Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks

Erik Flugel

Microfaciesof Carbonate Rocks

Analysis, Interpretationand Application

Second Edition

With a contribution by Axel Munnecke

123

ISBN 978-3-642-03795-5 e-ISBN 978-3-642-03796-2DOI 10.1007/10.1007/978-3-642-03796-2

Library of Congress Control Number: 2009935385

c© Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg 2010This work is subject to copyright. All rights are reserved, whether the whole or part of the material isconcerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting,reproduction on microfilm or in any other way, and storage in data banks. Duplication of this publication orparts thereof is permitted only under the provisions of the German Copyright Law of September 9, 1965,in its current version, and permission for use must always be obtained from Springer. Violations are liableto prosecution under the German Copyright Law.The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, etc. in this publication does not imply,even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective lawsand regulations and therefore free for general use.

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Springer Heidelberg Dordrecht London New York

IX

Preface to the Second Edition

A second editon of this book - yes or no - or not yet?Are changes necessary or would it be enough if minorerrors in the text were corrected?

So I asked for help and I got answers from friendsand colleagues. I wish to thank W.Ch. Dullo (Kiel), A.Freiwald (Erlangen), H.-G. Herbig (Cologne), W. Piller(Graz), W. Schlager (Amsterdam), R. J. Stanton (ThousandOaks, USA) for their excellent and friendly advice.

They were in agreement that not enough has changedin the scientific field of ‘Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks’since 2004 when the first edition was published for anew edition to be necessary, but they all believed thatan update of the references on the CD going with thevolume would be useful.

Therefore, the reference section has been updatedto April 2009. Most of the new references are since2002, but a few are earlier. The reference file nowcontains more than 16,000 references. In connectionwith the keywords used throughout the book thesereferences can help the reader locate special subjectsor overviews of interest.

When Erik wrote this book during his last years,his primary goal was to provide students and all thoseinterested in and working with microfacies a helpfulund useful resource that contained many plates andfigures.

Most of the pictures in this book were collectedduring Erik Flügel’s scientific work, some are frompapers that were published in the journal Facies, thenpublished by the Institute of Paleontology (now Geo-zentrum Nordbayern), University Erlangen-Nürnberg, andlast not least, some were graciously provided by col-leagues.

The author had hoped to include an additionalchapter with plates that would provide the reader withan expanded range of information about microfacies.This task has been accomplished by A. Munnecke(Erlangen). Chapter 20 contains plates and figures thathave been used successfully in the Course on Micro-facies held every year or two at the University inErlangen.

I wish to thank all of my colleagues at the institutein Erlangen, and especially A. Munnecke for thecompilation of Chapter 20.

Ch. Schulbert was most helpful in solving softwareproblems with the text and CD.

I thank Ch. Bendall (Springer Verlag Heidelberg)for overseeing the printing of this new edition.

Erlangen, June 2009Erentraud Flügel-Kahler

V

Preface

The objective of this book is to provide a synthesis ofthe methods used in microfacies studies of carbonaterocks and to show how the application of microfaciesstudies has contributed to new developments in car-bonate geology. In contrast with other textbooks on car-bonate sedimentology this book focuses on those com-positional and textural constituents of carbonates thatreflect the depositional and diagenetic history and de-termine the practical usefulness of carbonate rocks.

The chapters are written in such a way, that eachone can be used as text in upper level undergraduateand graduate courses. The topics of the book also ap-ply to research workers and exploration geologists,looking for current information on developments in theuse of microfacies analysis.

Since microfacies studies are based on thin sections,instructive plates showing thin-section photographs ac-companied by thorough and detailed explanations forma central part of this book. All plates in the book con-tain a short summary of the topic. An –> sign leads thereader to the figures on the plate. The description ofthe microphotographs are printed in a smaller type. Carehas been taken to add arrows and/or letters (usually theinitials of the subject) so that the maximum informa-tion can be extracted from the figures.

Rather than being a revised version of ‘MicrofaciesAnalysis of Limestones’ (Flügel 1982) ‘Microfacies ofCarbonate Rocks’ is a new book, based on a new con-cept and offering practical advice on the descriptionand interpretation of microfacies data as well as theapplication of these data to basin analysis. Microfaciesanalysis has the advantages over traditional sedimen-tological approaches of being interdisciplinary, and in-tegrating sedimentological, paleontological and geo-chemical aspects.

‘Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks’:• analyses both the depositional and the diagenetic his-

tory of carbonate rocks,• describes carbonate sedimentation in various ma-

rine and non-marine environments, and considersboth tropical warm-water carbonates and non-tropi-cal cool-water carbonates,

• presents diagnostic features and highlights the sig-nificance of microfacies criteria,

• stresses the biological controls of carbonate sedi-mentation and provides an overview on the mostcommon fossils found in thin sections of limestones,

• discusses the relationships between diagenetic pro-cesses, porosity and dolomitization,

• demonstrates the importance of microfacies for es-tablishing and evaluating sequence stratigraphicframeworks and depositional models,

• underlines the potential of microfacies in differenti-ating paleoclimate changes and tracing platform-ba-sin relationships, and

• demonstrates the value of microfacies analysis inevaluating reservoir rocks and limestone resources,as well as its usefulness in archaeological prov-enance studies.

Structure of the Book

Microfacies of Carbonate Rocks starts with and in-troductory chaper (Chap.1) and an overview of mod-ern carbonate deposition (Chap. 2) followed by 17 chap-ters that have been grouped into 3 major parts.Microfacies Analysis (Chap. 3 to Chap. 10) summa-rizes the methods used in microfacies studies followedby discussions on descriptive modes and the implica-tions of qualitative and quantitative thin-section crite-ria.

Microfacies Interpretation (Chap. 11 to Chap. 16)demonstrates the significance of microfacies studiesin evaluating paleoenvironment and depositional sys-tems and, finally,

Practical Use of Microfacies (Chap. 17 to Chap. 19)demonstrates the importance of applied microfaciesstudies in geological exploration for hydrocarbons andores, provides examples of the relationships betweencarbonate rock resources and their facies and physicalproperties, and also illustrates the value of microfaciesstudies to archaeologists.

Important references are listed at the end of chap-ters or sections under the heading ‘Basics’. The code

VII I

numbers K... are keywords leading to references onspecific fields of interest (see CD), e.g. K021 (cold-water carbonates), K078 (micrite), or K200 (hydrocar-bon reservoir rocks).

The book is also accompanied by a CD containing• an alphabetical list of about 16,000 references(updated in this version up to April 2009) on carbonaterocks (see also Appendix) as word document,and• visual comparison charts for percentage estimation.

