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    Mixed Siliciclastic-carbonate Deposition in an Early Cambrian Oxygen-stratified Basin, (Newfoundland)

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    Myrow, P., (1991). Mixed Siliciclastic-carbonate Deposition in an Early Cambrian Oxygen-stratified Basin, (Newfoundland)

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    Mixed Siliciclastic-carbonate Deposition in an Early Cambrian Oxygen-stratified Basin, (Newfoundland)

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    Myrow, P., (1991) - Mixed Siliciclastic-Carbonate Deposition in An Early Cambrian Oxygen-Stratified Basin, (Newfoundland)

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    Mixed Siliciclastic-carbonate Deposition in an Early Cambrian Oxygen-stratified Basin, (Newfoundland)

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    MIXED SILICICLASTIC-CARBONATE DEPOSITION IN AN EARLY CAMBRIAN OXYGEN-STRATIFIED BASIN, CHAPEL ISLAND FORMATION, SOUTHEASTERN NEWFOUNDLAND PAUL M. MYROW Department of Geology The Colorado College Colorado Springs, Colorado 80003 ED LANDING ‘New York State Geological Survey The State Education Deparment Albany, New York 12230 AnsrmAcr: The upper portion of member 3 and member 4 ofthe uppermost Precambrian (Vendian}-Lower Cambrian Chapel {stand Formation represents a large-scale shoaling-up deposit dominated by shel silicilastie modstone. Medium scale, higher-order shoalingup cyeles atthe top of member } and in member 4 ate capped by peritidal i 4nd algal mud mounds. Sedimentation took place in an CxYBen dysacrobic mudstone offshore and green and red mudstone in shallower. more oxygenated waters, basins can be applied to this sequence and i tones that contain a wide variety of tied basin wath accumulation of gray iofacies models for dysaerobic in understanding the distribution of trace losis skelctal fossils (shell and pyre seinkems) and diagenetic features. These data are important forthe understanding of the stratigraphic distribution of shelly oss within this lowest Cambrian unit. ‘Armixed cirbonate relative sea-level ‘of higher rates of carbonate sediment prod 8 paleogeographic position ear the Iitiin INTRODUCTION The dominant facies mode! for mixed siliciclastic and carbonate deposition involves shelves in which silici- clastic sediments are trapped in the nearshore zone with contemporaneous deposition of carbonate sediments in clear, deeper-water subtidal settings. Mixed sediment de- Position is also found at the margins of carbonate shelves where they interfinger with deep-water shales (c.g, Hand- ford 1986) and in a host of other geologically tess common, settings. Despite recent interest in mixed carbonate and siliciclastic systems (e.g., Mount 1984; Brett and Baird 1985; Mack and James 1986; Doyle and Roberts 1988; Budd and Harris 1990), our general state of understanding lags behind our understanding of many other facies sys- tems, and few alternatives exist to the models described above. This study describes the sedimentological character- istics of uppermost member 3 and member 4 of the latest Precambrian (Vendian)-earliest Cambrian Chapel Island Formation, an 85 meter thick sequence of siliciclastic mudstone and minor limestone beds that is exposed on the Burin Peninsula in southeast Newfoundland. The fa- cies model presented in this paper involves deposition in ‘an oxygen-stratified basin dominated by siliciclastic mud- Stone and development of thin peritidal carbonate units as extensive sheets by progradation during periods of in- creased rate of relative sea-level fall or decreased rate of relative sea-level rise. This model is similar in some re Spects to those proposed for middle Paleozoic deposits in the northern Appalachians and other deposits, in that * Manuscript received 10 August 1990; acepted 21 July 1991 ciclatic facies model is presented in which carbonate sediments formed in intertidal areas along the shoreline clastic muddy shelf. The carbonate shoreline prograded during periods of iereatng rate of lative sea-level aor decreasing Restriction of carbonate sediments to the pertial environment may have been due toa combination and accumulation inthe peitidal7one, seaward dilution by siciclasie mud, and climatic extreme for carbonate production. ‘an oxygen-stratified water mass had strong influence on. the spatial and stratigraphic distribution of both early- diagenetic chemical sedimentary structures and body