Subject Geology

Paper No and Title Sedimentology and Petroleum Geology

Module No and Title Fundamentals of Carbonate

Module Tag SED & PG Va

Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator Co-Principal Investigator

Prof. Talat Ahmad Prof. Devesh K Sinha Prof. P. P. Chakraborty

Vice-Chancellor Department of Geology Department of Geology
Jamia Millia Islamia University of Delhi University of Delhi
Delhi Delhi Delhi

Paper Coordinator Content Writer Reviewer

Prof. P. P. Chakraborty Prof. P. P. Chakraborty Prof. D. M. Banerjee

Department of Geology Department of Geology INSA Honorary Scientist
University of Delhi University of Delhi Department of Geology
Delhi Delhi University of Delhi
Delhi

Paper: Sedimentology and Petroleum Geology

GEOLOGY
Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 Table of Contents
1. Learning outcomes
2. Fundamental controls on carbonate precipitation
3. How important is inorganic carbonate precipitation in Open Ocean?
4. Carbonate Mineralogy
4.1 How soluble are carbonate minerals?
5. Carbonate factory and constitution of carbonate sediments
6. Classification of carbonate rocks
7. Summary

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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 1. Learning outcomes

After studying this module you shall be able to:

 understand about fundamental controls on carbonate precipitation in sea water;
temperature, salinity and density variation in ocean water column with depth and their
effects on carbonate precipitation .
 Learn about different carbonate minerals, cation substitution within carbonate minerals
and relative stability of different carbonate polymorphs.
 Know classification schemes of carbonates and necessity of keeping more than one
classification scheme in literature.

2. Introduction
Carbonate sediments accumulate where waters are supersaturated with
respect to CaCO3 and siliciclastic input is very low. Although mostly ocean bound,
carbonate sediments are also found in riverine, lacustrine, cavernous environments
as well as around springs and within soils. Precipitation and dissolution of carbonates
is controlled by the following equation:
Decreasing temperature, increasing hydrostatic pressure
Dissolution

CaCO3 + CO2 + H20 Ca2+ + 2HCO3-

Precipitation
Increasing temperature, decreasing hydrostatic pressure

If the above reaction proceeds towards right both CO2 and CaCO3 get
dissolved and reverse is true when the reaction proceeds towards left i.e CaCO3 will
be precipitated with removal of CO2. The classic reversible carbonate reaction
includes several chemical equilibria in relation to input and extraction of CO2 vis-a-vis
its role in dissolution and precipitation of carbonate sediments in water.
H2O + CO2 H2CO3
This is a slow hydration reaction and followed by
H2CO3 H+ + HCO3-
HCO3- H+ + CO3-2
At the interface between water and solid CaCO3, the equilibrium is
CaCO3 Ca+2 + CO3-2

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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 The principle control on above reactions is the addition or removal of CO2.
Addition of CO2 results in release of more H+ and thereby makes the water column
acidic. Carbonates go into dissolution. If CO2 is driven off, reversal of reaction
encourage precipitation of carbonate. Two major controls of CO2 pressure in water
are temperature and pressure. With increase in temperature CO2 bubble off, escape
from the water column and help in precipitation of carbonate. Conversely, decrease
in temperature can hold more CO2 in water column and trigger carbonate dissolution
by retrograde solubility. Thus precipitation of carbonates is most favored in tropical
areas i.e between 300 north and south of equator where surface water temperature
may reach ~300C or more.
Water holds more CO2 with increase in pressure and promotes carbonate
dissolution whereas decrease in pressure allows escape of CO2 from the water
column and encourage precipitation. One spectacular example of control of pressure
can be seen in springs where rapid degassing from emerged water with drop in
pressure and temperature promote precipitation of varied carbonate minerals. In
case of caves such rapid precipitations of carbonates on cave roof/ floor give rise to
the development of speleothems (stalactite, stalagmite).
Besides, shallow marine phototrophic (photosynthetic) organisms viz.
cynobacteria, green algae etc. also can induce carbonate precipitation by removing
CO2 from water column through the process of photosynthesis.
In addition to the controls already discussed, salinity and ionic strength of
seawater also play major role in solubility of carbonate minerals. Solubility of
carbonate minerals increase with increase in salinity of sea water i.e increase in
concentration of other ions e.g Mg+2 etc. Presence of foreign ion/s interferes in the
precipitation or growth of carbonate minerals aragonite or calcite and increase the
solubility of carbonate minerals many fold. This is the reason behind higher
magnitude of carbonate solubility in sea water than in fresh water.