Synopsis of the Book‘s Contents

Chapter 1: New Perspectives in Microfacies. Micro-facies studies, which were originally restricted to thescale of thin sections, provide an invaluable source ofinformation on the depositional constraints and envi-ronmental controls of carbonates, as well as on the prop-erties of carbonate rocks. Microfacies studies assist inunderstanding sequence stratigraphic patterns and areof economic importance both in reservoir studies andin the evaluation of limestone resources.

Chapter 2: Modern Depositional Environments. Knowl-edge of modern carbonates is a prerequisite for under-standing ancient carbonate rocks. Modern carbonatesare formed both on land and in the sea, in shallow- andin deep marine settings, and in tropical and non-tropi-cal regions, but the present is only part a key to thePast.

Microfacies AnalysisChapter 3: Methodology. Which methods can be usedin the field? Which sampling strategy should be ap-plied and how many samples are required? Which labo-ratory techniques are useful in microfacies analysis?Which other techniques should be combined withmicrofacies studies?

Chapter 4: Microfacies Data: Matrix and Grains. Thischapter offers practical advice on how to handle micro-facies data, and deals with how to describe and inter-pret thin-section characteristics. Matrix types and graincategories are discussed with regard to their diagnosticcriteria, origin and significance.

Chapter 5: Microfacies Data: Fabrics. Typical deposi-tional and diagenetic fabrics in limestones reflect thehistory of the rock. Microfacies criteria indicatingbreaks and changes in sedimentation (discontinuity sur-faces) are of specific interest in refining sequence strati-graphic boundaries. Variously sized fissures, micro-cracks and breccias can be used in deciphering syn-and post-depositional destructive processes.

Chapter 6: Quantitative Microfacies Analysis. Whilstprevious chapters focused on qualitative criteria thischapter deals with quantitative data including grain sizeanalysis, frequency analysis and multivariate studies.Constituent analysis and the distribution patterns of spe-cific grain types are valuable tools in the reconstruc-tion of paleoenvironmental controls and depositionalsettings.

Chapter 7: Diagenesis, Porosity and Dolomitization.Understanding diagenetic processes and their productsis of high economic importance. The diagenetic micro-facies of a rock reflects changes in the course of itslithification history. The main topics discussed in thischapter are porosity types, carbonate cements, diage-netic textures including compaction and pressure solu-tion, and dolomitization/dedolomitization and dolomitetextures. The last part of the chapter deals with thin-section criteria for metamorphic carbonates andmarbles.

Chapter 8: Classification – chosing a name for yoursample. A classification is simply a tool for organizinginformation, and should not be the only source of con-clusions. Whilst a name based on texture and compo-sition can not replace a well-defined microfacies type,rock names are essential for the categorization ofsamples. Textural classifications proposed by Dunhamand by Folk have proven to be the most practical. Spe-cific concepts must be adhered to in the naming of reeflimestones, non-marine carbonates, recrystallized car-bonates rocks and mixed siliciclastic-carbonate rocks.

Chapter 9: Limestones are Biological Sediments. Incontrast to siliciclastic rocks, both the formation andthe destruction of most limestones is directly or indi-rectly influenced and controlled by biological pro-cesses. This chapter stresses the biological controls oncarbonate sedimentation. Microbes, encrusting organ-isms, and macro- and microborers can yield useful in-formation on paleoenvironment, depositional con-straints and carbonate production.

Chapter 10: Fossils in Thin Sections. It Is Not ThatDifficult. The recognition of fossils in thin sections isnot so difficult once the diagnostic criteria for the maingroups have been understood, particularly for algae andforaminifera, sessile invertebrates, and organisms withshells. This chapter provides an overview of the mostcommon fossils found in thin sections of limestones.The text concentrates on identification criteria, envi-ronmental and temporal distribution, and on the sig-nificance of the fossils. Numerous instructive platesare included to aid in the recognition and differentia-tion skeletal grains in thin sections.

Preface

Microfacies InterpretationChapter 11: Summarizing Microfacies Criteria: Micro-facies Types. How can microfacies data be combinedin sensitive and practicable microfacies types? Whichcriteria should be used, which grain types are of par-ticular importance and, how many microfacies typesare reliable? The creation of microfacies types is illus-trated by means of examples.

Chapter 12: Recognizing Paleoenvironmental Condi-tions. Carbonate sediments are particularly sensitiveto environmental changes. Microfacies and organismsare excellent paleoenvironmental proxies as they re-flect hydrodynamic conditions, the impact of storms,substrate conditions, light, oxygenation, seawater tem-perature and salinity. Significant differences betweenthe compositions of skeletal grain associations forwarm-water and cold-water carbonates provide a use-ful tool for estimating paleoclimatic changes. How deepwas the sea? Microfacies studies provide an answer.

Chapter 13: Integrated Facies Analysis. Understand-ing the formation and diagenesis of carbonate rocksrequires the combination of microfacies with mineral-ogical and geochemical data. The chapter deals withacid-insoluble residues and authigenic minerals in car-bonate rocks, discusses the value of minor elementsand stable isotopes in tracing the depositional and di-agenetic history of limestones, and deals with the po-tential of organic matter in carbonate rocks for faciesanalysis.

Chapter 14: Depositional Models, Facies Zones andStandard Microfacies. Microfacies are essential for de-fining depositional models and recognizing facieszones. Facies models assist in understanding deposi-tional history. Changes in sedimentological and bio-logical criteria across shelf-slope-basin transects formthe basis of generalized models for carbonate platforms,ramps and shelves. Facies belts are reflected by theirbiotic zonation patterns and the distribution of Stan-dard Microfacies Types (SMF Types). The latter arevirtual categories that summarize microfacies with iden-tical criteria. Which criteria are used in differentiatingthe SMF Types of platform and ramp carbonates? Whatare the problems involved in the SMF concept? Re-vised and refined SMF types are a meaningful tool intracing facies belts, but must be used with care. Com-mon microfacies of carbonate ramps (Ramp Micro-facies Types) show only partial correspondence to theSMF Types of rimmed platforms.

Chapter 15: Basin Analysis: Recognizing DepositionalSettings. Which diagnostic criteria characterize lime-

stones of different carbonate systems? Case studies fornon-marine and marine carbonate rocks demonstratehow to translate microfacies into ancient depositionalsettings. Non-marine settings can be successfully re-constructed for pedogenic carbonates, paleokarst de-posits and ancient speleothems, travertine deposits, andlacustrine carbonates, these can be characterized by spe-cific microfacies types. Marine settings can be differ-entiated into peritidal carbonates, platforms and ramps,platform-slope-basin transects, and pelagic deep-ma-rine carbonates. Grain Composition Logs are particu-larly effective in tracing platform-basin relations.

