Observation and implication of the paleo-cave sediments in Ordovician strata of Well Lundong-1 in the Tarim Basin

Abstract

Well Lundong-1 is located in the periclinal area on the eastern flank of the Tahe-Lunnan paleo-uplift in the Tarim Basin. A 25-m-high cave fill sequence was observed in the Upper Ordovician interval of the well at 6800–6825 m. A third cut of cores was obtained from the top of the cave. The following conclusions were obtained by studying the cave sediments and depositional sequence, and by undertaking paleontological and elemental geochemistry analyses. 1. The cave sediments contain abundant brachiopod, gastropod, echinoderm, ostracod, and acritach fossils, which can be classified into two groups: cave autochthonous and cave allochthonous fossils (from collapse breccia dissolution or transportation by underflow). The fossils indicate that the cave was formed before the Carboniferous and partly-filled and buried during Carboniferous resubsidence. 2. Elemental geochemistry shows that the mud that filled the cave is sourced from calcareous paleo-soil and weathered crust that came from a salty environment with poor water circulation. 3. The formation and evolution of the cave occurred in three stages. The first stage occurred after the deposition of the Late Ordovician Lianglitage Formation, the second stage took place after the deposition of the Late Ordovician Sangtamu Formation, and the last stage happened after Silurian deposition. Major dissolution occurred in the latter two stages as a result of bedding-confined deep underflow karstification. Based on the reconstruction of the cave formation history, favorable paleokarst targets can be predicted and estimated to aid paleogeography and paleokarstology studies.