Early diagenesis of chalk

Abstract

Smectitic clay, glauconite, pyrite, carbonate cement and silica occur concentrated in concentric zones around several m high and mm wide U-shaped burrows of Bathichnus paramoudrae, common in the Late Cretaceous Chalk of NW Europe. The minerals are authigenic and formed during bacterial metabolism and the decomposition of organic matter in 5 redox zones from aerobic near the burrow wall to anoxic in the surrounding deep sediment. The identification of the succession of redox zones and their specific mineral authigenesis contributes to a better definition of the early diagenetic conditions during deposition of bedded Chalk sequences characterised by a rhythmic vertical variation of the concentrations of the mentioned authigenic minerals.