Domes, Rings, Ridges, and Polygons: Characteristics of Microbialites from Utah’s Great Salt Lake

Berg, Michael D. Vanden

doi:10.2110/sedred.2019.1.4

Cited by 24 publications

(66 citation statements)

References 15 publications

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“…Local upwelling of groundwaters along the sub–Siccar Point unconformity may have even held fractures open, inhibiting fracture healing. On Earth, such fluid migration through open fractures plays a role in both the formation of tepee structures (Assereto & Kendall, ; ; Burri et al, ; Kendall & Warren, ) and the deposition of microbialites in ephemeral, desiccation‐prone lakes (Vanden Berg, ; Warden et al, ). In drier areas of the SPg, perhaps only influenced by capillary flow of fluids through the SPg sandstone, repeated cycles of desiccation would have resulted in continuous evolution of fracture patterns.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensive Polygonal Fracture Network in Siccar Point group Strata: Fracture Mechanisms and Implications for Fluid Circulation in Gale Crater, Mars

et al. 2019

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Rock fractures are indicators of stress release within geologic systems, and fracture morphologies can commonly be used to infer formation conditions. Polygonal fractures are common in isotropic, contractional stress regimes such as in rocks exposed at the surface of a planet undergoing thermal cycling or in sedimentary substrates undergoing repeated wetting and drying. Such polygonal fracture systems, on centimeter to decameter scales, have been widely documented on Mars. Utilizing a combination of orbital-and ground-based images, we report a laterally extensive polygonal fracture network that occurs within siliciclastic rocks of the lowermost Siccar Point group, Gale crater, Mars. The Siccar Point group is exposed over approximately 20 km 2 in northwest Gale crater, where it unconformably overlies eroded strata of Mount Sharp (Aeolis Mons) and reflects likely aeolian deposition along the lower flanks of Mount Sharp. Images reveal an extensive network of erosionally resistant polygons, approximately 7.5 m across, that exhibit interior angles (i.e., fracture intersections) with modes at 90°and 120°. Polygon morphology indicates that fractures formed during multiple cycles of expansion and contraction, which is attributed to desiccation and subsequent recharge of near-surface groundwater. The erosional resistance of preserved fractures is inferred to reflect postfracture diagenetic fluid flow along the sub-Siccar Point group unconformity and cementation. Evidence for multiple fluid events in the relatively young strata of the Siccar Point group requires a protracted history of fluid stability in Gale crater.Plain Language Summary Deciphering the processes that affect sedimentary rocks after their deposition is critical to understanding the geologic history of a basin. Fractures occur when applied forces exceed the strength of the host material, and we can infer the process by which fracturing occurred by assessing the morphology of fractures. In this study, we analyze a network of polygonal fractures within rocks of the Siccar Point group, a relatively young geologic unit that is exposed over~20 km 2 of Gale crater, the field site of the Curiosity rover. Polygons formed by these fractures are similarly sized and intersect at angles that show dominant modes at 90°and 120°. These observations suggest that fractures formed under conditions of uniform stress and likely result from contractional processes such as climate-driven wet-dry cycles. The cementation of fractures by later fluids then imparted erosional resistance that permits these features to be recognized from orbit. The presence of an extensive, fluid-driven fracture system within aeolian strata highlights the potential complexity of martian climate signals.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Extensive Polygonal Fracture Network in Siccar Point group Strata: Fracture Mechanisms and Implications for Fluid Circulation in Gale Crater, Mars

et al. 2019

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“…(e.g. Oviatt et al, ; Thompson et al, ; Vanden Berg, ), although fluctuations with a maximum amplitude around 10 m have been suggested (Bouton, Vennin, Boulle, et al, ; McKenzie & Eberli, ; Murchison, ) following climate variations (e.g. during the mid‐Holocene climate optimum or Neoglacial episode; Thompson et al, ).…”

Section: Hydrological Settingsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The sedimentary record and watershed dynamics have been studied extensively and thus is a perfect candidate for a source‐to‐sink investigation at a basin scale and over a geological relevant time interval. Despite the early study of Eardley (), the sedimentary record of the GSL remains of interest to a large extent as a premier analogue for the South Atlantic “presalt” lacustrine carbonate deposits of Cretaceous (Vanden Berg, ). Recent renewed interest in the GSL has focused on constraining mechanisms of microbial carbonate deposition (e.g.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Recent renewed interest in the GSL has focused on constraining mechanisms of microbial carbonate deposition (e.g. Baskin, Driscoll, & Wright, ; Baskin, Driscoll, & Wright, ; Baskin, Wright, Driscoll, Graham, & Hepner, ; Baxter, ; Bouton, Vennin, Boulle, et al, ; Bouton, Vennin, Mulder, et al, ; Chidsey, Vanden Berg, & Eby, ; Della Porta, ; Lindsay et al, ; Newell, Jensen, Frantz, & Vanden Berg, ; Pace et al, ; Vanden Berg, ; Vennin et al, ), as analogue to those that partly make up the Cretaceous presalt reservoirs (Abelha & Petersohn, ).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…The first complete mapping of GSL sediments was performed by Eardley () and later improved owing to advances in geophysical techniques (e.g. Baskin, ) or satellite imagery (Bouton, Vennin, Boulle, et al, ; Vanden Berg, ). However, these mapping efforts only take a spatial dimension into account and lack a third stratigraphical vertical dimension, which is required to estimate the volume of sediments.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Prediction of the calcium carbonate budget in a sedimentary basin: A “source‐to‐sink” approach applied to Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

