Sloping fan travertine, Belen, New Mexico, USA

Cook, Megan; Chafetz, Henry S.

doi:10.1016/j.sedgeo.2017.02.010

Cited by 18 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 43 publications

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“…(f) Transverse thin section showing an elongated dark micritic layer coated with calcite botryoids. Micrite may also serve as nucleation sites for carbonate spherulites, such as the structures observed in (g), under plain light, and (h), under cross‐polarized light, which show two micritic cores (white arrows) with a cortical structure of radiating crystals, similar to the spherulites observed in other tufa mounds (e.g., Searles Lake, CA, USA; Guo & Chafetz, 2012) as well as travertine deposits (e.g., Chafetz et al, 2018; Cook & Chafetz, 2017). (i) Longitudinal thin section in cross‐polarized light showing an apparent reworking of calcite botryoids and spherulites (white horizontal arrows showing well‐developed extinction of radial calcite crystals in spherulites, similar to other spherulite reworking in tufa deposits, such as the Pleistocene Lake Lahontan tufas, USA; DeMott et al, 2020) by a brown micrite that seems to replace the coarse calcite crystals and also forms isopachous cement rims around the porous fabric (white arrowheads).…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 64%

“…A microbially mediated nucleation of calcite botryoids is similar to the formation mechanism of carbonate spherulites, which are also found in BSL tufas (Figure 5g,h). Spherulites from other fossil tufa and carbonate deposits have been shown to nucleate from micritic cores possibly containing organic matter and cellular debris (e.g., Cook & Chafetz, 2017; Guo & Chafetz, 2012; Mercedes‐Martín et al, 2017). In addition, the coarse carbonate crystals and the spherulites seem to be reworked and replaced by extensive micritization (Figure 5i), forming stromatolitic laminae with low degree of inheritance and containing abundant dark inclusions (possibly organic matter; Figure 5j), which are commonly interpreted as biogenic features in carbonate rocks (Chafetz et al, 2018; Walter, 1976).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Potential role for microbial ureolysis in the rapid formation of carbonate tufa mounds

et al. 2021

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Modern carbonate tufa towers in the alkaline (~pH 9.5) Big Soda Lake (BSL), Nevada, exhibit rapid precipitation rates (exceeding 3 cm/year) and host diverse microbial communities. Geochemical indicators reveal that carbonate precipitation is, in part, promoted by the mixing of calcium‐rich groundwater and carbonate‐rich lake water, such that a microbial role for carbonate precipitation is unknown. Here, we characterize the BSL microbial communities and evaluate their potential effects on carbonate precipitation that may influence fast carbonate precipitation rates of the active tufa mounds of BSL. Small subunit rRNA gene surveys indicate a diverse microbial community living endolithically, in interior voids, and on tufa surfaces. Metagenomic DNA sequencing shows that genes associated with metabolisms that are capable of increasing carbonate saturation (e.g., photosynthesis, ureolysis, and bicarbonate transport) are abundant. Enzyme activity assays revealed that urease and carbonic anhydrase, two microbial enzymes that promote carbonate precipitation, are active in situ in BSL tufa biofilms, and urease also increased calcium carbonate precipitation rates in laboratory incubation analyses. We propose that, although BSL tufas form partially as a result of water mixing, tufa‐inhabiting microbiota promote rapid carbonate authigenesis via ureolysis, and potentially via bicarbonate dehydration and CO2 outgassing by carbonic anhydrase. Microbially induced calcium carbonate precipitation in BSL tufas may generate signatures preserved in the carbonate microfabric, such as stromatolitic layers, which could serve as models for developing potential biosignatures on Earth and elsewhere.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 64%

