the white stone band of the kimmeridge clay formation an integrated high resolution approach to understanding environmental change the kimmeridge clay is a jurassic mudrock succession that shows milankovitch band climatic cyclicity a key issue is to determine how the subtle changes that define this cyclicity result from climatic change using material from the natural environment research council rapid global geological events rgge kimmeridge drilling project boreholes the white stone band was investigated at the lamination scale using backscattered electron imagery and quantitative palynofacies fabric analysis shows the lamination to represent successive deposition of coccolith rich and organic matter rich layers individual laminae contain unsorted palynological debris with a consistent ratio of marine and terrestrial components such mixed organic matter input is interpreted as the result of storm transport linking water column processes to laminae deposition suggests seasonal input with a coccolith bloom followed by a more diverse assemblage including dinoflagellates and photosynthetic chlorobiacean bacteria as the photic zone extended into the euxinic water column organic matter export to the sea bed underwent minimal cycling through oxidation and subsequently became preserved through sulphurization with greatly increased sequestration of carbon this was significantly increased by late season storm driven mixing of euxinic water into the photic zone increased frequency of storm systems would therefore dilute the coccolith input to give an oil shale hence climatically induced changes in storm frequency would progressively vary the organic content of the sediment and generate the climate cycle signal

geochemical characteristics of deep sea sediments from the arabian sea a high resolution study abstract five deep sea cores from the arabian sea covering a time interval of 170 ky were sampled at high resolution and analysed for major and trace elements the stratigraphy of the cores was obtained by comparing the ba al ratio with the specmap data this method is based on the close correlation between ba concentrations or ba al ratios and oxygen isotope ratios 18o of foraminifera in arabian sea sediments ba al ratios used as a productivity proxy are variable but high in all deep sea cores of the arabian sea indicating a basin wide influence of nutrient rich water masses compared to glacial intervals the warmer periods are characterised by higher element al ratios of proxies which are directly ba ca sr p i e hard parts of organisms or indirectly u 230thex related to biological productivity 230thex provides evidence for intense boundary scavenging caused by high productivity due to enhanced upwelling and terrigenous input from the indus fan the mn distribution in a core from the western arabian sea shows enrichments during interglacial periods and may indicate mn export owing to the presence of a stronger oxygen minimum zone several processes limit the applicability of proxies intercalated turbidites in the deep sea cores can be identified by means of si al ti al and zr al ratios versus depth due to the enrichment of quartz ti minerals and zircon in the basal layer these elements are also important for the reconstruction of the history and extent of the eolian dust input diagenetic redistribution of redox sensitive elements occurs at the boundaries between turbidites and normal pelagic sedimentation and may mask or destroy primary signals

evidence for annual records of phytoplankton productivity in the kimmeridge clay formation coccolith stone bands upper jurassic dorset uk the upper jurassic kimmeridge clay formation is a c org rich sequence of mudrocks that was deposited in a dysoxic basin which served unusually to preserve primary coccolithophorid proportions strikingly contrasting within this dark coloured formation are the white coccolith stone bands which contain pristinely preserved coccolithophorid assemblages preserving potentially primary coccolithophorid abundances with minimal diagenetic alteration using methodology described herein scanning electron microscopy sem observation of mum scale laminae within selected stone bands has revealed five distinctive types of microlamina type 1 being barren clay type 2 comprising coccoliths associated with varying amounts of clay or amorphous organic matter type 3 being purely coccolithic type 4 being of putative microbial origin and type 5 containing frequent calcispheres these are all described and illustrated here illustrated sequences of these are discussed with reference to an hypothetical model sequence based on modem records representing a kimmeridgian year of coccolithophorid productivity annual signals are thus interpreted based on the observations presented here and including summaries of the palynomorph records from the stone bands we comment on watznaueriacean palaeoecology and particularly the interpretation of watznaueria fossacincta barnesiae as an opportunistic growth maximising taxon c 2004 elsevier b v all rights reserved

source rock characterization and oil generating potential of the jurassic madbi formation onshore east shabowah oilfields republic of yemen abstract the hydrocarbon source rock potential of shales from the jurassic madbi formation was evaluated using organic geochemistry rock eval pyrolysis toc and bitumen extraction and organic petrology very good source rock potential is suggested by high values of total organic carbon content toc 2 0 wt and high extractable organic matter content and hydrocarbon yields 11 000 and 6000 ppm respectively the madbi formation samples have high hydrogen index hi and low oxygen index oi values most of the samples in the study area are thermally mature and contain oil prone type i and type ii kerogen vitrinite reflectance ro values for the madbi shale samples were measured from 0 74 to 0 89 tmax values range from 430 to 438 c which are in reasonably good agreement with vitrinite reflectance data reveal that the madbi shales are at the early to peak mature stage on the basis of biomarker maturity parameters these shales are thermally mature shales of the madbi formation contain abundant hydrogen rich kerogen liptinite up to 55 and therefore good oil generating potential is anticipated this is supported by high hydrogen indices hi of up to 400 mg hc g toc and early to peak mature oil window range

