QAB2033 - Topic 7 - Deep Marine Carbonates

Carbonate
Sedimentology
& Stratigraphy
QAB2033
QAB2033 Carbonate Sedimentology & Petrography/Dr. Bernard Pierson
7. Deep Marine Carbonate

Environments & Facies
Factors Controlling
Carbonate Formation
• Temperature: Tolerance of carbonate-
producing organisms to seawater
temperature (23°-26° C for corals)
• Salinity: Tolerance level close to 36‰
• Light: Prerequisite for life; Photosynthesis
of algae and microbial forms of life

• Water energy: circulation, tidal currents
• Turbidity level: fine clastics detrimental
Carbonate Production with Depth
Cool water Warm water
carbonate factory carbonate factory
Sediment production Depth in m Sediment production
Primarily Low-Mg and

High-Mg Calcite Photic zone compressed in turbid water
Sediment production from organisms Primarily Aragonite
such as 100 Base of photic zone
red algae (photophilic), bryozoa,
barnacles and ahermatypic Decrease in water temperature
corals (non-photophilic) causes replacement of tropical
200 biota by non-tropical biota

Rates of production lower than in ??
tropical settings; variation with
depth not known
300 Sediment below base of photic
zone composed primarily of
After Jones & Desrochers, 1992

planktonic organisms
Ahermatypic corals down to
1000 m along with planktonic 400
foraminifera
Primarily Low-Mg and Primarily Low-Mg and High-

High-Mg Calcite 500 Mg Calcite
Carbonate solubility with depth
• The depth at which the rate Increasing rate of dissolution
of carbonate (calcite) 0
dissolution
sedimentation equals the 1
rate of carbonate dissolution Sediment supply
2
Depth (Km)
is called “Calcite
Compensation Depth” or 3
CCD lysocline
4
CCD
• The “Lysocline” is the depth 5
at which the rate of
dissolution of carbonates 6
Pacific Ocean
increases dramatically.
CCD and ACD
• CCD is determined by temperature, pressure,
dissolved CO2 gas content.
• CCD is at about 5,000 m in Atlantic Ocean and
4,200 to 4,500 m in the Pacific Ocean, because
of differences in dissolved CO2 contents.
• ACD (aragonite Compensation Depth is at less
than 4,200 m in the Atlantic Ocean.

• Below the CCD, calcitic particles dissolve faster
than they accumulate. Abyssal plains deeper
than 5,000 m are covered with clay and other
silica particles with no calcareous fossils.
Deep Marine Carbonates:
Components
• Carbonate mud in suspension carried from a
shallow-water platform by tidal currents and
deposited on the deep sea floor.
• Skeletons of planktonic fauna (foraminifera,
molluscs, etc).
• Skeletons of Indigenous carbonate-producing

organisms.
• Re-deposited limestones through turbidites and
debris flows.
Other Pelagic Components
• Siliceous skeletons: Radiolaria, diatoms,
sponges, etc. that may form chert layers or
nodules.
• Terrigenous clay and silt, transported as
suspended matter
• Organic matter; in high proportion, may

turn pelagic deposits into source rocks
• Manganese nodules
• Other minerals
Carbonate Platform Facies Profile:
Contribution to Pelagic Sediments
WIND & CURRENTS
Leeward Windward
Margin Margin
Fine particles in suspension Fine particles in suspension

SL
Carbonate sand Coarse carbonate

particles carried debris thrown
over the edge down the slope
Carbonate Platform Facies Profile:
Contribution to Pelagic Sediments
WIND & CURRENTS
Leeward Windward
Margin Margin
Planktonic
SL rain
Peri-platform
Peri-platform
ooze
ooze
Hemipelagic
Bottom sediment
transport Pelagic
sediment
Pelagic Carbonates
Deep Ocean Floor Sedimentation
ocean floors
Distribution of sediments on the
Deep Marine Deposits:
Deposition on Deep Ocean Floor
SL
Pelagic fauna
3 TO 4 km
SLOPE BASIN
QAB2033 Carbonate Sedimentology
From Pierson 1984& Petrography/Dr. Bernard Pierson
U. Cretaceous pelagic limestone, SE Italy

