An interval of limestone, which generally has a dendroid appearance on outcrops, has been found in several Permian-Triassic boundary (PTB) sections in South China, and interpreted to be microbialites. Previous research has examined the paleontology and sedimentology of the unit, however, little attention has been devoted to its diagenesis. This paper discusses the diagenesis of the microbialites in the PTB section at Laolongdong, Chongqing, South China. Examination of multiple outcrops reveals that the structure in this kind of rock is not always dendroid; in many cases it is irregular in shape, and seldom shows the “up-branching” form. In addition, the speckled interval has also been found beneath the dendroid interval. In outcrop, both the speckled and dendroid rocks consist of the darkercolored areas and the lighter-colored areas. Examination of thin sections reveals that the darker-colored areas on outcrops are actually lighter-colored in thin sections, consist of larger crystals, and are more transparent. The lighter-colored areas in thin sections generally consist of large blocky calcite containing scattered small dirty calcite rhombs and irregular residual limestones, which are the same as the lime mudstones between the lighter-colored areas. It is inferred that the dendroid and speckled rocks have experienced the following diagenetic processes: (1) exposure of the carbonate sediments to the subaerial environment because of a sea level drop; (2) dolomitization caused by the downward migration of fluids formed the dendroid and speckled dolomitic patches; (3) dedolomitization of the dolomitic patches formed dendroid and speckled patches of calcite; (4) dissolution occurred in the interstices between relic dolomite crystals formed spongy pores; and (5) filling of the spongy pores by large blocky calcite. Therefore, even though microbes played a critical role in the formation of these microbialites, diagenesis contributed greatly to the formation of the speckled and dendroid pattern of the microbialites.
We are grateful to Liu Jianbo at Peking University and Robert Riding at Cardiff University for their helpful advice. This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (40802001) and the China Postdoctoral Science Foundation (20070420523).
Jiang Hongxia,Wu Yasheng. Diagenesis of the microbialites in the Permian-Triassic boundary section at Laolongdong, Chongqing, South China[J]. Journal of Palaeogeography, 2013, 2(2): 183-191 .
Jiang Hongxia,Wu Yasheng. Diagenesis of the microbialites in the Permian-Triassic boundary section at Laolongdong, Chongqing, South China[J]. Journal of Palaeogeography, 2013, 2(2): 183-191 .
Adachi, N., Ezaki, Y., Liu, J. B., 2004. The fabrics and origins of peloids immediately after the end-Permian extinction, Guizhou Province, South China. Sedimentary Geology, 164(1-2): 161- 178.
Ezaki, Y., Liu, J. B., Adachi, N., 2003. Earliest Triassic microbialite micro- to megastructures in the Huaying area of Sichuan Province, South China: Implications for the nature of oceanic conditions after the end-Permian extinction. Palaios, 18: 388-402.
2.0.CO;2 target="_blank">
Ezaki, Y., Liu, J. B., Nagano, T., Adachi, N., 2008. Geobiological aspects of the earliest Triassic microbialites along the southern periphery of the tropical Yangtze Platform: Initiation and cessation of a microbial regime. Palaios, 23: 356-369.
Guo, L., Riding, R., 1994. Origin and diagenesis of Quaternary travertine shrub fabrics, Rapolano Terme, central Italy. Sedimentology, 41: 499-520.
Jiang Hongxia, Wu Yasheng, 2007. Origin of Microbialite-like dendroid rocks in the Permian-Triassic boundary section in Xiushui, Jiangxi Province. Geological Review, 53(3): 323-328 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Kershaw, S., Guo, L., Swift, A., Fan, J. S., 2002. ?Microbialites in the Permian-Triassic boundary interval in central China: Structure, age and destruction. Facies, 47: 83-90.
Kershaw, S., Zhang, T., Lan, G., 1999. A ?microbialite carbonate crust at the Permian-Triassic boundary in South China, and its paleoenvironmental significance. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 146: 1-18.
Kershaw, S., 2004. Comment Earliest Triassic microbialite micro- to megastructures in the Huaying area of Sichuan Province, South China: Implications for the nature of oceanic conditions after the end-Permian extinction. Palaios, 19: 414-416.
2.0.CO;2 target="_blank">
Lehrmann, D. J., Yang, W. J., Enos, P., 1998. Controls on facies architecture of a large Triassic carbonate platform: The Great Bank of Guizhou, Nanpanjiang Basin, South China. Journal of Sedimentary Research, 68: 311-326.
Lehrmann, D. J., Yang, W., Wei, J. Y., Yu, Y. Y., Xiao, J. F., 2001. Lower Triassic peritidal cyclic limestone: an example of anachronistic carbonate facies from the Great Bank of Guizhou, Nanpanjiang Basin, Guizhou province, South China. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 173: 103-123.
Lehrmann, D. J., 1999. Early Triassic calcimicrobial mounds and biostromes of the Nanpanjiang Basin, south China. Geology, 27: 359-362.
2.3.CO;2 target="_blank">
Liu Jianbo, Ezaki Yoichi, Yang Shouren, Wang Haifeng, Adachi Natsuko, 2007. Age and sedimentology of microbialites after the end-Permian mass extinction in Luodian, Guizhou Province. Journal of Palaeogeography, 9(5): 473-486 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Reinhardt, J. W., 1988. Uppermost Permian reefs and Permo-Triassic sedimentary facies from the southeastern margin of Sichuan Basin, China. Facies, 18: 231-288.
Riding, R., 1991. Calcareous Algae and Stromatolites. Berlin: Springer, 55-87.
Riding, R., 2000. Microbial carbonates: The geological record of calcified bacterial-algal mats and biofilms. Sedimentology, 47(Suppl.): 179-214.
Schubert, J. K., Bottjer, D. J., 1992. Early Triassic stromatolites as post-mass extinction disaster forms. Geology, 20: 883-886.
2.3.CO;2 target="_blank">
Wang Yongbiao, Tong Jinnan, Wang Jiasheng, Zhou Xiugao, 2005. Calcimicrobialite after end-Permian mass extinction in South China and its palaeoenvironmental significance. Chinese Science Bulletin, 50(7): 665-671.
Wignall, P. B., Hallam, A., 1996. Facies change and the end-Permian mass extinction in S.E. Sichuan, China. Palaios, 11: 587-596.
Wu Yasheng, Jiang Hongxia, Liao Taiping, 2006a. Sea-level drops in the Permian-Triassic boundary section at Laolongdong, Chongqing, Sichuan province. Acta Petrologica Sinica, 22(9): 2405- 2412 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Wu Yasheng, Yang Wan, Jiang Hongxia, Fan Jiasong, 2006b. Petrologic evidence for sea-level drop in Latest Permian in Jiangxi Province, China, and its meanings for the mass extinction. Acta Petrologica Sinica, 22(12): 3039-3046 (in Chinese with English abstract).
Wu Yasheng, Yang Wan, Jiang Hongxia, Fan Jiasong, 2007. Microbialite of anoxic condition from Permian-Triassic transition in Guizhou, China. Science in China Series D, 50(7): 1040-1051.
Wu Yasheng, Fan Jiasong, Jin Yugan, 2003. Emergence of the Late Permian Changhsingian reefs at the end of the Permian. Acta Geologica Sinica, 77(3): 289-296.
Yang Hao, Zhang Suxin, Jiang Haishui, Wang Yongbiao, 2006. Age and General Characteristics of Calcimicrobialite near the Permian- Triassic Boundary in Chongyang, Hubei Province. Earth Science (Journal of China University of Geosciences), 31(2): 165- 170 (in Chinese with English abstract).