Lacustrine and palustrine facies in the Bembridge Limestone (late Eocene, Hampshire Basin) of the Isle of Wight, southern England

doi:10.1016/S0031-0182(96)00108-3

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

Volume 128, Issues 1–4, February 1997, Pages 111-132

https://doi.org/10.1016/S0031-0182(96)00108-3 Get rights and content

Abstract

The carbonate lake system represented by the late Eocene Bembridge Limestone Formation (Isle of Wight, southern England) comprises two main facies: lacustrine and palustrine. These facies are arranged vertically in transgressive/regressive cycles, corresponding to a model of carbonate lakes of low gradient and fluctuating margins with extensive palustrine fringes. These lakes developed in a coastal plain of limited relief, where two paleogeographical domains predominate. A lacustrine domain is represented in northern and eastern sections in the Isle of Wight by cycles representing upward passage from central lacustrine sub-facies (marl/marly limestone) through marginal lacustrine sub-facies (biomicrite) to sub-facies indicative of exposure (brecciated-nodular limestone). A palustrine domain, predominant in west Wight, is represented by a predominantly pedogenic palustrine facies with clotted-peloidal to ooidal textures and some intercalated laminated (laminar calcrete) horizons. Within the pedogenic facies, textures have evolved from those of unaltered biomicrites through clotted-peloidal to dense ooidal to open ooidal textures. A third domain, developed in close geographical proximity to more saline waters, is represented by gypsiferous lake-margin facies found in north Wight in which microlenticular gypsum developed post-depositionally as a result of evaporation following subaerial sediment exposure.

In the lacustrine domain, there appears to be an association between cyclicity and changes in base (sea) level reflecting a likelihood that the lakes were part of a paralic, coastal plain complex with distal marine connections. Alternatively, the cyclicity might have developed as a result of the alternation of wetter and drier climatic periods.

References (85)

I. Armenteros et al.
Pedogenic and groundwater processes in a closed Miocene basin (northern Spain)
Sediment. Geol.
(1995)
M.-P. Aubry
Palaeogene calcareous nannoplankton biostratigraphy of north western Europe
Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.
(1986)
B. Daley
Silica pseudomorphs from the Bembridge Limestone (Upper Eocene) of the Isle of Wight, Southern England and their palaeoclimatic significance
Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.
(1989)
P. Freytet
Petrography and paleo-environment of continental carbonate deposits with particular reference to the Upper Cretaceous and Lower Eocene of Languedoc (Southern France)
Sediment. Geol.
(1973)
N. Molenaar et al.
Carbonates associated with alluvial fans: an example from the Messinian Colombacci Formation of the Pietrarubbia Basin, northern Marche, Italy
Sediment. Geol.
(1985)
M. Normati et al.
Reconstruction of a Berriasian lacustrine paleoenvironment in the Cameros Basin (Spain)
Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.
(1989)
N.H. Platt
Sedimentology and stable isotopes of fresh water carbonates from the Lower Freshwater Molasse (Oligocene), western Switzerland
Sediment. Geol.
(1992)
M. Wieder et al.
Effect of matrix composition on carbonate nodule crystallization
Geoderma
(1974)
V.P. Wright et al.
Seasonal wetland carbonate sequences and dynamic catenas: a re-appraisal of palustrine limestones
Sediment. Geol.
(1995)
M.A. Alonso et al.
Palustrine sedimentation and associated features-granification and pseudo-microkarst in the Middle Miocene (Intermediate Unit) of the Madrid Basin, Spain
Sediment. Geol.
(1992)

A.V. Arakel

Genesis of calcrete in Quaternary soil profiles, Hutt and Leeman Lagoons, Western Australia

J. Sediment. Petrol.

(1982)

I. Armenteros

Estratigrafía y Sedimentología del Neógeno del Sector Suroriental de la Depresión del Duero (Aranda de Duero-Peñafiel)

I. Armenteros

Alteración del sustrato y encostramientos carbonáticos ligados a la discontinuidad Cretácico-Terciaria en el borde este del Sistema Ibérico Central (España)

Stud. Geol. Salmanticensia Vol. Esp.

