Kansas Geological Survey, Current Research in Earth Sciences, Bulletin 252, part 1
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Kansas Geological Survey, Current Research in Earth Sciences, Bulletin 252, part 1
Prev Page--Controls on Deposition
Mixtures of heterozoan-dominated carbonate and biosiliceous deposits that formed in shallow-water middle-to low-latitude locations are increasingly being recognized in the rock record. Their formation in these locations requires special photic zone conditions, including elevated nutrient and dissolved silica levels, that promoted their development and prevented the development of photozoan carbonate deposits.
This study documents Osagean biosiliceous and heterozoan carbonate and original evaporite facies that were deposited in a mid-latitude (approximately 20° south latitude) shallow-water, inner shelf setting in Ness County, Kansas. Other studies document similar Early-Middle Mississippian facies elsewhere in North America.
Many of the studies documenting biosiliceous and heterozoan carbonate facies development in mid-latitude, shallow-water (inshore) environments have emphasized terrestrial sources (fluvial and ground water) and a link to humid climate for the elevated nutrients and dissolved silica necessary to form the deposits in these environments. Although a possible contributing factor in this study, the available evidence from this and other studies suggests elevated nutrient and dissolved silica levels in shallow-water inner-shelf areas were not predominantly sourced from terrestrial environments. Instead, this study and others indicate that upwelling of basinal waters rich in nutrients and dissolved silica was a primary control on shelf margin and shelf facies. Upwelling even may have had a primary imprint on shallow-water, inner-shelf areas, especially during transgression(s). Other factors that are currently poorly understood, such as variable paleogeography in shoreward areas (e.g. areas with protected embayments) and associated paleoceanographic conditions, may have promoted the formation of these deposits in the shallow-water, inner-shelf environments.
The recognition that shallow-water heterozoan carbonate and biosiliceous deposits can occur in mid-latitude locations, and the understanding of controls for their development in such an environment, has implications for petroleum reservoirs. The DS2 siliceous sponge spicule, heterozoan, and silica-replaced evaporite facies in this study form reservoirs in Schaben field. Because a regional control, such as upwelling, is likely to have played a role in distribution of the shallow-water biosiliceous and heterozoan carbonate facies in DS2, the potential exists for these types of facies to form reservoirs in similar Lower-Middle Mississippian inner shelf/ramp settings elsewhere in Kansas and North America.
The continued documentation and detailed study of ancient neritic heterozoan carbonate and biosiliceous deposits will increase the understanding of the paleoenvironmental controls on their deposition and improve predictive capabilities.
Research included in this paper has been partially supported by a U.S. Department of Energy Kansas Class 2 Project grant award (DE-FC22-93BC14987). Bob Goldstein, Alan Byrnes, and Lynn Watney reviewed early portions of the manuscript and made many useful comments. Current Research Bulletin reviewers Katherine Giles and Zakaria Lasemi are thanked for their constructive comments that helped clarify the paper. Marla Adkins-Heljeson is thanked for editorial assistance, and Jennifer Sims is thanked for graphic arts support.
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