Chapter 16: Recognizing Depositional Constraints andProcesses. Selected case studies are used to demon-strate the value of microfacies data in interpreting depo-sitional controls.• How can microfacies be used in sequence stratigra-phy? Cyclic depositional patterns and sequence strati-graphic constraints are documented by microfacies datathat assist in recognizing sequence boundaries, para-sequences, high-frequency sea-level changes, and sys-tems tracts.• Which criteria characterize reef limestones? Majorreef types differ in biota, matrix, sediment, and cements.Which methods should be employed in reconstructingformer platforms and reefs that are only recorded byeroded relicts deposited on slopes and in basins? Clastanalysis can solve this puzzle.• Which criteria define ancient cold-water carbonates?Ancient cool-water shelf and reef carbonates are typi-fied by specific biotic, compositional and diageneticfeatures.• Which facies criteria are diagnostic of ancient vent-and seep carbonates? Case studies provide answers.• How to handle mixed carbonate-siliciclastic sedi-ments and interpret limestone-marl successions?• Constraints on carbonate deposition exhibit secularvariations, which are discussed in the last section.

Practical Use of MicrofaciesChapter 17: Reservoir Rocks and Host Rocks. Carbon-ates are the most important reservoir rocks for hydro-carbons as well as forming important host rocks forores. Limestones and dolomites contain more than 50%of the world’s oil and gas reserves. Reservoir potentialdiffers for carbonates formed in different depositionalsettings and depends on the interplay of depositionalprocesses and diagenetic history. The microfacies ofcores and cuttings assist in the translation of lithologicaldata into petrophysical information. Facies-based out-crop-analogue studies indicate the scale of porosity and

Preface IX

permeability variations within carbonate bodies. Micro-facies analysis also assists in the genetic interpretationof carbonate-hosted base metal deposits controlled byspecific facies patterns.

Chapter 18: Carbonate Resources, Facies Control andRock Properties. Carbonate rocks are important rawmaterials for chemical and construction industries andare high on the list of extracted mineral resources, bothin terms of quantity and of value. Both exploration andexploitation can be enhanced by taking into accountthe relationships between depositional and diageneticfacies that control technologically relevant chemicaland physical parameters, as well as the weathering anddecay properties of carbonate rocks. Conservation andpreservation of works of art and building stones shouldstart with thin-section studies of the textural and di-agenetic criteria that describe the porosity and perme-ability of the material.

Chapter 19: Archaeometry. Microfacies analysis, com-bined with geochemical data has considerable poten-tial in provenance analysis of archaeological materi-als. Thin sections reveal the source of building stonesand of material used for mosaics and works of arts.The microfacies of temper grains in ancient potteryhelps in understanding the source and production ar-eas for ceramics. Last but not least, microfacies stud-ies can throw new light at the love affair betweenAntony and Cleopatra....

Acknowledgments

Thanks are due to many people who have providedphotographs, information and advice:

Gernot Arp (Göttingen), Martina Bachmann (Bre-men), Benoit Beauchamp (Calgary), Thilo Bechstädt(Heidelberg), Michaela Bernecker (Erlangen), JoachimBlau (Giessen), Florian Böhm (Kiel), Thomas Brachert(Mainz), Ioan Bucur (Cluj-Napoca), Werner Buggisch(Erlangen),Thomas Clausing (Halle), Wolf-ChristianDullo (Kiel), Paul Enos (Lawrence, Kansas), Gerd Flajs(Aachen), Christof Flügel (München), Helmut Flügel(Graz), Beate Fohrer (Erlangen), Holger Forke (Ber-lin), André Freiwald (Erlangen), Robert van Geldern

(Erlangen), Markus Geiger (Bremen), Gisela Gerdes(Oldenburg), Eberhard Gischler (Frankfurt), Dirk vonGosen (Erlangen), Jürgen Grötsch (Damascus). Hans-Georg Herbig (Köln), Richard Höfling (Erlangen),Bernhard Hubmann (Graz), Andi Imran (Makassar),Michael Joachimski (Erlangen), Josef Kazmierczak(Warszawa), Martin Keller (Erlangen), Stephan Kempe(Darmstadt), Helmut Keupp (Berlin), WolfgangKiessling (Berlin), Roman Koch (Erlangen), KarlKrainer (Innsbruck), Jochen Kuss (Bremen), MichaelLink (Erlangen), Heinz Lorenz (Erlangen), UlrichMichel (Nürnberg), Axel Munnecke (Erlangen), FritzNeuweiler (Göttingen), Alexander Nützel (Erlangen),Joachim Reitner (Göttingen), Jürgen Remane(Neuchâtel), Elias Samankassou (Genéve), DiethardSanders (Innsbruck), Chris Schulbert (Erlangen), BabaSenowbari-Daryan (Erlangen), Robert J. Stanton(Thousand Oaks, California), Torsten Steiger (BadBlankenburg), Thomas Steuber (Bochum), HaraldTragelehn (Köln), Jörg Trappe (Bonn), Dragica Turnsek(Ljubljana), Andreas Wetzel (Tübingen).

I am indebted to Birgit Leipner-Mata and MarieluiseNeufert (Institute of Paleontology Erlangen) for labo-ratory work and photography.

Chris Schulbert (Institute of Paleontology) was avaluable help with all computer problems.

I am sincerely grateful to my friend Johann GeorgHaditsch (Graz) for critical reading the text of the book.Special thanks go to Karen Christenson (Nürnberg-Kraftshof) who took care of linguistic problems andpitfalls.

Editing, layout, drawings and the preparation ofplates and figures have been carried out by my wifeErentraud Flügel-Kahler. I am most grateful for her en-couragement and constant help.

Finally, I am obliged to all institutions who gavepermission to use published material and to the staff ofSpringer Verlag, especially to Dr. Wolfgang Engel forhis constant encouragement and to Dr. J. Witschel forassistance with the book.

