Earth and Atmospheric Sciences, Department of
Date of this Version
2000
Abstract
The stable isotope geochemistry of Miocene sediments from the leeward margin of the Great Bahama Bank was examined to investigate burial diagenetic processes in periplatform carbonates. Data indicate that, in addition to differences in bulk proportions of neritic and pelagic carbonate along the slope, rhythmic variation in primary carbonate content has controlled patterns of burial diagenesis and associated geochemical signatures throughout much of the succession examined. The present study focuses on Ocean Drilling Program Sites 1006 and 1007, the most distal of five sites drilled from marginal to deep basin environments during Leg 166. These Miocene sections are characterized by their cyclic appearance, manifest as decimeter- to meter-scale alternations between light-colored ooze/chalk/limestone and dark-colored marl/marlstone. The section at Site 1006 contains a high proportion of pelagic carbonate and is unlithified to a subbottom depth of ~675 m. Fluctuations in δ18O and δ13C values at this site are independent of lithological variation and reflect primary conditions. At Site 1007, located at the toe-of-slope and composed of a mixture of bank-derived and pelagic carbonate, limestones are densely cemented, show little evidence of compaction and have δ18O values up to 2‰ higher than coeval sediments at Site 1006. Marlstones at Site 1007 are poorly cemented, exhibit an increase in compaction-related features with depth and have lower and more variable δ18O values that are similar to those of coeval sediments at Site 1006. Isotopic and petrographic characteristics of limestone interbeds result from cement precipitation from cold sea water during the first ~100 m of burial. Higher proportions of insoluble materials and pelagic carbonate seem to have inhibited diagenetic alteration in adjacent marlstones; in spite of significant compaction and pressure solution during burial, original isotopic compositions appear to be best preserved in these intervals at Site 1007. The documented contrasts in petrographic and isotopic patterns illustrate the role of primary sediment composition in controlling lithification processes in periplatform carbonates and stress the importance of considering such factors when interpreting geochemical data from ancient shelf and slope limestones.
Comments
Published in Sedimentology 47:6 (2000), pp. 1119–1134; doi: 10.1111/j.1365-3091.2000.00344.x Copyright © 2000 International Association of Sedimentologists; published by Blackwell/John Wiley. Used by permission.