Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Petrogenic history of volcaniclastic carbonates from Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles

  • Original Article
  • Published:
Carbonates and Evaporites Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

Two formations on Curaçao contain abundant volcaniclastic materials within a carbonate rock, the Neogene Seroe Domi formation, and the quaternary lower coral terrace. These two formations have clasts of Curaçao lava formation of various sizes and degrees of diagenetic alteration. This study hypothesizes that the alteration of clasts of the Curaçao lava formation liberates Mg ions into diagenetic fluids that contribute to: (1) the dolomitization of the Seroe Domi formation and/or (2) microbial precipitation of magnesium-rich carbonate mineral phases. Textural, petrographic, mineralogic, and elemental data indicate that the unaltered material of the lower terrace contains Mg-rich mineral phases that are missing in the older, altered Seroe Domi rocks. These results suggest that carbonate rocks with mafic detrital materials are possible environments for Mg enrichment that may lead to the formation of Mg-rich carbonate mineral phases.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1
Fig. 2
Fig. 3
Fig. 4
Fig. 5
Fig. 6
Fig. 7
Fig. 8
Fig. 9
Fig. 10

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Bass MN (1976) Secondary minerals in oceanic basalt, with special reference to Leg 34, Deep Sea Drilling Project. Int Rep DSDP 34:393–432

    Google Scholar 

  • Beets DJ (1972) Lithology and stratigraphy of the cretaceous and danian succession of Curacao (Ph.D. thesis): University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

  • Bontognali TR, Vasconcelos C, Warthmann RJ, Lundberg R, McKenzie JA (2012) Dolomite‐mediating bacterium isolated from the sabkha of Abu Dhabi (UAE). Terra Nova 24(3):248–254

  • Bontognali TR, McKenzie JA, Warthmann RJ, Vasconcelos C (2014) Microbially influenced formation of Mg-calcite and Ca-dolomite in the presence of exopolymeric substances produced by sulphate-reducing bacteria. Terra Nova 26(1):72–77

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bosak T, Newman DK (2003) Microbial nucleation of calcium carbonate in the Precambrian. Geology 31:557–580. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2003)031%3c0577:MNOCCI%3e2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Casanova J, Bodenan F, Negrel P, Azaroual M (1999) Microbial control on the precipitation of modern ferrihydrite and carbonate deposits from the Cezallier hydrothermal springs (Massif Central, France). Sediment Geol 126:125–145. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0037-0738(99)00036-6

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chafetz HS, Buczinski C (1992) Bacterially induced lithification of microbial mats. Palaios 7:277–293. https://doi.org/10.2307/3514973

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Colman SM (1982) Clay mineralogy of weathering rinds and possible implications concerning the sources of clay minerals in soils. Geology 10(7):370–375

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Craig DC, Loughnan FC (1964) Chemical and mineralogical transformations accompanying the weathering of basic volcanic rocks from New South Wales. Soil Res 2(2):218–234

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • de Buisonjé PH (1974) Neogene and quaternary geology of Aruba, Curaçao and Bonaire. PhD thesis, University of Amsterdam

  • de Buisonjé PH, Zonneveld JIS (1960) The coastal forms of Curaçao, Aruba and Bonaire. In: New West Indian Guide/New West Indian Guide, pp 121–144

  • De Caritat P, Hutcheon I, Walshe JL (1993) Chlorite geothermometry: a review. Clays Clay Miner 41:219. https://doi.org/10.1346/CCMN.1993.0410210

  • Deer WA, Howie RA, Zussman J (1966) An introduction to the rock forming minerals. Longman, London, p 528

    Google Scholar 

  • Focke JW (1977) The effect of a potentially reef-building vermetid-coralline algal community on an eroding limestone coast, Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. In: Coral reef symposium, Miami, vol 1, pp 239–245

  • Focke JW (1978) Holocene development of coral fringing reefs, leeward off Curaçao and Bonaire (Netherlands Antilles). Mar Geol 28(1–2):M31–M41

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fortin D, Ferris FG, Beveridge TJ (1997) Surface-mediated mineral development by bacteria. In: Banfield JF, Nealson KH (eds) Geomicrobiology: interactions between microbes and minerals: reviews in mineralogy, vol 35. Mineralogical Society of America. Washington, DC, pp 161–180