3. How important is inorganic carbonate precipitation in open ocean?

Near surface sea water is six times oversaturated with respect of calcite and
four times supersaturated with respect to aragonite. This very fact suggests

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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 reluctance in precipitation of CaCO3 minerals and gave generation of strong debate
amongst workers about the role of inorganic precipitation in open ocean condition.
Questions were raised about role of CO2 loss as a major driver for carbonate
precipitation in open marine condition. Supporters of inorganic precipitation theory
cited example of formation of 'Whitings' i.e dense concentration of suspended
aragonite crystals in milky patches of surface and near surface water of Bahamas,
Persian Gulf or in Dead Sea as a proof for inorganic precipitation in ocean water
column. These aragonite crystals are described as spontaneous nucleation of
aragonite crystals from sea water supersaturated with calcium carbonate. However,
this view was challenged by another school with the logic that aragonitic mud
responsible for making 'Whitings' are not products of spontaneous crystallization but
they are suspended mud from shallow sea either by wave action or by stirring-up
action of bottom feeding fish. A third view, essentially propounded by Robbin and
Blackwelder in 1992, highlighted role of small algal phytoplanktons in nucleation of
carbonate crystals from seawater supersaturated with CaCO3. According to these
workers photosynthetic removal of CO2 from water column by phytoplanktons
possibly induce carbonate precipitation in micro domain and finally result in
formation of 'Whitings'. Hence, according to this model phytoplankton bloom in
surface water of Persian Gulf is responsible for direct nucleation of CaCO3 with
lowered CO2 in water column but the same logic cannot be applied in Bahamas as
aragonite crystals in the 'Whitings' there are unlike aragonite crystals secreted by
calcareous algae. So opinions vary amongst workers regarding role of pure inorganic
precipitation in carbonate sediment production; a large number of workers favour
the model of biologically mediated inorganic precipitation as major cause behind
carbonate production.

4. Carbonate Mineralogy
There are six polymorphs of CaCO3 in nature, both anhydrous and hydrous in
character viz. calcite (CaCO3; Hexagonal), Aragonite (CaCO3; orthorhombic), Vaterite
(CaCO3; Hexagonal), ikaite (CaCO3.6H2O; monoclinic), calcium carbonate
monohydrate (CaCO3.H2O) and amorphous calcium carbonate (CaCO3.nH2O).
Amongst these, two anhydrous forms viz. calcite and aragonite dominate the organic

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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 and inorganic components of carbonate rocks and hence, our discussion on
carbonate mineralogy will revolve around these two minerals (Fig. 1).

Fig. 1 Atomic structure of CaCO3 polymorphs i.e hexagonal calcite, High-Mg calcite
and orthorhombic aragonite.
The reason behind occurrence of CaCO3 in two different structural forms i.e
hexagonal (calcite) and orthorhombic (aragonite) is the ionic size of Ca, i.e 0.98 A0.
While hexagonal crystals with six fold metal-CO3 coordination is favored by cations
<0.99 A0 in size, the orthorhombic crystals with nine-fold coordination favors cations
with > 0.99 A0 size. Ca with ionic size (0.98A0) close to 0.99 A0 assumes both the
structures with very little change in chemical kinetics (Fig. 2). However, cations with
same charge and size <0.99 A0 viz. Mg+2 (magnesite; MgCO3), Fe+2 (siderite; FeCO3)
replace Ca+2 in calcite (hexagonal) structure and cations with same charge and size
>0.99 A0 viz. Sr+2 (strontianite; SrCO3), Pb+2 (cerrusite; PbCO3), Ba+2 (witherite;
BaCO3) replace Ca+2 in aragonite (orthorhombic) structure. Although
thermodynamically calcite is the most stable phase that is expected to be
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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 precipitated both in sea water and fresh water, we get aragonite as the most
common CaCO3 phase in modern carbonate sediments.

