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Carbon isotope fluctuations through the Neoproterozoic-lower Cambrian

Birmania basin, Rajasthan, India

Article in Carbonates and Evaporites · March 2002

DOI: 10.1007/BF03175656

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 CARBON ISOTOPE FLUCTUATIONS THROUGH THE NEOPROTEROZOIC-LOWER CAMBRIAN
BIRMANIA BASIN, RAJASTHAN, INDIA

Anil Maheshwari, aA.N. Sial, and bS.C. Mathur

Dept. of Geology, University of Rajasthan, Jaipur-4, India; [email protected]
a
NEG-LABISE, Dept. of Geology, C.P. 7852, Federal University of Pernambuco, Recife, Brazil-50,732-970
b
Dept. of Geology, J.N.V. University, Jodhpur, India

ABSTRACT: The results of a carbon isotope study from a hitherto unexplored marine sediments from the Birmania basin, Northwestern India
are reported, which documents significant isotope variation across the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary (Pc/C). An attempt has been made to
identify carbon isotope chronostratigraphic marker for the Precambrian-Cambrian boundary in the sedimentay succession. The transition is marked
by a negative excursion during phosphoritic activity at the base of the Birmania succession which is followed by a positive excursion close to the
boundary and a swing back to less positive values in the Early Cambrian. The characteristics of the paleoenvironment during the transition interval
is also discussed.

INTRODUCTION towards P-limitation and suggested that nitrate fixation,

density stratification and massive removal of P in the
The paleogeographic reconstruction of the end phase of sediments were responsible for the formation of phosphatic
Neoproterozoic assumes a significance due to the fact that the deposits within this time interval. East Gondwana assembly of
interactions between the biosphere and the atmosphere, continents provide fine examples of stratigraphic successions
hydrosphere and geosphere during this period of time strongly in which the ideas related to oceanic stratification, phosphate
influenced the evolution of life and initiated a remarkable deposition, enhanced organic production and carbon isotope
phase of organic evolution well documented in the rocks of fluctuations can be verified and correlated from continent to
this age (Banerjee and Majumdar 1999). Time related changes continent (Banerjee and Majumdar 1999).
in these carbon reservoirs and processes during the end
Proterozoic have played an important role in the evolution of The Birmania basin is an oval shaped isolated remnant of the
the environment and of life (Des Marais 1997). Brasier Marwar basin (Neoproterozoic-Early Palaeozoic) located in
(1992) discussed at length various factors that pushed shallow the heart of the Thar desert of western Rajasthan, India. It is
marine ecosystem of the late Neoproterozoic-Cambrian underlain by Malani Igneous Suite of rocks which range in age