(1989)

I. Armenteros et al.

Sedimentology and stable isotope study of the lacustrine Bembridge Limestone (upper Eocene), Isle of Wight, southern England

M.E. Arribas Mocoroa

Petrologia y análisis secuencial de los carbonatos lacustres del Paleógeno del sector N de la Cuenca Terciaria del Tajo (provincia de Guadalajara)

Sedimentación Continental en España

Cuad. Geol. Ibér.

(1986)

M.E. Arribas Mocoroa

Pedogenetic facies in a lacustrine sedimentation model: paleogene of the Tertiary Tajo Basin

P.A. Baker et al.

Constraints on the formation of sedimentary dolomites

Science

(1981)

J.L. Ballais et al.

Croûtes calcaires quaternaires du piémont nord des Aurr̀es (Algérie)

Rech. Géogr. Strasbourg

(1979)

A. Bersier

Séquences détritiques et divagations fluviales

5th Congr. Int. Sediment. Eclogae Geol. Helv.

(1958)

J.M. Bowler et al.

Aust. J. Earth Sci.

(1986)

C.J.R. Braithwaite

Petrology of palaeosols and other terrestrial sediments on Aldabra, Western Indian Ocean

Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London

(1975)

C.J.R. Braithwaite

Calcrete and other soils in Quaternary limestones: structures, processes and applications

J. Geol. Soc. London

(1983)

R. Brewer

Fabric and Mineral Analysis of Soils

R.E. Brown et al.

The Draney Limestone: Early Cretaceous lacustrine carbonate deposition in western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho

Contrib. Geol. Univ. Wyo.

(1981)

P. Bullock et al.

L. Cabrera et al.

Sedimentation and tectonics interrelationships in the Paleogene marginal alluvial systems of the Ebro Basin

F. Calvet et al.

Pisoids in caliche profiles of Tarragona (NE Spain)

R.D. Cody et al.

Gypsum nucleation and crystal morphology in analog saline terrestrial environments

J. Sediment. Petrol.

(1988)

A.S. Cohen et al.

Nearshore carbonate deposits in Lake Tanganyika

Geology

(1987)

A. Corrochano et al.

Los sistemas lacustres de la cuenca Terciaria del Duero

Acta Geol. Hisp.

(1989)

L. Costa et al.

The distribution of the dinoflagellate Wetzeliella in the Palaeogene of North-Western Europe

Palaeontology

(1976)

B. Daley

Some problems concerning the Early Tertiary climate of southern Britain

Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.

(1971)

B. Daley et al.

The Bembridge Limestone Formation (Late Eocene), Isle of Wight, Southern England: A Stratigraphical Revision

Tertiary Res.

(1990)

E. Flügel

Microfacies Analysis of Limestones

R.L. Folk et al.

Length-slow chalcedony: a new testament for vanished evaporites

J. Sediment. Petrol.

(1971)

E. Forbes

On the fluvio-marine tertiaries of the Isle of Wight

Q. J. Geol. Soc. Lond.

(1853)

P. Freytet

Sédimentation microcyclothémique avec croûtes zonaires à Algues dans le Calcaire de Beauce de Chauffour-Etrechy (S. et O.)

B.S.G.F.

(1965)

P. Freytet

Quelques observations pétrographiques sur les calcaires continentaux rencontrés à l'excursion de mai 1974 de l'A. G. B. P.: faciès lacustres, modifications pédologiques, Microcodium

Bull. Inf. Geol. Bassin Paris

(1975)

P. Freytet

Les sédiments lacustres carbonatées et leurs transformations par émersions and pédogenèse

Importance de leur identification pour les reconstructions paléogeographiques

Bull. Cent. Rech. Explor.-Prod. Elf-Aquitaine

(1984)

P. Freytet et al.

Les ooides continentaux: diversité des formes, des modes de formation

Rech. Geogr. Strasbourg

(1979)

P. Freytet et al.

Continental carbonate sedimentation and pedogenesis

Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary of Southern France

Contrib. Sedimentol.

