摘要
This study examines the rare earth elements and yttrium(REY)concentrations of twenty-five samples from the reef outcrop exposed along the Lianglitage Mountain in the Ordovician,Tarim Basin in China.The concentration analysis provides constraints on the paleoenvironment during reef deposition.Based on the detailed sedimentology and petrographic work,we divide the reef facies into four sub-facies:the base facies,reef-core facies,reef-flank facies,and sealing facies.The geochemical data(such as major and trace elements,carbon and oxygen isotopes,and REYs)are further used to study the coeval seawater characteristics as well as potential diagenesis overprints.The result indicated that the diagenesis has little effect on the REY patterns of the reefal limestones.The REY concentrations of the reefal limestones are overall low(ranging from 3.69 to 19.60 ppm,arithmetic mean=10.22 ppm,SD=5.4).The PAAS-normalized REY patterns are consistently flat compared to the typical well-oxidized,shallow marine water patterns.However,the light REE(LREE)depletions,positive La anomalies,negative Ce anomalies and positive Y anomalies,suggest that these reefal limestones are likely an indicative of contemporaneous seawater REY signals.The seawater-like Y/Ho ratios(average at 37.51)further support that REY signals in these limestones are likely a reflection of seawater with little diagenetic modifications.The low Y/Ho ratios presented only in the reef-flank facies and sealing facies are likely a suggestion of detrital contamination.Hence,this study confirms that REY patterns of the limestones at the base facies and reef-core facies can record ancient seawater information,and reefs can be used as a potential geochemical proxy for paleoenvironment studies throughout the Earth’s history.
This study examines the rare earth elements and yttrium(REY) concentrations of twenty-five samples from the reef outcrop exposed along the Lianglitage Mountain in the Ordovician, Tarim Basin in China. The concentration analysis provides constraints on the paleoenvironment during reef deposition. Based on the detailed sedimentology and petrographic work, we divide the reef facies into four sub-facies: the base facies, reef-core facies, reef-flank facies, and sealing facies.The geochemical data(such as major and trace elements, carbon and oxygen isotopes, and REYs) are further used to study the coeval seawater characteristics as well as potential diagenesis overprints. The result indicated that the diagenesis has little effect on the REY patterns of the reefal limestones. The REY concentrations of the reefal limestones are overall low(ranging from 3.69 to 19.60 ppm, arithmetic mean=10.22 ppm, SD=5.4). The PAAS-normalized REY patterns are consistently flat compared to the typical well-oxidized, shallow marine water patterns. However, the light REE(LREE)depletions, positive La anomalies, negative Ce anomalies and positive Y anomalies, suggest that these reefal limestones are likely an indicative of contemporaneous seawater REY signals. The seawater-like Y/Ho ratios(average at 37.51) further support that REY signals in these limestones are likely a reflection of seawater with little diagenetic modifications. The low Y/Ho ratios presented only in the reef-flank facies and sealing facies are likely a suggestion of detrital contamination.Hence, this study confirms that REY patterns of the limestones at the base facies and reef-core facies can record ancient seawater information, and reefs can be used as a potential geochemical proxy for paleoenvironment studies throughout the Earth’s history.
基金
supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China(grant number 51574208)
the National 973 Program of China(grant number 2012CB214802)
the China Geological Survery Project(grant number DD20190217)
the China Scholar Council(grant number 201606400023)for providing the financial support
作者简介
first author:MENG Miaomiao,female,born in 1988 in Dengzhou City,Henan Province,PhD,graduated from China University of Geosciences(Beijing),Researcher at the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey,China Geological Survey.Recently,she focuses on marine geology and petroleum geology,including sedimentology,geochemistry and natural gas hydrate geology.E-mail:18811309981@126.com,phone:+8618811309981;corresponding author LIU Xinxing,male,born in 1987 in Xinxiang city,Henan province,PhD,graduated from China University of Geosciences(Beijing)since 2016.Lecturer at Hebei GEO University at present.He is now interested in mineral resource evaluation and remote sensing prospecting.
