkably high, considering the elevated seawater salinities. Echinoids and coralline algae (traditionally considered stenohaline organisms) are ubiquitous. Euphotic zone depth is interpreted as the primary control on environmental distribution, whereas seawater salinity, temperature, hydrodynamics and nutrient availability are viewed as secondary controls. Luxuriant seagrass meadows with carbonate muddy sands dominate brightly lit seafloors where waters have relatively low nutrient concentrations (ca 0 to 1 mg Chl‐a m−3). Low‐diversity bivalve‐dominated deposits occur in meadows with highest seawater salinities and temperatures (43 to 47‰, up to 28°C). Patchy seagrass sand flats cover less‐illuminated seafloors. Open gravel/sand plains contain coarse bivalve–bryozoan sediments, interpreted as subphotic deposits, in waters with near normal marine salinities and moderate trophic resources (0·5 to 1·6 mg Chl‐a m−3) to support diverse suspension feeders. Rhodolith pavements (coralline algal gravels) form where seagrass growth is arrested, either because of decreased water clarity due to elevated nutrients and associated phytoplankton growth (0·6 to 2 mg Chl‐a m−3), or bottom waters that are too energetic for seagrasses (currents up to 2 m sec−1). Muddy seafloors occur in low‐energy areas below the euphotic zone. The relationships between oceanographic influences and depositional patterns outlined in Spencer Gulf are valuable for environmental interpretations of other recent and ancient (particularly Neogene) high‐salinity and temperate carbonate systems worldwide.

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A Color Guide to the Petrography of Carbonate Rocks

Cited by 344 publications

References 0 publications

Comparison of lacustrine successions and their palaeohydrological implications in two sub‐basins of the Triassic Cuyana rift, Argentina

Comparison of lacustrine successions and their palaeohydrological implications in two sub‐basins of the Triassic Cuyana rift, Argentina

Effect of Micrite Content on Calcite Cementation in an Upper Jurassic Carbonate Reservoir, Eastern Saudi Arabia

Oceanographic controls on shallow‐water temperate carbonate sedimentation: Spencer Gulf, South Australia

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