Abstract
The Middle Cambrian to Tremadoc Scandinavian alum shales are highly condensed sediments, notably enriched in organic matter. Sedimentological studies alone suggest their deposition under dominantly anoxic or euxinic conditions in an epicontinental sea environment. Plots of carbon-sulphur data derived from drill cores from Västergötland and Östergötland in Sweden indicate deposition of the Middle and Upper Cambrian portions in a dominantly euxinic environment. The amount of pyrite formed was TOC-limited during most of the Middle Cambrian, but controlled by the amount of reactive iron (Fer) in Upper Cambrian sediments. By contrast, Tremadoc sediments were probably deposited under ‘normal’ oxygenated conditions.
Palaeofertility estimates, utilizing sedimentological, biostratigraphical and geochemical data, suggest that primary organic productivity within the alum shale sea was relatively low compared with the present day. This was probably a result of low global hydrospheric oxygen levels, compounded by local palaeogeographic restriction.
This integrated sedimentological and geochemical approach indicates that the alum shales are the product of a depositional and palaeo-oceanographic environment lacking modern analogues.
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© 1987 J. k. Leggett & G. G. Zuffa (Graham and Trotman)
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Thickpenny, A. (1987). Palaeo-oceanography and Depositional Environment of the Scandinavian Alum Shales: Sedimentological and Geochemical Evidence. In: Leggett, J.K., Zuffa, G.G. (eds) Marine Clastic Sedimentology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-3241-8_8
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