pyritization processes and greigite formation in the advancing sulfidization front in the upper pleistocene sediments of the black sea pyritization in late pleistocene sediments of the black sea is driven by sulfide formed during anaerobic methane oxidation a sulfidization front is formed by the opposing gradients of sulfide and dissolved iron the sulfidization processes are controlled by the diffusion flux of sulfide from above and by the solid reactive iron content two processes of diffusion limited pyrite formation were identified the first process includes pyrite precipitation with the accumulation of iron sulfide precursors with the average chemical composition of fesn n 1 10 1 29 including greigite elemental sulfur and polysulfides formed from h2s by a reductive dissolution of fe iii containing minerals serve as intermediates to convert iron sulfides into pyrite in the second process a direct pyrite precipitation occurs through prolonged exposure of iron containing minerals to dissolved sulfide methane driven sulfate reduction at depth causes a progressive formation of pyrite with a 34s of up to 15 0 the s isotopic composition of fes2 evolves due to contributions of different sulfur pools formed at different times steady state model calculations for the advancement of the sulfidization front showed that the process started at the pleistocene holocene transition between 6360 and 11 600 yr bp our study highlights the importance of anaerobic methane oxidation in generating and maintaining s enriched layers in marine sediments and has paleoenvironmental implications

interpreting benthic oxygen levels in mudrocks a new approach quantified paleoecology and gamma ray spectrometry have been applied in the analysis of the kimmeridge clay a highly organic rich british jurassic mudrock decreasing benthic oxygen trends are reflected in decreasing species richness and dominance diversity values similarly the degree of fragmentation of the benthos reflects the benthic energy levels and covaries with benthic oxygen the calculation of authigenic uranium values from data gathered by gamma ray spectrometry shows enrichment in more oxygen deficient environments the good correlation between the independently derived paleoecological and authigenic u data indicates the importance of these techniques in environmental analysis of marine petroleum source rocks

non destructive provenance study of cuneiform tablets using portable x ray fluorescence pxrf abstract portable x ray fluorescence pxrf apparatus of the last generation was tested to determine its potential for routine provenance determination of clay cuneiform tablets which cannot be analyzed by classical intrusive methods a group of tablets from hattusa bogazkoy and from el amarna which were previously provenanced using optical mineralogy om and instrumental neutron activation analysis inaa was analyzed by pxrf and the results were used to establish the grouping according to their elemental concentrations these groups were compared with the previous results retrieved by om and inaa in order to confirm their validity the results corroborate the high potential of the pxrf for non destructive study of well defined closed assemblages of clay derived delicate artifacts such as cuneiform tablets bullae and fine ware pottery consequently a group of previously unexamined tablets from hattusa was analyzed by pxrf and the results are discussed with implications on future research

chemostratigraphy of the jurassic system applications limitations and implications for palaeoceanography current chemostratigraphical studies of the jurassic system primarily involve the use of one sedimentary component marine organic carbon one divalent transition metal substituted in carbonate manganese and two isotopic tracers strontium isotope ratios 87 sr 86 sr and carbon isotope ratios 13 c carb and 13 c org in carbonate and in organic matter other parameters such as mg ca and sr ca ratios in calcite oxygen isotope ratios 18 o in carbonate sulphur isotope ratios 34 s in carbonate hosted sulphate nitrogen isotope ratios 15 n org in organic matter osmium isotope ratios 187 os 188 os in black shales and neodymium isotope ratios 143 nd 144 nd in various mineral phases are also useful but at present give poor resolution because the database is incomplete or compromised by various factors stratigraphical patterns in total organic carbon toc can be of either local or regional significance depending on the lateral extent of the former nutrient rich and productive water mass divalent manganese follows a similar pattern being concentrated most probably as a very early diagenetic phase only in oxygen depleted waters that typically underlie zones of elevated organic productivity shifts in mg ca and sr ca ratios on the time scale of ammonite subzones seem largely to reflect temperature changes strontium isotope ratios from pristine skeletal calcite provide a global signal 13 c values from carbonates with minimal diagenetic overprint potentially do the same although small spatial differences in palaeo water mass composition may have been locally significant oxygen isotope determinations on carbonate rocks and fossils generally yield values that are too scattered to be stratigraphically useful because they reflect palaeotemperature the evaporation precipitation balance in sea water and the impact of any diagenesis involving an aqueous phase nitrogen isotope ratios in organic matter reflect the chemistry of ancient water masses as affected by nitrate utilization and denitrification and the stratigraphical pattern of this parameter is more likely to correlate only on a regional basis neodymium isotope ratios in sea water are also water mass dependent and greatly affected by regional sources and oceanic current systems preliminary data on sulphur isotope ratios in carbonates and osmium isotope ratios in organic rich shales both potentially offering global correlation indicate that these tracers may be valuable although the records at present are not sufficiently well established to allow high resolution regional correlation in all cases biostratigraphically well dated reference sections against which the relevant geochemical data have been calibrated are required in the first instance to date studies on the stratigraphical distribution of organic carbon have been principally carried out in both northern boreal and southern tethyan europe carbon isotope stratigraphy has been undertaken primarily but not exclusively on bulk pelagic sediments from the alpine mediterranean or tethyan domain and strontium isotope stratigraphy has been undertaken largely on calcitic skeletal material belemnites and oysters from northern and southern europe in many sections including those containing ammonites multi parameter chemostratigraphy can give resolution that exceeds that attainable by classic biostratigraphical means strontium isotope ratios in skeletal calcite are a particularly powerful tool for illustrating changes in sedimentary rate and revealing gaps in the stratigraphical record

