Benthic Microbial Communities and Dolomite Formation in Marine and Lacustrine Environments — A New Dolomite Model
-
Published:January 01, 2000
Abstract:
Conventional hydrologically-driven models of dolomite formation, though popular, often lack empirical support, and encounter fundamental chemical problems related to kinetic impediments in saline solutions: these include the high hydration energy of the magnesium ion, the extremely low activity of the carbonate ion, and the presence of even very low concentrations of sulfate. Although an organogenic dolomite model exists, it has been mainly limited in application to modern, organic-rich, deep marine sediments. However, growing evidence from modern and ancient sediments points to a greatly enhanced and fundamental role for benthic microbial communities in dolomite formation, linked to anoxic organic diagenesis...
Figures & Tables
Contents
Marine Authigenesis: From Global to Microbial

This volume is a collection of 33 state-of-the-art papers focusing on various aspects of authigenic and diagenetic marine minerals and related global elemental cycling. The commingling of the various studies of authigenic minerals in this volume, including the most recent advances in knowledge concerning the occurrence and origins of phosphorites, glauconites, dolomites, siderites, manganese-iron associations, barites, ironstones, and other marine chemical sediments/sedimentary rocks of early authigenic/diagenetic origin, is partly the result of the increasing awareness that there are many overlaps, even direct co-associations, between different authigenic minerals, both in time, space, and genesis. Taken together, this compilation represents a holistic approach towards marine authigenesis that considers the integrated whole more than the simple sum of its parts.