Abstract Knowledge of the spacing and size of discontinuities in a rock mass is of considerable importance for the prediction of rock behaviour. The characteristics of discontinuities can be estimated using scanline surveys but the precision of the estimates must be obtained and the bias caused by linear sampling must be eliminated before they can validly be used. Initially, an expression is presented which gives the degree of confidence that can be assigned to the measured mean discontinuity spacing. A reduced form of this expression is obtained for cases where the discontinuity spacings follow the negative exponential distribution. The precision of discontinuity frequency and RQD estimates is also explained. The distribution of trace lengths produced by the intersection of planar discontinuities with a planar rock face is used to determine the distribution of trace lengths, the distribution of semi-trace lengths and the distribution of censored semi-trace lengths intersected by a randomly located scanline. Comparison of the actual and sampled distributions demonstrates the bias introduced by scanline sampling of trace lengths. Relations between the distributions can be used to produce analytical or graphical methods of estimating mean trace length from censored measurements at exposures of limited extent.

Estimation discontinuity spacing and trace length using scanline surveys

Stable carbon and oxygen isotopes (δ18O and δ13C values) and trace elements have been applied to the study of diagenesis of carbonate rocks for over 50 years. As valuable as these insights have been, many problems regarding the interpretation of geochemical signals within mature rocks remain. For example, while the δ18O values of carbonate rocks are dependent both upon the temperature and the δ18O value of the fluid, and additional information including trace element composition aids in interpreting such signals, direct evidence of either the temperature or the composition of the fluids is required. Such information can be obtained by analysing the δ18O value of any fluid inclusions or by measuring the temperature using a method such as the ‘clumped’ isotope technique. Such data speak directly to a large number of problems in interpreting the oxygen isotope record including the well-known tendency for δ18O values of carbonate rocks to decrease with increasing age. Unlike the δ18O, δ13C values of carbonates are considered to be less influenced by diagenesis and more a reflection of primary changes in the global carbon cycle through time. However, many studies have not sufficiently emphasized the effects of diagenesis and other post-depositional influences on the eventual carbon isotopic composition of the rock with the classic paradigm that the present is the key to the past being frequently ignored. Finally, many additional proxies are poised to contribute to the interpretation of carbonate diagenesis. Although the study of carbonate diagenesis is at an exciting point with an explosion of new proxies and methods, care should be taken to understand both old and new proxies before applying them to the ancient record.

https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/pdf/10.1111/sed.12205

The geochemistry of carbonate diagenesis: The past, present and future

Geodynamic evolution of the central and western Mediterranean: Tectonics vs. igneous petrology constraints

1. Biology and history of larger benthic foraminiferaHistory and biological classification of foraminiferaEcology of the living larger foraminiferaPalaeontological and evolutionary history of the larger foraminiferaTaxanomic features used in larger foraminiferal classificationBiostratigraphic distribution over time of larger foaminiferaGeneral factors effecting the evolution of marine species in the mid to late Phanerozic2. The Palaeozoic larger benthic foraminifera: The Carboniferous and PermianMorphology and taxonomy of Palaeozoic larger benthic foraminiferaBiostratigraphy and phylogenetic evolutionPalaeoecology of the fusulinidsPalaeogeographic distribution of the fusulinids3. The Mesozoic larger benthic foraminifera: the TriassicMorphology and taxonomy of Triassic larger benthic foraminiferaBiostratigraphy and phylogenetic evolutionPalaeoecology of Triassic foraminiferaPalaeogeographic distribution of Triassic foraminifera4. The Mesozoic larger benthic foraminifera: the JurassicMorphology and taxonomy of Jurassic larger benthic foraminiferaBiostratigraphy and phylogenetic evolutionPalaeoecology of Jurassic foraminiferaPalaeogeographic distribution of Jurassic foraminifera5. The Mesozoic larger benthic foraminifera: the CretaceousMorphology and taxonomy of Cretaceous larger benthic foraminiferaBiostratigraphy and phylogenetic evolutionPalaeoecology of Cretaceous foraminiferaPalaeogeographic distribution of Cretaceous foraminifera6. The Palaeogene larger benthic foraminiferaMorphology and taxonomy of Palaeogene larger benthic foraminiferaBiostratigraphy and phylogenetic evolutionPalaeoecology of Palaeogene foraminiferaPalaeogeographic distribution of Palaeogene foraminifera7. The Neogene larger benthic foraminiferaMorphology and taxonomy Neogene larger benthic foraminiferaBiostratigraphy and phylogenetic evolutionPalaeoecology of Neogene foraminiferaPalaeogeographic distribution of Neogene foraminifera8. SynthesisImportance of application of larger foraminifera in biostratigraphyImportance of larger foraminifera as marine environmental indicatorsThe significance of the larger foraminifera assemblages in the understanding of the global distribution of carbonate sediments and their value in contributing raw data to palaeoenvironmental and palaeoclimatic modelsAppendixNomenclature terminology and glossary

