Characteristics and Significance of Microbial Mineralization Fabric in Oolitic Limestone: A case from Lower Triassic Feixianguan Formation, northeastern Sichuan Basin
doi: 10.14027/j.issn.1000-0550.2018.132
- Received Date: 2018-01-29
- Rev Recd Date: 2018-04-21
- Publish Date: 2019-04-10
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Key words:
- microbial mineralized fabric /
- oolitic limestone /
- PTB extinction event /
- Lower Triassic Feixianguan Formation /
- northeastern Sichuan Basin
Abstract: After the PTB's biggest extinction in the world, the Lower Triassic is considered to be the golden era of microbial growth and reproduction. A shallow-water environment is the most favorable for microbial activity and microbial rock formation. Spectral analysis of high-resolution scanning electron microscopy and energy showed three types of microbial mineralized fabric in oolitic limestone, which is the origin of a shallow-water carbonate platform margin on the western side of the Kaijiang-Liangping Trough. These are:cavity-shaped mineralized fabric; micro-nodule-shaped mineralized fabric; and arrow-shaped mineralized fabric. Following comprehensive sedimentological, petrological and geochemical analyses, it is considered that micro-nodule-shaped mineralized fabric consists of dolomitic nanospheroids formed by microbial metabolism. The arrow-shaped mineralized fabric is made up of extracellular polymeric substances (EPS). Cavity-shaped mineralized fabric are microorganism individuals. In addition, a large number of micropores on the surface of calcite crystals were found to be caused by microbial dissolution. The discovery of these microbial mineralized fabrics provides direct evidence of a microbial outbreak in the Lower Triassic. It is assumed that microbial activity is a direct cause of the rapid carbonate deposition phenomenon of the Lower Triassic which led to the rapid Lower Triassic infilling of the Late Permian intracratonic rift in the Kaijiang-Liangping Trough.
Citation: | JIANG YuQiang, HE YuanHan, XING FengCun, GU YiFan, JIANG Chan. Characteristics and Significance of Microbial Mineralization Fabric in Oolitic Limestone: A case from Lower Triassic Feixianguan Formation, northeastern Sichuan Basin[J]. Acta Sedimentologica Sinica, 2019, 37(2): 268-277. doi: 10.14027/j.issn.1000-0550.2018.132 |