fos- sils. However, the facies model for uppermost member 3 and member 4 of the Chapel Island Formation is dis- tinct, in that carbonate sediments are entircly restricted to peritidal environments. Such a restriction is considered product of 1) higher rates of carbonate sediment pro- duction in the peritidal zone (cf. Grotzinger 1986), as opposed to the subtidal carbonate “factory” that char- acterizes carbonate shelves (James 1984a); 2) dilution of carbonate sediment by silicictastic mud in offshore areas; and 3) climatic control associated with a temperate, mid- die-latitude setting. LOCATION AND GEOLOGIC SETTING This study is based primarily on exposures at Little Dantzic Cove and Fortune North along the southwestern tip of the Burin Peninsula, Newfoundland (Fig. 1). Mem- ber 4 is exposed as far north as Chapel Island and east into Placentia Bay (Fig. 1), but these exposures were not studied in detail. The study area lies within the Avalon Zone, an eastern terrane within the Appalachian Orogen (Williams 1979; Williams and Hatcher 1983). The Chapel Island Formation is the middle unit of three formations that unconformably overtie older Precambrian volcano- genic basement rocks of the peninsula, These three for- ‘mations comprise a continuous section of siliciclastic rocks that span the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary. The old- est of these units, the Rencontre Formation, consists of red conglomerate, sandstone, and shale deposited in alluvial, fluvial, and marginal-marine environments Jouniat oF Sepnaerrany PetRoLoaY, VoL. 62, No. 3, MaY, 1992, », 455-473, ‘Copyright © 1992, SEPM (Society for Seimentary Geology) 0022-4472/92/0082-455/903. 00 456 Dantzle Cove Fic. 1.— Enlargement of Avalon Zone showing outcrop distribution ‘of Chapel island! Formation (in black), Cl Chapel Island (Smith and Hiscott 1984). The sandstone, shale, and quartzite of the Random Formation, the youngest unit, in the sequence, were deposited in tidally-dominated in- tertidal and subtidal environments (Anderson 1981; His- cott 1982). The Chapel Island Formation includes approximately 1000 meters of sandstone, siltstone, and mudstone, with subordinate limestones in members 3 and 4, It contains ‘one of the most diverse and well-preserved suites of trace. fossils of this age (Crimes and Anderson 1985; Narbonne et al, 1987; Narbonne and Myrow 1988), which, in con- Junction with a wide variety of body fossils (Bengtson and Fletcher 1983; Landing et al. 1989: Narbonne et al. 1991), makes this unit a candidate for the Precambrian-Cam. brian boundary stratotype (Narbonneetal. 1987; Landing, et al. 1988, 1989), The sedimentology of the Chapel Island Formation was examined by Myrow (1987) and Myrow et al. (1988). The formation is divided into five informal members. The first three were deposited during a slow relative sea-level rise that is recorded by shoreline and coastal deposits of member I, deltaic deposits of member 2, and finally the sub-storm-wave-base shelf deposits of member 3, The mudstone and limestone of member 4 described in this report formed subsequently during a period of relative sea-level fall, or decrease in the rate of sea-level rise, at a time of denuded hinterlands and low input of sand- sized or coarser-grained detritus. FACIES DESCRIPTIONS The bulk of member 4 consists of purple, red, green, and gray mudstone with widely-spaced laminae to very thin beds of sandstone. Several 15-100 cm thick lime- stone marker beds provide important sedimentological data for paleoenvironmental reconstructions. The mud- PAUL M. MYROW AND ED LANDING stone is variable in terms of 1) color, 2) thickness and abundance of sandstone laminae, 3) size and abundance of carbonate concretions, 4) presence or absence of pyritic nodules and steinkerns, and 5) intensity of reworking by infauna. Associations of these features are particularly important for interpretation of sedimentary and early di genetic processes. Facies descriptions and interpretations are given below, first for the silicielastic mudstone and then for the limestone beds, SEDIMENTOLOGY OF SILICICLASTIC MUDSTONE, Green Siliciclastic Mudstone Green mudstone is the dominant lithology of upper member 3 and lower member 4 at the two Burin Peninsula sections (Fig. 2). This mudstone is characterized by a ucity of sedimentary features common in member 3, in particular, thin calcite-cemented sandstone laminae, sedimentary structures such as ripples or current linea- tion, and