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Potential role for microbial ureolysis in the rapid formation of carbonate tufa mounds

et al. 2021

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“…Due to their microbial involvement, travertines are often investigated as analogues of stromatolites and laminated benthic microbial deposits; and their fabrics are compared with Precambrian examples to better understand the interaction between microbes and their environment (Walter & Des Marais, ; Riding, ; Okumura et al ., , , ,b). In addition, travertines have recently gained attention as analogues of Pre‐Salt oil reservoirs found in the South Atlantic subsurface Cretaceous succession, which are potentially microbial carbonates and often described as stromatolites or shrub framestones/boundstones (Della Porta, ; De Boever et al ., , ; Claes et al ., ; Cook & Chafetz, ; Della Porta et al ., ; Erthal et al ., ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Relative influence of biotic and abiotic processes on travertine fabrics, Satono‐yu hot spring, Japan

et al. 2018

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The relative influences of biotic and abiotic processes on travertine fabrics are still not well understood, despite increasing interest in the last decade to better understand the record of ancient microbial life and sedimentary fabrics in microbial hydrocarbon reservoirs. This study examines travertines at Satono‐yu hot spring in Japan (the temperature of water flowing over the travertine was ca 35°C), to better understand the interaction between depositional, hydrochemical and microbial parameters at different flow settings. Characteristics of the bulk hydrochemistry, mineralogy (exclusively aragonite) and the driving force for precipitation (primarily abiotic CO2 degassing with some photosynthetic microbial contribution) were similar among all of the flow settings. Conversely, the increase in flow velocity suppressed the influence of photosynthesis and enhanced the abiotic precipitation due to the thinner diffusive boundary layer at the travertine surface–water interface. Additionally, the increase in flow velocity changed the microbial composition and decreased the bacterial diversity by reflecting their adhesion efficiency on the travertine substrate. The acidity of the cyanobacterial sheaths controls the aragonite nucleation rate and the resulting calcification, even at significantly high equilibrium CO2 partial pressure (ca 22 to 28 matm), high dissolved inorganic carbon concentration (ca 35 to 38 mmol l−1), and elevated aragonite saturation state (ca 20‐fold to 34‐fold). Therefore, the increase in flow velocity suppresses the microbial influence with respect to the increase in the saturation state, the nucleation site supply and pore space generation. Overall, this results in the predominance of abiotic precipitation under high flow velocities. Consequently, a sparse‐micritic fabric with abundant interlamina porosity forms under lower flow velocity where the microbial influence is effective, while a dense‐sparitic fabric with little inter‐crystalline porosity forms under higher flow velocity where abiotic precipitation prevails. These findings provide an essential base for assessing the formation processes of ancient travertines and comparable deposits from petrological fabrics.

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“…A polycrystal is an aggregate of several crystals or grains where the boundary between the grain is the grain boundary across which the orientation of the crystal changes and the point at which three boundaries meet is called the triple junction. The term ‘crystal shrub’ was taken from Cook and Chafetz (2017) (see their figure 3C,D): ‘Shrubs occur in laterally continuous layers commonly 1–1.5 cm thick and vertically stacked shrub laminae form accumulations tens of centimetres in thickness. Individual laminae are composed of either a layer one shrub high or multiple shrubs stacked on top of each other.…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

What are the different styles of calcite precipitation within a hyperalkaline leachate? A sedimentological Anthropocene case study

Bastianini

Rogerson

Mercedes‐Martín

et al. 2021

The Depositional Record

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Anthropogenic carbonates are pyrotechnological products composed of calcium carbonate, and include wood ash, lime plaster/mortar and hydraulic mortar, in addition to secondary carbonates that arise as a product of weathering a range of globally important industrial residues (Toffolo, 2020). These residues include steel slags (Roadcap et al., 2005), coal combustion residues (Dellantonio et al., 2010), chromite ore processing waste (Stewart et al.

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Sloping fan travertine, Belen, New Mexico, USA

Cited by 18 publications

References 43 publications

Potential role for microbial ureolysis in the rapid formation of carbonate tufa mounds

Potential role for microbial ureolysis in the rapid formation of carbonate tufa mounds

Relative influence of biotic and abiotic processes on travertine fabrics, Satono‐yu hot spring, Japan

What are the different styles of calcite precipitation within a hyperalkaline leachate? A sedimentological Anthropocene case study

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