Fig. 2 Ionic radius of cations hosted in carbonate minerals. Cations <0.99 A0 ionic
radius enter in hexagonal structure whereas those with ionic radius >0.99 A0 goes to
orthorhombic structure. Ca+2 with 0.98A0 ionic radius can assume both the
structures.
This happens because i) in sea water Mg:Ca ratio is 3:1 and Mg has smaller
ionic radius than Ca. But, the strong tendency of Mg to get bonded with O-H radical
does not make it available for carbonate (calcite) structure. Instead, the mineral
aragonite that does not accommodate much Mg+2 in its lattice structure is favored,
and ii) many plants and animals form their calcareous skeletons by aragonite
through biased metabolic processes defying thermodynamic rules.
In addition to above discussed polymorphs of CaCO3 viz. calcite and
aragonite, another mineral commonly found in carbonate sediments is High Mg-
calcite. In fact, on the basis of Mg content calcites are classified as low- (up to 4
mole% Mg), intermediate- (4 – 12 mole% Mg) and high-Mg (12 – 18 mole% Mg).
Dehydration of Mg ions make Mg available for incorporation within the calcite
structure in variable amount and inclusion of Mg in calcite structure cause distortion
in its unit cell. Presence of high Mg-calcite is noticed in both skeletal and non-skeletal
carbonate grains e.g up to 43 mole % Mg is reported from echinoid teeth. In non-
skeletal carbonates degree of Mg entry in calcite structure depends on precipitation
rate, which, in turn, depends on temperature.
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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 4.1 How soluble are carbonate minerals?
Calcite solubility is a function of its Mg content. With more amount of Mg
entry in calcite structure there is more distortion in lattice structure, which
progressively cause calcite structure more structurally unstable. Most stable
carbonate mineral phase is low-Mg calcite. The solubility of aragonite in distilled
water is same with high-Mg calcite having 12 mole % Mg (Fig. 3). High-Mg calcite
with >12 mole % Mg is more soluble than aragonite. Dolomite is least soluble among
all carbonates.

Fig. 3 Relative solubility of calcite in fresh water with increasing Mg content.

Aragonite has nearly same solubility with 12 mole% MgCO3 calcite

5. Carbonate factory and constitution of carbonate sediments

The term ‘carbonate factory’ can be defined as a depositional system where

production and early modification of carbonate sediments takes place. It is a
delicately balanced biological-chemical system and responsive to surrounding
environment (discussed below). Both biological and chemical precipitation produces
chemical sediments in form of carbonate crystals, particles and cement. Oceanic
carbonate production is both in form of benthic or pelagic. Benthic production

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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 accumulates in place or may get reworked by wave or current and supplied both
onshore and offshore in lagoonal, intertidal, lacustrine, subtidal or reef
environments. Pelagic carbonates form mostly in near-surface oceanic water column,
fine grained in character and essentially constituted of calcareous phytoplanktons
(plants)and zooplanktons (animals).

Control of surrounding environment on carbonate production

Major environmental controls on carbonate production include i) light
penetration, ii) salinity, iii) dissolved oxygen in water column, iv) nutrient supply, v)
water temperature and vi) suspended sediment content in water column. Beside
these autogenic controls, allogenic controls viz. celestial mechanics, plate tectonics
also play role on carbonate production in carbonate factory.
Most significant amongst the autogenic controls is light penetration.
Commonly in ocean column light penetrates around 70m water depth (max. up to
100m), which is referred as photic zone. However, factors e.g siliciclastic input,
upwelling and surface productivity etc. can cause reduction in light penetration.
Depending on degree of light penetration the ocean water column is classified as i)
the euphotic zone, shallow water where sufficient light penetration promote
photosynthetic action to operate freely and allow corals and green algae to thrive, ii)
the oligotrophic zone i.e the zone of less light with domination of large foraminifera
and red algae, and iii) the aphotic zone, i.e the zone without any light with prolific
growth of bryozoans, molluscs, crinoids and sponges (Fig. 4). In tropical seas,
carbonate production is maximum within 15-20m water depth where seawater
condition is favourable both in terms of illumination and temperature.

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 Fig. 4 Depth wise variation in carbonate sediment production, light penetration and
variation in sediment producing organisms.

Maximum marine biota proliferate between 30 to 40% salinity. High salinity

value is equally detrimental as low salinity for biotic growth. While invertebrates
disappear above 40% salinity, calcareous algae can survive marginally above 40%
salinity. In particular, crinoids are very sensitive to salinity and commonly considered
as marker for normal salinity (Fig. 5).

Availability of nutrient is mandatory for any biotic growth. The list of

bioessential elements include P and N, Fe, Mo and Si, which are supplied to ocean by
continental weathering. By common logic it can be assumed that there will be high
carbonate production in oceanic areas with high nutrient supply, which in reality is
not so! This mismatch is referred to as 'nutrient paradox' in carbonate literature.
In fact, high nutrient supply increases water turbidity, which in turn, reduces light
penetration and carbonate production. Oligotrophic regions, where organisms
consume all bioessential elements present in water column, are blue and crystal
clear and hence, are the regions of maximum carbonate production.

