Methane-Derived Carbonate Cements in Barrier and Beach Sands of a Subtropical Delta Complex.

摘要

Highly negative delta Carbon 13 values, -18 to -40 parts/thousand, for carbonate cements found in Recent barrier and beach sands of the Mississippi River Delta complex strongly suggest that considerable carbon is furnished to the CaCO3 cements by either chemical or biological oxidation of CH4. These cemented sands are commonly found on beaches of the Chandeleur barrier island chain and other sites along the Louisiana coast where Holocene sands are rapidly transgressing over highly organic marsh deposits. Generation of CH4 from underlying anoxic marsh sediments, followed by vertical migration and oxidation to CO2 in the porous overlying sand, appears to be the unique set of conditions regulating this process of carbonate cementation. (Author)