PrefaceX

XI

Contents

1 New Perspectives in Microfacies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.1 The Microfacies Concept . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11.2 New Perspectives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2 Carbonate Depositional Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.1 Introduction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.1.1 Carbonates are Born not Made . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.1.2 The ‘Sorby Principle’: Limestones are Predominantly Biogenic

Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.1.3 Modern Carbonates: Obligatory Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72.2 Carbonate Sediments Originate on Land and in the Sea . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82.3 Classification of Marine Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82.3.1 Boundary Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82.3.2 Vertical and Horizontal Zonations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.3.2.1 Vertical Zonations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92.3.2.2 Horizontal Zonations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102.4 Review of Modern Carbonate Depositional Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102.4.1 Non-Marine Carbonate Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102.4.1.1 Pedogenic Carbonates, Paleosols, and Caliche/Calcretes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102.4.1.2 Palustrine Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.4.1.3 Cave Carbonates, Speleothems and Karst . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132.4.1.5 Glacial Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142.4.1.6 Travertine, Calcareous Tufa and Calcareous Sinter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142.4.1.7 Lacustrine Carbonates: Lakes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182.4.1.8 Fluvial Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 212.4.2 Transitional Marginal-Marine Environments: Shorelines and

Peritidal Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242.4.2.1 Beach (Foreshore), Barriers and Coastal Lagoons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242.4.2.2 Peritidal Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242.4.3 Shallow-Marine Sedimentary Environments: ‘Shallow’ and ‘Deep’ . . . . . . 252.4.3.1 Pericontinental vs Epicontinental Shallow Seas . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.4.3.2 Carbonate Shelves, Ramps and Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 262.4.3.3 Shelf Margins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282.4.3.4 Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 292.4.4 Tropical and Non-Tropical Carbonates: Different in Composition,

Controls and Significance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 302.4.4.1 Latitudinal Zonation and Diagnostic Criteria of Tropical and Non-Tropical

Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312.4.4.2 Tropical and Subtropical Shallow-Marine Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342.4.4.3 Non-Tropical Shelf and Reef Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372.4.5 Deep-Marine Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462.4.5.1 Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 462.4.5.2 Sedimentation Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472.4.5.3 Pelagic Sedimentation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 472.4.5.4 Resedimentation (‘Allochthonous Carbonates’) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49

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2.4.5.5 Carbonate Plankton and Carbonate Oozes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492.4.5.6 Preservation Potential and Dissolution Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 492.4.5.7 Carbonate Slopes, Periplatform Carbonates and Caronate Aprons . . . . . . . 502.4.6 Seep and Vent Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

Microfacies Analysis3 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533.1 Field Work and Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533.1.1 Field Observations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533.1.1.1 Lithology, Texture and Rock Colors . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 533.1.1.2 Bedding and Stratification, Sedimentary Structures and

Diagenetic Features . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 553.1.1.3 Fossils and Biogenic Structures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 593.1.1.4 Field Logs and Compositional Logs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 603.1.2 Sampling. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 613.1.2.1 Search Sampling and Statistical Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623.1.2.2 How Many Samples? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 623.1.2.3 Practical Advice for Microfacies Sampling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 633.2 Laboratory Work: Techniques . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643.2.1 Slices, Peels and Thin Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 643.2.2 Casts, Etching and Staining . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 653.2.3 Microscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663.2.3.1 Petrographic Microscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663.2.3.2 Stereoscan Microscopy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 663.2.3.3 Fluorescence, Cathodoluminescence and Fluid Inclusion Microscopy . . . . 673.2.4 Mineralogy and Geochemistry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 703.2.5 Trace Elements and Stable Isotope Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70

4 Microfacies Data: Matrix and Grains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 734.1 Fine-Grained Carbonate Matrix: Micrite, Microspar, Calcisiltite . . . . . . . . 734.1.1 Micrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 744.1.2 Modes of Formation of Micrite and Other Fine-Grained Matrix Types . . . 804.1.3 Microspar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 944.1.4 Calcisiltite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 954.1.5 Practical Aids in Describing and Interpreting Fine-Grained Limestones . . 984.1.6 Significance of Fine-Grained Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 984.2 Carbonate Grains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1004.2.1 Bioclasts (Skeletal Grains) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1014.2.2 Peloids: Just a Term of Ignorance? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1104.2.3 Cortoids – Carbonate Grains Characterized by Micrite Envelope . . . . . . . . 1184.2.4 Oncoids and Rhodoids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1214.2.4.1 Oncoids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1244.2.4.2 Rhodoids and Macroids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1374.2.5 Ooids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1424.2.6 Pisoids and Vadoids – Simply ‘Larger Ooids’ or Carbonate Grains

on their Own? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1574.2.7 Aggregate Grains: Grapestones, Lumps and Other Composite Grains . . . . 1634.2.8 Resediments: Intra-, Extra- and Lithoclasts – Insiders and Foreigners . . . . 1664.2.8.1 Intraclasts: Origin and Facies-Diagnostic Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1674.2.8.2 Extraclasts: Strange Foreigners . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1724.3 Morphometry of Carbonate Grains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1734.3.1 Intentions and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1744.3.2 Significance of Morphometric Data for Carbonate Grains . . . . . . . . . . . . . 175

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5 Microfacies Data: Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1775.1 Depositional and Diagenetic Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1775.1.1 Geopetal Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1775.1.2 Biofabrics and Grain Orientation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1815.1.3 Bedding and Lamination Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1845.1.4 Burrowing and Bioturbation Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1855.1.5 Birdseyes, Fenestral Fabrics and Stromatactis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1905.1.5.1 Birdseyes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1925.1.5.2 Fenestral Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1925.1.5.3 Stromatactis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1935.1.5.4 Significance of Birdseyes, Fenestral Fabrics and Stromatactis . . . . . . . . . . 1975.1.6 Nodular Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1985.2 Discontinuity Surfaces: From Microfacies to Sequence Stratigraphy . . . . . 2035.2.1 Classification of Discontinuities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2035.2.2 Major Criteria of Discontinuities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2035.2.3 Microfacies Criteria and Significance of Exposure Surfaces . . . . . . . . . . . . 2055.2.4 Microfacies Criteria and Significance of Condensation Surfaces and

Hardgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2065.2.4.1 Hardgrounds . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2065.2.4.2 Condensation Surfaces and Condensed Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2115.2.5 Discontinuities and Sequence Stratigraphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2155.3 Syn- and Postdepositional Features: Fissures, Veins, Breccias . . . . . . . . . . 2165.3.1 Sediment-Filled Fissures: Neptunian Dikes and Fissure Fills . . . . . . . . . . . 2175.3.1.1 Origin, Development and Filling of Sedimentary Fissures . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2175.3.1.2 Microfacies Analysis of Neptunian Dikes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2215.3.1.3 Case Studies of Neptunian Dikes in Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2215.3.1.4 Significance of Sediment-Filled Fissures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2235.3.2 Microfractures and Veins (Calcite Veins) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2235.3.2.1 Origin and Classification of Calcite Veins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2245.3.2.2 Descriptive Criteria of Calcite-Filled Microfractures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2255.3.2.3 Significance of Microfractures in Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2255.3.3 Carbonate Breccias and Conglomerates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2285.3.3.1 Terminology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2285.3.3.2 How to Describe Carbonate Breccias? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2295.3.3.3 Carbonate Breccia Types: Origin, Classification, Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2335.3.3.4 Carbonate Conglomerates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2395.3.3.5 Significance of Carbonate Breccias and Conglomerates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242