Courtesy G. Eberli
Pelagic Carbonates
A Typical Pelagic Carbonate Deposit
Courtesy V. Vedrenne
Vocontian facies –Cretaceous (Aptian), Les Serres, SE France

AAPG Memoir 77, 2003

Modern Calcareous
Planktonic Foraminifers
~ 3 µm
Modern Calcareous Coccoliths
Pelagic Foraminifera
Pelagic Foraminifer
Accumulation of tests
Courtesy A. Arnaud
of pelagic foraminifera
Thin tests are characteristic
Pelagic Foraminifera
Photo B. Pierson
Diagrammatic View of a Typical Coccosphere

Modern Coccospheres
~ 3 µm
~ 3.8 µm

Coccoliths
• Coccolithophoridae = green unicellular algae
producing spherical tests (coccospheres, 10 to
100µm), made of coccoliths.
• Predominant contribution of coccoliths in
Cretaceous, early and mid-Tertiary
• 50,000-500,000 coccoliths per liter in modern

surface seawaters but intense dissolution: <1%
of the ooze
• Low rate of sedimentation : 1-5 cm /1000 yr
Ancient Calcareous Planktonic
Fauna
Components of Cretaceous Chalk
Accumulation of coccolith plates

Courtesy A.Arnaud
Coccosphere – 0.01 mm
Calcispheres
0.3 mm
Calpionellids
0.11 mm
Recognizing Pelagic Facies
• Components: Carbonate mud, chert, fine clastics;
turbidites.
• Texture: Mainly mudstone. Some wackestone.
Turbidites may be grainstone to packstone.
• Sedimentary structures: thin (mm) laminations,
bioturbation; Bouma sequence in turbidites.
• Porosity Types: No porosity except in turbidites where
porosity is mainly intergranular.

• Reservoir Quality: None, except in turbidites; porosity
can be good in turbidites, depending on original
sediments. Porosity decreases with mud content.
Sedimentation
Carbonates
Hemi-pelagic
Slope and Base-of-Slope

Carbonate Slope Sedimentation
• Sediment contributions from:
– Peritidal ooze: Fine carbonate particles
formed on the shallow platform, put in
suspension by currents and storms and
carried out to sea by tidal currents
– Planktonic fauna
– Autochthonous, deep-water carbonate-

producing organisms
– Re-sedimented grains, clasts and rock
fragments from the platform edge
Platform to Basin Transition
Shallow water
Slope Apron platform facies Base-of-Slope
margin facies
Gullied bypass
slope
Slope facies
Open platform Slope Submarine fan

Shallow water Upper fan
Deeper water platform facies Shallow water platform
platform margin Middle fan margin facies
facies
Slope facies Suprafan lobe
After Walker & James, 1992

Basin facies
Slope
Basin facies Feeder
channel
Lower fan
Carbonate Slope Deposits
• Alternating beds of fine, pelagic sediments with
beds of coarser sediments and debris
• The beds of fine pelagic sediments represent
the continuous deposition in a pelagic
environment.
• Beds of coarse sediments represent

catastrophic events (turbidites, debris flows, etc.)
• Common gravity sedimentary structures
• Slope angle can vary from less than 1º to very
steep slopes of cemented limestone
Stratigraphy of a Steep Slope
0m
LST/TST deposits
*unconformity surface
100 m
HST wedge
(derived from platform top)
200 m
Inherited topography
Grammer & Ginsburg 1992

Transgressive fringing reefs
source coarse debris
Pervasive marine cementation

preserves steep slope
Offbank transport of sand

and mud form onlapping wedge

Modern Re-sedimented carbonates:
the Bahamas slope and basin
• The gullied upper slope (200-900 m water depth) :
– submarine canyons are 1-3 km wide, 50-150 m
deep, and cut into the upper slope
– facies: carbonate ooze (lime mud & pelagic
skeletal debris derived from the bank),

uncemented and bioturbated in deeper waters -
channels floored with coarse sands
• The non-gullied lower slope :
– facies: gravity flow deposits interbedded with
carbonate ooze
the Bahamas Slope and Basin