local to global controls on the deposition of organic rich muds across the late jurassic laurasian seaway muds deposited in large scale epicontinental seaways provide deep insights into palaeoclimates biogeochemical cycles sedimentation processes and organic carbon burial during exceptionally warm periods throughout the phanerozoic temporal changes can be monitored at single locations but the key larger scale oceanographical and related biogeochemical processes are likely to be more clearly revealed by comparisons between individual sub basins within seaways here we compare inorganic geochemical records from the jurassic upper pectinatites wheatleyensis to lower pectinatites pectinatus ammonite zones of the swanworth quarry 1 core from the wessex basin dorset uk to time equivalent records from the ebberston 87 core in the cleveland basin yorkshire uk 400 km apart our synthesis shows that while the dorset sediments were deposited in an energetically more dynamic setting than the yorkshire sediments the overarching climatic and oceanographical processes responsible for variations in organic carbon enrichment and sedimentation were similar intervals of coeval organic carbon rich sedimentation occurred in both basins and a particulate shuttle was intermittently active in both basins consistent with recent climate simulations we conclude that tropical climate conditions associated with enhanced nutrient supply were key drivers of sedimentation between the jurassic wessex and cleveland basins

orbital forcing of palynofacies in the jurassic of france and the united kingdom palynofacies analysis of marine jurassic sedimentary successions in france and the united kingdom demonstrates the pervasiveness of regular cycles in qualitative and quantitative aspects of the microscopic particulate organic content of the rocks especially that part which is ignored during routine palynology the cycles are attributed to precession obliquity and eccentricity forcing most of the palynofacies cycles are independent of lithology whether it be cyclic irregular or uniform terrestrially derived organic particles record the effects of orbital cyclicity on land which may be controlled by orbital cycles different from those controlling marine sediment deposition the majority of studies on orbital cyclicity in the sedimentary record concentrate on cyclicity in lithology this study demonstrates that sections lacking regular lithological cycles may still record evidence of orbital forcing of both the depositional environment and sediment source and transport

annual layering in the upper jurassic kimmeridge clay formation uk quantified using an ultra high resolution sem edx investigation abstract this paper reports the results of an ultra high resolution investigation of the geochemistry of the late jurassic kimmeridge clay formation kcf using scanning electron microscope energy dispersive x ray analysis sem edx sub millimetre banding is revealed in which each band approximately 112 m thick comprises a couplet of coccolith rich and coccolith poor sediment major element analysis reveals that regularly spaced peaks in the relative amount of calcium are associated with coccolith rich bands it is argued that each couplet represents an annual layer the calcium peaks corresponding to an annual bloom of coccolithophorids there is also a broad correlation between the calcium aluminium ratio and the ratios of sodium aluminium phosphorus aluminium and potassium aluminium to calcium aluminium ratios we tentatively suggest that there may be a link here sodium phosphorous and potassium today being key nutrients for coccolith productivity aluminium is taken as representing the background terrigenous clay fraction if each banded couplet is indeed annual and if the thickness of such bands were to be representative of the kcf as a whole then the post compactional thickness is broadly in agreement with sedimentation rates of 100 m per year calculated by oschmann 1990 this study confirms the view that the kcf in southern england accumulated in a predominantly anoxic environment that favoured the preservation of organic material within the bottom sediment bundles of bands clustering in groups of about 8 10 are tentatively related to short term changes in insolation possibly sun spot cycles