small (centimeter-scale) phosphate and pyrite nodules. Caleareous nodules are locally abundant and ‘measure up to 30-35 cm in thickness, They are highly variable in length parallel to bedding and, in some cases, coalesce to form carbonate beds that on the outcrop scale are laterally continuous. Trace fossil diversity and abundance are relatively low in the green siliciclastic mudstone. This seems to be partly 4 primary feature of this lithofacies, although both the scarcity of extensive bedding surfaces and soles and the lack of a suitable casting medium (ie., sandstone beds) contribute to trace fossil rarity. Weathered bedding sur- faces and slabbed sections of calcareous nodules contain ee LEGEND couor 2S Green with vod oxisntion spate 5 Rea/Purple with green reduction spots een Purple Rea oraeR =< Camonate mus mouns ae Mudstone clasts WEE suromatoites F% oncoites Paes Shelly fossis/Stnkerne —@ Phosphate nodules DOO carvonate nosvies Pyrite noaules Fro, 2.—Suratigraphic columns for outerops at Little Dantzie Cove ‘and Fortune North showing correlation between sections Inferred te asive sea-level curve, given onthe righ, is based on facies characteristics including diagenetic siructres, biogenic features, and primary sedk- mentary structures, ‘MIXED SILICICLASTIC-CARBONATE DEPOSITION 457 Fortune North MEMBER 5 Dantzic Cove {-—_—__—_————MEMBER 4- —_ MEMBER 3-————————» f 7 esp Shallow (Shot (Pertigaly 458 abundant narrow (< 5 mm wide) Planolites sp. traces. Large examples of the looping ichnofossil Helminthopsis and spreiten-burrows of Teichichnus occur in the green mudstone of upper member 3 at Little Dantzic Cove, Body fossils are rare through most of this facies. Al- though large (4.5 kg) samples from almost all of the cal- careous nodule horizons were disaggregated in acetic acid, only relatively few, tiny, limonitic steinkerns of the long, gently curving conch “Ladatheca™ cylindrica (Grabau 1900) were recovered. Several compressed limonite steinkerns of this species were also recovered from bed- ding surfaces of the green siltstones in upper member 3 and lower member 4. A somewhat higher diversity fauna that includes numerous pyritized conchs and opercula of “L.” oplindrica, steinkerns of the tiny snail Aldanella at- ueborensis (Shaler and Foerstc 1888), and the small ros- troconch Watsonella crosbyi (Grabau 1900) occursin green siltstone at Little Dantzic Cove in the interval LDC-146 through LDC-167 (Fig. 2; see Landing et al. 1989 for body fossil distribution), Purple and Red Siliciclastie Mudstone Purple and red siliciclastic mudstone occurs in the up- permost part of member 3 and is a dominant lithofacies in the upper part of member 4. This mudstone differ from the grcen mudstone by having more numerous thin lam- inae and thin beds of fine-grained, micaceous quartz ar- nite. These widely spaced, weakly calcareous sandstone beds generally range from 0.3 to 1.0 em in thickness. The thicker sandstone beds contain parallel lamination (upper plane bed stratification) and small, commonly starved, current ripples. Superposition of these structures in a few beds indicates deposition from decelerating flows. A second difference between the red mudstone and the green mudstone is the smaller size of the light-red to reddish-gray calcareous nodules, Caleareous nodules are either absent or present as relatively small (up to 5 cm) nodules that are widely separated along bedding planes. In some cases, discrete nodules with well defined margins are laterally transitional into “incipient nodules” that consist of highly calcareous mudstone. Incipient nodules are transitional into weakly to noncalcareous greenish reduction spots along a single horizon. ‘The purple and red siliciclastic mudstone is sparsely fossiliferous. Slabbed sections through the mudstone are structureless and lack discrete sandstone laminae; this is interpreted 10 be the result of thorough bioturbation of much of this lithofacies. Some, but not all, of the sand- stone laminae show evidence of biogenic disruption. Bed- ding surfaces with small calcareous nodules, such as LDC- PAUL M. MYROW AND ED LANDING 174.4 (Fig. 2), demonstrate that these nodules are formed after large looping endichnial burrows. Calcareous-walled body fossils do not occur in purple and red mudstone; these were probably dissolved away during early diagen- csis (see Landing etal. 1988, Stop 8). The only body fossil in the red mudstone is an organic-walled tube of the