Modern Re-sedimented Carbonates :
Erosional incision in slope deposits

Slope Erosion
Slope erosion
Channel filled with shelf material in a slope setting
Eberli in AAPG Memoir 81, 2004
Seismic
Slope Channels in Outcrops &
Slope Deposits: Debris Flow
Erosional
Scar
Debris Flow,
Turbidite, etc
Mud clasts made up of slope
sediments have accumulated as a
breccia on the slope. Upper Sarvak
Fm, Iran.
Carbonate turbidite in a slope deposit
sequence, Upper Sarvak Fm, Iran.
Base-of-Slope Megabreccias
Lower Cretaceous megabreccia in Gargano, Italy
Megabreccia
Photo B. Pierson
Pelagic beds
Carbonate Base-Of-Slope Deposits
Upper Cretaceous base-of-slope grainstone
and breccia, Gargano, Italy. The grainstone
was deposited as a debris flow. The breccia is
the result of a second re-mobilisation of the
base-of-slope grainstone after cementation
From Pierson 1984
Carbonate B.O.S. Grainstones
Monte St Angelo Fm, Cretaceous, Italy
From Pierson 1984
Carbonate Base-of-Slope Deposits

SLUMP
SCAR
SLUMP
Slope Structures: Slump
Slump structures in Cretaceous pelagic sediments. Gargano, Italy
From Pierson 1984

Slumps in slope deposits, Permo-
Carboniferous limestone of the
Kinta Valley, Ipoh, Perak, Malaysia
From Pierson 2007



Micro-slumps in
Paleozoic limestone of
the Kinta Valley, Sungai
Siput, Perak, Malaysia
Carbonate breccia in the Paleozoic
sequence of the Kinta Valley, Perak,
Malaysia. The block to the right is a
fragment of shallow marine
limestone rich in brachiopod shells.
Recognizing Slope Facies
• Components: Carbonate mud, chert, fine clastics;
turbidites (base-of-slope grainstones) and breccias.
• Texture: Mainly mudstone. Some wackestone.
Turbidites may be grainstone to packstone.
Megabreccias are packstones.
• Sedimentary structures: thin (mm) laminations,
slumps, bioturbation; Bouma sequences in turbidites.
• Porosity Types: No porosity except in base-of-slope

grainstones (turbidites) where porosity is mainly
intergranular and possibly mouldic.
• Reservoir Quality: None, except in base-of-slope
grainstones, where porosity and permeability can be
very good. Megabrecias are usually tight.
Formations
Deep water reefs and mounds
Autochthonous Slope
Courtesy G. Eberli, 2007

Bahamian Deep-Water Mounds
Deep-Water Coral Mounds on Seismic

0.9
1.1
1.0
0.8
0.7
(twtt)
Km/s
1 km
Deep-Water Coral Mounds on Seismic

Deep-water coral Lophelia; Photo by H.T. Mullins

Deep-Water Coral Mounds
Photographs by H.T. Mullins

Deep-water Coral Mounds, Bahamas

Deep-Water Mounds

Comparison of Deep-Water Mounds
Devonian mud-mounds, Algeria; Photo by Kaufmann & Wendt

Deep-water Coral Mounds, Bahamas; Courtesy G. Eberli, 2007

Origin of Deep-Water Mounds
a) Current Hypothesis
current
c) Combination Hypothesis
1 current
3
2
Mullins et al 1981
Hovland 1990
1 Energy from Current

