Pore water evolution during sediment burial from isotopic and mineral chemistry of calcite, dolomite and siderite concretions

doi:10.1016/0016-7037(86)90085-2

Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta

Volume 50, Issue 10, October 1986, Pages 2321-2334

https://doi.org/10.1016/0016-7037(86)90085-2 Get rights and content

Abstract

Coal measures often contain concretions; segregations of diagenetic minerals originally formed within unconsolidated sediments. Three different types (calcite/pyrite, dolomite/pyrite and siderite) occurring spatially quite close together in the Central Pennine Region of England vary widely in carbon isotope composition (+10.35%. >δ¹³C > −21.49%.) and in major cation chemistry (Ca, Mg, Fe, Mn). Within some siderite concretions, very high $Mn Fe$ ratios were found in central subsamples; these were also most enriched in ¹³C. The $Fe Mg$ ratio decreases systematically from centre to edge (early, shallow to deeper, later precipitation). The calcite/pyrite and dolomite/pyrite concretions developed completely prior to significant burial. Both have high $Mn Fe$ ratios but negative δ¹³C values (calcite −21.49%., dolomite −8.67 to −10.48%.).

All of these patterns can be equated precisely with theories of pore water evolution developed on the basis of geochemical investigations of modem sediments. Microbial processes (sulphate reduction, methanogenesis) contributed significantly, as did thermal decarboxylation (to siderite precipitated at considerable burial depth). Mn(IV) and Fe(III) acted differentially as oxidants; producing CO₂ and increasing alkalinity. The interplay of fresh and marine depositional waters is seen most obviously in the presence or absence of sulphate reduction. This controlled mineral type (iron sulphide or carbonate) as well as isotopic and mineral chemistry.

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Citation Excerpt :
There is clayey material below the ganister, but it is separated by a disconformity, so not part of an Ultisol paleosol. The δ18O and δ13C isotopic composition of the calcite and dolomite coal balls, as well as siderite nodules in overlying shales, were provided by Curtis et al. (1986), and show two distinct patterns (Fig. 6A–B). The calcite-dolomite shows a δ18O and δ13C correlation, with two distinct populations, like the Hitchcox limey peat (Fig. 6A), but the siderite shows δ18O-invariance, like modern siderite nodules (Moore et al., 1992).
Coal balls are calcareous peats with cellular permineralization invaluable for understanding the anatomy of Pennsylvanian and Permian fossil plants. Two distinct kinds of coal balls are here recognized in both Holocene and Pennsylvanian calcareous Histosols. Respirogenic calcite coal balls have arrays of calcite δ¹⁸O and δ¹³C like those of desert soil calcic horizons reflecting isotopic composition of CO₂ gas from an aerobic microbiome. Methanogenic calcite coal balls in contrast have invariant δ¹⁸O for a range of δ¹³C, and formed with anaerobic microbiomes in soil solutions with bicarbonate formed by methane oxidation and sugar fermentation. Respirogenic coal balls are described from Holocene peats in Eight Mile Creek South Australia, and noted from Carboniferous coals near Penistone, Yorkshire. Methanogenic coal balls are described from Carboniferous coals at Berryville (Illinois) and Steubenville (Ohio), Paleocene lignites of Sutton (Alaska), Eocene lignites of Axel Heiberg Island (Nunavut), Pleistocene peats of Konya (Turkey), and Holocene peats of Gramigne di Bando (Italy). Soils and paleosols with coal balls are neither common nor extinct, but were formed by two distinct soil microbiomes.

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Pore water evolution during sediment burial from isotopic and mineral chemistry of calcite, dolomite and siderite concretions

Abstract

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Int. J. Mass Spectrom. Ion. Phys.

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Geochim. Cosmochim. Acta

Constraints on the formation of sedimentary dolomite

Science

Compaction curves

Amer. Assoc. Petrol. Geol. Bull.

Distribution of Westphalian marine faunas in Northern England and adjoining areas

The origin and distribution of methane in marine sediments

Geochemistry of diagenetic non-silicate minerals: kinetic considerations

Phil. Trans. Roy. Soc. London

Possible links between sandstone diagenesis and depth-related geochemical reactions occurring in enclosing mudstones

J. Geol. Soc. London

Geochemistry of porosity enhancement and reduction in clastic sediments

An Introduction to the Rock-Forming Minerals

Compilation of stable isotope fractionation factors of geochemical interest

Variation in the isotopic composition of carbon during the formation of carbonate concretions

Geokhimiya