(1982)

G.M. Friedman et al.

Principles of Sedimentology

Cited by (78)

Salinization mechanism of lakes and controls on organic matter enrichment: From present to deep-time records
2024, Earth-Science Reviews
Saline lakes have developed worldwide throughout geological history and continue to develop, is important for understanding deep-time climate evolution, lake evolution and extinction, terrestrial ecosystem evolution, and organic carbon burial processes. The basic conditions required for the formation of saline lakes are a sufficient source of salt, an arid or semi-arid climate, and a closed or semi-closed lake environment. There are four mechanisms of lake basin salinization: (1) seawater-derived salinized lake, salt irons are provided by seawater; (2) Inland evaporative saline lakes, the land is the source of salt substances following strong evaporation; (3) Deep hydrothermal fluids-based saline lakes, high-salinity hydrothermal fluids enter the basin through faults; and (4) Any combination of the above mechanisms. During the evolution of saline lake, one or more can be the main salinization mechanism, and the primary mechanism may change with the evolution of salinization periods. Hydrological characteristics of saline lakes control biome development, biogeochemical processes, sediment deposition, and organic matter enrichment. Due to high productivity and reducing conditions, the salinized lake basin environment is conducive to the formation of organic rich source rocks and/or type I and II sapropelic organic matter with high hydrocarbon generation potential. Future studies should focus on evolutionary processes of deep-time saline lake development based on Earth System Science and interactions between spheres, ecological reconstruction and biogeochemical processes in saline lakes, sediments burial diagenesis and physico-chemical-microbiological processes.
Paleobiodiversity and paleoenvironments of the eastern Paratethys Pleistocene lacustrine-palustrine sequence in the Baklan Basin (SW Anatolia, Turkey)
2023, Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
The Lower-Upper Pleistocene sedimentary record of the Baklan Basin, a long-lived continental half-graben basin in SW Turkey, is characterized by shallow lacustrine and palustrine deposits. The paleoenvironmental changes recorded in the basin succession allow for a multiproxy approach in reconstructing the paleoclimatic, paleoecological, and paleobiogeographical evolution of southwestern Anatolia during the Early-Late Pleistocene. Based on sedimentological, paleontological, and geochemical data, three main types of depositional intervals have been identified, corresponding to different phases of a lake expansion cycle: The first interval is characterized by the perennial shallow lake environment (PSL deposits), which represents the very early stage of the Early Expansion System Tract (VEEST). This suggests a very early stage of lake transgression in arid climate conditions. The second interval is represented by the palustrine carbonate lake center environment (PLC deposits), which corresponds to the late stage of the Early Expansion System Tract (LEEST). This indicates a late early stage of lake transgression in semiarid to subhumid climates. The third interval is marked by the palustrine lake margin environment (PLM deposits), which represents the Late Expansion System Tract (LEST) under humid conditions.
The Lower-Upper Pleistocene successions of the Baklan Basin provide an excellent example of lacustrine and palustrine deposition in a laterally extensive, low-gradient, shallow lake system in the semi-isolated Pontocaspian freshwater to slightly brackish water (oligohaline-low mesohaline) long-lived lake. The presence of Pontocaspian ostracod and mollusc faunas in the studied successions indicates that the largest major Caspian transgression around 2.6 millon years ago extended to SW Anatolia. The studied successions represent a rich archive of landscape, climate, and biotic development in the eastern Paratethys region during the Early-Late Pleistocene. The biogeographic signature of fossil faunas (mammals, ostracods, molluscs, and