2,938 research outputs found
Hydrothermal replacement of biogenic and abiogenic aragonite by Mg-carbonates – Relation between textural control on effective element fluxes and resulting carbonate phase
Get PDFDolomitization, i.e., the secondary replacement of calcite or aragonite (CaCO3) by dolomite (CaMg[CO3]2), is one of the most volumetrically important carbonate diagenetic processes. It occurs under near surface and shallow burial conditions and can significantly modify rock properties through changes in porosity and permeability. Dolomitization fronts are directly coupled to fluid pathways, which may be related to the initial porosity/permeability of the precursor limestone, an existing fault network or secondary porosity/permeability created through the replacement reaction. In this study, the textural control on the replacement of biogenic and abiogenic aragonite by Mg-carbonates, that are typical precursor phases in the dolomitization process, was experimentally studied under hydrothermal conditions. Aragonite samples with different textural and microstructural properties exhibiting a compact (inorganic aragonite single crystal), an intermediate (bivalve shell of Arctica islandica) and open porous structure (skeleton of coral Porites sp.) were reacted with a solution of 0.9 M MgCl2 and 0.015 M SrCl2 at 200 °C. The replacement of aragonite by a Ca-bearing magnesite and a Mg-Ca carbonate of non-stoichiometric dolomitic composition takes place via a dissolution-precipitation process and leads to the formation of a porous reaction front that progressively replaces the aragonite precursor. The reaction leads to the development of porosity within the reaction front and distinctive microstructures such as gaps and cavities at the reaction interface. The newly formed reaction rim consists of chemically distinct phases separated by sharp boundaries. It was found that the number of phases and their chemical variation decreases with increasing initial porosity and reactive surface area. This observation is explained by variations in effective element fluxes that result in differential chemical gradients in the fluid within the pore space of the reaction rim. Observed reaction rates are highest for the replacement of the initially highly porous coral and lowest for the compact structure of a single aragonite crystal. Therefore, the reaction progress equally depends on effective element fluxes between the fluid at the reaction interface and the bulk solution surrounding the test material as well as the reactive surface area. This study demonstrates that the textural and microstructural properties of the parent material have a significant influence on the chemical composition of the product phase. Moreover, our data highlight the importance of effective fluid-mediated element exchange between the fluid at the reaction interface and the bulk solution controlled by the local microstructure
Inside a sediment‐stressed Middle Devonian carpet reef: Cave exposes details of three‐dimensional facies architecture and palaeoecology
No full textABSTRACTDuring the Middle Devonian, reef growth reached an acme, and corals and stromatoporoids colonized depositional niches commonly considered unfavourable for reefal organisms. This paper documents the detailed facies architecture and palaeoecology of a stratigraphically thin (ca 12 m, ‘carpet reef’), lower Givetian reefal body exposed along the walls and ceilings of the labyrinthine passages in the Klutert Cave in western Germany. The cave exposures (ca 26 000 m2 of rock surface) and data from short cores, neighbouring caves and outcrops document the growth and demise of an autoparabiostrome. The reef forms part of a parasequence with a lower carbonate and an upper clastic unit, bounded by flooding surfaces. Despite the comparatively small study area (ca 1 km2), the exceptional exposure quality reveals facies changes over relatively short distances both vertical and lateral. The sedimentary matrix of the reefal build‐up contains between 20 to 95 wt.‐% of clay and quartz of silt to sand fraction. Based on this observation, the corals and stromatoporoids thrived in murky waters and under sediment‐stressed conditions. Stromatoporoids, for example, display irregular ragged flanks, a feature that is in agreement with a sediment‐stressed environment. No evidence of reduced growth rates, decreased calcification rates, or lower numbers of species is found. In fact, coral diversity and density are highest within one of the two biostromal units that show peak clastic matrix values, indicating a remarkable adaptation of reef builders to sediment‐stressed conditions. The initial settlement of rugose phaceloid corals took place on a mixed clastic–carbonate substrate (the basal flooding surface). Up‐section, a succession of coral–stromatoporoids is present that is here described in great detail. Reef collapse occurred when much of the accommodation space was filled, and argillaceous sediments suffocated stromatoporoids and corals in a protected, low‐energy environment.Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft
http://dx.doi.org/10.13039/50110000165
Providence College Faculty Author Series 2012-2013: Dr. Adrian Weimer