contrasting watermass conditions during deposition of the whitby mudstone lower jurassic and kimmeridge clay upper jurassic formations uk abstract the whitby mudstone formation wmf and kimmeridge clay formation kcf are both jurassic organic rich black shale units containing well preserved marine organic matter despite such gross similarities they exhibit opposite trends in 13 c toc versus wt decarbonated total organic carbon toc r 0 76 for wmf and 0 71 for kcf the 13 c toc versus toc trend also varies geographically within both units only the kcf data exhibit a positive correlation between 13 c toc and 15 n org r 0 76 and the presence of aryl isoprenoids probable indicators of photic zone anoxia maturity differences are insufficient to explain such contrasts bulk and compound specific isotopic variations in the kcf are interpreted largely as a reflection of primary productivity during deposition rather than a dominantly diagenetic signal due to incorporation of sulphurised carbohydrate the contrasts between the formations and the geographic variation in coeval shelf sediments are explained by a model stressing the relative positions and stabilities of the chemocline pycnocline nutricline and euphotic zone and the effect these have on productivity co 2 recycling and bacterial floras

the trace metal content of recent organic carbon rich sediments implications for cretaceous black shale formation organic carbon rich sediments are enriched in several redox sensitive and stable sulfide forming trace metals tm and form an important sink in global tm cycles in today s ocean such sediments are deposited in coastal upwelling areas like those in the gulf of california off peru or off the namibian coast and euxinic basins like the black sea in an attempt to distinguish both environments by their specific tm patterns some important conclusions may be drawn 1 the tm enrichment seen in both environments broadly is rather similar 2 upwelling sediments are often enriched in cd and p and depleted in co and mn 3 sapropels have a tendency towards higher enrichments in ba and mo s re as cu ni sb and fe reflecting the strong sulfidation in an anoxic water column 4 upwelling systems cover a broad range of environmental settings where the steepness of the slope the proximity of h2s to the sediment seawater interface and the intensity of bio accumulation and regeneration play an important role for tm accumulation 5 the tm content of anoxic basins is mainly controlled by tm availability in the water column and sedimentation rate 6 enhanced bio productivity is the main switch turning an oxygenated into an anoxic environment cretaceous black shales oae 2 exhibit tm signatures of both coastal upwelling areas and sapropels the strong enrichments in cd mo tl v cu ni bi and sb demonstrate that bio accumulation and presence of h2s in the water column and associated sulfidation processes persisted during this time interval in large parts of the proto atlantic the usefulness of ba as a paleoproductivity proxy is obscured by diagenesis the extreme accumulation in ag and zn requires either an additional tm source for instance hydrothermal input or a different tm seawater composition during the cretaceous the geochemical data suggest that the major driving force for the widespread occurrence of c t black shales seems to be the increase in volcanic activity and associated co2 input throughout the cretaceous the ocean atmosphere system operated in a mode different from today during this time interval after conversion of the nutrient co2 into organic matter the system switched back into the normal operational mode

environmental analysis of paleoceanographic systems based on molybdenum uranium covariation abstract modern low oxygen marine systems exhibit patterns of molybdenum uranium covariation that can be linked to specific attributes and processes of the depositional system including 1 variation in benthic redox conditions 2 the operation of particulate shuttles within the water column and 3 the evolution of watermass chemistry the importance of these factors in each depositional system can be assessed both from the degree of enrichment of authigenic molybdenum mo auth and uranium u auth and from the mo u auth ratio of the sediment relative to the seawater mo u molar ratio of 7 5 7 9 in open ocean systems with suboxic bottomwaters u auth enrichment tends to exceed that of mo auth owing to onset of u auth accumulation at the fe ii fe iii redox boundary resulting in sediment mo u auth ratios less than that of seawater as bottomwaters become increasingly reducing and at least occasionally sulfidic the rate of accumulation of mo auth increases relative to that of u auth and sediment mo u auth ratios equal or exceed that of seawater in restricted marine systems with permanently sulfidic deepwaters the relative enrichment of mo auth and u auth depends on additional factors in the cariaco basin which has an aqueous mo u ratio similar to that of seawater the operation of a particulate mn fe oxyhydroxide shuttle serves to accelerate the transfer of mo to the seafloor leading to strong enrichments in mo auth relative to u auth in the black sea the chemistry of the deep watermass has evolved to the point where its aqueous mo u ratio is only 0 04 that of seawater as a consequence of which sediments deposited under deepwater influence are depleted in mo auth relative to u auth these mo u covariation patterns can be used to gain a better understanding of the watermass attributes and processes of ancient low oxygen marine systems analysis of anoxic facies from two north american paleomarine systems the late pennsylvanian midcontinent sea lpms and the late devonian seaway lds reveals authigenic mo u relationships similar to those of the modern marine environments above implying similar redox and hydrographic controls the observed patterns are consistent with laterally unconfined circulation and strong watermass exchange within the lpms and with markedly restricted deepwater circulation in silled basins of the lds patterns of authigenic mo u covariation may prove useful in analysis of other paleoceanographic systems to reveal aspects of watermass composition and environmental dynamics

