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Oolitic ironstones occur within the Lower Palaeozoic Welsh Basin as isolated deposits found over a wide geographical area. There are two phases of ironstone deposition, a minor Upper Arenig phase and a Mid-Ordovician (Upper Llanvirn to basal Caradoc) phase. Both correlate with eustatic falls of sea level which exposed the Irish Sea Landmass lying immediately to the northwest. This exposure resulted in deep chemical weathering and generation of lateritic soils. Erosion of this material formed the source for the oolitic' ironstones in the Welsh Basin. The ironstones formed above stratigraphic hiatuses on sediment starved shallow water shoals, formed by synsedimentary faulting. These shoals were the favourable sites for the formation of berthierine peloids, which formed the nuclei for ooids. Additionally, they were also the site for the accumulation of berthierine mud, which was closely linked with the development of ferruginous algal mats. Bacterial reduction of organic material associated with ironstones, supplied the necessary reducing conditions for the formation and preservation of berthierine from a kaolinite/iron oxide precursor. Ooids formed by rolling over the muddy surface and mechanically accreting berthierine. Subsequent tidal current reworking of this sediment resulted in the formation of the characteristic lithological features of the ironstones, representing a shallowing-up sequence. Progressive current winnowing led to the formation of a sequence with an upward increasing ooid content and decreasing mud content. The upper facies of the ironstones is an ooid bar deposit worked by tidal currents. Cessation of current reworking allowed faunal colonisation of the bar with significant bioturbation of the sediment, destroying primary sedimentary structures. The presence of some grain-ironstones indicate the original sedimentary state of the upper facies. Tectonic instability during deposition, by synsedimentary faulting, resulted in the formation of disturbed ironstones, and debris flows within the ironstone sequences. Many features of the ironstones are diagenetic in origin, especially the formation of phosphate nodules within the ironstone sequence. These formed just below the sediment/sea water interface, and some nodules were reworked into overlying beds. The source was phosphorus released from adsorption on clays and iron oxides, and also released from organic material. Later siderite development in the ironstones is indicated by the presence of primary cements in grain-ironstones and secondary alterations in pack-ironstones. The generation of diagenetic siderite was dependant upon the amount of organic material within the ironstones, bacterial reduction of which resulted in the formation of bicarbonate and ferrous ions. Sane ironstones were subsequently altered during the Caradoc phase of volcanic activity. The formation of magnetite and stilpnomelane within the ironstones were caused by metasanatic activity associated with dolerite sills and microgranite intrusions. Siderite alteration and base metal sulphides resulted fram late stage hydrothermal activity by some microgranites. Contact metarrorphism by granophyric intrusions led to the extensive replacement of the ironstones by pyrite. Regional metarrorphism resulted in the progressive change of berthierine to chamosite and increased lattice ordering of chamosite.

Grupo Corumbá representa um dos mais completos registros sedimentares do Ediacarano na América do Sul, com afloramentos de rochas siliciclásticas e carbonáticas ao longo da Faixa Paraguai Sul. Estas rochas contêm um rico conteúdo fossilífero, com ocorrências dos primeiros organismos com estruturas biomineralizadas (Cloudina sp). Este trabalho apresenta o estudo faciológico e quimioestratigráfico da Formação Tamengo, Grupo Corumbá na mina Laginha, sucessão carbonática de 130 metros de espessura, em contato erosivo na base com brechas calcárias e no topo com os pelitos da Formação Guaicurus. Para a Formação Tamengo foram descritas 4 fácies sedimentares: brecha calcária intraformacional (F1), grainstone oolítico (F2), packstone/grainstone oolítico (F3) e ritmito (F4), as quais representam a evolução de uma rampa interna-média com geração de barras oolíticas, submetida à ação de correntes e ondas de alta energia. Os dados geoquímicos e isotópicos dos carbonatos mostram as condições geoquímicas dessa rampa carbonática depositada em ambiente marinho de águas rasas. Análises isotópicas de carbono e oxigênio foram realizadas em 130 amostras de rocha, coletadas a cada um metro. Com base nos teores de Rb e Sr determinados por FRX, as 10 amostras com altas concentrações de Sr foram selecionadas para análise isotópica de Sr e geoquímica elementar. Na base da sucessão, os carbonatos oolíticos mostram valores de ?13C (V-PDB) de cerca de -3,5 ?, aumentando para +6,0 ? nos primeiros 70 metros basais da sequência. O aumento nos valores de ?13C é interpretado como resultado do aumento da taxa de matéria orgânica soterrada. Acima desse intervalo, observa-se uma tendência homogênea dos valores ?13C, oscilando entre 1,7 e 3,4 ?. A estabilidade nestes valores positivos pode estar relacionada ao equilíbrio entre a taxa de matéria orgânica soterrada e a reciclagem do carbono pela degradação da matéria orgânica. Os valores de ?18O (V-PDB) são todos negativos e mostram uma tendência progressiva em toda a seção, de -1,8 na base a -9,3 ? na parte superior. Os valores de ?18O provavelmente não refletem as composições isotópicas primárias devido à alteração pós-deposicional. As razões 87Sr/86Sr variaram entre 0,7085 e 0,7089, as quais são