Early diagenetic siderite as an indicator of depositional environment in the Triassic Rewan Group, southern Bowen Basin, eastern Australia |
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| Authors: | JULIAN C BAKER† JOCHEN KASSAN‡ P JOE HAMILTON |
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| Institution: | Australian Petroleum Cooperative Research Centre and Division of Petroleum Resources, CSIRO, PO Box 136, North Ryde, Sydney, New South Wales, 2113, Australia;Centre for Microscopy and Microanalysis, The University of Queensland, Brisbane, Queensland, 4072, Australia;34–36 Whistler Court, Greenbank, Brisbane, Queensland, 4124, Australia |
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| Abstract: | Early concretionary and non-concretionary siderites are common in subsurface Triassic sandstones and mudrocks of the Rewan Group, southern Bowen Basin. A detailed petrological and stable isotopic study was carried out on these siderites in order to provide information on the depositional environment of the host rocks. The siderites are extremely pure, containing 85–97 mol% FeCO3, and are commonly enriched in manganese. δ13C (PDB) values are highly variable, ranging from - 18·4 to +2·9‰, whereas δ18O (PDB) values are very consistent, ranging from - 14·0 to - 10·2‰ (mean= - 11·9 ± 1·0‰). The elemental and oxygen isotopic composition of the siderites indicates that only meteoric porewaters were involved in siderite formation, implying that host rocks accumulated in totally non-marine environments. The carbon isotopic composition of the siderites is interpreted to reflect mixing of bicarbonate/carbon dioxide generated by methane oxidation and methanogenesis. Very low δ13C values demonstrate that, contrary to current views, highly 13C-depleted siderite can be produced at shallow burial depths in anoxic non-marine sediments. |
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