Page 31 - Carbonate Sedimentology and Sequence Stratigraphy

22 WOLFGANG SCHLAGER

Fig. 2.13.— From precipitation modes to car-
CARBONATE FACTORIES
bonate factories. At the scale of geological for-
MARINE mations, the pathways of precipitation of Fig.
PRECIPITATION
2.1 combine in characteristic ways to form car-
bonate factories. The typical material of the T
factory is biotically controlled precipitate from
abiotic biotic
tropical autotrophic organisms (or heterotrophic
organisms with autotrophic symbionts); the C
factory is dominated by heterotrophic organ-
biotically induced biotically controlled isms and the M factory by biotically induced pre-
cipitates, mostly micrite. After Schlager (2003),
modified.
heterotrophic autotrophic

M C T
mud-mound cool-water tropical
micrite controlled preciptates topmost water

Induced
BA Permian, Barents Sea
BH Holocene, Bahamas
BZ Holocene, Belize
MO CA Carboniferous Spain
DU Triassic (Carnian), Alps
FM Famennian, Canning Basin
FR Frasnian, Canning Basin
GK Triassic (Norian) Alps
GO Triassic (Carnian-Rhaetian), Alps
FM
M MO Liassic, Morocco
CAr SE Triassic, S Alps
ST Trias. (Nor.-Rhaet.), Alps
TA Holocene, Tahiti
m muddy platform interior
SEp p platform interior in general
T r platform rim
SEs GKr s platform slope
SEr

DUr
TAr
FRr
BHm
BA
C
BHt GOr
BHr
BZp
STr
BZr
Abiotic Controlled

Fig. 2.14.— Proportions of abiotic, biotically induced and biotically controlled material in factory output estimated from the composition
of some well-known Phanerozoic carbonate formations. C factory consists almost entirely of one category. M and T factories are
mixtures of all three categories and grade into one another with the M factory producing mainly bio-induced and abiotic material, T
factory producing biotically controlled material. After Schlager (2003), modified.