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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 (a)

(b)
Fig. 5 (a) latitudinal change in carbonate constitution from tropical to temperate
regions, (b) their respective salinity tolerance limits with thickness of lines indicating
relative abundance.

Well-oxygenated water is essential for growth of skeletal invertebrates. High

nutrient supply or salinity rise can increase primary productivity, which, in turn,
result in a copious dead and decaying phytoplanktons on the sea floor those
consume dissolved oxygen in the water column.
Like light penetration, water temperature also plays a fundamental role on
carbonate production. As discussed earlier, rate of carbonate reactions increase

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 exponentially with increase in temperature and hence, biochemical reactions leading
to carbonate production become more rapid in warm water. This is why best of
carbonate production is recorded in tropical (>200C; ~300N - 300S latitude) seas
compared to temperate (10 - 200C) and polar (<100C) seas. Also, there is a clear
stratification in open ocean water column in terms of temperature distribution. The
stratification is most pronounced in tropical seas and gradually gets blurred out in
medium to high latitude. The rapid depth-related decrease in temperature
(thermocline) and salinity (halocline) in combination result in depth-related
increase in water density (pycnocline) (Fig. 6). All carbonate producers thrive in
shallow tropical seas, whereas the number of producers reduce in temperate or polar
sea as well as with depth in ocean. The warm tropical association includes skeletal
components viz. corals and calcareous green algae and non-skeletal ooids is referred
as chlorozoan association (Chloroalgal if domination of green algae only in high
salinity areas), whereas foramol association refers to cooler water temperate
carbonates dominated by benthic foraminifers and molluscs.

Fig. 6 Temperature, salinity and density changes in ocean water column with depth.

Constitution of carbonate sediment

Carbonate sediment or its lithified counterpart i.e a carbonate rock is made
up of allochemical (derived) and orthochemical (in-situ)constituents. Allochemical
constituents may be either skeletal or non-skeletal in character. The skeletal
constituents include either whole or broken pieces of hard body parts of calcareous
organisms. Mineralogically, the hard parts of organisms are either low-Mg calcite or
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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 high-Mg calcite or aragonite or a combination of these minerals. In size the skeletal
components can be as small as tiny foraminifers to as large as that of a coral (2-3m
in diameter) reserved intact. A fundamental difference between a carbonate and a
siliciclastic particle is that a carbonate particle primarily reflects skeletal architecture
whereas a siliciclastic particle talks about hydrodynamic condition.
Amongst carbonate forming organisms, molluscs (bivalves, gastropods,
cephalopods) are major contributor since Cambrian time. While bivalves (except for
oysters and scallops which are calcitic) are mostly aragonitic, gastropods have calcite
or aragonite layered structure and cephalopods (modern nautilus and coiled,
chambered ammonites) have layered shell structure like other molluscs. It needs a
special mention about belemnites, the cephalopod that infested the Mesozoic sea and
had a characteristic cigar-shape made up of fibrous calcite. Besides molluscs, other
major skeletal contributors include brachiopods, echinoids, crinoids, foraminifera,
corals, bryozoa and sponges. Brachiopods, made up of low-Mg calcite in two layer
structure are common in Paleozoic and Mesozoic carbonates. One common
observation in Paleozoic carbonates is the presence of trilobites, exoskeleton of
arthropod, made up of calcite prisms. Echinoids and Crinoids construct their hard
part with whole low-Mg calcite crystals. Foraminifers, both planktonic and benthic
single-celled organisms, have hard parts made up of high- or low-Mg calcite and
constitute bulk of modern or ancient carbonate sediments. Colonial organisms those
contribute large way in carbonate sediments include corals, bryozoa and sponges.
Amongst carbonate forming plants algae and microbial organisms are most
important contributors for fine grain carbonates. Red algae (coralline algae), green
algae, nanoplanktons, coccoliths are important constituents of pelagic limestones.
Cyanobacteria, classified as algae, form mats called microbial mats and assume
different structures viz. domal, spherical, columnar etc. known as stromatolites and
common in Precambrian carbonates.

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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 Fig. 7 Stained (K Fe cyanide - Aligerin Red S) biomicrite. Note a large number of
fossil fragments present as allochemical constituent.