6 Quantitative Microfacies Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2436.1 Grain-Size Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2436.1.1 Grain-Size Analysis: Methods and Aims . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2446.1.1.1 Measuring Grain Sizes and Describing Size Distributions . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2446.1.1.2 Approaches to the Environmental Interpretation of Grain-Size Data . . . . . 2466.1.1.3 Grain-Size Analysis in Thin Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2476.1.2 Grain-Size Studies of Modern and Ancient Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2486.1.2.1 Grain-Size Studies of Modern Carbonate Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2486.1.2.2 Application of Grain-Size Analyses to Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2516.1.2.3 Significance of Grain-Size Studies of Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2536.2 Frequency Analysis of Microfacies Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2546.2.1 Methods of Frequency Analyses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2546.2.1.1 Counting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2546.2.1.2 Estimating. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2576.2.1.3 Image Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 259

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6.2.1.4 Constituent Ranking, Diversity and Maturity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2606.2.1.5 Integrated Frequency Studies of Reef Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2606.2.2 Practical Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2616.3 Multivariate Microfacies Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2626.3.1 Methods: Variations between Constituents and between Samples . . . . . . . . 2626.3.2 Significance of Multivariate Studies: Constituent Analysis as a

Clue to Environmental Conditions and Depositional Settings . . . . . . . . . . . 263

7 Diagenesis, Porosity, and Dolomitization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2677.1 Carbonate Mineralogy and Diagenetic Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2677.1.1 Modern Carbonate Sediments and Ancient Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . 2677.1.2 Common Carbonate Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2707.1.3 Diagenetic Processes and Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2717.1.4 From Soft Sediments to Hard Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2727.1.5 Oscillating Trends in Phanerozoic Carbonate Mineralogy . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2727.1.5.1 Secular Variations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2727.1.5.2 How to Recognize Former Aragonite and Mg-Calcite Mineralogy in

Ancient Low-Calcite Limestones? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2727.2 Major Diagenetic Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2747.2.1 Meteoric, Marine and Burial Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2767.2.1.1 Meteoric (Freshwater) Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2767.2.1.2 Mixing Zone and Marine Vadose Environment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2767.2.1.3 Marine Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2777.2.1.4 Burial Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2777.2.2 Early and Late Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2787.3 Porosity of Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2787.3.1 Porosity Categories, Pore Geometry and Permeability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2787.3.1.1 Basic Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2787.3.1.2 Pore Geometry and Permeability . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2827.3.1.3 Porosity Measurements and Pore Types in Thin Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2827.3.2 Porosity Terminology and Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2837.3.3 Porosity in Limestones and Dolomites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2887.4 Pore-Filling Processes: Cementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2897.4.1 Controls on Carbonate Cementation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2927.4.2 Morphology and Fabrics of Cement Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2957.4.2.1 Cement Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2957.4.2.2 Cement Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2997.4.3 Cement Types and Diagenetic Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2997.4.4 Facies-Controlled Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3017.4.4.1 Carbonate Platforms and Ramps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3017.4.4.2 Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3027.4.4.3 Cold-Water vs. Warm-Water Diagenesis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3087.4.5 Diagenetic Pathways and Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3087.5 Diagenetic Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3107.5.1 Mechanical Processes: Compaction . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3117.5.2 Chemical Processes: Pressure Solution and Stylolitization . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3147.5.3 Significance of Compaction and Pressure Solution . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3217.6 Neomorphic Processes: Alteration and Recrystallization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3217.6 1 Recrystallized Carbonate Rocks: What to do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3217.6.2 How to DescribeRecrystallized Carbonate Rocks? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3247.7 Sparite: Recrystallization Product or Carbonate Cement? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3247.8 Dolomitization and Dedolomitization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3257.8.1 Descriptive Criteria and Terminology of Dolomite Fabrics . . . . . . . . . . . . . 328

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7.8.1.1 Thin-Section Description and Terminology of Dolomite Rocks . . . . . . . . . 3287.8.1.2 Dolomite Cement . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3297.8.1.3 Value of Dolomite Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3307.8.2 Some Dolomitization Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3307.8.2.1 Dolomites Associated with Evaporites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3307.8.2.2 Mixing-Water and Seawater Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3317.8.2.3 Subsurface Burial Dolomites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3327.8.3 Dedolomitization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3327.8.3.1 Textural Criteria for Recognizing Dedolomitization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3337.8.3.2 Origin of Dedolomite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3337.8.3.3 Significance of Dedolomitization . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3347.9 Metamorphic Carbonate and Marbles . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334

8 Classification – A Name for Your Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3398.1 Basic Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3398.2 Reef Limestones and Microbial Carbonates (Autochthonous Carbonates) . 3408.3 Classifications Based on Depositional Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3488.3.1 Prerequisites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3488.3.2 Original and Expanded Dunham Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3488.3.2.1 Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3498.3.2.2 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3508.3.2 Original and Expanded Folk Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3568.3.2.1 Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3568.3.2.2 Discussion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3618.4 Specific Classifications . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3618.4.1 Diagenetic Changes in Depositional Textures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3618.4.2 Some Nonmarine Carbonates Need very Specific Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3618.5 Classification of Mixed Siliciclastic-Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3618.6 A Name for Your Samples: Some Practical Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364

9 Limestones are Biological Sediments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3699.1 Microbial Carbonates and Stromatolites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3699.1.1 Bacterial Contribution to Carbonate Precipitation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3699.1.2 How to Recognize Microbial Carbonates? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3709.1.3 Describing and Classifying Benthic Microbial Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3709.1.3.1 Terminology and Descriptive Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3709.1.3.2 Classification of Benthic Microbial Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3719.1.4 Stromatolites are Laminated Microbialites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3749.1.5 Occurrence and Significance of Microbialites and Stromatolites . . . . . . . . 3779.1.5.1 Development through Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3779.1.5.2 Paleoenvironmental Significance of Microbial Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3799.1.5.3 Economic Importance of Stromatolites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3799.2 Biogenic Encrustations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3799.2.1 Criteria and Constraints of Encrusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3819.2.2 Phanerozoic Encrusters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3849.2.3 Significance of Encrustation Patterns in Recognizing

Depositional Settings and Environmental Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3849.3 Bioerosion, Boring and Grazing Organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3869.3.1 Recent and Fossil Microborers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3879.3.2 Recent and Fossil Macroborers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3889.3.3 Micro- and Macroboring through Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3929.3.3.1 Qualitative Changes in Micro- and Macroborer Groups . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3929.3.3.2 Quantitative Changes in the Intensity of Macroboring in Coral Reefs . . . . 394