Get PDFDr. Adrian Weimer (History, Providence College) discusses her new book Martyrs\u27 Mirror: Persecution and Holiness in Early New England and the cultural importance of martyrdom within Colonial America
Providence College Faculty Author Series 2012-2013: Dr. Adrian Weimer
No full textDr. Adrian Weimer (History, Providence College) discusses her new book Martyrs\u27 Mirror: Persecution and Holiness in Early New England and the cultural importance of martyrdom within Colonial America
Adrian Matejka, 34th Annual ODU Literary Festival
No full textAdrian Matejka is the author of The Devil’s Garden and Mixology, which was a winner of the 2008 National Poetry Series. He is the recipient of two Illinois Arts Council Literary Awards and fellowships from Cave Canem and the Lannan Foundation. His work has been featured in American Poetry Review, The Best American Poetry 2010, and Ploughshares, among other journals and anthologies. He teaches at Southern Illinois University Edwardsville
The Relationship between Bacterial Sulfur Cycling and Ca/Mg Carbonate Precipitation—Old Tales and New Insights from Lagoa Vermelha and Brejo do Espinho, Brazil
No full textOver the few past decades, the concept of microbial sulfur cycling catalyzing the precipitation of CaMg (CO3)2 at low temperatures (<40 °C) has been studied intensely. In this respect, two hypersaline lagoons, Lagoa Vermelha and Brejo do Espinho, in Brazil, have been the subject of numerous studies investigating sedimentary Ca/Mg carbonate formation. Here, we present the sulfur and oxygen isotopic compositions of dissolved sulfate from surface water, as well as sulfate and sulfide from pore-water (δ34SSO4, δ18OSO4, and δ34SH2S), the sulfur isotopic composition of sedimentary pyrite (δ34SCRS), and sulfur and oxygen isotopic compositions of carbonate-associated sulfate (CAS, δ34SCAS and δ18OCAS). The pore-water profiles at Lagoa Vermelha indicate ongoing bacterial sulfate reduction by increasing δ34SSO4, δ18OSO4 and δ34SCRS values downcore. At Brejo do Espinho, the pore-water profiles displayed no depth-dependent isotope trends; the Ca/Mg ratio was, on average, lower, and the δ18OSO4 values in both surface and pore-water were strongly enriched in 18O. There was an overall mismatch between δ34SSO4 and the significantly higher δ34SCAS values. A negative correlation was observed between the Ca/Mg ratio and higher δ34SCAS values. The results show that the size difference between the two lagoons induces differences in the intensity of evaporation, which leads to the increased secretion of extrapolymeric substances (EPSs) by microbes in the smaller Brejo do Espinho. EPS provides the microenvironment where Ca/Mg carbonate can nucleate and preserve increased δ34SCAS values. Apart from EPS, increased sulfur oxidation is proposed to be a second factor causing relative enrichment of Ca/Mg carbonates at Brejo do Espinho. Our results emphasize the role of evaporative processes on Ca/Mg carbonate formation, and indicate that the respective δ34SCAS values reflect microenvironments rather than preserving an open marine δ34SSO4 signature
WNW-directed obduction of the Batain Group on the E-Oman continental margin at the Cretaceous-Tertiary boundary.
Get PDFThe Batain coast area in eastern Oman is dominated by allochthonous Permian to Late Maastrichtian sedimentary and volcanic rocks (Batain Group), unconformably overlain by neoautochthonous Tertiary sediments. The allochthonous rocks of the Batain coast were previously attributed to the Hawasina complex, the Permian to Coniacian/Santonian sedimentary infill of the neo-Tethyan Hawasina basin off northern Oman. Previous structural interpretations suggested that the Batain Group, along with the Hawasina complex and the Semail ophiolite, was obducted in the Coniacian to Campanian from NE to SW onto the northern Oman continental margin. Results of our work in the Batain area differ from previous interpretations, with most significant differences concerning timing and direction of obduction. Our results show that WNW directed tectonic movements formed a fold-and-thrust belt and led to the obduction of allochthonous rocks onto the east Oman continental margin during latest Maastrichtian/earliest Paleocene times. This is coeval with emplacement of ophiolitic fragments along the eastern coast of Oman (eastern ophiolite belt) but is about 15-20 Myr later than emplacement of Hawasina complex and Semail ophiolite in northern Oman. Postemplacement structural evolution during the Tertiary involved intraplate extension, possibly reflecting the Red Sea/Gulf of Aden opening, and late Tertiary shortening related to convergence between Arabia and Eurasia. Late Tertiary contractional deformation resulted in refolding of the Batain nappes and in folding of the overlying Tertiary sediments. A palinspastic reconstruction of the Batain area indicates that the Permian to Upper Cretaceous sediments were formerly deposited in the Batain basin, a part of the proto-Indian Ocean, along the present-day eastern Oman margin. This leads us to propose that Permian breakup of Gondwanaland created both continental margins of Oman and led to the opening of two major basins: the neo-Tethyan Hawasina basin in the north and the proto-Indian Ocean Batain basin in the east, the latter separating Arabia from greater India
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