LAB 3: CARBONATE ROCKS

INTRODUCTION
Unlike siliciclastic rocks, which are composed of fragments of pre-existing rocks and minerals, biogenic
(biochemical and organic), chemical and other non-siliciclastic rocks form as a result of both organic
and non-organic activity and are often unrelated to the process of weathering. This lab will deal
exclusively with carbonate rocks, while you will be introduced to the rest in Lab 4.
Carbonates, including limestone and dolostone, are the most abundant non-terrigenous sedimentary
rocks, forming both chemically and biochemically. In both processes, dissolved ions are carried from
source to depositional basin in solution where they are either precipitated directly or are extracted by
organisms to manufacture shells and skeletons that are later incorporated into sedimentary rocks. The
distinction between purely chemical and biochemical is sometimes vague in that organic activity can
modify the geochemical environment enough to cause chemical precipitation. The distinction between
clastic sedimentary rocks and crystalline chemical/biochemical rocks can also be ambiguous in that
many limestones contain composite carbonate grains that have experienced a history of transport and
deposition as clasts. Please refer to pp. 233-237 in P & S, for a background on carbonate mineral
chemistry/geochemistry.
R.L. Folk (1959, 1962) devised one classification scheme, with emphasis on the matrix/cement content
of limestone. It identifies two distinct carbonate components: allochemical and orthochemical.
Allochemical components (allochems) are any grains of calcium carbonate that, after formation, are
transported and deposited as clasts. They are analogous to rock and mineral fragments in the framework
fraction of terrigenous sandstone and often show clastic textures. Allochems are subdivided into
skeletal (bioclasts) and non-skeletal grains. While many types of bioclasts exist, non-skeletal grains are
grouped into four types: coated grains (ooids, pisoids, oncoids) and their aggregates (lumps,
grapestones), peloids and limestone clasts (limeclasts, lithoclasts, intraclasts), which are eroded,
transported, redeposited and confined within limestone strata.
Unlike allochems, orthochemical components (orthochems) are not transported and deposited as clasts,
but rather are directly precipitated by chemical action in the depositional basin, as a result of
environmental changes. There are two kinds of orthochems: microcrystalline (<4 m) calcium
carbonate mud or micrite and microcrystalline sparry cement or spar. Micrite occurs as matrix in
allochem-bearing limestone (analogous to the matrix in wacke sandstones) or by itself as limey
mudrock, and is most commonly formed by the physical disintegration of calcareous green algal masses.
It consists of silt and clay-sized fragments of aragonite or calcite. Under the microscope, it is typically
translucent with a dull brown cast. Spar forms as simple, primary, pore-filling cement (analogous to
cement in arenite sandstone) or through the recrystallization of micrite. In thin section, crystals are
coarser than micrite and clear.
The figures below show Folks scheme and its four principal limestone families: 1) sparry
allochemical limestones, 2) microcrystalline allochemical limestones, 3) micrites and 4) biolithite. The
first two are subdivided on the basis of the predominant kind(s) of allochems and given composite
names. Micritic limestone contains <10% allochems, while dismicrite is recrystallized, bioturbated
micrite. Biolithites are limestones that were crystallized directly as a result of the activity of reefbuilding corals and algae. Examples include reef limestone and stromatolites.

Folks (1959, 1962) textural maturity classification scheme for carbonate sediments

BIOGENIC
FAMILY

SILICICLASTIC
EQUIVALENT

Sparry allochemical
limestone

Arenite

Microcrystalline
allochemical limestone

Wacke

Micrite

Mudrock

Biolithites

Folks (1959, 1962) classification of limestones

Prefixes indicate the framework grains present:
Bio- for fossils (bioclasts)
Pel- for peloids
Oo- for ooids &
Intra- for intraclasts
Suffixes indicate whether the interstitial
calcite is sparry or micritic.
Rocks cemented together while the organisms that
constitute them were still alive are termed biolithite.

R.J. Dumham (1962) proposed another classification scheme, with emphasis on the depositional texture
of limestone. This scheme focuses on the packing of framework grains, rather than the type of
matrix/cement. The rock names reflect, at one extreme, <10% grains (mudstone) and, at the other
extreme, the dominance of closely bound, original components (boundstone). In the middle is
packstone, which is grain-supported limestone with micrite matrix and sparry calcite cement.