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9.3.4 Microborer Associations are Proxies for Paleo-Water Depths . . . . . . . . . . . 3969.4 Practical Advice: How to Describe Microbialites and

Stromatolites, Biogenic Encrustations and Borings? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 396

10 Fossils in Thin Section: It is Not That Difficult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39910.1 Specifics of Thin-Section Fossils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39910.1.1 How to Determine Fossils in Thin Sections? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39910.1.2 Which Fossils in which Time Interval? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40010.1.3 Practical Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40110.2 Diagnostic Criteria of Fossils in Thin Sections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40210.2.1 Cyanobacteria and Calcareous Algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40410.2.1.1 Cyanobacteria and Calcimicrobes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40810.2.1.2 Corallinacean and Peyssoneliacean Red Algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41210.2.1.3 Solenoporacean Red Algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41810.2.1.4 Ancestral Red Algae and Problematic Red Algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42210.2.1.5 Udoteacean Green Algae and Gymnocodiacean Algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42210.2.1.6 Phylloid Algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42710.2.1.7 Dasyclad Green Algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43010.2.1.8 Charophyta: Fresh-Water and Brackish-Water Algae . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44710.2.1.9 ‘Calcispheres’ and Algal Cysts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45210.2.2 Foraminifera and other Protozoa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45310.2.2.1 Foraminifera . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45310.2.2.2 Radiolaria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48210.2.2.3 Calpionellids . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 48710.2.3 Benthic Sessile Organisms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49110.2.3.1 Sponges . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49110.2.3.2 Hydrozoans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50810.2.3.3 Corals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50910.2.3.4 Bryozoans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51410.2.4 Shells . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51810.2.4.1 Brachiopods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51910.2.4.2 Bivalves . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52210.2.4.3 Gastropods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 52910.2.4.4 Cephalopods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53310.2.4.5 Tentaculitids and Other Conical Shells (Cricoconarida; Hyolithida) . . . . . . 53710.2.4.6 Serpulids and Other Worm Tubes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54010.2.4.7 Crustacean Arthropods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54210.2.4.8 Trilobites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54710.2.4.9 Echinoderms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54810.2.5 Rare Thin-Section Fossils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55810.2.6 Microproblematica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55910.2.6.1 Inventory of Microproblematica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55910.2.6.2 Discussion of Selected Microproblematica . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56010.3 Biozonation of Platforms with Thin-Section Fossils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57010.4 Where to Look for Thin-Section Pictures of Fossils

and Microfacies Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 571

Microfacies Interpretation11 Summarizing Microfacies Criteria: Microfacies Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57511.1 MFT Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57511.2 How to Differentiate Meaningful Microfacies Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 57611.3 Making Microfacies Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 584

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12 Recognizing Paleoenvironmental Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58712.1 Reconstructing Environmental Constraints . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58712.1.1 Hydrodynamic Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58812.1.1.1 Hydrodynamic Energy Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58912.1.1.2 Classifying Low-Energy and High-Energy Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59112.1.1.3 Paleocurrent Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59312.1.2 Storms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59312.1. 2.1 Storm Deposits (Tempestites) on Shelves, Ramps and Platforms . . . . . . . . 59412.1.2.2 Impact of Tropical Storms on Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60012.1.2.3 Significance of Carbonate Storm Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60412.1.3 Marine Carbonate Substrates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60512.1.3.1 Carbonate Substrate Types and Organism-Sediment Interactions . . . . . . . . 60612.1.3.2 Recognizing Substrate Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60712.1.4 Light . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61012.1.4.1 Zonation and Light Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61112.1.4.2 Recognition of Photic and Aphotic Conditions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61112.1.5 Oxygen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61212.1.5.1 Terminology and Classification . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61312.1.5.2 Recognizing Paleo-Oxygenation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61312.1.5.3 Case Study: Black Shale Development on a Carbonate Platform . . . . . . . . 61412.1.6 Seawater Temperature . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61512.1.6.1 Seawater Temperature: Biotic Proxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61612.1.6.2 Geochemical Proxies of Seawater Temperatures . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61612.1.7 Salinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61712.1.7.1 Biotic and Microfacies Proxies of Paleosalinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61812.1.7.2 Geochemical Proxies of Paleosalinity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61912.1.7.3 Microfacies Proxies for Hypersaline and Evaporitic Conditions . . . . . . . . . 62212.1.8 Productivity and Nutrients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62312.1.8.1 Nutrients . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62312.1.8.2 Estimating Paleonutrient Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62412.1.8.3 Effects of Nutrient Excess on Reef and Platform Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . 62412.2 Estimating Paleoclimatic Conditions: Grain Association Analysis . . . . . . . 62512.2.1 Concepts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62512.2.2 Practical Advice, Examples and State of Current Information . . . . . . . . . . 62712.2.2.1 Distinguishing Grain Association Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62712.2.2.2 Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62812.2.2.3 State of the Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62812.3 Assessing Water Depths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63412.3.1 Hints to Paleowater Depths . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63512.3.2 Case Study: Assessing the Water Depth of a Carbonate Ramp . . . . . . . . . . 63712.4 Looking for Seismic Events . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 640

13 Integrated Facies Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64113.1 Non-Carbonate Constituents . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64113.1.1 Insoluble Residues (IR): Clay Minerals and Detrital Quartz . . . . . . . . . . . . 64113.1.2 Authigenic Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64313.1.2.1 Silicification of Carbonates, Authigenic Feldspar and Glauconite . . . . . . . 64313.1.2.2 Sulfides: Pyrite . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64613.1.2.3 Sulfates: Evaporite Minerals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64713.1.2.4 Phosphates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64813.2 Geochemical Proxies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65213.2.1 Trace Elements . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65213.2.2 Strontium and Manganese - Favorite Tools for Facies Studies . . . . . . . . . . 652

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13.2.3 Significance of Trace Elements in Facies Studies of Carbonate Rocks . . . . 65313.2.4 Stable Isotopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65413.3 Organic Matter in Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 656

