Carbonates Flashcards
What are the three main types of carbonate minerals?
Calcite CaCO3
Aragonite CaCO3
Dolomite CaMg(CO3)2
What are common substitutes for carbonate minerals?
Mg, Fe, Sr commonly substitute into crystal lattices
What is the structure of dolomite?
Alternating layers of calcite CaCO3 and magnesite MgCO3
Rhombohedral
What are the key concepts of modern carbonates?
Mostly primary meta-stable marine minerals
Aragonite
High Mg Calcite
What are the key concepts of ancient carbonates?
Mostly secondary minerals
Dolomite CaMg(CO3)2
Low Mg Calcite
What is the composition of seawater?
Water
NaCl
Sulphate
Magnesium
Bicarbonate
Calcium
Potassium
What precipitates first out of seawater?
Water
Calcite
Gypsum
Halite
K and Mg salts
What is biologically induced mineralisation?
Metabolic byproducts of algae and microbes interact with seawater to produce supersaturated conditions that promote precipitation
What is biologically controlled mineralisation?
CaCO3 locked in skeletons of animals and plants that directly control precipitation
(Aragonite - gastropods + corals)
(High Mg calcite - benthic forams)
(Low Mg calcite - brachs)
What is the modern reef window?
Salinity 25-35%
Temperature 25-29
Within the photic zone
Siliciclastic input is low
Why are there no barrier reefs in India?
Abundant clastic input from erosion of Himalayas
What is pelagic and benthic?
Pelagic - open sea/ surface
Benthic - seafloor
What are the types of transport for the carbonate factory?
Shoreward transport
Basinward transport
Calcareous pelagic rain
Where is carbonate mainly produced?
90% from biological origins
Around equator - production varies with species abundance, related to latitude
What is the reaction to make carbonate ions?
CO2 (g) dissolves in water to form CO2 (aq)
CO2 (g) <-> CO2 (aq)
CO2 is hydrated to make carbonic acid
CO2 (aq) + H2O <-> H2CO3
From here, carbonic acid can form bicarbonate ion
HCO- 3
Or carbonate ion
CO 2- 3
What happens to mineralisation as pH decreases?
CO2 becomes H2CO3 carbonic acid, meaning there is less carbonate available for mineralisation, and therefore mineralisation decreases
What is the chemical formula for carbonate?
CO2- 3
What is the relationship between algae and coral?
Symbiosis
Algae photosynthesises, producing sugars and O2
Corals use sugars to build CaCO3 skeleton
What is the average coral growth rate?
5-10mm/year
What are two types of coral?
Framework Builders ie monastrea
Branching Corals ie stag horn
What are possible reasons for aragonite needles on green algae?
Structure support against tides
Protection against predators
What are reefs?
Biologically constructed reliefs which grow up from the sea floor
What are the three types of reef?
Barrier
Fringing
Patch
What is the characteristic of a barrier reef?
Forms offshore on the shelf and protects a lagoon behind them
Ie gently slope then /-\
What are the characteristics of a fringing reef?
Builds at the coastline
What are the characteristics of a patch reef/atoll?
Isolated offshore, ie on a seamount
What are the three environments of a reef setting?
Off reef open shelf
Reef core
Back reef lagoon
What are the four constitutes of the reef core?
Dish, branching, Masai e, reef crest
What causes bleached corals?
Low pH causes algae to leave, and the corals cannot build their skeletons without the symbiosis
Where are carbonate factories found?
Warm water protozoan systems:
- reefs
- ooid sand shoals
- open seafloor
- lagoons
What are the characteristics of a rimmed platform?
Highly differentiated facies
What direction is sediment swept in a carbonate system?
Swept landward
What are the different types of rimmed platforms?
Shoal rimmed
Continuous coral reef i.e. Belize
Segmented coral reef with tidal channels i.e. Exuma Island Chain, Bahamas
Give an example of an ooid shoal complex
Tongue of the ocean, Bahamas
What is the composition of Ooids?
Spherical particles of CaCO3
Smaller than 2mm in diameter
Nucleus ie sand grain, surrounded by concentric lamallae
What does a thin dark lamallae in ooids mean?
Organic matter
What are possible ooid origins?
Algal induced
Inorganic ppt
Mechanical aggregate
What are the three species of algae that grow aragonite needles?
Halimedia
Penicillus
Udotea
What aids the generation of carbonate grains?
Bioerosion by different macro and micro invertebrates, microbes and fish that break down carbonate substrates
Echinoids, worms, sponges, byrozoans, fish
What are the two types of non skeletal grains?
Peloids
Ooids
What are peloids?
Fecal pellets, non skeletal grains
What are the characteristics of peloids?
Spherical, elliptical or angular grains
Micritic composition
No internal structure
Feacal in origin i.e. from gastropods, crustaceans, polychaetes
Rich in organic matter
What are the lithologies of lagoons/subtidal facies?
Wackstone and packstones with bioturbation
What is the peritidal zone?
Zone extending from above the level of the highest tide to below that exposed at the lowest tide, and thus somewhat wider than the intertidal zone
What are subtidal, intertidal, supratidal zones?
Subtidal - below low tide
Intertidal - below high tide
Supratidal - above high tide/below storm driven high tide
What is the importance of Andros Island, the Bahamas?
Producing carbonate since Triassic
6km in thickness
1000’s km2
What are the characteristics of humid tidal flat sub environments?
Supratidal marsh
Pond and channel belt - tidal channels, intertidal flat
Subtidal marine
Give an example of a tidal flat sub environment
Triple goose creek, bahamas
What is the intertidal zone?
Between normal low and high tide levels
Complex topography featuring tidal channels, brackish or saline ponds
What is the subtidal zone?
Permanently submerged
Low energy lagoon, high energy shoals
May be exposed during neap tides
What are intertidal facies?
Sediment deposited between normal high tide and normal low tide
Exposed twice a day
What is the lithologies of intertidal facies?
Burrowed to laminated mudstones to wackstones
Algal bound stones with algal heads
Thin cross bedded grain stones
Rare storm deposits
What sedimentary structures are found in supratidal facies?
Mud cracks, fine laminations, algal mats and domes, fenestrae structures, desiccation cracks
Fuggy texture
Plant , animal and insect burrows
Intraclasts and dolomite crusts