geochemistry of recent toc rich sediments from the gulf of california and the black sea major and minor elements incl ag as ba cd co cr cu mn mo ni pb sr v zn have been determined in recent sediments from the gulf of california upwelling area and black sea sapropels in order to reinterpret their chemical composition in view of reliable seawater and plankton data the chemistry of the gulf of california sediments reflects regeneration processes which occur in the water column i e only a small fraction 10 of elements like cd which in seawater are coupled to the labile nutrients c n p is buried in the sedimentary column in contrast elements like the more resistant nutrients si undergo a deeper regeneration cycle ba several trace metals which are present in comparatively higher concentrations in seawater as mo u v and at the same time are reactive under reducing conditions and or are able to form stable sulfides are fixed in the sediments during early diagenesis the early diagenetic behavior of ba is closely related to bacterial sulfate reduction the formation of barite concretions is discussed anoxic conditions in the water column act as ideal traps for a number of redox sensitive and or stable sulfide forming elements a simple trace metal balance calculation shows that the chemical composition of black sea sapropels is controlled by fluvial and mediterranean seawater element input and the accumulation rate of terrigenous detrital material

accumulation of organic matter in the kimmeridge clay formation kcf an update fossilisation model for marine petroleum source rocks abstract a model for marine source rocks based on previous microtextural and molecular characterisation of the immature organic matter from the kcf uk is developed illustrating the relationship between the type of primary producers the nature of organic matter metabolisable or bioresistant delivered to the sedimentary environment and the mechanisms of organic matter fossilisation the fossilisation occurs because one of the following factors prevails a the inherited bioresistant character of the initial organic matter in the case of i a selective preservation sensustricto when both the biological structure and the molecular composition are well preserved and ii a re organisation of resistant bio macromolecules selectively preserved when only the molecular composition is conserved b the acquisition of bioresistance as in the case of iii natural vulcanisation which produces a homogeneous and nanoscopically amorphous organic matter the latter is hydrogen rich and its genesis depends on the rate of delivery of metabolisable organic matter to the oxic anoxic boundary this is determined by primary productivity controlled sinking rates and as a consequence by the occurrence in bottom waters of conditions promoting a prolific growth of sulphate reducers along with a somewhat limited supply of iron so that h 2 s is not entirely trapped as pyrite c the accumulation of hydrogen rich organic matter in such source rocks is not only due to the phytoplanktonic and micro algal origin of natural bio macromolecules but also to sulphate reduction which protects a part of the oil potential of deposited organic matter

mudstone lithofacies in the kimmeridge clay formation wessex basin southern england implications for the origin and controls of the distribution of mudstones abstract lithofacies analysis has been undertaken on a suite of apparently monotonous organic rich mudstones from the upper jurassic kimmeridge clay formation kcf in the wessex basin southern england using a combination of hand specimen description whole rock geochemistry optical petrography and electron optical petrography five lithofacies have been identified these are clay rich mudstones silt rich mudstones nannoplankton rich mudstones laminated mudstones and concretionary carbonates these facies can be distinguished from one another on the basis of physical sedimentary structures and the relative proportions of allochthonous autochthonous and diagenetic components in each all five of the kcf lithofacies studied were deposited in a marine shelf environment below fair weather wave base but in relatively shallow water close to storm wave base deposition occurred in regions where sand and other coarse clastic allochthonous debris were not being supplied and the bottom waters varied from oxic to anoxic the main factors influencing the development of the five facies were distance from source area primary productivity bottom water anoxia absolute bathymetry clastic dilution and local sediment accumulation rates specifically the clay rich mudstones were deposited in regions farthest down the sediment transport paths commonly in areas by passed by the main sediment supply and beneath surface waters of relatively low primary productivity in contrast the silt rich mudstones were deposited in more proximal areas closer to the source of the sediment in regions where surface productivity and sediment accumulation rates were much higher the nannoplankton rich mudstones accumulated beneath regions where productivity in the surface water layers was fairly high dominated by coccolithophoroid production and the supply of clastic sediment was insufficient to significantly dilute the autochthonous fraction of the sediment unlike the other facies laminated mudstones were deposited in areas where the bottom waters were anoxic surface productivity was enhanced and local sediment accumulation rates were high the concretionary carbonates were precipitated by diagenetic processes in areas where sediment accumulation rates were very low these facies descriptions have enabled a detailed sedimentological study of the kimmeridge clay formation to relate depositional and diagenetic processes directly to the facies present thereby allowing classical facies analyses to be undertaken on apparently homogeneous mudstone successions