2 Subsurface Energy Source
3 Mound Ecology
b) Fault & Seepage Hypothesis
Origin of Deep-Water Mounds
• The mounds receive energy from

migrating hydrocarbons and currents
• Hydrocarbons are probably important for
initiation of mound
• Currents determine the shape of mounds
• The role of biological and sedimentological

interaction remains unclear
Deep-Water Mounds
• Frame-lacking reefs: fine grained, matrix dominated
facies, with a very low skeletal component, commonly
100 m thick
• Generally lenticular forms with steep slopes, in deep
water
• Mechanical accumulation then trapping of sediments by
sponges, algae, then stabilization by encrusters, but

controls on formation not well understood
• Reef mounds are mainly Paleozoic, but also occur in the
Mesozoic
• No direct analogues known, debated origins
Devonian Mud Mounds
Frasnian red reef,
Beauchateau, Belgium
Frasnian red limestone

With Stromatoctis,
Beauchateau, Belgium
Ancient Slopes
on
slopes
texture
Angle vs.
carbonate
From Kenter, 1990

Ancient Slopes: Triassic of Northern Italy
Courtesy G. Eberli
Dolomites, northern Italy
Sand, rubble - angle of repose
Hydrocarbon-Bearing
Deep Marine
Carbonates
The North Sea Chalk, Ekofisk

The Tamabra Limestone, Mexico
The North Sea Chalk
• During the Upper Cretaceous high sea-level
stage, pelagic deposits made up predominantly
of planktonic coccoliths accumulated in what is
now the North Sea.
• The thickness of the North Sea Chalk varies
from 200 m to 1200 m in the Central North Sea
area.
• The North Sea chalk is an important HC
reservoir
• The North Sea chalk comprises many
lithofacies due to different depositional
processes and diagenetic history.
The North Sea Chalk
• 2 main facies:
– Pelagic chalk: accumulation of coccoliths,
15-25 cm/1000 yr
– Re-sedimented units (allochthonous): thin
turbidite beds, slumps, slides
• diagenesis:
– chalk mostly made of low Mg Calcite (96-
99%): diagenetically very stable
– main diagenetic process: compaction
The North Sea Chalk
Coccolithophorids,
microplanktonic
organisms that
make up the
Cretaceous chalk
The White cliffs of

Dover are made of
Cretaceous chalk
Chalk Depositional Processes

The North Sea Chalk Reservoir
• wide range of porosity: 0-52 %
• Mainly microporosity
• high porosity (50%) can occur at great depths (3 kms)
• porosity depends on:
– original depositional facies: allochthonous chalks are best
reservoirs
– mineralogy: presence of clay and quartz reduces the preserved

porosity
– depth of burial: reservoir chalk unlikely below 3450m
– HC saturations
– Overpressure
• Permeability is commonly low
North Sea Chalk Traps
• Deposition of re-sedimented carbonate occurred
in low areas, in which gravity flows were
concentrated. Thick reservoirs are now found on
horst blocks that provide structural closures.
• The seal may be the chalk itself: Above a certain
percentage of clay, the chalk looses its
permeability and becomes more competent,

thus reducing the risk of fractures .
• More commonly, the seal consists of Tertiary
claystones, with very low permeability
• Overpressured reservoirs are common
Ekofisk Field overview
• The Ekofisk Field is located in the North Sea, about 290 Km
southwest of Norway, between Norway and the UK
• Discovered in 1969, Ekofisk started producing oil from
Cretaceous chalk in 1971 and is still producing today.
Diagenesis in Ekofisk
• The particles are mainly made up of
diagenetically stable Low-Mg Calcite: There
has been little leaching in the chalk deposits
• Chemical compaction was reduced by:
– early migration of oil into the reservoirs
(replacing water)
– spot welding: cementation at selected

points of grain contact
• Mechanical compaction was slowed down by
overpressure
Overpressure in Chalk Reservoir
• Due to:
– Rapid subsidence after deposition
– Low total permeability
– Lateral confinement of reservoir
compartments by graben margins
• Lithostatic pressure supported by pore

fluid pressure
– Reduced compaction
– Porosity is preserved
(from Van den Bark and Thomas, 1981)

