Palaeoproterozoic magnesite: lithological and isotopic evidence for playa/sabkha environments

Magnesite forms a series of 1- to 15-m-thick beds within the approximate to2.0 Ga (Palaeoproterozoic) Tulomozerskaya Formation, NW Fennoscandian Shield, Russia. Drillcore material together with natural exposures reveal that the 680-m-thick formation is composed of a stromatolite-dolomite-'red bed' sequence formed in a complex combination of shallow-marine and non-marine, evaporitic environments. Dolomite-collapse breccia, stromatolitic and micritic dolostones and sparry allochemical dolostones are the principal rocks hosting the magnesite beds. All dolomite lithologies are marked by delta C-13 values from +7.1 parts per thousand to +11.6 parts per thousand (V-PDB) and delta O-18 ranging from 17.4 parts per thousand to 26.3 parts per thousand (V-SMOW). Magnesite occurs in different forms: finely laminated micritic; stromatolitic magnesite; and structureless micritic, crystalline and coarsely crystalline magnesite. All varieties exhibit anomalously high delta C-13 values ranging from +9.0 parts per thousand to +11.6 parts per thousand and delta O-18 values of 20.0-25.7 parts per thousand. Laminated and structureless micritic magnesite forms as a secondary phase replacing dolomite during early diagenesis, and replaced dolomite before the major phase of burial. Crystalline and coarsely crystalline magnesite replacing micritic magnesite formed late in the diagenetic/metamorphic history. Magnesite apparently precipitated from sea water-derived brine, diluted by meteoric fluids. Magnesitization was accomplished under evaporitic conditions (sabkha to playa lake environment) proposed to be similar to the Coorong or Lake Walyungup coastal playa magnesite. Magnesite and host dolostones formed in evaporative and partly restricted environments; consequently, extremely high delta C-13 values reflect a combined contribution from both global and local carbon reservoirs. A C- 13-rich global carbon reservoir (delta C-13 at around +5 parts per thousand) is related to the perturbation of the carbon cycle at 2.0 Ga, whereas the local enhancement in C-13 (up to +12 parts per thousand) is associated with evaporative and restricted environments with high bioproductivity

Diatomaceous sedimentation in late Neogene lacustrine basins of western Macedonia, Greece

Several lacustrine basins were formed by late Miocene tectonic processes in western Macedonia, Greece. These were occupied by a series of lakes and wetland swamps during the late Miocene and early Pliocene giving rise to diatomaceous claystones, siltstones and diatom-bearing tufa deposits. Diatoms are rare or fragmentary in sandstones and chemical sediments, and are absent in conglomerates. The Fe2+-rich phosphate minerals anapaite and vivianite are present in parts of the diatomaceous siltstones. Six major diatom groups were identified using cluster and correspondence analyses, each of which tends to be associated with a particular lithofacies. The floras are indicative of mildly acidic to alkaline water of varying depths. The dominant taxa include Aulacoseira ambigua, A. distans, Cyclotella iris and several of its varieties, C. aegeae, C. castracanei, C. elymaea, C. ocellata, and two unidentified Cyclotella. Fragilariaceae are common, consisting mainly of Fragilaria bituminosa, Pseudostaurosira brevistriata, P. zeilleri, Staurosira construens, Staurosirella leptostauron, and S. pinnata. Locally, chysophycean stomatocysts are common, suggesting more oligotrophic conditions. Nine diatom stages are recognized in the Lower Neogene Series at Kariditsa (Kozani basin), reflecting shallow swamps, small alkaline lakes, and terrestrial settings. The Upper Neogene Series rocks are characterized by Mg-rich carbonates such as hydromagnesite, huntite and magnesite. A detailed stratigraphy was developed for Mio-Pliocene deposits in the Florina basin at Klidi. Parts of this sequence show clear cyclicity in both the sediments and the diatom floras, with shallow-water diatoms repeatedly giving way to taxa indicative of deeper conditions. Larger-scale, shallow-deep cycles are also present and may be related to precession- and eccentricity-forced climate change. © 2010 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Late Miocene lacustrine sedimentation in the Mytilinii Basin, Samos Island, Greece

The Mytilinii Basin, eastern Samos Island, Greece, is one of many basins that developed in southeastern Europe during the Upper Neogene. The oldest lacustrine portion is of Late Miocene age, and besides tuffs, includes bituminous limestones, marlstones, dolostones and porcelanites of the Pythagorion Formation, and the limestones and diatomites of the overlying Hora Beds. Younger sedimentary rocks of Turolian through Pliocene age partially covered the Pythagorion Formation and Hora Beds (PFHB). Diatom floras range from well preserved to highly corroded and from sparse to abundant. The main taxa include Cyclotella aegaea, C. aegaea var. pythagoria, an unidentified Cyclotella and Nitzschia frustulum, and less common Epithemia turgida, E. reichelti, Synedra ulna, Tryblionella granulata, Encyonema silesiaca, Diploneis ovalis and Cocconeis placentula. Chrysophyte cysts, Hydrobia molluscs and trace fossils occur sporadically. The environmental evolution of the PFHB can be divided into three major stages. Fluctuating shallow to deeper waters in a saline lake characterized Stage A. Saline lake and playa environments with evidence for frequent earthquake events in the form of convolute bedding, drape folds and brecciated sediments characterized Stage B. During Stage C, the lake may have partially or completely split into two separate lakes. In the southeast, a saline playa passed laterally into a deeper-water lake. Locally, fresher-water ponds occurred. Subsequently, a deeper, possibly oligotrophic lake developed. In contrast, a saline lake with abundant diatoms formed in the northwest of the basin, in which diatom blooms led to whiting events and deposition of carbonate laminae. Cyclotella dominated the early floras in this water body, with later assemblages being co-dominated by Cyclotella and Nitzschia frustulum, possibly reflecting seasonal changes. Sedimentation was terminated by uplift and (or) increasing aridity associated with the Messinian Salinity Crisis. © 2011 Springer Science+Business Media B.V

Subtle signatures of seeps: Record of groundwater in a Dryland, DK, Olduvai Gorge, Tanzania

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