a new particulate mn fe p shuttle at the redoxcline of anoxic basins abstract pelagic redoxclines of anoxic basins and deeps form the suboxic transition between oxygenated surface and anoxic or even sulfidic bottom waters intense element cycling favoured by elevated microbial activity causes steep gradients of physico chemical parameters nutrients and redox sensitive trace metals this study presents a conceptual model for authigenic particle formation at pelagic redoxclines which is based on the tight coupling of mn fe and p cycles besides the well known occurrence of mn oxides textural sem edx and geochemical icp oes icp ms analyses of particles from the redoxclines of the black sea and the baltic sea gotland basin landsort deep evidence the existence of earlier postulated fe oxyhydroxo phosphates and emphasize mixed phases consisting of mn oxides and fe oxyhydroxo phosphates as a new solid species most of the analyzed particles are star shaped of about 5 m in size and occur as single particles or aggregates without any morphological differences between mn oxides fe oxyhydroxo phosphates and mixed phases throughout the redoxcline these minerals show a general succession with maximum abundance of mn oxides above the redoxcline followed by mixed phases and almost pure fe phosphates within and below the redoxcline respectively molar fe p ratios of single particles argue against the formation of known pure fe phosphates like vivianite or strengite at the lower end of the redox transition zone but are consistent with recent experimental findings for colloidal p bearing hydrous ferric oxides moreover morphological similarities suggest the formation of irregular fe oxyhydroxo coatings due to oxidation of upward diffusing fe 2 by oxygen and stepwise replacement of mn iv by fe iii on sinking mno x particles followed by immediate adsorption or even co precipitation of phosphate batch type experiments using biogenic mno x particles demonstrate the efficient potential of fe 2 oxidation by sinking mno x particles when entering sulfidic waters mno x particles are progressively reduced leading to an increasing relative abundance of fe and p rich particles in deeper parts of the water column these particles are also reductively dissolved thereby releasing fe 2 and phosphate to the water column this mn fe p shuttle likely affects phosphate transport throughout the water column and thus impacts primary production at least over longer time scales furthermore the particulate mn fe p shuttle must have played an important role for the cycling of p and certain trace metals in ancient ocean basins e g during certain periods of cretaceous black shale formation and should be considered in future mass balances and modeling approaches dealing with oxic anoxic interfaces of aquatic ecosystems

predicted and measured petrophysical and geochemical characteristics of the egret member oil source rock jeanne d arc basin offshore eastern canada abstract the log r wireline log technique has been used to predict high vertical resolution geochemical profiles for 17 well penetrations of the upper jurassic egret member source rock of the jeanne d arc basin offshore newfoundland the predictions are compared with rock eval data obtained from the same interval high resolution comparison of the computed total organic carbon toc curves with gamma ray logs implies that the source rock layers in the egret member are mainly shale claystone and the non source rock layers are limestone marl to the south and siltstone sandstone to the north these comparisons also indicate that in the mature area some coarse grained non source rock layers are filled with hydrocarbons implying primary migration of oil gas using the average computed toc value the thickness of the egret member and the average formation density the mass of organic carbon was calculated at 19 well locations and regional variations examined areas with a great mass of organic carbon were identified the present mass of organic carbon is primarily related to the amount of organic matter being deposited and preserved but the expulsion of oil gas may also exert a control using 1 wt as the lower limit for a source rock it was observed that the percentage of non source rock in the egret member is generally higher in immature wells lom 7 than in mature wells probably as a result of hydrocarbon migration expulsion after maturation