Ekofisk Reserves
• Production since 1971
• Recovery factor: 46% (with waterflooding)
• Recoverable reserves
• oil: 496.8 million Sm3
• gas: 182.7 billion Sm3

• Remaining reserves
• oil: 167.7 million Sm3
• gas: 59.1 billion Sm3
Re-deposited carbonates at the base of the Cretaceous
Golden Lane Atoll make up one of the most prolific reservoir
for oil in Mexico, the Tamabra Limestone.
Re-deposited limestone, mainly

made up of Aptian-Albian
rudists and rudist fragments,
forms an apron at the foot of
the Golden Lane platform
slope.
Because it is mainly composed

of shallow marine carbonate
particles, the Tamabra
limestone was interpreted to be
shallow-water reef deposits for
a long time.
Tamabra Limestone, Cretaceous, Mexico

Take-Home Messages
• Deep water carbonate deposits can be:
– Potential source-rocks if they contain a high
proportion (>5%) of organic matter
– Potential seals is they contain a proportion of clay that
makes tghem competent enough to resist fracturing.
– Reservoirs, such as the fine-grained Cretaceous

chalk, which has a high porosity but low permeability;
or re-sedimented coarse-grained shallow marine
particles transported as debris flows or turbidites to
the base of the platform slope, such as the Tamabra
limestone of Mexico.

QAB2033 - Topic 7 - Deep Marine Carbonates

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QAB2033 - Topic 7 - Deep Marine Carbonates

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Carbonate

7. Deep Marine Carbonate

of algae and microbial forms of life

Sediment production Depth in m Sediment production

Primarily Low-Mg and

200 biota by non-tropical biota

After Jones & Desrochers, 1992

Primarily Low-Mg and Primarily Low-Mg and High-

than 4,200 m in the Atlantic Ocean.

• Skeletons of Indigenous carbonate-producing

• Organic matter; in high proportion, may

Fine particles in suspension Fine particles in suspension

Carbonate sand Coarse carbonate

WIND & CURRENTS

U. Cretaceous pelagic limestone, SE Italy

Vocontian facies –Cretaceous (Aptian), Les Serres, SE France

AAPG Memoir 77, 2003

AAPG Memoir 77, 2003

Diagrammatic View of a Typical Coccosphere

AAPG Memoir 77, 2003

• 50,000-500,000 coccoliths per liter in modern

Accumulation of coccolith plates

AAPG Memoir 77, 2003

AAPG Memoir 77, 2003

porosity is mainly intergranular.

Slope and Base-of-Slope

– Autochthonous, deep-water carbonate-

Open platform Slope Submarine fan

After Walker & James, 1992

• Beds of coarse sediments represent

Grammer & Ginsburg 1992

Pervasive marine cementation

Offbank transport of sand

Carbonate Slope Deposits

skeletal debris derived from the bank),

the Bahamas Slope and Basin

Erosional incision in slope deposits

Eberli in AAPG Memoir 81, 2004

Carbonate Base-of-Slope Deposits

From Pierson 1984

From Pierson 2007

Slope Structures: Slump

Slope Structures: Slump

• Porosity Types: No porosity except in base-of-slope

Courtesy G. Eberli, 2007

Deep-Water Coral Mounds on Seismic

Courtesy G. Eberli, 2007

Courtesy G. Eberli, 2007

Deep-water coral Lophelia; Photo by H.T. Mullins

Photographs by H.T. Mullins

Deep-water Coral Mounds, Bahamas

Courtesy G. Eberli, 2007

Devonian mud-mounds, Algeria; Photo by Kaufmann & Wendt

Deep-water Coral Mounds, Bahamas; Courtesy G. Eberli, 2007

1 Energy from Current

Courtesy G. Eberli, 2007

• The mounds receive energy from

• The role of biological and sedimentological

sponges, algae, then stabilization by encrusters, but

Frasnian red limestone

From Kenter, 1990

The North Sea Chalk, Ekofisk

The White cliffs of