Classification of carbonate rocks after Dunham (1962) with Folks classes shown below.
Many ancient carbonate rocks consist, in whole or part, of the mineral dolomite [CaMg(CO)3]. As
dolomite is very similar to other carbonate minerals (rhombohedral, soft, etc.), it is not always easy to
identify in either hand specimen or thin section. Generally, its reactions to acid and staining (Alizarin
Red S) are the best indicators.
While technically a rock composed of this mineral should be called a dolostone, many petrologists
persist in using the mineral name. Dolomitization is the process by which calcium carbonate rock alters
to dolostone. This process generally obscures original rock textures and is another reason classification
may be difficult. Virtually all dolostones are composed of secondary (after calcite and aragonite)
dolomite. This widely held view is based on the fact that relic biogenic textures are still evident in many
dolostones and that primary dolomite has yet to be produced in the laboratory under typical marine
conditions.

LAB 3 ASSIGNMENT
1. Briefly compare and contrast Folks vs. Dunhams carbonate classification schemes. In what case(s)
are each used? (2 marks)
2. Describe the process of dolomitization and briefly touch on the debate surrounding the origin of
dolostone. (3 marks)

LAB 4: OTHER BIOGENIC,

CHEMICAL AND NON-EPICLASTIC
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
Non-carbonate Biogenic Sedimentary Rocks
In addition to carbonates (Lab 3), which form largely as the result of organic activity,
there are three other types of biogenic deposits: 1) siliceous sediment and chert, 2)
phosphate sediment and phosphorites and 3) organic-rich materials such as coal and oil.
Chert is fine grained, cryptocrystalline, fibrous chalcedony with lesser
microcrystalline and cryptocrystalline quartz and amorphous silica. It is produced as the
result of organic or inorganic precipitation, most commonly through the accumulation
and recrystallization of silica-rich organic oozes on the deep seafloor. There are two
major types of chert: bedded (primary) and nodular (replacement). Bedded cherts occur
as individual bands, layers or laminae from a few millimetres up to several metres in
thickness and may or may not be fossiliferous (diatoms, radiolaria and sponge spicules).
While containing no visible skeletal remains, the non-fossiliferous varieties are probably
siliceous oozes so extensively altered that the fossil record has been destroyed. Nodular
cherts occur as pea to golf ball-sized, spherical to ovoidal masses of opal, chalcedony and
quartz, mainly in shallow-water carbonates. They are interpreted as secondary because of
their clearly diagenetic origin and form when silica dissolves, migrates and reprecipitates, replacing older material. While some nodules form inorganically, bacterial
activity is thought to play a role in this process.
There are three principal types of phosphorite deposits: 1) nodular, 2) rare placer
concentrations of transported and reworked organic clasts (bone beds) and 3) extremely
rare deposits associated with a diagenetic process known as phosphatization. Phosphorite
nodules occur as gelatinous to solid, irregular masses, spherical clumps and slab-shaped
chunks ranging from a few centimetres up to metre-sized. They are generated where
cold, nutrient-rich ocean water wells up into warmer shallow water on the continental
shelf and are intimately associated with coprolites and fish bones. The process is thought
to occur where organic productivity exceeds the rate of decomposition, resulting in
oxygen deficiency and the preservation of phosphate-rich organic matter. Bone beds are
placer concentrations of skeletons (together with coprolites and other organic matter)
from which other sediment has been removed. The selective dissolution of some
phosphate and its recrystallization as cement produce solid phosphorite that replaces
mudrock and limestone. Phosphatization is the process by which calcium phosphate is
leached from thick piles of guano (bird and bat excrement) and replaces underlying
mudrock and carbonate.
Coal, petroleum, oil shale and other solid hydrocarbons are accumulations of
undecayed, carbon-rich organic matter in sedimentary rocks and are not, technically
speaking, sedimentary rocks themselves. With the exception of coal, this matter is
disseminated in the pore space of sedimentary reservoir rocks such as sandstone and

carbonates. Coal may be widely dispersed but is typically concentrated in individual

layers (seams) of varying thickness and lateral extent. The rank of a coal is a measure of
the degree of carbonification and depends on overall organic carbon content, which
typically varies from 70% (lignite) through 80-90% (bituminous) to 90-100%
(anthracite).
The last group of non-siliciclastic rocks includes both purely chemical rocks, such as
banded iron formation and evaporites and nonepiclastic rocks, such as volcanogenic
sedimentary rocks. The dissolved components that precipitate to form chemical
sedimentary rocks are decomposed from pre-existing rocks and minerals, while
nonepiclastic rocks are generated by processes other than mechanical weathering. This
latter group includes pyroclastic, meteoritic and cataclastic deposits.