et al. 2019

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Most source-to-sink studies typically focus on the dynamics of clastic sediments and consider erosion, transport and deposition of sediment particles as the sole contributors. Although often neglected, dissolved solids produced by weathering processes contribute significantly in the sedimentary dynamics of basins, supporting chemical and/or biological precipitation. Calcium ions are usually a major dissolved constituent of water drained through the watershed and may facilitate the precipitation of calcium carbonate when supersaturating conditions are reached. The high mobility 1006 | EAGE BOUTON eT al. 1 | INTRODUCTION The source-to-sink approach, or concept, is based on a connection of the different dynamic parts of a sedimentary system: the area of sediment production (or source; e.g. mountain chains), the dispersal system (or transport; e.g. rivers) and the location of sediment deposition (or sink; e.g. fan delta), linking erosional and depositional landscapes by a sediment routing system (Allen, 2008). Source-to-sink studies use geological, geomorphological and/or geohydrological data with a focus on the interaction between tectonic, climatic and environmental processes at basin scale (Allen, 2008). The recent increase in monitoring, computational and remote-sensing capacities associated has greatly improved our knowledge of the different processes acting in the sediment routing system, especially with respect to their quantification (e.g. Harris, Macmillan

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Onshore groundwater spring carbonate mounds to lacustrine microbialites, the perplexing record of a transitional Great Salt Lake carbonate shoreline at Lakeside, Utah

Homewood¹,

Mettraux²,

Berg

et al. 2021

The Depositional Record

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Non-marine carbonates at Lakeside (Utah) are the depositional record of transitional shoreline palaeoenvironments around 1,285 m, as lake elevation fell from Lake Bonneville levels to low-stand Great Salt Lake levels of 1,284-1,278 m. Lakeside carbonates provide a rare example of onshore groundwater spring deposits connected to lacustrine microbialite reefs. Clotted fabrics and mineralized bacteriomorphs suggest microbial influence both in groundwater spring and littoral carbonates.Thrombolitic clotted aragonite and dendritic clotted intermediate magnesium calcite may document two distinct microbial ecosystems each with a specific mineralogy.Radiocarbon dates from interior to outer layers of a 20 cm littoral microbialite suggest several thousand years of domal growth. Climate fluctuations may be recorded in littoral deposits by the alternation of ooids (increased salinity, arid conditions) with ostracods (fresher water, humid conditions). Successive higher frequency cycles of sedimentation, exposure, microkarst and early diagenesis were cemented by vadose and phreatic very high magnesium calcite and non-stoichiometric dolomite.Several layers of littoral and beach deposits accumulated during longer lacustrine transgressive-regressive cycles. Clastic detritus and lack of known initial U and Th concentrations could explain the lack of correlation between widely scattered U-Th ages and closely grouped 14 C dates. Calibrated ages from radiocarbon dating may have been increased by long residence time of groundwater in bedrock, since 87 Sr/ 86 Sr signatures do indicate possible littoral-zone mixing of lake water with groundwater from outcropping and subsurface Mississippian Great Blue Limestone.The perplexing Lakeside carbonate system is the result of interaction between microbial and chemical processes during sedimentation and early diagenesis.

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Domes, Rings, Ridges, and Polygons: Characteristics of Microbialites from Utah’s Great Salt Lake

Cited by 24 publications

References 15 publications

Extensive Polygonal Fracture Network in Siccar Point group Strata: Fracture Mechanisms and Implications for Fluid Circulation in Gale Crater, Mars

Extensive Polygonal Fracture Network in Siccar Point group Strata: Fracture Mechanisms and Implications for Fluid Circulation in Gale Crater, Mars

Prediction of the calcium carbonate budget in a sedimentary basin: A “source‐to‐sink” approach applied to Great Salt Lake, Utah, USA

Onshore groundwater spring carbonate mounds to lacustrine microbialites, the perplexing record of a transitional Great Salt Lake carbonate shoreline at Lakeside, Utah

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