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Fouke BW, Reeder RJ (1992) Surface structural controls on dolomite composition: evidence from sectoral zoning. Geochimica et Cosmochimica Acta 56(11):4015–4024

  • Fouke BW, Beets CJ, Meyers WJ, Hanson GN, Melillo AJ (1996) 87 Sr/86 Sr Chronostratigraphy and dolomitization history of the Seroe Domi Formation, Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles). Facies 35(1):293–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gaines AM (1977) Protodolomite redefined. J Sediment Res 47(2):543–546

    Google Scholar 

  • Gerasimenko LM, Mikhodyuk OS (2009) Halophilic algal-bacterial and cyanobacterial communities and their role in carbonate precipitation. Paleontol J 43(8):940–957

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graf DL, Goldsmith JR (1956) Some hydrothermal syntheses of dolomite and protodolomite. J Geol 64(2):173–186

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gregg JM, Bish DL, Kaczmarek SE, Machel HG (2015) Mineralogy, nucleation and growth of dolomite in the laboratory and sedimentary environment: a review. Sedimentology 62(6):1749–1769

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hippolyte JC, Mann P (2011) Neogene-Quaternary tectonic evolution of the Leeward Antilles islands (Aruba, Bonaire, Curaçao) from fault kinematic analysis. Mar Pet Geol 28(1):259–277

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kambesis P (2014) Influence of coastal processes on speleogenesis and landforms in the caribbean region (Doctoral dissertation, Mississippi State University)

  • Kambesis PN, Mylroie JR, Mylroie JE, Larson EB, Owen-Nagel AM, Sumrall JB, Lace MJ (2012) Influence of karst denudation on the northwest coast of Curaçao. In: Program of the 16th symposium on the geology of the bahamas and other carbonate regions, p 34

  • Krause S, Liebetrau V, Gorb S, Sánchez-Román M, McKenzie JA, Treude T (2012) Microbial nucleation of Mg-rich dolomite in exopolymeric substances under anoxic modern seawater salinity: new insight into an old enigma. Geology 40(7):587–590

  • Land LS (1980) The isotopic and trace element geochemistry of dolomite: the state of the art. SEPM Special Publication No 28, pp 87–110

  • Lescinsky HL (2008) Bioerosion and encrustation on Curaçao Pleistocene reefs: evaluating grazing in the fossil record. In: 13th symposium on the geology of the Bahamas and other Carbonate regions. San Salvador, Bahamian Field Station, pp 197–210

  • Leveille RJ, Fyfe WS, Longstaffe FJ (2000) Geomicrobiology of carbonate-silicate microbialites from Hawaiian basaltic sea caves. Chem Geol 169:339–355. https://doi.org/10.1016/s0009-2541(00)00213-8

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loughnan FC (1969) Chemical weathering of the silicate minerals (No. 549.6 L6). http://www.sidalc.net/cgi-bin/wxis.exe/?IsisScript=UACHBC.xis&method=post&formato=2&cantidad=1&expresion=mfn=038014

  • Machel HG (2001) Bacterial and thermochemical sulfate reduction in diagenetic settings—old and new insights. Sediment Geol 140(1–2):143–175

  • Machel HG, Gregg JM, Bish DL, Kaczmarek S (2015) Microbial dolomite that isn’t dolomite. In: 15th Bathurst Meeting, 13–16th July, 2015, University of Edinburgh, U.K. Technical Program with Abstracts, p 80

  • Martin K (1888) Bericht über eine Reise nach Niederländisch West-Indien und darauf gegründete Studien, vol 1. EJ Brill, Leiden

    Google Scholar 

  • Noack Y, Colin F, Nahon D, Delvigne J, Michaux L (1993) Secondary-mineral formation during natural weathering of pyroxene; review and thermodynamic approach. Am J Sci 293(2):111–134

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pandolfi JM, Jackson JB (2001) Community structure of Pleistocene coral reefs of Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. Ecol Monogr 71(1):49–67

    Google Scholar 

  • Pandolfi JM, Llewellyn G, Jackson JBC (1999) Pleistocene reef environments, constituent grains, and coral community structure: curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. Coral Reefs 18(2):107–122

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez-Román M (2006) Calibration of microbial and geochemical signals related to dolomite formation by moderately halophilic aerobic bacteria: significance and implication of dolomite in the geologic record (Doctoral dissertation, ETH Zurich). https://doi.org/10.3929/ethz-a-005319620

