Skip to main content
OSTI.GOVU.S. Department of Energy Office of Scientific and Technical Information
U.S. Department of Energy
Office of Scientific and Technical Information
 

Petrogenesis of cenozoic temperate water carbonates, South Australia

Conference ·
OSTI ID:6776370
;
The Gambier Limestone is one of several extensive, shallow water, shelf carbonates of Eocene to Miocene age exposed along the southern margin of Australia. It is muddy to grainy bryozoan calcarenite, with accessory benthonic foraminifers and echinoids. The sediments, originally composed almost entirely of calcite or Mg-calcite, have been in vadose and phreatic environments for over 10 m.y., yet are virtually unlithified. The only cements of any consequence are epitaxial on echinoids. Numerous karst features, dolines, caves, speleothems, and surface karren attest to prolonged residence in the meteoric zone. The Gambier is presently one of the best freshwater aquifiers in Australia, with most flow intergranular and through sediments with over 30% porosity. Cementation is by minor intergranular pressure solution, which has developed under overburden of less than 100 m. The overlying Naracoorte Limestone (Miocene), a calcarenite of warmer water aspect, contains numerous aragonite molds and is cemented marblehard. The authors propose that such temperate-water calcite limestones are a better model for the meteoric diagenesis of calcite sediments of all ages than aragonite-rich tropical sediments. It is probable that many similar early and middle Paleozoic calcite limestones may have been in the meteoric zone for prolonged periods, yet contain little or no petrographic or geochemical record of such exposure.
OSTI ID:
6776370
Report Number(s):
CONF-880301-
Country of Publication:
United States
Language:
English

Similar Records

Petrogenesis of Cenozoic temperate water carbonates, south Australia: model for shallow-burial or meteoric diagenesis of Phanerozoic shallow water calcite sediments
Conference · Sun Jan 31 23:00:00 EST 1988 · AAPG (Am. Assoc. Pet. Geol.) Bull.; (United States) · OSTI ID:5954200
Paleoecology of cool-water, subtidal cycles in mid-cenozoic limestones, Eucla Platform, Southern Australia
Journal Article · Sat Oct 01 00:00:00 EDT 1994 · Palaios · OSTI ID:54486
Shallow burial dolomitization of Mid-Cenozoic, cool-water, calcitic deep-shelf limestones, southern Australia
Conference · Thu Feb 28 23:00:00 EST 1991 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) · OSTI ID:5676977

Related Subjects

02 PETROLEUM
020200* -- Petroleum-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
03 NATURAL GAS
030200 -- Natural Gas-- Reserves
Geology
& Exploration
ALKALINE EARTH METAL COMPOUNDS
AUSTRALASIA
AUSTRALIA
CALCITE
CALCIUM CARBONATES
CALCIUM COMPOUNDS
CARBON COMPOUNDS
CARBONATE MINERALS
CARBONATE ROCKS
CARBONATES
CATAGENESIS
CENOZOIC ERA
CHEMISTRY
EOCENE EPOCH
EXPLORATION
GEOCHEMISTRY
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC DEPOSITS
GEOLOGIC MODELS
GEOLOGY
GROUND WATER
HYDROGEN COMPOUNDS
LIMESTONE
METEORIC WATER
MINERAL RESOURCES
MINERALS
MIOCENE EPOCH
NATURAL GAS DEPOSITS
OXYGEN COMPOUNDS
PETROCHEMISTRY
PETROGENESIS
PETROLEUM DEPOSITS
PETROLEUM GEOLOGY
RESOURCES
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SEDIMENTS
SOUTH AUSTRALIA
TERTIARY PERIOD
WATER