Carbonate Rock

GEOL 325: Stratigraphy & Sedimentary Basins
University of South Carolina

Spring 2005
An Overview of Carbonates
Professor Chris Kendall
EWS 304
kendall@sc.edu
777.2410
GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates
Lecture Outline
How photosynthesis, warm temperatures & low pressures in shallow water

control carbonate distribution
How carbonate sediment types is tied to depositional setting
Most mud lime mud has a bio-physico-chemical origin
Origins of bio-physico-chemical grains:- ooids, intraclasts, pellets, pisoids
Separation of bioclastic grains:- forams, brachs, bryozoan, echinoids, red
calc algae, corals, green calc algae, and molluscs by mineralogy & fabric
How CCD controls deepwater carbonate ooze distribution
How Folk & Dunhams classifications are used for carbonate sediments
How most diagenesis, dolomitization, & cementation of carbonates takes
place in near surface & trace elements are used in this determination
How Stylolites develop through burial & solution/compaction
Limestones Form - Where?

Shallow Marine Late Proterozoic to Modern
Deep Marine Rare in Ancient
& commoner in
Modern
Cave Travertine and Spring Tufa both Ancient
& Modern
Lakes Ancient to Modern
CO2 - Temperature & Pressure Effect!

High temperatures, low pressure & breaking waves
favor carbonate precipitation
Carbon dioxide solubility decreases in shallow water
and with rising in temperature
At lower pressure CO2 is released & at higher pressure
dissolves
HCO3-1 and CO3-2 are less stable at lower pressure but
more stable at higher pressure
HCO3-1 and CO3-2 have lower concentration in warm
waters but higher concentrations in colder waters
Calcium Carbonate - Solubilty
Note calcium carbonate dissociation: CaCO3= Ca+2 + CO3-2
CaCO3 is less soluble in warm waters than cool waters
CaCO3 precipitates in warm shallow waters but is increasingly

soluble at depth in colder waters
Increasing pressure elevates concentrations of HCO3-1 & CO3-2
(products of solubility reaction) in sea water
CaCO3 more soluble at higher pressures & with decreasing
temperature
Controls on Carbonate Accumulation

Temperature (climate) -Tropics & temperate regions
favor carbonate production: true of ancient too!

Light Photosynthesis drives carbonate production
Pressure CCD dissolution increases with depth
Agitation of waves - Oxygen source & remove CO2
Organic activity - CaCO3 factories nutrient deserts
Sea Level Yield high at SL that constantly
changes/rise
Limestones Chemical or
Bochemical
Distinction between biochemical & physico-chemical

blurred by ubiquitous cyanobacteria of biosphere!
Shallow sea water is commonly saturated with
respect to calcium carbonate

Dissolved ions expected to be precipitated as
sea water warms, loses CO2 & evaporates
Organisms generate shells & skeletons from
dissolved ions
Metabolism of organisms cause carbonate
precipitation
Biological Carbon Pump

Carbon from CO2 incorporated in organisms through
photosynthesis, heterotrophy & secretion of shells

> 99% of atmospheric CO2 from volcanism removed
by biological pump is deposited as calcium carbonate
& organic matter
5.3 gigatons of CO2 added to atmosphere a year but
only 2.1 gigatons/year remains; the rest is believed
sequestered as aragonite & calcite
Carbonate Mineralogy
Aragonite high temperature mineral
Calcite stable in sea water & near surface crust
Low Magnesium Calcite

High Magnesium Calcite
Imperforate foraminifera
Echinoidea
Dolomite stable in sea water & near surface