  • Sánchez-Navas A, Martín Algarra A, Nieto F (1998) Bacterially-mediated authigenesis of clays in phosphate stromatolites. Sedimentology 45(3):519–533. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3091.1998.00157.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sánchez-Román M, Rivadeneyra MA, Vasconcelos C, McKenzie JA (2007) Biomineralization of carbonate and phosphate by moderately halophilic bacteria. FEMS Microbiol Ecol 61(2):273–284

  • Sánchez-Román M, Vasconcelos C, Schmid T, Dittrich M, McKenzie JA, Zenobi R, Rivadeneyra MA (2008) Aerobic microbial dolomite at the nanometer scale: implications for the geologic record. Geology 36(11):879–882

  • Sánchez-Román M, Romanek CS, Fernández-Remolar DC, Sánchez-Navas A, McKenzie JA, Pibernat RA, Vasconcelos C (2011) Aerobic biomineralization of Mg-rich carbonates: implications for natural environments. Chem Geol 281(3):143–150

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scheffers A (2004) Tsunami imprints on the Leeward Netherlands Antilles (Aruba, Curaçao, Bonaire) and their relation to other coastal problems. Quat Int 120(1):163–172

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Schellmann G, Radtke U, Scheffers A, Whelan F, Kelletat D (2004) ESR dating of coral reef terraces on Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles) with estimates of younger Pleistocene sea level elevations. J Coast Res. https://doi.org/10.2112/02101.1

  • Simkiss K, Wilbur KM (1989) Biomineralization: cell biology and mineral deposition. Academic Press, San Diego

    Google Scholar 

  • Smith J (1957) A mineralogical study of weathering and soil formation from olivine basalt in Northern Ireland. J Soil Sci 8(2):225–239

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Spadafora A, Perri E, McKenzie JA, Vasconcelos C (2010) Microbial biomineralization processes forming modern Ca:Mg carbonate stromatolites. Sedimentology 57(1):27–40

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stefanic MJ, Cornell SR (2011) A multiphase model for the formation of enigmatic coastal geomorphic features of NW Curaçao. A case study of bokas from Sheta Boka National Park: Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs, vol 43, p 251

  • Sumrall JB, Larson EB, Mylroie JE (2017) Very high magnesium calcite formation and microbial communities found in porosity of the Seroe Domi Formation of Curaçao, Netherland Antilles. Carbonates Evaporites 32(2):123–133

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Lith Y, Wartmann R, Vasconcelos C, McKenzie JA (2003) Microbial fossilization in carbonates sediments: a result of the bacterial surface involvement in dolomite precipitation. Sedimentology 50:237–245. https://doi.org/10.1046/j.1365-3091.2003.00550.x

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Vasconcelos C, McKenzie JA (1997) Microbial mediation of modern dolomite precipitation and diagenesis under anoxic conditions (Lago Vermelha, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). J Sediment Res 67:378–390

    Google Scholar 

  • Vasconcelos C, McKenzie JA, Bernasconi S, Grujic D, Tien AJ (1995) Microbial mediation as a possible mechanism for natural dolomite formation at low temperatures. Nature 377:220–222. https://doi.org/10.1038/377220a0

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Warthmann R, van Lith Y, Vasconcelos C, McKenzie JA, Karpoff AM (2000) Bacterially induced dolomite precipitation in anoxic culture experiments. Geology 28:1091–1094. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2000)28%3c1091:BIDPIA%3e2.0.CO;2

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zhang F, Xu H, Konishi H, Roden EE (2010) A relationship between d104 value and composition in the calcite-disordered dolomite solid–solution series. Am Miner 95(11–12):1650–1656

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank the various undergraduate students that helped collect and catalog samples, and Dr. John P Harris who was extremely helpful in various phases of sample preparation and analysis. In addition, the two anonymous reviewers provided meaningful feedback, without which this manuscript would not have been possible.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Geosciences, Fort Hays State University, Hays, KS, USA

    Jonathan B. Sumrall

Authors
  1. Jonathan B. Sumrall
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Jonathan B. Sumrall.

Additional information

Publisher's Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Sumrall, J.B. Petrogenic history of volcaniclastic carbonates from Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. Carbonates Evaporites 34, 1627–1638 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-019-00511-5

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-019-00511-5

Keywords

Search

Navigation