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What besides redox conditions? Impact of sea-level fluctuations on redox-sensitive trace-element enrichment patterns in marine sediments

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Abstract

Concentrations of redox-sensitive trace-element (RSTE) in marine shales have long been interpreted simply as redox proxies. However, the impact of other non-redox factors (e.g., sea-level fluctuation and seawater chemistry) on the enrichment of RSTE, especially molybdenum (Mo) and uranium (U), in sediments has been rarely reported. This study presents newly obtained RSTE datasets from the Upper Pennsylvanian organic-rich Cline Shale in the silled Midland Basin, U.S., to illustrate the influence of sea-level fluctuation on the authigenic accumulation of RSTE in marine sediments. A previously established transgressive-regressive sequence of the Cline Shale, a well-constrained high-amplitude glacio-eustatic fluctuation curve, and an accompanying episodic resupply of aqueous RSTE from the Panthalassic Ocean provide an ideal stratigraphic framework for determining the spatial and temporal variations of sediment RSTE enrichment patterns that responded to the episodic variations of seawater chemistry in this marginal silled paleomarine basin. Results suggest that although slightly higher median RSTE concentrations were observed in sediments from more reducing environments, the overall variation ranges of RSTE concentrations largely overlap among sediments deposited from a wide redox spectrum (from oxic to euxinic conditions) or different sea-level statuses in the Cline Shale. In contrast to the sediment RSTE enrichment patterns, the variations of sediment Mo/TOC and U/TOC ratios are coupled with glacio-eustatic fluctuation. The highest Mo/TOC and U/TOC ratios are commonly observed in sediments deposited during the highest relative sea-level (RSTE resupply), whereas the lowest Mo/TOC and U/TOC ratios usually appear in sediments deposited during the lowest relative sea-level (RSTE depletion). Our findings suggest that the benthic redox conditions recorded in sediment Mo and U concentrations can be greatly obscured and weakened by depleted aqueous Mo and U concentrations in highly restricted basins. Thus, the use of sediment Mo and U concentrations as redox proxies in these highly restricted basins should be tested and calibrated with other redox proxies.

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Acknowledgements

The author thanks Firewheel Energy LLC, Devon Energy Corporation, and Strand Energy LLC for their generosity in donating cores and lab datasets. David HULL and Kim SOWDER at Devon Energy Corporation, Gregory DOLL at Strand Energy LLC, and others coordinated core donation and transportation. The author thanks Ben Herrmann at Devon Energy Corporation for providing several thin sections, Patrick SMITH at the BEG imaging laboratory for assistance during SEM sample preparation, and John GRILLO at Premier Oil Field Labs (Houston, Texas) and Evan SIVIL at BEG for help and guidance during energy-dispersive X-ray fluorescence analyses and calibration. Qilong FU, William AMBROSE, Toti E. LARSON, Kitty L. MILLIKEN, Stephen C. RUPPEL, Robert W. BAUMGARDNER, Scott HAMLIN, Nathan IVICIC, and Brandon WILLIAMSON at the BEG are thanked for their constructive suggestions and assistance during this research. Prof. Thomas ALEGO and an anonymous reviewer are thanked for their insightful comments that improved the scientific significance and logical flow of this manuscript. The manuscript was edited by publication editor, Amanda R. Masterson, for language polishing. The publication was authorized by the director of the Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin. This study was supported by the State of Texas Advanced Resource Recovery (STARR) program at the Bureau of Economic Geology (BEG). The author also received minor financial support from the China Scholarship Council (Grant No. 201606440062) and the Geological Society of America Graduate Student Research Grant (Grant No. 9244823).

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  1. Bureau of Economic Geology, Jackson School of Geosciences, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin, Texas, 78713, USA

    Junwen Peng

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Peng, J. What besides redox conditions? Impact of sea-level fluctuations on redox-sensitive trace-element enrichment patterns in marine sediments. Sci. China Earth Sci. 65, 1985–2004 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11430-021-9959-8

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