Sediment dynamics of early Carboniferous ramps: A proposal

✍ Scribed by V. P. Wright; T. J. Faulkner

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1990
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 544 KB
• Volume: 25
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0072-1050
• DOI: 10.1002/gj.3350250205

✦ Synopsis

In this paper we contend that the widespread development of carbonate ramps, in preference to carbonate shelves, during the early Carboniferous was a consequence of the different style of carbonate production during that period. Not only was the overall rate of biogenic production probably slightly lower than at most other times in the Phanerozoic but its distribution was also different. The marked differential carbonate productivities between shallow and deeper water, a key factor in forming accretionary shelf margins, was not as strongly developed during the early Carboniferous. Benthic biotas, especially reef builders, were partly impoverished following the late Devonian extinctions and were also affected by oceanographic and climatic changes taking place during the Tournaisian, including possible anoxic phases.

KEY WORDS Carboniferous Ramps Reefs