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Palaeozoic stromatoporoids and chaetetids analysed using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD); implications for original mineralogy and microstructure

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Abstract

Palaeozoic hypercalcified sponges were ubiquitous Ordovician—Devonian reef builders but, despite their rich fossil record, their original skeletal mineralogy and microstructure remain poorly understood. This study provides the first application of electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD) to analyse skeletal structure of Silurian and Devonian stromatoporoids. The two Silurian and two Devonian stromatoporoid taxa selected are typical of stromatoporoids in showing poor preservation. A reference sample of an exceptionally well-preserved hypercalcified chaetetid sponge from the Carboniferous Buckhorn Asphalt Quarry (a fossil lagerstätte renowned for its preservation of skeletal microstructures) contains evidence that its skeleton comprised distinct bundles of single-crystal fibres, similar to modern hypercalcifying sponges. Similar bundles of crystal fibres are proposed here as the original microstructure of stromatoporoids, and acted as precursors to the coarse fibrous calcitic overprinting recrystallisation that is orientated normal to the growth layers, seen in all stromatoporoids viewed in cross-polarised light. The studied stromatoporoids show pronounced microporosity and micro-dolomite inclusions which are circumstantial evidence of an original composition of high-Mg calcite (HMC). We propose that the evidence of fibrous structures might be linked to inclusions of hydrated amorphous calcium carbonate (ACC·H2O) in the skeleton at the time of early diagenesis, as occurs in modern calcified sponges. The possible HMC skeletal composition of Palaeozoic stromatoporoids supports earlier views that the mineral composition of hypercalcifying reef builders is linked to Phanerozoic oscillations in the ratio of Mg:Ca, expressed as aragonite-calcite seas; stromatoporoids thrived in times of calcite-seas.

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Acknowledgements

We are grateful for the use of the facilities of the Imaging Spectroscopy & Analysis Centre (ISAAC), School of Geographical & Earth Sciences, University of Glasgow. We also thank Mrs Heltzel for access to her private property to access the Buckhorn Asphalt Quarry. Ronald West (Kansas) facilitated collection and processing of sample illustrated in Fig. 3a. We thank Juwan Jeon (Nanjing) and Chelsea Pederson (Bochum) for careful reviews of the manuscript.

Funding

BS was supported by funding from the DFG (NU 96/10-1, 2 und SE 2283/2-1). MC gratefully acknowledges support of the Natural Environment Research Council (NE/P011063/1). ACDS Acknowledges the National Science Foundation program (FNRS) for financial support (T.0051.19). KE was supported by a doctoral studentship by the University of Plymouth.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Geographical, Earth and Environmental Sciences, Plymouth University, Plymouth, PL4 8AA, UK

    Uwe Balthasar & Kilian Eichenseer

  2. Department of Life Sciences, Brunel University, Kingston Lane, Uxbridge, UB8 3PH, UK

    Stephen Kershaw

  3. Sedimentary Petrology, Geological Departement, Liège University, 4000, Liege, Belgium

    Anne-Christine Da Silva

  4. GeoZentrum Nordbayern (GZN), Paläoumwelt, Friedrich-Alexander University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Loewenichstraße 28, 91054, Erlangen, Germany

    Barbara Seuss

  5. Division of Biological and Environmental Sciences, Faculty of Natural Sciences, University of Stirling, Stirling, FK9 4LA, UK

    Maggie Cusack

  6. School of Geographical and Earth Science, University of Glasgow, Glasgow, G12 8QQ, UK

    Peter Chung

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  1. Uwe Balthasar
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  2. Stephen Kershaw
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  4. Barbara Seuss
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UB, MC, KE and PC did the analyses; UB, SK, ACD, MC and BS wrote the paper.

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Correspondence to Stephen Kershaw.

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Balthasar, U., Kershaw, S., Da Silva, AC. et al. Palaeozoic stromatoporoids and chaetetids analysed using electron backscatter diffraction (EBSD); implications for original mineralogy and microstructure. Facies 67, 8 (2021). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-020-00618-5

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