Chemical Sedimentary Rocks

Iron-rich Sedimentary Rocks
Iron-rich sedimentary rocks fall into two types, both defined by a total iron content
that exceeds 15% and both produced by largely chemical processes. Precambrian
banded iron formations (BIFs) are chemical precipitates consisting of centimetre-thick,
interlayered, alternating bands of chert and iron-rich mudrock. Their restriction to the
Precambrian is thought to be due to the lower levels of free oxygen (and thus abundant
ferrous ion [Fe2+]) in the early terrestrial atmosphere. Two major categories of BIFs are
defined: Algoma-type and Superior-type. Superior-type deposits tend to be thicker and
more laterally developed than Algoma-type and are intimately associated with stable,
shallow-water, shelf sediments. Algoma-type deposits, on the other hand, are
interbedded with deep abyssal plain floor sediments and are concentrated along narrow
zones that may coincide with ancient ocean crustal fractures. This has lead to the
suggestion that iron-bearing hydrothermal fluids served as the source of the iron.
Phanerozoic ironstones are less common than BIFs, but are better understood. The
iron in most of these deposits is concentrated as crystalline iron oxide (hematite, goethite)
and silicate (chamosite) in the mineral layers of ooids nucleated around detrital grains.
The ironstone beds are a few to tens of metres thick and are associated with shallowmarine shelf deposits. They are thought to be the result of the flocculation of iron-rich
clays around detritus upon contact with seawater, promoting the snowball-like growth of
ferruginous ooids and eventual deposition on nearshore shelves.
Other iron-rich sedimentary rocks include carbonaceous black shale and limestone
containing 10 to 40 cm thick layers in which crystals of pyrite are distributed, modern
bog iron deposits comprising goethite, siderite and various manganese minerals, and
irregularly shaped iron/manganese nodules resulting from slow concentric accretionary
growth on lake bottoms and the modern deep seafloor.
Evaporites
Evaporites are bedded sedimentary rocks that crystallize from hypersaline solutions
known as brines, which form where water evaporation exceeds the influx from
precipitation, surface runoff or groundwater inflow. These conditions generally exist
only in arid to semiarid climates. While approximately 100 evaporite minerals are known

to exist, no more than ten are common. These include selected carbonates (calcite,
aragonite, magnesite, dolomite), sulphates (gypsum, anhydrite), halides (halite, sylvite,
carnallite) and a few others. Crystallization, beginning with the calcium, gypsum and
anhydrite, typically begins only after seawater has been reduced to approximately 20% of
its original volume. When the volume is further reduced to 10%, halite and sylvite begin
to precipitate. Finally, the highly soluble borates and nitrates precipitate out of the last
remaining liquid. There are three categories of evaporites: 1) nonmarine, 2) shallow
marine, and 3) deep marine.
Nonmarine or lacustrine evaporites accumulate in closed lakes (such as the Great Salt
Lake of Utah and Californias Mono Lake) with interior drainage and no outlets. Bands
of evaporite minerals tend to form a bulls eye pattern, with halite near the centre and
carbonates and sulphates around the rim. Shallow marine evaporites include supra- and
intertidal (coastal sabkha) deposits, like those found today around the Persian Gulf, and
ancient, truly shallow marine evaporites formed in what were marine shelf areas of less
than five metre depth. Typical sabkha evaporites consist of anhydrite (as irregularly
shaped lumps or nodules), gypsum and dolomite interbedded with carbonate mud or
shale, while the ancient shallow marine shelf and basin deposits comprise thick
sequences of evaporite minerals (chiefly halite and gypsum), often with great lateral
extent. Ancient evaporite deposits that lack delicate, regionally extensive laminations are
interpreted as deep-water deposits, formed from transported size-graded clasts of gypsum
and anhydrite and broken and contorted masses of slumped evaporite.

