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Facies character and geochemical signature in the late Quaternary meteoric diagenetic carbonate succession at the Xisha Islands, South China Sea

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Abstract

The late Quaternary shallow-water carbonates have been altered by a variety of diagenetic processes, and further influenced by high-amplitude global and regional sea level changes. This study utilizes a new borehole drilled on the Yongxing Island, Xisha Islands to investigate meteoric diagenetic alteration in the late Quaternary shallow-water carbonates. Petrographic, mineralogical, stable isotopic and elemental data provide new insights into the meteoric diagenetic processes of the reef limestone. The results show the variation in the distribution of aragonite, high-Mg calcite (HMC) and low-Mg calcite (LMC) divides the shallow-water carbonates in Core SSZK1 into three intervals, which are Unit I (31.20–55.92 m, LMC), Unit II (18.39–31.20 m, aragonite and LMC) and Unit III (upper 18.39 m of core, aragonite, LMC and HMC). Various degrees of meteoric diagenesis exist in the identified three units. The lowermost Unit I has suffered almost complete freshwater diagenesis, whereas the overlying Units II and III have undergone incompletely meteoric diagenesis. The amount of time that limestone has been in the freshwater diagenetic environment has the largest impact on the degree of meteoric diagenesis. Approximately four intact facies/water depth cycles are recognized. The cumulative depletion of elements such as strontium (Sr), sodium (Na) and sulphur (S) caused by duplicated meteoric diagenesis in the older reef sequences are distinguished from the younger reef sequences. This study provides a new record of meteoric diagenesis, which is well reflected by whole-rock mineralogy and geochemistry.

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Acknowledgements

We thank the Institute of Hainan Marine Geological Survey for their assistance in gathering this data set throughout two cruises in 2015. Yanyan Zhao is thanked for the help during sample preparation and XRD analysis. Christian Betzler is acknowledged for his precious advices.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Laboratory of Marine Geophysics and Georesources, Institute of Deep-sea Science and Engineering, Sanya, 572000, China

    Wanli Chen, Xiaoxia Huang & Shiguo Wu

  2. Laboratory for Marine Geology, Pilot National Laboratory for Marine Science and Technology (Qingdao), Qingdao, 266034, China

    Shiguo Wu

  3. University of China Academy of Sciences, Beijing, 100049, China

    Wanli Chen & Shiguo Wu

  4. Institute of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Potsdam, Potsdam, 14476, Germany

    Xiaoxia Huang

  5. Institute of Marine Geology Survey, Bureau of Hainan Marine Geology Survey, Haikou, 570206, China

    Gang Liu

  6. Key Laboratory of Marine Geological Resources and Environment of Hainan Province, Marine Geological Survey Institute of Hainan Province, Haikou, 570206, China

    Gang Liu

  7. College of Marine Geosciences, Ocean University of China, Qingdao, 266100, China

    Haotian Wei & Jiaqing Wu

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  1. Wanli Chen
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Correspondence to Xiaoxia Huang or Shiguo Wu.

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The National Natural Science Foundation of China-Guangdong Joint Foundation under contract No. U1701245; the Hainan Provincial Natural Science Foundation of China under contract No. 418QN306; the Land and Georesource Bureau of Hainan Province under contract No. SQ2016KJHZ0027; the Pioneer Hundred Talents Program under contract No. Y910091001; the Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey Project under contract No. GZH201400210.

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Chen, W., Huang, X., Wu, S. et al. Facies character and geochemical signature in the late Quaternary meteoric diagenetic carbonate succession at the Xisha Islands, South China Sea. Acta Oceanol. Sin. 40, 94–111 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13131-021-1713-6

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