Carbonate mineralogy of oceans changes with time!
TROPICS
TEMPERATE OCEANS
Carbonate Components The Key
Interpretation of depositional setting of carbonates is

based on
Grain types
Grain packing or fabric
Sedimentary structures
Early diagenetic changes
Identification of grain types commonly used in subsurface

studies of depositional setting because, unlike particles in
siliciclastic rocks, carbonate grains generally formed
within basin of deposition
NB: This rule of thumb doesnt always apply
Carbonate Particles
Subdivided into micrite (lime mud) & sand-sized
grains
These grains are separated on basis of shape &
internal structure
They are subdivided into: skeletal & non-skeletal
(bio-physico-chemical grains)
Lime Mud or Micrite
Lime
Mud
or
Micrite
WHITING
LIME MUD
ACCUMULATES
ON BANK, OFF BANK
& TIDAL FLATS
Three Creeks Tidal Flats

Lime Mud
Ordovician
Kentucky
Carbonate Bio-physicochemical Grains

Ooids
Grapestones and other intraclasts
Pellets
Pisolites and Oncolites
Ooids
Aragonitic Ooids
Aragonitic Ooids
After Scholle, 2003
Calcitic &
Aragonitic
Ooids
Great
Salt
Lake
Grapestones
Grapestones
Pellets
Pellets
After Scholle
Skeletal Particles - Mineralogy
Calcite commonly containing less than 4 mole % magnesium

Some foraminifera, brachiopods, bryozoans, trilobites, ostracodes,
calcareous nannoplankton, & tintinnids
Magnesian calcite, with 4-20 mole % magnesium

Echinoderms, most foraminifera, & red algae
Aragonite tests
Corals, stromatoporoids, most molluscs, green algae, & blue-green
algae.
Opaline silica
sponge spicules & radiolarians
Drafted by Waite 99, after James 1984)
Foraminifera
Foraminifera
After Scholle
Brachiopod
Brachiopods
Br
ac
hio
po
d
Bryozoan
Bryozoan
Trilobite Remains
Ostracod Remains
Calcispheres
Tril
obi
te C
ara
pic
e
Crinoid
l
a
i
x
a
t
n
Sy ment
ce
Red Calcareous Algae
Surface Water Organic

Productivity
Marine algae & cyanobacteria base of marine food chain
Fed by available nitrogen and phosphorus
Supplied in surface waters by deep water upwelling
Vertical upwelling drives high biological productivity at:
Equator
Western continental margins
Southern Ocean around Antarctica
Produce biogenous oozes
Deep Water Carbonate Deposits
Deep water pelagic sediments accumulate slowly (0.1-1

cm per thousand years) far from land, and include:
abyssal clay from continents cover most of deeper ocean floor
carried by winds
ocean currents
Oozes from organisms' bodies; not present on continental

margins where rate of supply of terriginous sediment too high &
organically derived material less than 30% of sediment
Carbonate Compensation Depth - CCD

Deep-ocean waters undersaturated with calcium carbonate &
opalline silica.
Biogenic particles dissolve in water column and on sea floor
Pronounced for carbonates
Calcareous oozes absent below CCD depth
CCD varies from ocean to ocean
4,000 m in Atlantic.
500 - 1,500 m in Pacific
Siliceous particles dissolve more slowly as sink & not so limited in

distribution by depth
Nutrient supply controls distribution of siliceous sediments
After James, 1984
After James, 1984
Carbonate Cement Fabrics

Crust or rims coat grains
Syntaxial overgrowth optical continuity with
skeletal fabric
Echinoid single crystals
Brachiopod multiple crystals
Blocky equant - final void fill
Isopachus Marine Cement
Meniscus Cement
Evaporation
of mixed
Waters
Influx of
sea water
1. Aragonite
2. Gypsum
3. Anhydrite
4. Dolomite
5. Halite
accumulate
in this order
Influx of
Magnesium
Rich
Continental
Ground
Waters
Stylolite
s
Two-dimensional cross-sectonal views of
Dissolution seam(A),
Stylolite (B),
Highly serrate stylolite (C)
Deformed stylolite (D).
A few grains are shown schematically to

emphasize the change in scale from the
previous figure
(after Bruce
Stylolite
Intergranular
contacts as seen in
s
thin section
Tangential (A)
flattened (B)
concavo-convex (C)
sutured (D)
(after Bruce Railsback)

