Depositional Environments
Lec. 10 Carbonate platforms
DSRG
Dr. EHAB M. ASSAL
Damietta University
Carbonate platform
DSRG G336
Outline
1 Carbonate platform
2 Shoal rimmed platform
3 Open platform
4 Ramp platform
DSRG G336
Carbonate platform
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Where is the energy maximum?
Quiet-water lagoon
Fore-reef energy max
Beach
energy Platform-edge energy max
max
Frictional energy loss
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Grainstone margin
Packstone/wackestone
interior
Localized ooid
grainstone
shoals
Skeletal grainstone
margin
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Slope Facies
Deposits form via a variety of sediment gravity-flow processes
that result in a suite of calciturbidites and calcareous debrites
interbedded with finely laminated to burrowed muds
DSRG G336
Rimmed platform
Rim Facies
Platform-margin shoals of ooid or skeletal grainstone
Spillover sediment transport in windward direction
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed Platform
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Lagoonal Facies
can be divided into inner and outer shelf
lagoons.
Muddy sediments and scattered algae, but
few corals, typically characterize the inner
lagoon where Thalassia seagrass banks
are extensive. Mangroves commonly grow
along the coastal boundary of this zone.
Patch reefs and skeletal sands formed
from skeletons of the resident calcareous
algae, and invertebrates typify the outer
lagoon.
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Beach Facies (Beaches are common peritidal deposits)
The deposits are characterized by gentle seaward-dipping
(5–15°) large-scale planar accretion beds. The foreshore portion is
typified by alternating coarse- and fine-grained laminations, local
inverse-graded laminations, and vertical burrows formed by mollusks,
worms, and crustaceans
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Ooid sand shoals, consisting of particles
generated as tidal currents sweep back
and forth across the shallow subtidal and
intertidal sand bodies, accumulate rapidly
to form segmented barriers along the edge
of the platform.
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Muddy Peritidal Facies
fine-grained sediment production and landward transport on warm-
water rimmed platforms
Deposits are replete with
microbial mats, a high
abundance of low-diversity
biota (particularly
gastropods), storm
deposits, desiccation
features, dolomites, and
evaporites
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Characteristic meter-scale cyclicity in platform interior
Primary relief on surface mantled and infilled by
subsequent deposition
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Cycles may be allocyclic, driven by rising base level and
creation of accommodation space for sediment accumulation
Typical carbonate accumulate rates are very high (> base
level rise), so rapidly fill accommodation space and shallow
upward
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Aeolinite Facies
Holocene and Pleistocene marginal marine carbonate sand
dunes (aeolianites) occur towards the northern and southern
margins of the warm-water carbonate realm where the air is
dry.
Carbonate dunes are best developed where ocean waves
sweep unimpeded onshore, mobilizing shallow sands and
building beaches in the intertidal zone. Sand is then
transported by trade winds to build dunes.
The deposits are shore-parallel bodies in the form of
transverse ridges in which the dunes are predominantly
oblique, parabolic, or barchanoid. Large-scale landward-
dipping foresets, grainflows, pinstripe laminations, slump
scars, animal tracks, and numerous trough cross-beds related
to blowouts along windward margins characterize these
deposits.
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Aeolinite Facies
Cliff section of aeolianite ~8 m high Eroded trough cross-bedded
along south coast illustrating steep aeolianites, Castle Island. Cliff is ~8 m
landward-dipping beds (Bermuda) high.
DSRG G336
Shoal rimmed platform
Supratidal flat Facies
Exposure (karst) surface (Carboniferous, Nevada)
Primary relief on surface mantled and infilled by
subsequent deposition
DSRG G336
Open platform
These platforms lack a raised rim and so large ocean
waves and swells can easily sweep across the whole
shelf or bank. They are most prominent today in cool-
water heterozoan settings where the waters are too
cold to allow reefs or ooid sands to develop.
No rim, no muddy open lagoon and the platform is
characterized by grainy facies throughout, including
beaches and aeolianites. These coarse sediments can
be ooids or biofragments with microbialites in some
tropical systems.
The large amounts of sediment that are transported off
the platform generate thick prograding clinoforms of
predominantly neritic origin.
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
Carbonate Ramps consistent shallow gradient
from shoreline to basin (some may be distally
steepened), somewhat analogous to siliciclastic
shelf
Highest Lowest
Energy Energy
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
Deep ramp Mid ramp Inner ramp
Peritidal
Offshore Deep Subtidal Shallow Subtidal
Offshore-
Offshore Shoreface
Transition
Siliciclastic Equivalents
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
Outer Ramp Facies
Thin packstone “tempestites” in lime mudstone (or siliciclastic mud)
May be normally graded or contain HCS; gutter casts/sole marks on
base
Offshore
DSRG Deep Subtidal G336
Ramp platform
Shoals (ooids or skeletal) are much more common than
in clastic settings
Large subaqueous dunes, generating large-scale cross-
bedding
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
Middle Ramp Facies
Other sedimentary structures and facies may be similar to
siliciclastics (wave ripples, SCS, low-angle parallel beach laminations,
etc.)
Swaley cross-stratification (SCS) Beach deposits
Low-angle beds with hardgrounds
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
Inner Ramp Facies
Peritidal
Carbonates
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
Inner Ramp Facies
Typical facies: light gray or light brown
limestone/dolostone with
Crinkly or wavy lamination
from microbial mats
Fenestrae: mm-sized voids
(sometimes filled by calcite
spar) formed by trapped
gas bubbles or beneath
microbial
DSRG mats G336
Ramp platform
Typical facies: light gray or light brown
limestone/dolostone with
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
Tepee Structures in high intertidal/supratidal zone
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
Continued cycles of desiccation disrupt tepees, forming
flat pebble conglomerates
DSRG G336
Ramp platform
DSRG G336
DSRG
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