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The impacts of diagenesis on the geochemical characteristics and Color Alteration Index of conodonts

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Abstract

The conodont Color Alteration Index (CAI) has been widely used to determine the maximum temperature in carbonate rocks, despite recognition that conodont colour can be affected by other factors, such as diagenesis. Measurements of trace element characteristics in conodonts of varying CAI (1.5–6.0) from the Canadian Cordillera show that those specimens with the most anomalous CAI with respect to independent estimates of maximum temperature also have the highest concentrations of iron (> 3000 ppm). The adsorption of transition metals such as iron onto bioapatite crystals and permineralization by their oxides in conodont elements are herein proposed as mechanisms for the modification of CAI during diagenesis. Furthermore, the trace element characteristics of conodonts, primarily those of the lanthanide, or rare earth element (REE) series, have frequently been used as a proxy for palaeoceanographic conditions, including anoxic events. However, the impact of early diagenetic processes post-burial obscures this marine signal, and instead, the trace element characteristics of conodonts likely reflect the characteristics of pore waters or diagenetic fluids. Several geochemical ‘tools’ have been proposed to test for such overprinting of palaeoceanographic information, including Y/Ho vs. ΣREE, MREE/MREE*, U concentration, and La/Yb. However, REE and Raman structural characteristics in a suite of conodonts from the Canadian Cordillera indicate that these ‘tools’ cannot be systematically applied. The majority of conodont specimens analysed in this study appear to have been affected by post-burial diagenetic alteration using one or more of the ‘tools’, but seem to be unaltered when investigated using other ‘tools’. Additionally, several specimens which appear to be diagenetically unaltered when using the metrics of the geochemical ‘toolbox’ exhibit diagenetically induced structural changes. The geochemical ‘tools’ are thus unable to discriminate between diagenetic alteration induced before and after burial, and they should therefore be accompanied by structural analyses if REE characteristic of conodonts are used to infer palaeoceanographic conditions.

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Acknowledgements

The authors are grateful to reviewer Daniel Herwartz, an anonymous reviewer, and Editor Peter Königshof for helping to greatly improve this manuscript. RM is grateful for the NSERC CGSD Program, the UBC 4YF Program, and the NSERC CREATE Multidisciplinary Applied Geochemistry Network (MAGNET) financial support. RM is also supported in part by funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. RM thanks Marghaleray Amini (PCIGR, UBC) for valuable help analysing the specimens with LA-ICP-MS. MG thanks Mike Orchard and Hillary Taylor for providing conodont material for this study, and the GEM 2 Program of the Geological Survey of Canada for providing additional funding.

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  1. Geological Survey of Canada, Pacific Division, 1500-605 Robson Street, Vancouver, BC, V6B 5J3, Canada

    M. L. Golding

  2. Pacific Centre for Isotopic and Geochemical Research, Department of Earth, Ocean, and Atmospheric Sciences, University of British Columbia, 2020-2207 Main Mall, Vancouver, BC, V6T 1Z4, Canada

    R. McMillan

  3. Research Unit: Analytical, Environmental & Geo-Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, AMGC-WE-VUB, Pleinlaan 2, 1050, Brussels, Belgium

    R. McMillan

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Golding, M.L., McMillan, R. The impacts of diagenesis on the geochemical characteristics and Color Alteration Index of conodonts. Palaeobio Palaeoenv 101, 803–821 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12549-020-00447-y

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