prob- lematic metazoan Sabellidites cambriensis Vanichevsky (see Landing et al. 1989, fig. 5.4). Gray Siliciclastie Mudstone Gray mudstone from upper member 3 and member 4 ies from light to dark gray in color (Fig. 3A) and con- tain abundant pyrite nodules and pyritic steinkerns (Fig. 30), both of which are relatively rare in the green mud- stone and absent in the red and purple mudstone. Pyrite Rodules are centimeter-sized, irregularly shaped, and have prominent orange-weathering halos (Fig. 3G). Small Phosphate nodules (1-4 cm across) have been noted in this lithology, but they are not abundant. The gray mud- stone is generally devoid of coarse-grained siliciclastic detritus but does have rare to abundant, fine-grained sandstone laminae. Carbonate nodules are virtually ab- sent, and this is particularly conspicuous where the gray mudstone is interbedded on a meter scale with nodule- bearing green mudstone, Body fossils are relatively abundant in this lithofacies, Pyrite-replaced and -infilled conchs of “Ladatheca” cy- lindrica are the most abundant remains and are accom- panied by decalcified molds of the opercula of the species. ‘The pyrite-infilled shells of the snail Aldanella attlebor- censis and the pyrite-replaced thin conchs of the rostro- chonch Warsonella crosbyi Grabau are also common. A few composite molds of Helcionella sp., a minute, low, limpet-like monoplacophoran, were also recovered in gray mudstone. In situ preservation of Ladatheca conchs (apex down) and Watsonella specimens (commissure down) is relatively common in gray mudstone, probably reflecting not only low ambient energies of the depositional envi- ronment but the limited amount of burrowing in this facies (see Landing et al. 1988, 1989; Landing 1989). Distinct and recognizable trace fossils are limited to small (< 2.0 mm diameter) Planolites-like burrows. PROCESS INTERPRETATION: MUDSTONE. The mudstone of upper member 3 and member 4 was deposited under low-energy conditions, possibly at a rel- atively low sedimentation rate. This conclusion is based on 1) the uniform fine grain size, 2) scarcity of beds sug- ‘gestive of higher-energy events, and 3) prominent burrow Fic. 3.--A) Contact between green mudstone (lower part of photo) and grey mudstone (upper part of photo) at Fortune North (FN-89.90). Note oxidation hales around pyritic nodules and steinkeras. B) Steep out:rop face with green bands in ed mudstone betwoon LS and LS 9 (LDC-215-218), C) Pyne scinkern of long, thin conical Orthothecid in gray mudstone (LDC. ~135) D) Oblique view of green mudstone oth ‘arbonate concretions (LDC-150). Note lack of bedding planes and irregular distribution of carbonate concretions. E) Bedding pane vicw ot ‘phosphatic nodules in purple mudstone at LDC-182.4 F) Thin burrowed layers at LDC- 188.0. Stratigraphic top is up. G) Rounded pyeitic nodules {in grey mudstone from LDIC-169.0. Thick weathering rinds are light-colored (yellow) Oblique to bedding Seales forall photoe are La continetens Seales in “a” and “e™ are 15 cm long. 460 mottling or bioturbation of the red, purple and green mudstone. Bioturbation in these mudstone facies is in- ferred from the lack of physical sedimentary structures and bedding planes, and from the high concentrations of well-defined burrows exposed on some favorably weath- ered surfaces. Color, Organic Carbon, Diagenetic Geochemical Conditions Mudrock and shale generally fall into two grouy in which the colors fall along the spectrum green-purple— red, and those with colors ranging from green-gray to black. The first spectrum of colors is found in shale with very tow levels of organic carbon (< 0.3%) and results from changes in the ratio of ferrous to ferric iron. The shades of the darker shales vary as a function of total organic carbon; higher organic carbon content yields darker shales (Potter et al, 1980; Myrow 1990), ‘The gray mudstone of uppermost member 3 and mem- ber 4 is therefore richer in organic carbon than the green, purple or red mudstone. The higher organic content might have stemmed from higher initial concentrations of or- ganics, but given the similarity of grain size, there is little likelihood of hydrodynamic sorting. A more probable explanation, based on lithofacies relationships (see dis- cussion below) and the correlation between color, chem- ical precipitates (carbonate nodules, pyritie nodules, and steinkerns), and biogenic structures (trace and body fos- sils), is that the final organic carbon content