Non-skeletal allochems include ooids and pisoids, peloids and pellets,

intraclasts and aggregates. Ooids (<2mm in diameter; Fig. 8) and pisoids (>2mm in
diameter) are spherical to sub-spherical in geometry, also known as coated grains,
have nucleus surrounded by laminated cortex; nucleus can be of any composition
and cortex is made up either tangentially arranged aragonite crystals or radially
arranged calcite (generally High-Mg) crystals. Shallow (<6m in depth), high energy,
constantly agitating warm sea water condition is most favorable for ooid formation.

Fig. 8 Coated grain (Ooid). Also note composite ooid (with coating encircling more
than one ooid).

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 Peloids and their biogenic counterpart pellets, are ovoid to spherical in shape
and constituted of microcrystalline carbonate (Fig. 9). While pelloids are sand sized
particles, internally microcrystalline and of inorganic origin viz. diagenetic alteration
of biofragments, ooids etc. or Mg-calcite spontaneous precipitation, pellets are fecal
in origin and excreted by mud ingesting organisms as sand sized particles.
Distinction between peloids and pellets can be made from observations like i) Unlike
peloid grains which may be of any size, pellets commonly are well sorted for a single
organic population and ii) definite presence of organic matter is observed in pellets,
which may not be common in peloids.

Fig. 9 Limestone with profusely present pelloids.

Lithic clasts formed in a depositional basin and deposited within the basin are
referred to as intraclasts (Fig. 10). This is in contrast to the lithic clasts which get
supplied in a basin from outside and referred to as 'extraclast'. In a carbonate
depositing basin intraclasts are formed by high-energy flows or events e.g storm
wave, strong tidal current in tidal channel with channel avulsion or basin seismicity
which may break up partly or completely lithified basin floor. Strong erosion of
lithified mudstone also generate intraclasts and commonly referred to as 'rip-up' mud
clast. Rip-up clasts are typically disc-shaped with their length and width greater than
thickness. Aggregate grains are composed of biofragments, ooids and pelloids/

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 pellets bound together by biofilms or cemented together by aragonite or Mg-calcite
cement.

Fig. 10 Intraclast i.e carbonate lithic clast formed within a depositional basin.

Orthochemical component (carbonate mud):

Microcrystalline (1 to 4 µm in size) calcite or aragonite, referred to as
micrite, represent carbonate mud and referred to as orthochemical component in
carbonate sediment. Formed by means of organic/ inorganic precipitation or by
biological abrasion, micrites are classified as either allomicrite or orthomicrite.
Allomicrites are micritic carbonates formed by i) precipitation in water column around
a carbonate crystal and its subsequent fallout e.g carbonate precipitation around
picoplankton cyanobacterial cells observed in 'whitings' of Bahamas, ii) disintegration
of calcareous algae and invertebrate skeletons or iii) byproducts of bioerosion. Many
organisms viz. algae, fungi, microbes, bacteria, sponges etc. bore hard substrates for
nourishment, protection from predators or to survive from local hostile condition.
These hard substrates include both skeletal and non-skeletal grains that lie on
seafloor. Once the holes, drilled by microbes, get vacated on death of microbe, those
may get filled with micrite that can be quickly lithified. Repeated cycles of this
process can transform an original grain (skeletal or non-skeletal) into a mictitic
peloid and the process of known as micritisation.

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 Orthomicrites are in-situ precipitation of aragonite or mg-calcite micrite
cement on the seafloor or in between allochems of carbonate sediments by inorganic
or organically mediated processes. In most cases the micrite precipitation is
associated with metabolic processes of heterotrophs, chemotrophic bacteria,
phototrophic cyanobacteria and microbes.

6. Classification of carbonate rocks

Two classification schemes are in operation for carbonate rocks viz. i)

Dunham classification and ii) Folk classification. Both these classification schemes
were proposed simultaneously in the year 1962 but with different perspective. While
the primary consideration in the Dunham classification is texture and relative
proportions of carbonate mud and framework elements within a carbonate rock, the
Folk classification considers nature of the framework grains (allochems) viz. ooid,
pellet, bioclast etc and relative sizes of inter-framework carbonate i.e micrite (mud
size) or sparite (sand size).

