Controls on the Evolution of Carbonate Mud Mounds in the Lower Cretaceous Cupido Formation, Northeastern Mexico

Murillo-Muñetón, Gustavo; Dorobek, Steven L.

doi:10.1306/043003730869

Cited by 13 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 44 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…Similar patterns are observed for the Kuibis Subgroup and especially for OS2, where the development of dome-shaped buildups occurred in deeper settings and tabular-shaped buildups developed in settings when accommodation was relatively lower (Smith, 1998;Grotzinger, 2000;Adams et al, 2004;this study). Similar observations have been documented in the Lower Cretaceous of New Mexico (Murillo-Muneton and Dorobek, 2003). Here, aggradational, lenticular, and symmetrical carbonate mud mounds a few to tens of meters in size and with a low syndepositional relief ( < 5 m; < 16 ft) developed in mud-dominated outer-ramp to basin settings.…”

Section: Organization Of Reefal Buildups In Carbonate Ramp Systemssupporting

confidence: 84%

Digital characterization of thrombolite-stromatolite reef distribution in a carbonate ramp system (terminal Proterozoic, Nama Group, Namibia)

Adams¹,

Grotzinger²,

Watters³

et al. 2005

Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

is a graduate student in geophysics at MIT. He studies the effects of large impacts on planetary evolution and is a member of the Mars Exploration Rover Athena Science Team. He also works on problems relating to the morphometry and morphogenesis of stromatolites and early skeletogenous metazoa.The stratigraphic architecture of a terminal Proterozoic carbonate ramp system (ca. 550 Ma, Nama Group, Namibia) was mapped quantitatively with digital surveying technologies. The carbonate ramp consists of a shoaling-upward ramp sequence in which thrombolite-stromatolite reefs developed at several stratigraphic levels. The reefs are associated with grainstone and heterolithic facies and exhibit diverse geometries and dimensions related to the position in the sequence-stratigraphic framework. Laterally extensive reefs with a tabular geometry developed when accommodation was relatively low, whereas discontinuous oblate dome-shaped reefs developed during times when accommodation space was relatively high. Collecting sedimentological and stratigraphic data digitally in an extensive canyon system allowed a comprehensive documentation of the three-dimensional (3-D) architecture and dimensions of the reefal buildups. Both deterministic and stochastic methods were used to extend outcrop observations to construct 3-D models that honor the observed stratigraphy. In particular, the accuracy with which dimensions of reefal buildups can be measured is critically important in the statistical modeling of the dome-shaped buildups. Calculations and corrections can be applied directly to the digital data set and serve as input during model building. The final 3-D model faithfully reproduces the outcrop distribution of facies and geological objects and has a high spatial resolution, compared GEOHORIZONS with petroleum industry reservoir models. The organization of the reefal buildups in the stratigraphic framework has direct implications for reservoir continuity and connectivity in analogous settings. The digital characterization and 3-D outcrop models presented in this article can be subsequently used to condition dynamic reservoir-simulation modeling of geologically similar areas.

show abstract

Section: Organization Of Reefal Buildups In Carbonate Ramp Systemssupporting

confidence: 84%

Digital characterization of thrombolite-stromatolite reef distribution in a carbonate ramp system (terminal Proterozoic, Nama Group, Namibia)

Adams¹,

Grotzinger²,

Watters³

et al. 2005

Bulletin

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Furthermore, long-term (3rd-order) accommodation trends can play a dominant role in the development of carbonate mounds (Bourque et al 1995;Dorobek and Bachtel 2001;Murillo-Muñetón and Dorobek 2003).…”

Section: Rd-order Transgressive-regressive Sequencementioning

confidence: 99%

Transgressive–regressive sequence stratigraphy of Pennsylvanian Donezella bioherms in a foreland basin (Lena Group, Cantabrian Zone, NW Spain)

Corrochano

Barba

Colmenero

2011

Facies

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

A well-preserved Pennsylvanian (early Moscovian) succession including Donezella mounds, which accumulated in a highly subsiding foreland basin (Cantabrian Zone, NW of Spain), is described and discussed. This succession has been interpreted as one 3rd-order sequence reaching a thickness up to 815 m and recording »2.3-My duration. It consists of four 4th-order transgressive-regressive (T-R) sequences (105-350 m thick and »0.6-My duration), each subdivided into several 5th-order (»70-ky duration) meter-scale cycles (23-m average thickness). Nearly all the Donezella mounds are present in the second and third 4th-order sequences deWned (Levinco Formation). They are up to »90 m in thickness and several hundreds of meters wide, showing lenticular to domal morphologies with steep slopes up to 35-40°. Bioherms are composed of micritic boundstones with heterogeneous microfabrics and a diverse biotic community, including the microproblematic Donezella, calcitornellid foraminifers, bryozoans, agglutinated worm tubes, crinoids, and calcareous algae (red Komia/Ungdarella, beresellids, dasycladaceans and phylloids). According to the biotic assemblage and sedimentological features, these Donezella-rich bioherms thrived in a relatively shallow and low-energy environment (below fair-weather wave-base), and resulted from the baZing and binding ability of Donezella and associated biota, and the in situ-precipitation of microbial micrite. The upward evolution of the succession mainly resulted from the interplay between high tectonic subsidence rates and high-frequency moderate-amplitude glacioeustatic sealevel changes. The mounds growth mainly occurred during the transgressive phase of the 3rd-order sequence (Vereian), whereas during the regressive phase (Kashirian), deltaic siliciclastics prograding westward gradually buried and prevented the buildup development.