fishes) and floras (Characeae) is predominantly modern Palearctic and Holarctic, with a minor amount of endemic Pontocaspian elements. This study presents the Pleistocene Pontocaspian species of the Anatolian lakes that may have served as refugia for the Palearctic taxa during adverse time intervals. Consequently, this study shows that Lower-Upper Pleistocene lacustrine to palustrine sedimentation in the Baklan Basin has been controlled by the combination of tectonics, climate changes, and the largest major Caspian Sea transgression. The findings of this study could be used to evaluate the impact of similar allocyclic factors on the sedimentological, hydrological, and geochemical development of other intermontane lake basins.
Distal fluvial to lacustrine/palustrine carbonate facies of the El-Ris Formation (Late Miocene?) at the Bahariya Depression, Western Desert, Egypt: Depositional model and controls
2023, Journal of African Earth Sciences
This article aims to discuss the distal fluvial to lacustrine/palustrine carbonate facies of the El-Ris Formation (Late Miocene?) in the Bahariya Depression (Western Desert, Egypt), in terms of their depositional evolution and factors (base-level, climate, tectonics) controlling deposition. The El-Ris Formation disconformably overlies the Lower Cenomanian Bahariya Formation. It is up to 11 m thick, and includes siliciclastic facies, followed upward by carbonate facies. The siliciclastic facies consist of greenish-white, fine-grained calcareous sandstones interbedded with subordinate yellowish-brown mudrocks having insects ichnofossils reflecting deposition in a distal fluvial distributary system. The carbonate facies include the fossiliferous (mostly ostracods and a few dispersed gastropods, Lanistes carinatus,) fine crystalline lacustrine/palustrine carbonates, and calcretes-dolocretes. The lacustrine/palustrine beds are grey to pale-yellow colored massive dolomitic beds, with exposure features, reflecting deposition in a shallow, low-gradient (marginal) lake with frequent base-level changes. Calcretes-dolocretes are nodular to massive orange beds, developed at the expense of siliciclastic facies, that formed a fringe between the distal alluvial and central lacustrine-palustrine environments. Palustrine carbonate and duricrust (calcrete/dolocrete) facies increase progressively toward the top of the studied rock unit. The development of silica nodules in the palustrine facies is a result of intense evaporation just above the water table. Silica could have been released by silicate dissolution from the host alluvial deposits into the groundwater. δ¹³C and δ¹⁸O data indicate a hydrologically closed palustrine/lacustrine environment fed by meteoric waters, that originally precipitated calcite. Progressive evaporation of freshwater in this closed system led to dolomitization. The upward increase of carbonates in the El-Ris Formation reflects a progressive decrease of a terrigenous clastic supply in the source area and a dominance of carbonate development in the study area. During the deposition of the El-Ris Formation, the climate had marked more arid seasons with fewer intermittent humid periods. Also, the tectonic influence cannot be ruled out, since tectonic instability led to the creation of the basin depression and subsequent accommodation space that made the deposition of the El-Ris Formation.
Ichnological evidence of marine incursions in the lacustrine–palustrine Bembridge Limestone Formation (Eocene), Isle of Wight, southern England
2023, Proceedings of the Geologists' Association
Trace fossils are described from the Eocene Bembridge Limestone Formation from the Isle of Wight and used to constrain the paleoenvironmental interpretation. The lacustrine–palustrine succession contains three limestone beds, which are separated by clay and marl. The middle and upper limestone beds reveal complex burrow systems developed at their top. Based on their characteristics, these burrow systems are assigned to the ichnotaxon Balanoglossites triadicus Mägdefrau, which is associated with the shallow superficial grooves Sulcolithos variabilis Knaust. B. triadicus is a common marine trace fossil mainly known from shallow-marine carbonate successions throughout the Phanerozoic. It is accompanied by other marine ichnotaxa such as Arachnostega gastrochaenae Bertling, Gastrochaenolites isp. aff. G. ornatus Kelly and Bromley, Spongeliomorpha iberica Saporta and Thalassinoides suevicus (Rieth). This ichnological evidence confirms the occurrence of short-term marginal-marine incursions in a predominantly lacustrine to palustrine environment.
