Paleoenvironments, δ13C and δ18O signatures in the Neoproterozoic carbonates of the Comba Basin, Republic of Congo: Implications for regional correlations and Marinoan event
Préat, A.; Delpomdor, F.; Mfere, A.P.A.; Callec, Y. (2018). Paleoenvironments, δ13C and δ18O signatures in the Neoproterozoic carbonates of the Comba Basin, Republic of Congo: Implications for regional correlations and Marinoan event. J. Afr. Earth Sci. 137: 69-90. https://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jafrearsci.2017.09.002
In: Journal of African Earth Sciences. Elsevier: Oxford & Amsterdam. ISSN 1464-343X; e-ISSN 1879-1956, more
The Ediacaran Schisto-Calcaire Group is a similar to 1300 m-thick succession belonging to the West Congo Supergroup in Central Africa. In the Comba Basin, it consists of three carbonate-dominated units defined as formations (SCI to SCIII) that are unconformably overlain by clastic deposits (Mpioka Group) interpreted as a molassic formation associated with the Panafrican Orogen. The underlying Upper Tillite and Cap Carbonate (SCIa) units, considered as markers of the Snowball Earth event were studied in three sections. We investigated the carbonates of the Schisto-Calcaire Group by defining new microfacies (MF1-MF7) and we performed C and O isotopic analyses in order to constraint the depositional and diagenetic events directly after the Marinoan interval. Stratigraphic variations of the stable isotopes are important in the series with lighter delta O-18 values (>1.5 parts per thousand) than those of the Neoproterozoic ocean in the SCIc unit. According to regional stratigraphy a temperature effect can be dismissed and a freshwater surface layer is the origin of such negative delta O-18 values in this unit. The negative delta C-13 anomaly (-3.5 parts per thousand on average) of the Cap Carbonate is similarly to the delta O-18 values (-6.4 parts per thousand on average) in the range of the marine domain during postglacial sea level rise. The sample suite as a whole (SCII and SCIII formations) displays heavier delta O-18 and delta C-13 than those of the lower part (SCI unit) of the Schisto-Calcaire Group. The comparison with the Lower Congo (Democratic Republic of Congo) and Nyanga (Gabon) basins shows that the meteoric flushing in SCIc unit of the Schisto-Calcaire Group was regional and not local, and could be derived from a climatic evolution. Although an overall overprint is present, our isotopic relationships argue against overall diagenetic resetting of primary compositions and suggest that with careful examination combined with detailed petrographic analysis general depositional and diagenetic controls can be discerned in oxygen and carbon isotopic data in the Schisto-Calcaire Group.
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