concordantes com a evolução global para o final do Ediacarano. Os resultados obtidos permitem inferir que estas razões representam a composição isotópica da água do mar na época da deposição. A presente investigação contribui para o conhecimento das condições geoquímicas presentes nos ambientes marinhos rasos da rampa carbonática onde as rochas da Formação Tamengo foram depositadas e suas implicações no desenvolvimento das comunidades biológicas que evoluíram no final do Ediacariano. / The Corumbá Group represents one of the most complete sedimentary records of the Ediacaran in South America, with outcrops of siliciclastic and carbonate rocks along the southern Paraguay Belt. These rocks contain a rich fossiliferous content, with occurrences of the first organisms with biomineralized structures (Cloudina sp). This work presents the faciologic and chemostratigraphic study of the Tamengo Formation, Corumbá Group, at the Laginha mine, a 130 - m thick carbonate succession, in erosive contact at the base with carbonate breccias and at the top with pelites of the Guaicurus Formation. Four sedimentary facies have been described in the Tamengo Formation: intraformational breccia (F1) oolitic grainstone (F2) oolitic packstone/grainstone (F3) and rhythmites (F4), which represent the evolution of an inner-mid ramp with oolitic bars generation, subjected to the action of currents and waves of high energy. Elementar and isotope geochemistry of carbonates show the chemical conditions in the shallow-water marine environments of this carbonatic ramp. Carbon and oxygen isotopic analysis were performed on 130 calcareous samples, collected each meter. Based on the Rb and Sr contents determined by XRF, ten samples with high Sr concentrations were selected for Sr isotope and elemental geochemical analysis. The ?13C (V-PDB) values start with -3.5 ? at the base of oolitic carbonates, increasing to +6.0 ? in the first 70 meters at the base of the sequence. The increase in ?13C values is preliminarily interpreted as a result of the increase in the organic matter buried. Above this interval, a homogeneous trend is observed in the ?13C values, oscillating between 1.7 and 3.4 ?. The stability of these positive values can be related to a balance between the buried organic matter and carbon recycling by organic matter degradation. The ?18O (V-PDB) values are all negative and show a progressive trend throughout the section, from -1.8 at the base to -9.3 ? at the top. This trend of the ?18O values probably do not reflect the primary isotopic composition due to post-depositional alteration. 87Sr/86Sr ratios ranged between 0.7085 and 0.7089, which are in accordance with the global Sr isotope evolution of the late Ediacaran seawater. The obtained results allow us to infer that these ratios represent the isotopic composition of seawater at the time of deposition. The present study contributes to the knowledge of the geochemical conditions of the shallow marine environments of the Tamengo Formation, which has implications in the development of the biological communities that evolved at the end of the Ediacaran.

Observations of modern carbonate depositional environments and their accompanying depositional models have been used for decades in the reconstruction and interpretation of ancient carbonate depositional environments and stratigraphic successions. While these Holocene models are necessary for interpreting their more ancient counterparts, they inherently exclude important factors related to the erosion, diagenesis, and ultimate preservation of sediments and sedimentary structures that are ubiquitous in shallow marine carbonate environments. Andros Island, Bahamas is an ideal location to examine the validity of Holocene conceptual models, where geologically young (Late Pleistocene) limestones can be studied immediately adjacent to their well-documented modern equivalents. For this study, two 3D ground-penetrating radar (GPR) datasets (200 MHz and 400 MHz) were collected at a schoolyard in northwest Andros. These surveys reveal the geometries and internal characteristics of a peloidal-oolitic sand wave and tidal channel in unprecedented detail. These two prominent features are underlain by low-energy lagoonal wackestones and packstones, and are bordered laterally to the northwest by wackestones-packstones intermixed with thin sheets of peloidaloolitic grainstone. A deeper radar surface is observed at approximately 6 m depth dipping gently to the west, and is interpreted to be a karstified exposure surface delineating the base of a complete depositional sequence. Interpretation of the 3D radar volumes is enhanced and constrained by data from three cores drilled through the crest and toe of the sand wave, and through the tidal channel. This study is the first of its kind to capture the complex heterogeneity of a carbonate depositional package in three dimensions, where various depositional environments, sedimentary structures, and textures (mudstone to grainstone) have been preserved within a small volume.The results from this study suggest that the degree of vertical and lateral heterogeneity in preserved carbonate successions is often more complex than what can be observed in modern depositional environments, where sediments can generally only be observed in two dimensions, at an instant in time. Data from this study demonstrate the value of using two overlapping GPR datasets at differing resolutions to image the internal characteristics of a complete carbonate depositional package in three dimensions. From these datasets, a depositional model similar to other Holocene and Pleistocene carbonate depositional models is derived.