14 Depositional Models, Facies Zones and Standard Microfacies . . . . . . . 65714.1 Depositional Facies Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65714.1.1 Conceptual, Dynamic and Computer Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65714.1.1.1 Conceptual Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65714.1.1.2 Dynamic Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65814.1.1.3 Numerical Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65814.1.2 Basic Elements of Carbonate Facies Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65914.1.2.1 Common Facies Belts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65914.1.2.2 Common Depositional Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 65914.1.2.3 Different Depositional Settings Require Different Facies Models . . . . . . . 66014.1.3 Facies Zones of Rimmed Carbonate Platforms: The Wilson Model . . . . . . 66014.1.3.1 Standard Facies Zones and the Modified Wilson Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66014.1.3.2 Discussion and Use of Standard Facies Zones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66114.1.4 Carbonate Ramp Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66414.1.5 Non-rimmed Shelves and Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66714.1.6 Isolated Platforms and Atolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66714.1.7 Epeiric Platform Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66914.1.8 Epeiric Ramp Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66914.2 Biotic Zonation Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67114.2.1 Concepts and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67114.2.2 Case Study: Foraminiferal Distribution in Late Triassic Reefs and Platforms 67614.3 Standard Microfacies Types (SMF) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68014.3.1 Revised Standard Microfacies Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 68114.3.2 Discussion of Standard Microfacies Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71214.3.3 Stratigraphic Microfacies Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71614.3.4 Common Microfacies Types of Carbonate Ramps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71614.3.4.1 Microfacies Criteria of Carbonate Ramps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71614.3.4.2 Microfacies Types of Carbonate Ramps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71814.3.5 Tracing Facies Zones with Microfacies Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71814.3.6 Determining Standard Microfacies Types: A Practical Guide . . . . . . . . . . . 72014.4 Dynamic Microfacies Types and Environmental Changes . . . . . . . . . . . . . 723

15 Basin Analysis: Recognizing Depositional Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72515.1 Pedogenic Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72515.1.1 Microfacies Criteria of Paleocaliche . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72615.1.2 Significance of Paleocaliche and Paleosols . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72815.2 Paleokarst and Ancient Speleothems . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73015.2.1 Diagnostic Criteria of Paleokarst and Paleospeleothem Structures . . . . . . . 73115.2.2 Significance of Paleokarst and Cave Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73415.3 Travertine, Calcareous Tufa and Calcareous Sinter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73415.4 Lacustrine and Palustrine Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73715.4.1 Microfacies of Lacustrine Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73815.4.1.1 Microfacies Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73815.4.1.2 Microfacies Types of Lacustrine Limestones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74015.4.1.3 Distribution of Lacustrine Microfacies Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74015.4.2 Palustrine Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74215.5 Peritidal Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74515.5.1 Criteria of Peritidal Limestones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74515.5.1.1 Definitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 745

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15.5.1.2 Major Facies Criteria of Peritidal Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74615.5.1.3 Synopsis of Diagnostic Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74915.5.2 Case Study: Middle Devonian Peritidal Carbonates from Poland . . . . . . . . 75215.6 Carbonate Platforms and Ramps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75315.6.1 Ecological Controls on Platforms and Ramps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75315.6.2 The Response of Carbonate Platforms to Drowning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75615.6.2.1 Microfacies Signals of Drowning History . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75615.6.2.2 Case Study: Platform Drowning Reflected by Microfacies . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75715.6.3 Case Studies: Platform and Ramp Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75915.6.3.1 A Late Jurassic Bahamian-Type Carbonate Platform from the

Northern Calcareous Alps . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76015.6.3.2 A Middle Devonian Ramp from Graz, Southern Austria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76815.6.3.3 A Late Jurassic/Early Cretaceous Ramp from the Subsurface

of Southern Bavaria, Germany . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76815.7 Platform-Slope-Basin Transects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76915.7.1 Types and Composition of Carbonate Slopes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76915.7.2 Allochthonous Slope and Basin Deposits: Diagnostic Criteria . . . . . . . . . . 77115.7.2.1 Submarine Rockfalls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77115.7.2.2 Breccias and Megabreccias . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77215.7.2.3 Debris-Flow Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77215.7.2.4 Grain-Flow Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77315.7.2.5 Turbidites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77315.7.2.6 Sliding and Slumping . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77915.7.3 Microfacies of Slope Carbonates: Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78015.7.3.1 Permian of Sicily: Megablocks and Base-of-Slope Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . 78015.7.3.2 Triassic of the Southern Alps: Allochthonous Slope Sediments . . . . . . . . . 78115.7.3.3 Jurassic of Morocco: Platform-Slope-Basin Transect . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78415.7.3.4 Jurassic of the Northern Calcareous Alps: Detailed Information from

Limestone Turbidites on Source and Deposition Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78615.7.4 Slope Stability Reflected by Texture and Microfacies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78615.7.5 Tracing Platform-Basin Transitions Using Grain Composition Logs . . . . . 78815.7.5.1 Concept and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78815.7.5.2 Case Study: Late Triassic of the Gosaukamm Region, Austria . . . . . . . . . . 78915.8 Pelagic Deep-Marine Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79315.8.1 Setting, Controls and Biota of Pelagic Limestones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79315.8.2 Examples and Case Studies of Pelagic Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79515.8.2.1 Microfacies of Paleozoic Basinal Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79515.8.2.2 Microfacies of Mesozoic Basinal Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79615.8.3 Contourites . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 801

16 Realizing Depositional Constraints and Processes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80316.1 Cyclic Carbonates, Microfacies and Sequence Stratigraphy . . . . . . . . . . . . 80316.1.1 Cyclic Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80316.1.1.1 Cyclic Carbonates: Some Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80416.1.1.2 Microfacies and Cyclic Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80516.1.1.3 Case Studies: The Lofer Cycle and the Latemar Cycle

(Triassic of the Alps) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80816.1.2 Carbonate Sequence Stratigraphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81516.1.2.1 Sequence Analysis: Some Basics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81616.1.2.2 Microfacies Data Applied to Sequence Stratigraphy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81816.1.2.3 Case Studies: Sea-Level Fluctuations and Systems Tracts Documented by

Microfacies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82216.2 Understanding Reef Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 830

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16.2.1 What is a Reef? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83016.2.2 Reef Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83016.2.3 Reef Fossils . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83116.2.3.1 Reef Biota: Compositional Changes during Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83116.2.3.2 Reef Guilds: Ecologic Units . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83116.2.4 How to Classify Reef Carbonates? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83316.2.5 Microfacies Approach to Reef Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83316.2.5.1 Basic Constituents of Reef and Mound Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83416.2.5.2 Describing Reef Carbonates: A Practical Guide . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83616.2.6 Case Studies of Some Ancient Reefs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83616.2.6.1 Mud Mounds: The Early Devonian ‘Kess Kess’ Mounds in the

Anti-Atlas, Southern Morocco . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83816.2.6.2 Waulsortian Mud Mounds: Early Carboniferous (Lower Mississippian)

Muleshoe Mound, Sacramento Mountains, New Mexico, U.S.A. . . . . . . . . 84216.2.6.3 Reefs: The Capitan Reef, Permian Reef Complex, Guadalupe Mountains,

