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Morphology and genesis of the Cambrian oncoids in Wuhai Section, Inner Mongolia, China

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Abstract

Cambrian oncoids were deposited in the upper part of the Miaolingian Xuzhuang Formation at the Wuhai Section, Inner Mongolia, China in the late highstand systems tract of the third-order depositional sequence. Microscopic studies show an abundance of dark micrite in the dolomitic, bioclastic and micritic oncoids that possibly indicate the presence of microbes such as filamentous cyanobacteria and sulfate reducing bacteria either in the cortices and/or nuclei of these oncoids. These rounded to elliptical oncoids, forming packstone-to-grainstone facies in the Xuzhuang Formation, existed in a high energy setting with an abundance of filamentous fossils of cyanobacteria. These observations demonstrate a complicated mechanism of oncoid formation associated with calcification of extracellular polymeric substances in the cyanobacteria dominated microbial mats. The present work provides evidences about the active mediation of cyanobacteria in the formation of the Cambrian oncoids in the Xuzhuang Formation. It offers a reference example for the development of microbial carbonates in the North China Platform during the Cambrian period.

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Acknowledgements

This study was financially supported by a Grant to Mingxiang Mei by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (41472090). We gratefully acknowledge Associate Editor Dr. Bjorn (Austrian Journal of Earth Sciences) for constructive comments during the first draft of the manuscript. Authors are also thankful to anonymous reviewers of Carbonates and Evaporites for their critical reviews and constructive suggestions, which have greatly improved the quality of the paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. State Key Laboratory of Oil and Gas Reservoir Geology and Exploitation, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

    Muhammad Riaz

  2. College of Energy Resources, Chengdu University of Technology, Chengdu, 610059, China

    Muhammad Riaz

  3. Centre for Geographical Information System, University of the Punjab, Lahore, 54590, Pakistan

    Muhammad Riaz

  4. National Centre of Excellence in Geology, University of Peshawar, Peshawar, 25130, Pakistan

    Khalid Latif

  5. Institute of Geochemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Guiyang, 550081, China

    Tehseen Zafar

  6. Key Laboratory for Polar Science, MNR, Polar Research Institute of China, Shanghai, 200136, China

    Enzhao Xiao

  7. Institute of Geology, University of the Punjab, Lahore, 54590, Pakistan

    Shahid Ghazi

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Riaz, M., Latif, K., Zafar, T. et al. Morphology and genesis of the Cambrian oncoids in Wuhai Section, Inner Mongolia, China. Carbonates Evaporites 37, 4 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-021-00750-5

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