analysis of marine environmental conditions based onmolybdenum uranium covariation applications to mesozoic paleoceanography article i nfo article history accepted 13 september 2011 available online 17 september 2011 patterns of uranium molybdenum covariation in marine sediments have the potential to provide insights re garding depositional conditions and processes in paleoceanographic systems specifically such patterns can be used to assess bottom water redox conditions the operation of metal oxyhydroxide particulate shuttles in the water column and the degree of water mass restriction the utility of this paleoenvironmental proxy is due to the differential geochemical behavior of u and mo 1 uptake of authigenic u by marine sediments begins at the fe ii fe iii redox boundary i e suboxic conditions whereas authigenic mo enrichment re quires the presence of h2s i e euxinic conditions and 2 transfer of aqueous mo to the sediment may be enhanced through particulate shuttles whereas aqueous u is unaffected by this process in the present study we examine u mo covariation in organic rich sediments deposited mostly in the western tethyan region during oceanic anoxic events oaes of early jurassic to late cretaceous age our analysis generally confirms existing interpretations of redox conditions in these formations but provides significant new insights regard ing water mass restriction and the operation of particulate shuttles in depositional systems these insights will help to address contentious issues pertaining to the character and origin of mesozoic oaes such as the degree to which regional paleoceanographic factors controlled the development of the oaes

structural characteristics of granitic plutons emplaced during weak regional deformation examples from late carboniferous plutons morocco abstract strain patterns have been investigated around shallow crustal granitic plutons emplaced during weak regional deformation in the western moroccan hercynian belt the plutons are distributed along reactivated deep faults and display elliptical shapes which are consistently oriented with respect to the regional strain field pluton age orientation and ellipticity can be correlated with strain history ductile deformation and contact metamorphism are mainly located in the thermally softened aureoles finite strain gradients towards plutons are accompanied by the development of superimposed microstructures finite strain trajectories and variations of strain ellipsoid shapes exhibit perturbations of the regional strain field around plutons structures internal to the plutons are continuous with regional structures foliation development in granitoids records a decrease in temperature during syntectonic pluton cooling geometry and kinematics of deformation reflect the influence of both regional deformation and pluton intrusion

the influence of a sudden climatic change on marine deposition in the kimmeridgian of northwest europe a sudden change from humid style to semi arid style deposition markedly affected the accumulation of the upper kimmeridge clay in southern england many of the changes appear to be related to a change in sedimentation rate at this time thus softground faunas are replaced by firmground faunas diagenetic dolostones formed in the methanogenic zone are replaced by sulphate reduction zone carbonate nodules and depositional gradients recorded by lateral biofacies changes becomes steeper the evidence available is in accord with a decline in offshore sedimentation rates during this interval other changes such as a decline in kaolinite abundance were more directly controlled by the drying out of the hinterland similar changes elsewhere in the marine geological record could be used as climatic indicators the climatic change is part of a wider northern hemisphere dry event which affect a broad area in the late jurassic the kimmeridge clay of southern england was one of the last depositional environments to be influenced by the climatic change at this latitude

variation in marine total organic carbon through the type kimmeridge clay formation late jurassic dorset uk bulk geochemical data from the nerc rapid global geological events project are used to appraise the pattern of variation in mean organic content through the cymodoce to rotunda zones of the type kimmeridge clay formation in southern dorset there is a symmetrical stratigraphic pattern in mean and modal total organic carbon toc values which increase from 1 2 at the top and base to a peak of 8 9 in the middle of the formation to remove distortion caused by the strong positive skewness of the toc values the mean toc per zone was recalculated for the first mode of the toc distribution only and combined pragmatically with pyrolysis estimates of the reactive marine toc fraction to derive marine toc values these also vary symmetrically from c 0 5 to peak values of c 5 0 the mean toc is negatively correlated with sedimentation rate indicating that dilution is a significant controlling variable mean palaeoproductivity was assessed using modern marine sediment relationships between carbon burial efficiency sedimentation rate derived from rgge cyclostratigraphic analyses the likely dissolved oxygen range and water depth best estimates of palaeoproductivity range from 40 to 150 g c m 2 a 1 low to moderate by comparison with present day shelves and are positively but nonlinearly correlated with mean 13 c toc values

correlation problems in the kimmeridge clay formation upper jurassic uk lithostratigraphy versus biostratigraphy and chronostratigraphy a scheme of grouped lithostratigraphical units beds proposed for the english upper jurassic kimmeridge clay formation has been claimed to be also chronostratigraphical but some of the resulting time correlations conflict with those of the standard chronozonation based on ammonite biostratigraphy review of some critical ammonite species reaffirms the validity of the ammonite zonal scheme and shows that mismatching of lithologies facies correlations has led to incorrect time correlations because the numbering scheme of beds was based on correlations of attenuated successions it is on too coarse a time scale to identify many non sequences and its usefulness as a chronostratigraphical tool is questioned evidence suggests that at least some calcareous concretions in the kimmeridge clay formed at shallow depths which is relevant to discussions of the succession in terms of basin analysis