Nonepiclastic Sedimentary Rocks

Four processes other than the weathering of pre-existing rocks produce sedimentary
rocks. The are summarized below (after Prothero and Schwab, 1996):
TYPE
Volcanogenic

MECHANISM
Directly produced by
processes associated with
the extrusion and cooling
of igneous magmas

SUBCATEGORIES
Pyroclastic: composed of tephra fragments
of rock, mineral and glass generated by
volcanic explosions.
Autoclastic: produced by the uneven cooling
and brecciation of hot lavas in contact with
the atmosphere
Hyaloclastic: Produced by the uneven cooling
and brecciation of hot lavas in contact with
water

Cataclastic

Collapse

Directly related to the

crushing, grinding and
brecciation associated
with tectonic activity

Fault breccia and mylonite

Produced by the collapse

Collapse breccia

Fold breccia and mylonite

Crush conglomerate

Breccia

of rock into open spaces

generated when
underlying material is
removed

Solution breccia resulting from collapse due

to dissolution of carbonate or evaporite

Meteoric or
Impact or
Fallback
Breccia

Produced by the impact

of high-velocity extraterrestrial bodies of
indeterminate origin

Volcanogenic Sedimentary Rocks

Volcanogenic sedimentary rocks are formed directly by volcanic processes and are
subdivided into pyroclastic (produced by explosive activity) and those related to nonexplosive igneous activity. Pyroclastic rocks are produced when material ejected by
volcanic explosions (tephra) lithifies. Like terrigenous sediments, tephra is classified
according to maximum clast diameter:
TEPHRA NAME

CLASS SIZE
RANGE

SILICICLASTIC
EQUIVALENT

Blocks (angular)

PYROCLASTIC
ROCK
Volcanic breccia

Bombs (rounded)

>64 mm

Cobbles & boulders

Agglomerate

Lapilli

2 64 mm

Granules & pebbles

Lapilli stone

Coarse ash

1/16 - 1 mm

Sand

Coarse tuff

Fine ash

<1/16 mm

Silt & clay

Fine tuff

Tuff, a general term for all consolidated pyroclastic rocks, can be further subdivided
based on the proportion of three principal components: 1) pumice and shards of glass, 2)
crystals and 3) rock fragments:

Pyroclastic rocks originate in several ways: as ash-fall deposits, formed when volcanic
ejecta fall back to the surface and as volcaniclastic flow deposits, which form then tephra
is remobilized and flows downslope. Examples of the latter deposit type include
ignimbrites, produced by nue ardente eruptions, surge deposits, produces by rapid,
episodic or discontinuous downslope movement, lahars or volcanic mudflows, and base
surges. The latter are sediment gravity flows that form when steam saturated eruption
columns collapse and travel outward across the ground surface.
A common, non-explosive volcanogenic deposit is autoclastic breccia, which forms
when the brittle crust of a lava flow, formed through radiant cooling, breaks into angular
pancake-like blocks as the result of subsequent flow movement. Hyaloclastites, formed
when flows come in contact with water causing rapid cooling that produces thin, brittle,
easily brecciated chilled rinds enveloping the still-mobile magma, are another example.
Nonvolcanogenic Sedimentary Rocks
Nonepiclastic sedimentary rocks unrelated to volcanism fall into three categories: 1)
cataclastic rocks, 2) collapse and solution breccias, and 3) meteoritic breccia.
Cataclastic breccias are produced by mechanical fragmentation of pre-existing rocks as
the result of tectonic forces (folding, faulting, and jointing). Collapse breccias form when
unsupported rocks collapse in on themselves and typically consist of large angular
blocks. Solution breccias are a specific type of collapse breccia formed as a result of the
dissolution of the supporting strata. Impact or fallback breccias are formed when bolides
(meteorites) impact the earths surface at high velocity.

LAB 4 ASSIGNMENT
1. Briefly compare and contrast nodular and bedded cherts, emphasizing their modes of
origin.
2. What are coprolites and describe how they are associated with sedimentary phosphate
deposits?