Evolution and Geological Significance of Larger Benthic Foraminifera

Research over the past several decades has clearly demonstrated that changes in the ocean environ- ment have had major impacts on carbonate systems. Changes in climate, ocean circulation and seafloor spreading rates have influenced temperature and seawater chemistry, including carbonate saturation state and nutri- ent availability, and thereby have determined boundary conditions for the biota that form carbonate platforms. In turn, the biota determine accumulation rates and facies zonations, thus controlling platform geometry and facies dynamics. In the first section of this paper, we examine how nutrient availability influences carbonate facies associations. We first discuss the role of temperature and nutrient gradients in the modern ocean and their influence on biotic associations. Then we discuss how carbonate sedimentation can be characterized along nutrient gradients. In the second section, we review proxies currently used to reconstruct paleoproductivity in open ocean environments and discuss their applicability to neritic carbonate systems. We highlight the variety of existing proxies and their limitations, and suggest that multiple lines of evidence are needed for valid interpre- tations. Our short review discusses sedimentological, biogenic, and geochemical proxies that can be used to reconstruct past nutrient fluxes and to constrain paleo- ceanographic controls over the distribution of carbonate associations. However, it also reveals that more data and case studies are needed that integrate shallow and deep water carbonate sequences and elucidate the links between temperature vs. nutrient supplies changes and facies in ancient carbonate sequences.

Carbonate Systems along Nutrient and Temperature Gradients: Some Sedimentological and Geochemical Constraints

The presence of foramol, rhodalgal and bryomol skeletal grain associations in ancient shallow-marine limestones is commonly interpreted as evidence for non-tropical palaeoclimate, despite temperature being only one of several factors influencing skeletal grain associations. Such interpretations neglect the multitude of factors other than temperature that influence carbonate-producing biota. These include nutrients, water energy, water transparency, depth of the sea floor, salinity, oxygen, Ca2+ and CO2 concentrations, Mg/Ca ratio, alkalinity, substrate requirements, competitive displacement as well as biological and evolutionary trends. This uniformitarian approach also disregards the probability that conditions of present-day biological systems may not be representative of past conditions of analogous systems. Here, the importance of considering these other factors is illustrated through two examples of carbonate platforms in the western Mediterranean. These platforms are dominated by foramol, rhodalgal and bryomol associations of Miocene age in spite of having formed in tropical conditions. The platforms discussed are: (1) the Lower Tortonian ramp on Menorca, Balearic Islands; and (2) the Lower–Middle Miocene ramps of the central Apennines, Italy. Evidence for tropical conditions in the Mediterranean during the period of growth of these platforms is provided by species of red algae and larger foraminifera, by data from coeval continental basins and by global oxygen isotope data.