Stylolites
After Bruce Railsback
Stylolites
After Bruce
Railsback
Lecture Conclusions
Photosynthesis, warm temperatures & low pressures in shallow water

control carbonate distribution
Carbonate sediment types indicate depositional setting
Most mud lime mud has a bio-physico-chemical origin
Ooid, intraclast, pellet, and pisoid grains have bio-physico-chemical origin
Mineralogy & fabric separate forams, brachs, bryozoan, echinoids, red calc
algae, corals, green calc algae, and molluscan skeleletal grains
CCD controls deepwater ooze distribution
Folk & Dunham are best way to classify carbonates
Most diagenesis, dolomitization, & cementation of carbonates takes place in
near surface crust & trace elements can be used in this determination
Stylolites develop through burial & solution/compaction
End of the Lecture
Lets go for lunch!!!
Global Climate Cycles
Global climatic cycles, referenced to geologic periods

(yellow), megasequences (light purple), sea level cycles
(blue), & volcanic output (dark purple). (Redrawn &
modified L. Waite, 2002 after Fischer, 1984)
Phanerozoic Global Climate History
Frakes et al. (1992) have alternating cold & warm

states ("cool" & "warm" modes) at comparable time
scales to Fischer (1984) cycles but propose older
portion of Mesozoic greenhouse (Middle Jurassic to
Early Cretaceous) has a cool climate, & presence of
seasonal ice at higher latitudes (after L. Waite, 2002)
Copied from Steven Wojtal of Oberlin College

CO2 - Temperature & Pressure Effect!

Carbonate precipitation favored by high temperatures, low
pressure and breaking waves.
Solubility of carbon dioxide increases with depth and drops in
temperature
CO2 + 3H2O = HCO3-1 + H3O+1 + H2O = CO3-2 + 2H3O+1
At higher pressure CO2 dissolves & is released at lower pressures
HCO3-1 and CO3-2 are more stable at higher pressures but less
stable at lower pressures
HCO3-1 and CO3-2 reach higher concentrations in colder waters but
lower concentration at warm waters

Calcium Carbonate - Solubilty
Note behavior of calcium carbonate: CaCO3= Ca+2
Concentration of carbonate ion (CO3-2) is buffered by amount

of CO2 in solution
Increasing pressure elevates concentrations of HCO3-1 & CO32 (products of solubility reaction) in sea water
CaCO3 is more soluble at higher pressures
Similar effect occurs with decreasing temperature

CaCO3 is more soluble in cool waters than warm waters
CaCO3 is increasingly soluble at depth in colder waters but

precipitates in warm shallow waters

Copied from Suzanne O'Connell Wesleyan College
Copied from Suzanne O'Connell Wesleyan College

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GEOL 325: Stratigraphy & Sedimentary Basins

University of South Carolina

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

How photosynthesis, warm temperatures & low pressures in shallow water

Limestones Form - Where?

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

CO2 - Temperature & Pressure Effect!

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

Calcium Carbonate - Solubilty

Note calcium carbonate dissociation: CaCO3= Ca+2 + CO3-2

CaCO3 is less soluble in warm waters than cool waters

CaCO3 precipitates in warm shallow waters but is increasingly

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

Controls on Carbonate Accumulation

favor carbonate production: true of ancient too!

Distinction between biochemical & physico-chemical

respect to calcium carbonate

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

Biological Carbon Pump

photosynthesis, heterotrophy & secretion of shells

Low Magnesium Calcite

Dolomite stable in sea water & near surface

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

Carbonate Components The Key

Interpretation of depositional setting of carbonates is

Identification of grain types commonly used in subsurface

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

Lime Mud or Micrite

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

Three Creeks Tidal Flats

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

Carbonate Bio-physicochemical Grains

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

After Scholle, 2003

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

Skeletal Particles - Mineralogy

Calcite commonly containing less than 4 mole % magnesium

Magnesian calcite, with 4-20 mole % magnesium

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

Drafted by Waite 99, after James 1984)

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates

GEOL 325 Lecture 4: Carbonates