Early diagenetic siderite in the Panorama Point Beds (Radok Conglomerate, Early to Middle Permian)

• Main Authors: Prince Charles Mountains, East Antarctica, Krzysztof P. Krajewski, Nikolai A. Gonzhurov, Anatoly A. Laiba, Andrzej Tatur
• Other Authors: The Pennsylvania State University CiteSeerX Archives
• Format: Text
• Language: English
• Subjects: Key words; Antarctica; Prince Charles Mts; Radok Conglomerate; Permian; siderite; East Antarctica; MacRobertson Land; Panorama Point; Prince Charles Mountains; Antarc*
• Online Access: http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/summary?doi=10.1.1.663.7886; http://www.polish.polar.pan.pl/ppr31/PPR31_169.pdf

Abstract: The Panorama Point Beds represent a subfacies of the Early to Middle Permian Radok Conglomerate, which is the oldest known sedimentary unit in the Prince Charles Mountains, MacRobertson Land, East Antarctica. This unit records clastic sedimentation in fresh−water depositional system during the early stages of development of the Lambert Graben, a major structural valley surrounded by crystalline highlands in the southern part of Gondwana. It contains common siderite precipitated through early diagenetic processes in the swamp, stagnant water, and stream−flow environments. There are two types of siderite in the Panorama Point Beds: (1) disseminated cement that occurs throughout the sedimentary suc− cession; and (2) concretions that occur at recurrent horizons in fine−grained sediments. The cement is composed of Fe−depleted siderite (less than 90 mol % FeCO3) with an elevated con− tent of magnesium, and trace and rare earth elements. It has negative 13CVPDB values (−4.5 to −1.5‰). The concretions are dominated by Fe−rich siderite (more than 90 mol % FeCO3), with positive 13CVPDB values (+1 to +8‰). There are no noticeable differences in the oxygen (18OVPDB between −20 and −15‰) and strontium (87Sr/86Sr between 0.7271 and 0.7281) iso− topic compositions between the siderite types. The cement and concretions developed in the nearsurface to subsurface environment dominated by suboxic and anoxic methanic degrada− tion of organic matter, respectively. The common presence of siderite in the Panorama Point Beds suggests that fresh−water environments of the Lambert Graben were covered by vegeta− tion, starting from the early history of its development in the Early Permian.