show abstract

“…The evolution of mud‐mounds would have been affected potentially by a variety of factors. In discussing Lower Cretaceous examples in north‐eastern Mexico, Murillo‐Muñetón & Dorobek () identified sea‐floor topography, hydrocarbon seeps/hydrothermal vents, upwelling, anoxia in the water column, ramp‐like depositional profile, low background sedimentation rate and relative sea‐level fluctuations as possible controlling factors, in addition to siliciclastic influx and also water depth as it governed illumination and wave action (James & Bourque et al., ; Lees & Miller et al., ; Samankassou, ; Rodríguez‐Martínez et al., ; Samankassou et al., ).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Relative sea-level change and sedimentation rate Preference for mud-mounds to initiate and accrete during transgressive systems tract development and then keep building during highstand systems tract deposition seems to be a common sequence stratigraphic response (Bourque et al, 1995;Pickard, 1996;Lasemi et al, 1998;Dorobek & Bachtel, 2001;Elrick & Snider, 2002;Murillo-Muñet on & Dorobek, 2003;Somerville, 2003;Fern andez et al, 2006;Calner et al, 2010;Samankassou et al, 2013), although there are also examples where mud-mounds continued to grow when the relative sea-level was falling and during development of the lowstand systems tract (Boulvain, 2001(Boulvain, , 2007Samankassou et al, 2013). These mud-mounds typically show shallower water biotic elements in their upper phases.…”

Section: Lightmentioning

confidence: 99%

Composition and origin of stromatactis‐bearing mud‐mounds (Upper Devonian, Frasnian), southern Rocky Mountains, western Canada

Zhou

Pratt

2019

Sedimentology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Stromatactis‐bearing mud‐mounds remain an enigmatic reef type despite being common in Palaeozoic ramp settings. Two well preserved Upper Devonian (Frasnian) mud‐mounds in the Mount Hawk Formation crop out side by side in the southern Rocky Mountains of west‐central Alberta and provide an opportunity to develop a new case study that can be compared with the other coeval examples, such as those well‐known ones in southern Belgium, as well as evaluate competing hypotheses for mud‐mound formation. The southern mud‐mound is 46·2 m thick and 38·6 m wide at the base, whilst the northern one is 53·3 m thick and 72·2 m wide at the base, and they exhibit three or four growth stages indicated by interfingering and onlapping geometries with flanking strata. The biota is diverse, but fossils only occupy 10·7% by volume, among which sponge spicules, echinoderms, ostracods, brachiopods and calcimicrobes belonging to Girvanella and Rothpletzella are the most common. Five microfacies are discriminated in the mud‐mounds: biomicrite, clotted micrite, spiculite, stromatolite and laminite, with clotted micrite comprising the largest proportion. There is no internal vertical or lateral palaeoecological zonation, and the presence of calcimicrobes and calcareous algae throughout indicates accretion entirely within the photic zone, in a deeper ramp setting seaward of a large carbonate platform to the east. Stromatactis is abundant and the cavities were mostly due to excavation by currents rather than physical collapse of spiculate siliceous sponges. Formation of lime mud involved a combination of multiple organisms, mechanisms and processes. Cyanobacteria were integral to mud‐mound frame‐building and accretion because they stabilized the surface, often permineralized to form Girvanella and provided organic matter that was decomposed by bacteria. This induced precipitation of micrite, forming early indurated rigid masses, evidenced by the presence of intraclasts, stromatactis cavities, isopachous marine cements, absence of bioturbation and rare synsedimentary brittle deformation. The same microbial components, invertebrate biota and clotted micrite occur in underlying strata, suggesting that there was a protracted period of potential mud‐mound initiation before the exact conditions arose to trigger it. The ramp setting, antecedent sea floor topography and relative sea‐level likely contributed together to control this. This study indicates that mud‐mound formation was controlled by a combination of processes, but they are essentially a microbial buildup.

show abstract

Controls on the Evolution of Carbonate Mud Mounds in the Lower Cretaceous Cupido Formation, Northeastern Mexico

Cited by 13 publications

References 44 publications

Digital characterization of thrombolite-stromatolite reef distribution in a carbonate ramp system (terminal Proterozoic, Nama Group, Namibia)

Digital characterization of thrombolite-stromatolite reef distribution in a carbonate ramp system (terminal Proterozoic, Nama Group, Namibia)

Transgressive–regressive sequence stratigraphy of Pennsylvanian Donezella bioherms in a foreland basin (Lena Group, Cantabrian Zone, NW Spain)

Composition and origin of stromatactis‐bearing mud‐mounds (Upper Devonian, Frasnian), southern Rocky Mountains, western Canada

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About