Plio-Pleistocene continental carbonates and silcretes in Wadi El-Natrun, NW Egypt: Their morphology and paleoenvironmental significance
2023, Journal of African Earth Sciences
To deduce the prevailing paleoenvironmental conditions during the deposition of the Plio-Pleistocene continental carbonate sequence at Wadi El-Natrun (NW Egypt), we examined and compared the macro- and micro-morphological, mineralogical and stable isotopic characteristics of calcretes, dolocretes, palustrine carbonates, and silcretes of the lower Pliocene Meikheimin and Plio-Pleistocene Qataji formations. Calcrete occurs in both formations and exhibits a variety of forms, including powdery, nodular, fracture-infill, massive and hard laminated crusts (hardpan). The calcretes developed in mixed vadose and phreatic diagenetic environments under an arid to semi-arid climate. Palustrine carbonates occur in the upper Qataji Formation and developed as nodular, desiccated, brecciated, mottled and pisoidal limestones that are interbedded with the calcretes. They exhibit varied micro-morphological features, including circum-granular and planar cracks, nodular and clotted fabrics, peloidal textures, infilling of burrows, root molds, and fenestral pores, which indicate modifications during subaerial exposure. The dolocrete facies in the upper Qataji Formation comprises laminated carbonate crusts. These include spheroidal dolomite and dolomicrite with Mg-rich clays that formed as primary precipitates in a continental setting. The silcretes consist of spheroidal, irregular opaline accumulations that formed as replacements of calcrete and dolocrete. These features reflect silicification in near-surface environments where there was an interplay between vadose and phreatic environments during deposition and early burial diagenesis. The stable isotopic data suggest deposition under warm, seasonally arid to semi-arid climatic conditions in an area dominated by C3 vegetation. The regional water table was higher in the early Pleistocene than during the early Pliocene but was subject to large fluctuations.
Origin of hematite in the Middle Cretaceous red chalks on the eastern coast of England
2022, Sedimentary Geology
Chalks are generally believed to have formed in shallow marine environments. However, the consensus on sources of Fe and origin of hematite in red chalks remains elusive. To better understand the origin of hematite in the Middle Cretaceous red chalks on the eastern coast of England, the evidence has been gathered through diffuse reflection, trace element and iron isotope analysis and combining with the lithologic and stratigraphic characteristics. Rare earth element (REE) patterns exhibit upper-continental-crust-like signatures such as enrichment in light REEs and depletion in heavy REEs. The Fe isotopic composition of the red chalk is typically heavier than that of igneous rocks (except for one sample) and shows negative Eu anomalies (Eu/Eu* = 0.58–0.73), which indicates that the hematite in the red chalk is not of microbial or hydrothermal, but of sedimentary origin. At the same time, the analysis of trace elements suggests that the felsic rocks and sedimentary derivatives are the source of non-carbonate components in the red chalks. The pedogenic features such as mudcracks, secondary white chalks, and calcareous nodules appear in the red chalks, as documented through the field stratigraphic observations. Based on the above evidence and the sedimentary environment of the overlying and underlying layers, it is inferred that the red chalk was deposited in the supratidal environment that had undergone some degree of desiccation and pedogenic modification.