seawater redox variations during the deposition of the kimmeridge clay formation united kingdom upper jurassic evidence from molybdenum isotopes and trace metal ratios 1 the kimmeridge clay formation kcf and its equivalents worldwide represent one of the most prolonged periods of organic carbon accumulation of the mesozoic in this study we use the molybdenum mo stable isotope system in conjunction with a range of trace metal paleoredox proxies to assess how seawater redox varied both locally and globally during the deposition of the kcf facies with lower organic carbon contents toc 1 7 wt were deposited under mildly reducing suboxic conditions while organic rich facies toc 7 wt accumulated under more strongly reducing anoxic or euxinic local conditions trace metal abundances are closely linked to toc content suggesting that the intensity of reducing conditions varied repeatedly during the deposition of the kcf and may have been related to orbitally controlled climate changes long term variations in 98 95mo are associated with the formation of organic rich intervals and are related to third order fluctuations in relative sea level differences in the mean 98 95mo composition of the organic rich intervals suggest that the global distribution of reducing conditions was more extensive during the deposition of the pectinatites wheatleyensis and lower pectinatites hudlestoni zones than during the deposition of the upper pectinatites hudlestoni and pectinatites pectinatus zones the global extent of reducing conditions during the kimmerigidan was greater than today but was less widespread than during the toarcian early jurassic oceanic anoxic event this study also demonstrates that the mo isotope system in jurassic seawater responded to changes in redox conditions in a manner consistent with its behavior in present day sedimentary environments

geochemical study of organic matter rich cycles from the kimmeridge clay formation of yorkshire uk productivity versus anoxia abstract in this contribution we study two meter scale cycles from the kimmeridge clay formation cored near marton yorkshire which shows cyclic organic matter om distribution our aim is to try to understand the factors responsile for om accumulation the first cycle called lower cycle shows a total organic carbon toc content between 1 and 10 whereas the second called upper cycle shows a toc content varying between 5 and 35 the geochemical composition major elements and trace elements the organic geochemistry toc hi palynofacies and mineralogy of the sediments have been determined in both cycles the cyclicity is expressed through variations in the nature and in the relative abundance of the various types of organic matter constituents furthermore dilution effects by inorganic components of the sediment cannot account for the toc cyclicity for lower cycle the mo v and u content is low and little variable as is the intensity of the oxidation which om suffered from this indicates that variations in phytoplanktonic productivity may be held responsible for the cyclicity in steady and mildly reducing redox conditions in the upper cycle cyclicity also appears to depend on productivity but variations in the concentration of mo v and u and in the oxidation state of the om suggest the environment was temporarily more reducing it is proposed that larger amounts of h 2 s were released into marine bottom waters as a result of initial om decomposition forced the oxic anoxic boundary to rise in the water column and thus favoured om storage the main driving force for variations in the om concentration was the productivity of organic matter walled phytoplankton redox conditions of the depositional environment could have had a positive action but only by acting as a positive feedback effect

control of the preservation of organic matter by productivity and sulphate reduction in kimmeridgian shales from dorset uk abstract the kimmeridgian shales of dorset uk have a very wide range of total organic carbon toc content and hydrogen index hi these cyclic changes of organic carbon accumulation are usually interpreted in terms of biomass changes induced by variations in productivity the influence of such variations on the intensity of sulphate reduction and consequently on the preservation of organic carbon were studied the pyrite content does not reflect the full extent of sulphate reduction for sediments with a toc content greater than 10 when easily reducible iron is no longer available h 2 s is preferentially fixed as organic compounds in algal bodies a sulphate reduction index sri initial c org residual c org was calculated for each sediment on the basis of the sulphate reduction reaction stoichiometry and a drastic change in sulphate reduction intensity was seen for toc contents of about 10 above this value the sri is low and decreases with increasing toc content the sediments are rich in organic carbon composed of well laminated stacked algal bodies and were probably deposited at an oxygen depleted water sediment interface in this instance the quality and the amount of organic matter buried depends directly on the organic fluxes towards the redox interface it is assumed that the high relative input of organic matter which can be metabolized exceeds the availability of sulphate in the pore waters so that part of it escapes sulphate reduction and is probably degraded by other processes methanogenesis for toc contents less than 10 the sri is higher and variable the sediments show traces of burrowing and the depositional conditions are thought to be dysaerobic it is proposed that under such conditions bioturbation brings both sulphate and reducible iron into the sediment and that sulphate reduction mainly expressed by the presence of pyrite consumes all the available organic matter which can be metabolized the strong variability in the intensity of sulphate reduction depends on various parameters such as the genetic type of planktonic organic matter the method of transportation to the sediment and possibly the earlier oxic degradation during transportation