Abstract A series of experiments on freshwater carbonates (tufas) involving biofilm colonization in both fast-flow and slow-flow mesocosms was carried out in order to assess the changing nature of biofilm and associated precipitates under contrasting conditions. A thin biofilm developed over 14 weeks during the ‘summer’ experimental run contained a basal calcite layer overlain by small calcite crystals suspended within the Extracellular Polymeric Substances (EPS). The ‘autumn’ biofilm, however, showed the development of multi-laminated calcite precipitates within the EPS despite constant environmental conditions throughout the run. The experiments also showed that the largest volume of calcite precipitate developed in the fast-flow flumes regardless of temperature control. Development of an extensive calcite layer at the base of EPS in conditions of complete darkness within the sump was also observed. This study provides increased weight for the concepts: (1) that fresh- and saltwater stromatolites appear to be highly comparable multi-laminated systems with precipitation strongly influenced by both phototrophic and heterotrophic microbes; and (2) that microbial precipitation may be more common within aphotic (including cave, lake bottom and soil) systems than has previously been considered.
Miocene carbonates and marls in the northwestern margin of the Hyblean Plateau (SE Sicily) exhibit considerable thickness variations consistent with synsedimentary tectonism. In the Early-Middle Miocene carbonates (Ragusa Formation) a series of parallel swells dose to the platform edge encouraged the development of a coarse-grained bioclastic facies. The overlying Middle-Late Miocene marls (Tellaro Formation) thin over these seafloor highs and associated mafie Tortonian volcanics are particularly developed along the hinge zones between swells and local sea-floor depressions. The basic extrusives appear to have followed incipient NE-SW fault lines propagated from deeper basement fractures. During the succeeding Messinian these faults were activated to produce horst structures (Vallone Lamia horst, Monte Caratabia horst and Cameme horst). These separate locai NE-SW oriented narrow grabens in which thick Messinian evaporites were deposited, probably connected with the main Centrai Sicilian Basin. Further subacrial deposits and volcanics levelled the Hyblean horst and graben topography prior to the major Early Pliocene marine high-stand. The ensuing transgression covered the study area with a thick pelagic Early Pliocene chalk. Local regressions, the product of Middle Pliocene and Early Pleistocene major tectonic activity along the margins of the plateau, are associated with local unconformities. Final emergence along the margins of the plateau occurred at the close of Early Pleistocene times when the emplacement of the Gela Nappe, from the NE, partly filled the foredeep basin. The withdrawal of the sea from the foredeep occurred shortly afterwards.
Abstract. Determining the processes which generate terrestrial carbonate deposits (tufas, travertines and to a lesser extent associated chemical sediments such as calcretes and speleothems) is a long-standing problem. Precipitation of mineral products from solution reflects a complex combination of biological, equilibrium and kinetic processes, and the different morphologies of carbonate sediment produced by different processes have yet to be clearly demarked. Building on the groundbreaking work of previous authors, we propose that the underlying control on the processes leading to the deposition of these products can be most parsimoniously understood from the thermodynamic properties of their source solutions. Here, we report initial observations of the differences in product generated from spring and lake systems spanning a range of temperature–supersaturation space. We find that at high supersaturation, biological influences are masked by high rates of physico-chemical precipitation, and sedimentary products from these settings infrequently exhibit classic "biomediated" fabrics such as clotted micrite. Likewise, at high temperature (>40 °C) exclusion of vascular plants and complex/diverse biofilms can significantly inhibit the magnitude of biomediated precipitation, again impeding the likelihood of encountering the "bio-type" fabrics. Conversely, despite the clear division in product between extensive tufa facies associations and less spatially extensive deposits such as oncoid beds, no clear division can be identified between these systems in temperature–supersaturation space. We reiterate the conclusion of previous authors, which demonstrate that this division cannot be made on the basis of physico-chemical characteristics of the solution alone. We further provide a new case study of this division from two adjacent systems in the UK, where tufa-like deposition continuous on a metre scale is happening at a site with lower supersaturation than other sites exhibiting only discontinuous (oncoidal) deposition. However, a strong microbiological division is demonstrated between these sites on the basis of suspended bacterial cell distribution, which reach a prominent maximum where tufa-like deposits are forming. We conclude that at high supersaturation, the thermodynamic properties of solutions provide a highly satisfactory means of linking process and product, raising the opportunity of identifying water characteristics from sedimentological/petrological characteristics of ancient deposits. At low supersaturation, we recommend that future research focuses on geomicrobiological processes rather than the more traditional, inorganic solution chemistry approach dominant in the past.
SUMMARY An extensive deposit of tufa, including organic build-ups, oncoid facies and micrite facies, extends as a lobate deposit downslope from a Carboniferous Limestone scarp near Caerwys, North Wales. The deposit contains terrestrial and freshwater molluscs, ostracods and plant remains, the latter now preserved as moulds and casts. Collectively, the carbonates caused blockage of a pre-existing valley, by a combination of CaCO 3 precipitation associated with oscillatoriacaen “algae” and the growth of higher plants. Oncoid and detrital facies accumulated upstream of the tufa barriers in small standing pools and marshes. Carbonate precipitation, brought about by both physical and organic processes, produced freshwater isopachous fringe cement and micrite; peliods associated with the tufa appear to be related genetically to these. The tufa build-ups (phytoherms) within the Caerwys deposit are associated with contemporaneous living vegetation such as reed and willow, although mosses and liverworts are most common. The plants were bonded during life by freshwater isopachous fringe cements and were colonized by cyanobacteria and animals. The phytoherms had positive relief and effected local changes in water flow, sedimentation rates and ecology. Collectively, the deposit illustrates many of the typical features of barrage tufa deposits and serves as a useful model for ancient deposits.
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