In Dunham classification (Table I), carbonates are primarily classified as mud-

supported (>50% mud) and grain-supported (<50% mud). Within mud-supported
carbonate if grain content is <10% then it is called mudstone and if grains are >10%
in volume then the rock is referred to as wackestone. Further, in grain-supported
limestones, if inter-particle mud content is 10-49% then the rock is called packstone
and in cases when mud content is <10% then referred to as grainstone. A
boundstone is the carbonate in which original components are bound together during
deposition e.g carbonates of a coral colony with skeletal framework (Fig. 10). This
classification scheme is most widely used in field, well-log site and hand specimen
study. As such, the sequence in which this scheme classifies carbonate rocks i.e mud
stone - wackestone- packstone - grainstone indicates increase in energy of
depositional environment.

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 Table I

In contrast to the Dunham classification that is in regular field practice, the Folk
classification (Fig. 11) is laboratory based and dependent on microscopic observation. In
Folk classification nature of allochems viz. ooid, pellet, intraclast or bioclast and their
relative proportions is identified under microscope and accordingly the carbonate rock is
named as oo-/pel-/intra-/bio micrite(if the groundmass is micritic) or oo-/pel-/intra-/bio
sparite (if the groundmass is sparitic). In case more than one types of allochems are
present, in the rock nomenclature the allochems are arranged from lower to higher
abundance. For example if in a spritic carbonate rock modal abundance of allochems are
ooid (6%), peloid (9%) and bioclasts (14%) then the rock will be named as oo-pel-
biosparite.

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 Fig. 11 Folk classification based on character of allochemical and orthochemical
constituents.
However, carbonate rocks that forms in transitional areas between siliciclastic
and carbonate depositional realms are difficult to classify using the above mentioned
classification schemes.

7. Summary

Carbonate sediments record an intricate biogeochemical system that operates in oceanic,

lacustrine and freshwater system through the history of the Earth. In contrast to
siliciclastic sedimentation that is guided by physical properties of fluid viz. velocity,
shear stress etc., carbonate precipitation is guided by water chemistry i.e. Eh-PH
condition of water column. A number of ambient environmental parameters viz. light
penetration, temperature, water salinity and turbidity etc. play fundamental role in

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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate
 carbonate precipitation. Although it is argued that CO2 partial pressure primarily controls
precipitation/ dissolution of carbonates in ocean water column, the very observation that
the oceanic water is supersaturated with respect to all polymorphs of carbonate mineral
i.e. calcite, aragonite etc. clearly suggests the reluctance of inorganic carbonate
precipitation. It is believed that mostly carbonate precipitation in marine realm is a
biochemical process i.e. organisms play profound role behind carbonate precipitation.
Metabolic byproducts of algae and microbes interact with surrounding seawater to
produce carbonate super-saturation and thereby provoke precipitation. Mineralogically
carbonates assume different polymorphic variety viz. hexagonal calcite (low- and high-
Mg), orthorhombic aragonite because of the size of Ca+2 ion, which is 0.98 A0. Calcite
solubility increases with Mg content and solubility of aragonite in distilled water is
equivalent with solubility of High-Mg calcite having 12% MgCO3.

While allochems (both skeletal and non-skeletal) constitute framework of carbonate

sediments, orthochems in form of micrite or sparite occupy the groundmass. The warm
tropical ocean is most favorable for carbonate deposition and represented by Chlorozoan
association that include both skeletal (calcareous algae) and non-skeletal (ooid)
components, which is in contrast with high latitude (temperate and polar)carbonates
comprised only of skeletal components (Foramol association) i.e. molluscs, red algae etc.
The two carbonate classification schemes in operation viz. Dunham classification and
Folk classification take into purview relative abundances of allochemical and
orthochemical components (Dunham) or nature of allochemical (ooid/ pelloid/ intraclast/
bioclast) and orthochemical (micrite/sparite) components (Folk).

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 Suggested Readings:

1. James, Noel P. and Jones, Brian (2015). Origin of Carbonate Sedimentary

Rocks, 1st Edn., American Geophysical Union, Wiley-Blackwell.
ISBN: 978-1-118-65270-1.

2. Sam Boggs Jr. (2011). Principles of Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 5th Edn.
Pearson Education, Inc., New Jersey. ISBN: 9780321643186,
0321643186.

3. Gary Nicols (2009), Sedimentology and Stratigraphy, 2nd Edn.,

Wiley-Blackwell, UK. ISBN: 978-1-4051-3592-4.

4. Tucker, Maurice E. and Wright, V. Paul (1990), Carbonate

Sedimentology, Blackwell Science Ltd. ISBN: 978-0-632-01472-93.

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Module: Fundamentals of Carbonate