Texas and New Mexico, U.S.A. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84316.3 Fingerprinting Lost Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84716.3.1 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84716.3.2 Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84816.3.2.1 Case Study: Platform Facies Patterns Derived from the Microfacies of

Early Carboniferous Conglomerates (Southern Spain) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 84816.3.2.2 Case Study: Reconstruction of Paleo-Escarpments from Microfacies Data 84916.4 Recognizing Ancient Cool-Water Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85216.4.1 Microfacies Criteria of Non-Tropical Cold-Water Shelf

and Reef Limestones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85216.4.2 Case Study: Early Tertiary Cool-Water Coral Reef . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85616.5 Testing for Ancient Vent and Seep Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85716.5.1 Diagnostic Criteria of Ancient Seep and Vent Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85716.5.2 Case Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85816.5.2.1 Late Eocene ‘Whiskey Creek’ Seep Carbonates of Washington State, U.S.A. 85916.5.2.2 Early Cretaceous Seep Carbonates in the Canadian Arctic . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86016.6 Mixed Carbonate-Siliciclastic Settings and Limestone/Marl Sequences . . . 86216.6.1 Carbonate-Siliciclastic Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86216.6.1.1 Modern Carbonate-Siliciclastic Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86216.6.1.2 Ancient Mixed Carbonate-Siliciclastic Environments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86416.6.1.3 Describing Carbonate-Siliciclastic Sediments: Practical Advice . . . . . . . . . 86416.6.2 Limestone-Marl Sequences: Primary or/and Diagenetic Origin? . . . . . . . . 86616.7 Secular Variations in Carbonate Depositional Patterns and Temporal Changes

in Microfacies Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86816.7.1 Changes of Major Carbonate Depositional Environments During Time . . . 86816.7.1.1 Phanerozoic Carbonate Platforms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86916.7.1.2 Phanerozoic Reef Patterns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87016.7.1.3 Pelagic Carbonates . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87216.7.2 Differences in Phanerozoic Benthic Carbonate Factories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87316.7.3 Temporal Changes in Non-Skeletal and Skeletal Mineralogy . . . . . . . . . . . 87416.7.4 Temporal Changes in the Abundance and Significance of Microfacies Criteria 874

Practical Use of Microfacies17 Reservoir Rocks and Host Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87717.1 Carbonate Hydrocarbon Reservoirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87717.1.1 Distribution of Carbonate Reservoirs during Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87817.1.2 Depositional Setting and Environmental Controls of Carbonate Reservoirs 87817.1.2.1 Depositional Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 878

Contents

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17.1.2.2 Environmental Controls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88117.1.3 Diagenetic Controls on Carbonate Reservoirs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88117.1.3.1 Reservoir Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88117.1.3.2 Diagenetic Controls on Reservoir Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88117.1.4 Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88417.1.4.1 Seismic Interpretation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88417.1.4.2 Log Response . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88417.1.4.3 Cores and Cuttings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88517.1.4.4 Reservoir-Related Outcrop Analog Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88517.1.5 Microfacies, Lithofacies and Reservoir Rock Types . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88817.1.5.1 Reservoir Heterogeneity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88817.1.5.2 Relevant Microfacies Data . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88815.1.5.3 Reservoir Rock Types and Facies Criteria . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89017.2 Carbonate-Hosted Mineral Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89217.2.1 Ore Deposits and Carbonate Settings . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89217.2.2 Microfacies and Ore Deposits . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 893

18 Carbonate Rock Resources, Facies, Weathering, Preservation . . . . . . . 89518.1 Industrial Use of Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89518.2 Exploration and Exploitation of Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89518.3 Facies and Physical-Chemical Properties of Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . 89618.4 Weathering, Decay and Preservation of Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89718.4.1 Weathering of Carbonate Rocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89718.4.2 Preservation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 899

19 Microfacies and Archaeology . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90319.1 Questions and Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90319.2 Building Stones . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90319.2.1 Building Stones: Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90319.2.2 Building Stones: Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90419.3 Mosaic Material . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90519.3.1 Mosaic Material: Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90519.3.2 Mosaic Material: Examples . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90619.4 Works of Art . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90719.4.1 Works of Art: Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90719.4.2 Works of Art: Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90719.5 Ceramics . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91019.5.1 Ceramics: Methods . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91019.5.2 Ceramics: Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91219.6 Marble Studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91319.7 Antony and Cleopatra: Tracing a Famous Love Affair . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 913

20 Adding Some Samples by Axel Munnecke . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 916

Appendix1 Answers to Exercises . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9252 Looking at the Attached CD . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9272.1 Comparison Charts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9272.2 Using the List of References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9273 Permissions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 927

Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 929

XXII

Plate going with the preface: Looking onto a vertically cut and polished slab of a Late Triassic reef limestonefrom Adnet, near Salzburg, Austria.

The spectacular colors and patterns in polished limestone surfaces provide information about the origin of limestone– both its mode of accumulation and the subsequent diagenetic processes that have strongly influenced its finalappearance. The limestone tells about the animals and plants which formed it and may still be preserved in it,about the depositional environment when the sediment forming the limestone was accumulating, and also aboutperiods of non-deposition and loss of sediment.

Many questions about a limestone can be answered in the field by studying it on the outcrop or on a cut oreven polished quarry wall. For example, are the bush-like corals in the lowermost part of the picture in growthposition or do the small rims of reddish infill indicate that the corals have been transported and overturnedbefore final deposition? Is the smooth horizontal upper surface of the coral knobs due to strong erosion? Manyof the thin-branched corals in the center of the picture seem to be broken and most are overturned; were theytransported or did they grow here or near-by? What do we know about the influence of storms or of an unstablesea floor that may be part of the answer to this question? What can we tell from this slab about percolating fluidsthat destroyed all or most internal structures of the corals? What is the significance of reddish clay that fillscavities, broken shells and, in the upper part of the picture, complete shells? Is the blackish-gray, irregular linethat crosses the picture an indication of a time of non-deposition? The light gray sediment at the top of thepicture indicates a completely different environment with rare corals and less common debris.

Many questions can be posed and answered from the study of the quarry wall as here illustrated by thepolished slab in the Geozentrum Nordbayern (Paleobiology), Erlangen, but many questions remain unansweredby analysis at this scale. This slab illustrates the bridge between outcrop and thin-section scale, contributesessential and unique data about the depositional environment, sedimentation, and the processes that transformedthe sediment into limestone.

Late Triassic (Norian) limestone form the Tropf-Steinbruch in Adnet near Hallein (Salzburg, Austria). Width of picture is 1 m.Photo courtesy of Ch. Schulbert

XXIIIPlate Introduction