Geology Reference
In-Depth Information
to the southern portion of the present day arid Persian
Gulf (e.g. Purser
1973
) .
A quite different tidal deposit of Late Miocene age
(Messinian) has been reported from the Mediterranean
Basin of southeast Spain (Riding et al.
1991
) . The
Messinian carbonate tidalites are characterized by
closely packed thrombolite and stromatolite domes
forming a 12 m thick bioherm surrounded by ooids.
Individual domes (up to 1.5 m high and 4 m across)
are typically composite and consist of distinct juxta-
posed stromatolite and thrombolite parts containing
fi ne-medium grained ooid and peloid sand. Corals,
red algae, vermitid gastropods and encrusting fora-
minifera are present in the stromatolite, suggesting a
normal marine environment during deposition.
Thrombolite is more abundant than stromatolite and
consists of distinct clotted fabric and irregular fenes-
trae. These microbialites are closely comparable with
modern “giant” subtidal columnar stromatolites
observed at the Exuma chain of islands on the
Bahamian platform (Dill
1991
; Planavsky and
Ginsburg
2009
) .
modern deposits with those in ancient carbonates
suggests that sedimentary processes in carbonate
platforms and environments have occurred repeatedly
throughout geologic time.
References
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21.8
Concluding Remarks
The geological record of ancient carbonate peritidal
deposits indicates deposition in the proximal areas of
a tropical sea, particularly during global relative sea-
level highstands, in carbonate platforms and environ-
ments that have recurred many times since the Early
Proterozoic. As shown in the illustrative examples,
ancient carbonate tidalites commonly consist of
stacked high-frequency 4th
-
to 5th-order shallowing-
upward cycles and may constitutes the bulk of the
transgressive and highstand systems tract of a deposi-
tional sequence. The peritidal cycles in the geological
record generally are characterized by evidence of a
dry climate in the capping supratidal facies. Although
supratidal marshes are widespread in the Bahamas
and the neighboring modern humid platforms, ancient
humid tidal fl at and coastal marsh deposits like the
Middle Ordovician St. Paul Group (see Sect.
21.7.3
)
are scarce. Rapid sea level fall and prolonged expo-
sure of the tidal fl at in a humid climate could lead to
karstifi cation and removal of the highstand packages
of a depositional sequence, which commonly consists
of peritidal cycle as in the existing Plio-Pleistocene
record of the Bahamas
.
Comparison of the features of
