Global carbonate accumulation from 145 Ma to Present (Cretaceous-Cenozoic): a new continental-scale analysis

Abstract

Analysis of continental-scale lithostratigraphic data may facilitate an understanding of global sedimentary processes. The number of carbonate-bearing formations established in northern Eurasia (430 in total), northern Africa and Arabia (47 in total), and India (98 in total) is calculated per epochs for the last 145 Ma. The results show maxima in the Late Cretaceous, the Eocene, and the Miocene and minima in the Paleocene, the Oligocene, and the Pliocene. The Quaternary records are somewhat ambiguous. The similarity of the patterns established in the three regions argues for a single globalscale mechanism of carbonate accumulation. The noted patterns also coincide well with some modeled changes in the global amount of carbonates accumulated by epoch. Moreover, increases in the amount of carbonates in the Late Cretaceous and the Eocene, and a decrease in the Paleocene, reflect true changes in the accumulation rates. The global process of carbonate accumulation might have been controlled, at least, by eustatic changes (sea-level rise led to broad transgressions on continental margins and consequently to expansion of shelfal paleoenvironments) and climate dynamics (warm water facilitated carbonate production). Interestingly, no dependence between the global carbonate accumulation and marine biodiversity dynamics is established.