View all citing articles on Scopus

View full text

Research paperLacustrine and palustrine facies in the Bembridge Limestone (late Eocene, Hampshire Basin) of the Isle of Wight, southern England

Abstract

Sediment. Geol.

Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.

Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.

Sediment. Geol.

Sediment. Geol.

Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.

Sediment. Geol.

Geoderma

Sediment. Geol.

Palustrine sedimentation and associated features-granification and pseudo-microkarst in the Middle Miocene (Intermediate Unit) of the Madrid Basin, Spain

Sediment. Geol.

Genesis of calcrete in Quaternary soil profiles, Hutt and Leeman Lagoons, Western Australia

J. Sediment. Petrol.

Estratigrafía y Sedimentología del Neógeno del Sector Suroriental de la Depresión del Duero (Aranda de Duero-Peñafiel)

Alteración del sustrato y encostramientos carbonáticos ligados a la discontinuidad Cretácico-Terciaria en el borde este del Sistema Ibérico Central (España)

Stud. Geol. Salmanticensia Vol. Esp.

Sedimentology and stable isotope study of the lacustrine Bembridge Limestone (upper Eocene), Isle of Wight, southern England

Petrologia y análisis secuencial de los carbonatos lacustres del Paleógeno del sector N de la Cuenca Terciaria del Tajo (provincia de Guadalajara)

Sedimentación Continental en España

Cuad. Geol. Ibér.

Pedogenetic facies in a lacustrine sedimentation model: paleogene of the Tertiary Tajo Basin

Constraints on the formation of sedimentary dolomites

Science

Croûtes calcaires quaternaires du piémont nord des Aurr̀es (Algérie)

Rech. Géogr. Strasbourg

Séquences détritiques et divagations fluviales

5th Congr. Int. Sediment. Eclogae Geol. Helv.

Aust. J. Earth Sci.

Petrology of palaeosols and other terrestrial sediments on Aldabra, Western Indian Ocean

Philos. Trans. R. Soc. London

Calcrete and other soils in Quaternary limestones: structures, processes and applications

J. Geol. Soc. London

Fabric and Mineral Analysis of Soils

The Draney Limestone: Early Cretaceous lacustrine carbonate deposition in western Wyoming and southeastern Idaho

Contrib. Geol. Univ. Wyo.

Sedimentation and tectonics interrelationships in the Paleogene marginal alluvial systems of the Ebro Basin

Pisoids in caliche profiles of Tarragona (NE Spain)

Gypsum nucleation and crystal morphology in analog saline terrestrial environments

J. Sediment. Petrol.

Nearshore carbonate deposits in Lake Tanganyika

Geology

Los sistemas lacustres de la cuenca Terciaria del Duero

Acta Geol. Hisp.

The distribution of the dinoflagellate Wetzeliella in the Palaeogene of North-Western Europe

Palaeontology

Some problems concerning the Early Tertiary climate of southern Britain

Palaeogeogr. Palaeoclimatol. Palaeoecol.

The Bembridge Limestone Formation (Late Eocene), Isle of Wight, Southern England: A Stratigraphical Revision

Tertiary Res.

Microfacies Analysis of Limestones

Length-slow chalcedony: a new testament for vanished evaporites

J. Sediment. Petrol.

On the fluvio-marine tertiaries of the Isle of Wight

Q. J. Geol. Soc. Lond.

Sédimentation microcyclothémique avec croûtes zonaires à Algues dans le Calcaire de Beauce de Chauffour-Etrechy (S. et O.)

B.S.G.F.

Quelques observations pétrographiques sur les calcaires continentaux rencontrés à l'excursion de mai 1974 de l'A. G. B. P.: faciès lacustres, modifications pédologiques, Microcodium

Bull. Inf. Geol. Bassin Paris

Les sédiments lacustres carbonatées et leurs transformations par émersions and pédogenèse

Importance de leur identification pour les reconstructions paléogeographiques

Bull. Cent. Rech. Explor.-Prod. Elf-Aquitaine

Les ooides continentaux: diversité des formes, des modes de formation

Rech. Geogr. Strasbourg

Continental carbonate sedimentation and pedogenesis

Late Cretaceous and Early Tertiary of Southern France

Contrib. Sedimentol.

Principles of Sedimentology

Research paper
Lacustrine and palustrine facies in the Bembridge Limestone (late Eocene, Hampshire Basin) of the Isle of Wight, southern England