was a function of lower Eh conditions in the upper sediment column and, possibly, the bottom water that favored the pres- ervation of organic matter. The color, degree of biotur- bation, and the small size of the burrows in the gray mudstone are diagnostic of dysaerobic conditions (Byers 1977; Rhoads and Morse 1971; Savrda etal. 1984; Savrda and Bottjer 1986; Wignall and Myers, 1988). Pyrite nodules and pyritic steinkerns in the gray mud- stone also support low-Eh diagenetic conditions. Pyrite is formed in low-oxygen environments under more acidic conditions than those in which calcite is stable (eg., Krumbein and Garrels 1952) by the bacterial oxidation of organic matter through sulfate reduction and the con- sequent formation of H,S (Hallam 1960; Berner 1984; Raiswell and Bemer 1985). Pyritic steinkerns are formed ‘during carly diagenesis in the upper few decimeters of sediment when pyrite fils calcareous shelly fossils (Brett and Baird 1986, fig. 11). These are diagnostic of moderate sedimentation rates (~1-10 cm/100 yt) (Brett and Baird 1986). The conspicuous lack of early diagenetic carbonate odules in the gray mudstone supports persistent lowered pH conditions during diagenesis. Calcite nodules form under conditions of elevated pH, which, in normal ma- rine sediments, are commonly created by the release of ammonia during the anaerobic breakdown of organic ma- terial (Berner 1968). The lack of carbonate nodules may be additional indirect evidence for lowered Eh conditions in which organic matter was not being oxidized to form carbonic acid after sediment accumulation. PAUL M. MYROW AND ED LANDING Similar gray, pyrite-bearing shales have been described by Maynard (1982) from the Devonian-Carboniferous of the Appalachian basin. In these settings, bottom waters Were more oxygenated than the dysaerobic sediment col- umn (see also Dick and Brett 1985), Similarly, relatively well-oxidized bottom waters are consistent with the pres- ence of a shelled benthic fauna and burrows in the gray mudstone of the Chapel Island Formation (e.g.. Wignall and Myers 1988). The green mudstone in this study was deposited under slightly higher oxygen levels that resulted in reduced pres- ervation of organic carbon. Body fossil remains in this green siliciclastic mudstone include decalcified moldic impressions as well as well-preserved, three-dimensional, bpyrite-replaced and pyrite-inflled conchs of “Ladatheca™ cylindrica, These pyritic remains occur in both noncal- ‘careous mudstone and in calcareous nodules, proving that Pyrite-infilling and pyrite-replacement took place before carbonate mobilization and precipitation that formed the nodules (see Landing et al. 1989, fig. 3). Carbonate nodule precipitation followed a stage of carbonate dissolution which resulted in the loss of original fossil material. Molds of dissolved shells were not filled with pyrite (with few exceptions) but were eliminated by compaction, because the redox conditions of the muds were no longer in the stability field for pyrite precipitation. The red and purple mudstone owes its colors, the ab- sence of pyrite nodules and steinkerns, and the paucity ‘and small size of its carbonate nodules to the early oxi- dative loss of organic matter under well-oxygenated di genetic conditions. The presence of rare laminae and very thin sandstone beds in the red and purple mudstone in- dicates proximity to a shoreline source of sand that was dispersed to proximal areas, possibly by storms. Mudstone Paleoenvironments Few, if any, of the features described for the mudstone above are diagnostic of particular depositional environ- ments. Therefore, an interpretation of paleoenvironment ‘must rest largely on stratigraphic trends and lithofacies relationships. Thin- to medium-bedded wave-rippled proximal tempestites of member 2 give way stratigraph- ically to the laminae to very thin bedded distal tempestites ‘of member 3 which were deposited by storm currents below storm wave base in a mid-shelf setting (Myrow 1992), The mudstone of member 4 contains limestone beds which were deposited in peritidal environments (see discussion below). These data point to deposition of these fine-grained terrigenous sediments over a wide area of the inner shelf: Mudstone process interpretations given above are consistent with deposition in an inner-shelf to shal- Jow-subtidal, oxygen-stratified basin. LIMESTONE BEDS Introduction ‘The Litle Dantzic Cove section contains three laterally