Environmental factors influencing skeletal grain sediment associations: a critical review of Miocene examples from the western Mediterranean

In the western part of the central Apennines, Lower–Middle Miocene carbonates were deposited on a tropical–subtropical carbonate ramp. They record two long-term cycles, the first of which is illustrated in this paper. Between 21 and 17.5 Ma, Miocene carbonates, paraconformably overlying the Cretaceous limestones, record a transgressive event during a time of global (2nd order) sea-level lowstand. It is postulated that this deviation is related to an increase in tectonic subsidence. Between 17.5 Ma and 16–15 Ma, with a progressive relative sea-level rise, the inner–middle ramp facies belt stepped back, whereas the bryozoan-dominated outer ramp facies belt stepped back but simultaneously prograded. This bloom of suspension-feeding organisms is interpreted to reflect an increased nutrient availability, hence a change from oligotrophic to eutrophic conditions. Strontium-isotope dates constrain correlation of the second phase with a eutrophic event possibly linked to the influence of the neighbouring Apenninic accretionary wedge and foredeep system.

Nutrients, sea level and tectonics: constrains for the facies architecture of a Miocene carbonate ramp in central Italy

Heterozoan carbonates in oligotrophic tropical waters: The Attard member of the lower coralline limestone formation (Upper Oligocene, Malta)

The Oligocene represents a key interval during which coralline algae became dominant on carbonate ramps and luxuriant coral reefs emerged on a global scale. So far, few studies have considered the impact that these early reefs had on ramp development. Consequently, this study aimed at presenting a high-resolution analysis of the Attard Member of the Lower Coralline Limestone Formation (Late Oligocene, Malta) in order to decipher the internal and external factors controlling the architecture of a typical Late Oligocene platform. Excellent exposures of the Lower Coralline Limestone Formation occurring along continuous outcrops adjacent to the Victoria Lines Fault reveal in detail the three-dimensional distribution of the reef-associated facies. A total of four sedimentary facies have been recognized and are grouped into two depositional environments that correspond to the inner and middle carbonate ramp. The inner ramp was characterized by a very high-energy, shallow-water setting, influenced by tide and wave processes. This setting passed downslope into an inner-ramp depositional environment which was colonized by seagrass and interfingered with adjacent areas containing scattered corals. The middle ramp lithofacies were deposited in the oligophotic zone, the sediments being generated from combined in situ production and sediments swept from the shallower inner ramp by currents. Compositional characteristics and facies distributions of the Attard ramp are more similar to the Miocene ramps than to those of the Eocene. An important factor controlling this similarity may be the expansion of the seagrass colonization within the euphotic zone. This expansion may have commenced in the Late Oligocene and was associated with a concomitant reduction in the aerial extent of the larger benthonic foraminifera facies. Stacking-pattern analysis shows that the depositional units (parasequences) at the study section are arranged into transgressive–regressive facies cycles. This cyclicity is superimposed on the overall regressive phase recorded by the Attard succession. Furthermore, a minor highstand (correlated with the Ru4/Ch1 sequence) and subsequent minor lowstand (Ch2 sequence) have been recognized. The biota assemblages of the Attard Member suggest that carbonate sedimentation took place in subtropical waters and oligotrophic to slightly mesotrophic conditions. The apparent low capacity of corals to form wave-resistant reef structures is considered to have been a significant factor affecting substrate stability at this time. The resulting lack of resistant mid-ramp reef frameworks left this zone exposed to wave and storm activity, thereby encouraging the widespread development of coralline algal associations dominated by rhodoliths.

http://www.girmm.com/abstracts/Tomassetti_et_al_Malta_2009_abstract.pdf

Marco Brandano

Papers

Environmental factors influencing skeletal grain sediment associations: a critical review of Miocene examples from the western Mediterranean

Nutrients, sea level and tectonics: constrains for the facies architecture of a Miocene carbonate ramp in central Italy

Heterozoan carbonates in oligotrophic tropical waters: The Attard member of the lower coralline limestone formation (Upper Oligocene, Malta)

Facies analysis and palaeoenvironmental interpretation of the Late Oligocene Attard Member (Lower Coralline Limestone Formation), Malta

Aphotic zone carbonate production on a Miocene ramp, Central Apennines, Italy