Abstract
In modern and Phanerozoic times, heterozoan carbonates group a large array of depositional environments from the poles to the tropics. This global assessment reviews the critical parameters and controlling factors of heterozoan carbonates: (i) stratigraphic and global distributional trends, (ii) oceanographic and trophic relationships, and (iii) biological and sedimentary processes. Well-documented case studies (n = 129) have been investigated when facies and stratigraphic attributes were available, and when environmental settings, such as oceanography, climate and paleogeography were clearly identified. These case studies occur during specific periods of time in the sedimentary record, e.g. Late Ordovician, Early Carboniferous, Early Permian and Neogene, while they are absent during others, e.g. Triassic and Jurassic. Periods during greenhouse to icehouse transitions, and those with active thermohaline circulation, are particularly conducive for heterozoan carbonates. Based on global oceanographic patterns and existing ecological and hydrodynamic regime classifications (Hallock, 2001; Pedley and Carannante, 2006; James and Jones, 2015), a process-based classification scheme is proposed that distinguishes two main heterozoan carbonate systems: (i) a highly productive system characterized by suspension-feeding biota and (ii) an oligo-mesotrophic, warm-temperate system characterized by red algal and seagrass derived biota. Eight depositional models are proposed that combine (i) the source of energy for metabolic activities that allow the carbonate-producing biota to thrive and (ii) hydrodynamics and physiography of the depositional system that control the sediment accumulation. The local and platform scale based profiles can be used to complement the facies approach of James and Jones (2015).
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 50-67 |
| Number of pages | 18 |
| Journal | Earth-Science Reviews |
| Volume | 182 |
| Early online date | 3 May 2018 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Jul 2018 |
Funding
The project was undertaken in 2014-2015 and funded by TOTAL R&D Carbonates (Frontier Exploration). We would like to thank Patrick Sorriaux, Aurélien Virgone, Matthieu Pellerin and Cyprien Lanteaume for stimulating discussions. Rosine Riera is acknowledged for her participation in part of the project. We thank Tracy Frank, Elias Samankassou, Evan Edinger and three anonymous reviewers for their instructive comments on an earlier version of the manuscript. JM thanks Pole Emploi for the necessary life funding during part of manuscript writing. JR acknowledges the support of the College of Petroleum Engineering & Geosciences at the King Fahd University of Petroleum & Minerals (Dhahran, Saudi Arabia). This CPG – Carbonate Sedimentology Group publication no. 8. A literature review like this always will be incomplete and we apologize to those whose work we may have overlooked or insufficiently taken into account. Appendix A
Keywords
- Carbonate classification
- Carbonate production
- Cool-water carbonates
- Depositional models
- Heterozoan carbonates
- Paleoceanographic circulation