continuous limestone beds (LS 1, 2, 3) and a number of semi-continuous nodular horizons of micrtic limestone MIXED SILICICLASTIC-CARBONATE DEPOSITION 461 LS 2 Diagenetic ‘Halo’ (2) fase Red Mudstone 3" Fe/Mn Crust BESS Stromatolites %O® Shelly Fossils § xia Mudstone Clasts % Oncolites C3 Micritic Limestone » Burrow Mottles Fro, 4. Sketch of limestone bods at Little Dantzic Cove (LS 1, 2and 3). The seal opposite LS 3 i the same for all thre drawings. Descriptions ‘of individual units are piven in tex (Fig. 2). Only one of the three beds seen at Little Dantzic Cove (LS 3) is readily identifiable at the Fortune North outcrop. At Fortune North, one limestone bed is present within member 3 and is demonstrably formed by co- alescence of nodules along one horizon (Figs. 2, 5C). The three limestone beds at Little Dantzic Cove are described below, Each stratigraphically successive bed is both thick- er and more complex in terms of internal structure. A sketch of each is given in Figure 4. Limestone The lowermost bed (LS 1) is a 15 cm thick, white- weathering, reddish-purple colored, micritic limestone 462 (Fig. 5A). The lower 6-8 cm consists of partially coalesced ‘nodules that preserve prominent, small (up to 4mm di- ameter) burrows. Above, and filling in between the nod- ules, is a 2-3 cm thick layer of red shale (Fig, 5B) which is then overlain by a 6 cm thick division of white-weath- ering, light green-gray colored micritic limestone. The contact with the overlying grey-green siltstone that forms the base of member 4 is irregular but sharp. ‘The limestone consists of flat-lying, elongate microspar and pseudospar crystals (Folk 1965) that are locally set ina chloritic clay-sized matrix. Abundant burrow mottles were noted in the lower and upper limestone divisions, Shelly fossil debris is limited to a few specimens of the small, leaf-like sclerites of Halkieria stonei Landing and conchs of “Ladatheca” cylindrica The textures of the two limestone divisions of LS | indicate concretionary growth. The partially coalesced nodules suggest a diagenetic origin for the lower part of the bed. This coalescence of nodules progressed to the development of a continuous limestone division at the top of the bed. The red color of the underlying mudstone indicates that oxidizing conditions prevailed during early diagenesis, The lower and upper boundaries of LS I are important in evaluating the depositional significance of this double limestone band. Small calcareous nodules occur in the 1.95 m of red mudstone that underlies LS 1. Limestone of LS 1 represents a continuation of this depositional/ diagenetic setting, because it consists of coalesced cal- carcous nodules in red shale, However, the upper contact Of LS | represents a significant change in depositional/ diagenetic setting with a transition into noncalcarcous, nodular-free, green siliciclastic mudstone and is therefore considered a marine flooding surface. Limestone 2 The second limestone bed (Fig. SE) averages approxi- mately 24 cm in thickness and is dark red on unweathered surfaces. The lower 10 cm of the bed consists of struc- tureless micrite with burrow mottles but no shelly fossils and is a diagenetic “halo” below the rest of the overlying, bed. Calcium carbonate mobilized by the pore waters from the underlying mud accreted downward from the base of the overlying limestone as an “underbed” (e.g., Aigner 1982). Similar diagenetic “underbeds” have been described by Meischner (1967), Eder (1982), and others. ‘Above the underbed is a 10 ¢m division of alternating hyolith-bearing wackestone and irregular lenses and lay- ers of packstone. The lower contact with the underbed is PAUL M. MYROW AND ED LANDING very sharp and irregular along a stylolitic contact (Fig. SD). Two packsione and wackestone layers are separated by hardground surfaces with iron/manganese crusts. The top of this division is marked by an exposed surface with low-relief, disc-shaped to irregular oncolites, 1-10 em in diameter. ‘The oncolites display an onion-skin concentric atiern of resistant red shale layers (Fig. 5F). In many ‘cases the outermost layer isa mineralized iron-manganese crust. The oncolites are surrounded by a black, irregular, Topelike, anastomosing crust of silicified and iron-man- _ganese-mineralized shale (Fig. SF, G). Above this oncol- itic surface at the top of the bed is a 4-5 cm-thick division of nodular microsparite in red shale. The nodular fabric hhas developed along large (up to 4 cm in diameter) curving, ‘burrows which do not have any observable internal struc- ture (Fig. 5G). ‘The lower and upper boundaries of LS 2 are analogous to those of LS 1 because they indicate that LS 2 is closely linked to the depositional/diagenetic setting of the un- derlying red siliciclastic mudstone with diagenetic nod- ules. A diagenetic underbed forms the lower part of LS 2, and there is no evidence that the base of the first fossil wackestone in the middle of LS 2 forms a surface of nondeposition or erosion with the underlying strata. Two successive fossil wackestone layers in the upper half of the bed are separated by iron-manganese-impregnated hardgrounds but are the same bio- and taphofacies rep- resented by the first fossil wackestone. The most abrupt, lithologic and faunal change takes place at the very top of LS 2. This change is indicated by the transient ap- pearance of an intermittently higher-energy oncolite- forming environment, the disappearance of the high versity fauna that produced the calcareous conchs that dominate the fossil wackestones, and the lack of calcar- ‘e0us nodules in the section above the nodule band that immediately overlies LS 2. The upper bedding surface, with its oncolites and mineralized crust, likely represents a surface of temporary nondeposition, Evidence for sub- aerial exposure of the sediments is lacking, although the red coloration of mudstone below the bed indicates well ‘oxygenated diagenetic conditions (Myrow 1990). A flood- ing event takes place after deposition of this oncolitic layer, allowing for deposition of the overlying burrowed mudstone. Limestone 3 ‘The third limestone bed (LS 3) crops out at Little Dantzic Cove, Fortune North and along the shore be- tween the towns of Fortune and Grand Bank. The bed Fro, 5.—A) White-weathering LS 1 (DC-135). Notebook (left center) the lower portion of bed (above sale), which forms a mare continuous {18.5 cm long. B) Close-up of LS 1 illustrating the nodular nature of | ‘band along sirke. Scale = 15 em. C) Limestone bed at Fortune North (N23) occurs within the laminated siltstones of member 3. Note nodular mastes at base, Hammes cenict) is 10 em long. D) Close up oF LS '4.9) showing the contact (arrows) beneath the digeneticallyprecipitaied "underbed™ and the overlying fossiiferous msckesione, The irregular, oncolit-bearing Fe/Ma hardground sutfice i seen at the top. Seale isin cm, E) Carbonate nodule-besring ted madetene below ord above LS 2. The limestone bed is 20 cm thick, F) Close-up of oncolite, ‘oncoites. Scale is in cm. G) Upper surface of LS 2. Note limestone with a dendritic pattem that represents burrow ini 1nd ropy crust on upper surface of LS 2. Note onionskin patie ofthe at withia and overlying the oncoliticencrusted surface i light-colored mice ings. Notebook is 18.5 em long. MINED SHLICICLASTIC-CARBONATE DEPOSITION PAUL M. MYROW AND ED LANDING ic. 6A) Slab of Units D and € of LS 3 etched by hydrochloric acid, Note thin curled-up mat! lanina on hate of tepee structure (bottom ‘ete. iriegularhardground surace clearly visible (arrows), Seale = these units) Note block of font showing the full thickness of LS 3. A'sketch ofthis phat ‘lla siracturss. The “pillar” geo the level of the stromaoitie ‘racks, These are interpreted ies from 50-80 em in thickness and has been divided into 5 divisions (Units A-E) that are shown in Figure 4 (ee also Fig. 6C). Unit A.—This basal division is 3-8 em thick and dis plays strong inverse size-grading (very fine to coarse sand: size) of discrete, generally beddling- parallel, clongate, pink pscudospar calcite crystals set within a matrix of green {w ted siliviclastic mudstone (Fig. 6). The percentage of siliciclastic matrix decreases upward as the calcite crystals become interconnected and form a loose network of scat- tered calcite grains that take on a vermiform texture. ‘The textures of Unit A indicate displacive precipitation ‘of pseudospar crystals within an unlithified mudstone matrix. Unit A grew downward from the base of LS 3. and this explains the downward decrease in crystal size. Although similar in texture to an underbed (e.g. base of ES 2), when taken in conjunction with features in Unit B (described below) the vermiform texture apparently corresponds to Brewer's (1964) “agelomeratic” fabric that is diagnostic of calcretes in the lower part of soil horizons, Unit B.—This is a 7-15 cm thick stromatolite-bearing

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