Figure 1. Geological map of Birmania Basin, western India (modified after Mathur and Chauhan, 1995).
Carbonates and Evaporites, v. , no., year, p. ?
 CARBON ISOTOPE FLUCTUATIONS THROUGH THE BIRMANIA BASIN, INDIA
from 780 to 680 Ma (Rathore et al. 1999). The Birmania basin moderate to steeply convex laminae of carbonate and
comprises around 900 metre thick sedimentary sequence of phosphate. The stromatolitic phosphorite is followed by
siliciclastic, carbonate and phosphorite facies. These laminated to bedded phosphorite, which is composed of
sequences are unconformably overlain by Lathi conglomerate alternate laminations of carbonate and phosphate minerals.
of Jurassic age in northern flank of the basin (Fig. 1). Global The upper lithofacies association starts with thickly bedded,
Neoproterozoic glacial activity in the western Rajasthan is dark grey microsparitic dolostones. It is followed by massive
also reported and is represented by Pokaran Boulder Bed, few micritic dolostones which appears light grey in colour. The
kms away from study area. The Pokaran Boulder Bed overlies calcrete dolostone overlying micritic dolostone is a greyish
the Malani Igneous Suite and is mainly consist of boulders and brown massive hard rock. It shows gradational contact with the
angular fragments of igneous rocks belong to Malani Suite underlying micritic dolostones. The top of lithofacies
(Srivastava 1992). In the present paper δ 13C andδ 18O-values of association is represented by creamy white quartz arenite.
32 carbonate samples from Birmania Basin, Rajasthan, India is This sequence of the Birmania Formation is unconformably
reported. The isotopic fluctuations along the Birmania overlain by conglomerate and sandstone of Lathi Formation of
succession is discussed and is correlated with carbon isotopic Jurassic age.
profiles as reconstructed from other Neoproterozoic
successions of the world. Petrographic, Geochemical
& Environmental Attributes
GEOLOGICAL FRAMEWORK
The siliciclastic rocks of Birmania basin comprises 80 to 95
The sedimentary rocks of Birmania basin are broadly grouped percent clean washed medium to coarse detrital quartz of
into two formations viz: lower Randha Formation which unimodal nature (Mathur and Chauhan 1995). Heavy minerals
comprises mainly siliciclastic facies and upper Birmania present are tourmaline, zircon, sphene, garnet and magnetite.
Formation which consists of repetitive sequences of The phosphorite facies consisting of stromatolitic and bedded
siliciclastic, carbonate and phosphorite facies (Fig. 1). The phosphorite is mainly composed of microcrystalline
sedimentary sequence of Randha Formation starts with brown fluorapatite, calcite/dolomite and terrigeneous quartz. The
to maroon coloured shale at the base which grades upward into stromatolitic phosphorite comprises columnar to
fine grained shaly sandstone, siltstone and ferugenous pseudocolumnar structures in which each stromatolitic
sandstone. The sandstone shows development of small scale columns is composed of alternate laminations of phosphate
cross bedding and finally grades upward into creamish white, and carbonate minerals often studded with detrital quartz
clean washed quartz arenite. grains. The intercolumnar spaces of the stromatolites are
filled with quartz and phosphorite clasts which are in turn
The base of Birmania basin is represented by the Malani cemented by phosphate or carbonate minerals. The bedded
Igneous Suite of rocks which range in age from 780 to 680 Ma phosphorite is composed of three types of laminations.
(Rathore et al. 1999). The stratigraphic position of this
succession is delineated on the basis of regional correlation The microsparitic dolostone is composed of equant grains of
with rocks of the Salt Range in Pakistan. Logical comparison dolomite/calcite showing xenotopic fabric with a few lenses
of phosphorite beds of the Krol belt in the lesser Himalaya, of sparite. The micritic dolostones appears as structureless
Hazara in the salt range (Banerjee 1986) and Birmania in homogeneous dolomicrite mud at the bottom. It grades
western Rajasthan (Hussain and Banerjee 1979) helps in upward into a complex microsparitic mass consisting of clots
identifying this closely connected continental mass as of dolomicrite of 1.6 to 2.4 mm diameter. Calcrete dolostone
representing the end phase of the Neoproterozoic and the represents three distinct textural patterns. Firstly, angular to
dawn of a new era. subangular silt sized quartz coated by micrite. Secondly,
spherical to ooidal carbonate bodies 0.64 to 2.3 mm in size,
The Birmania Formation comprises a mixed assemblage of outlined by microsparite and micrite. Thirdly, bigger
siliciclastic, carbonate and phosphorite facies. This package elongated, irregular carbonate bodies of 0.61 to 2.6 mm
of mixed assemblage has been divided into three distinct diameter. They also possess outer rim of micrite and
lithofacies associations i.g. the lower siliciclastic dominated, internally composed of radial fibrous sparite.
middle phosphorite dominated and upper carbonate
dominated lithofacies association (Fig. 1). The lower The carbonate rocks of Birmania basin contain 28.77 to
lithofacies association comprises grey coloured microsparitic 33.70% CaO, 15.43 to 21.53% MgO with corresponding 1.3
dolostones at the base which grades upwards into deep brown to 2.05 CaO/MgO ratio (Mathur and Chauhan 1995). The
ferruginous sandstone, finally culminating into quartz arenite. carbonate rocks of Birmania basin may be defined as mainly
These siliciclastic rocks show wavy to lenticular bedding and calcitic dolostones (cf. Pettijohn 1969). P2O5 content of
small- scale cross-bedding. The middle lithofacies phosphorite of the area is as high as 29.37% (Mathur and
association starts with stromatolitic phosphorite horizon. The Chauhan 1995). The CaO indicate positive correlation while
stromatolites are domical to pseudocolumnar structures of SiO2 and MgO show negative correlation with P 2O5 contents.
2.0 to 8 cm in height. They are composed of 2 to 3 mm thick,

2
 MAHESHWARI, SIAL, AND MATHUR
This relationship corroborates with the petrographic studies isotope profiles of the Birmania succession are presented
of the phosphorite rocks of the area. here and their implication for the Precambrian-Cambrian (Pc/
C) boundary interval have been explored.
On the basis of stratigraphic, lithological, petrographic and
geochemical data the siliciclastic, carbonate and phosphorite A global review of carbon isotopic composition of
lithofacies association of Birmania basin, a relatively shallow Proterozoic carbonates (Veizer et al. 1992) and organic
water nearshore environment is proposed (Mathur 1995). The matter (Strauss et al. 1992) indicates that ‘redox events’ were
basal Randha siliciclastic facies, characterised by shale at the episodic during this transition. The observed episodic records
base grading upward into sandy shale, shaly sandstone, of markedly positive δ 13Ccarb excursions in these carbonates
siltstone, ferrugineous sandstone and finally into quartz indicate that relative rates of organic burial increased
arenite, constitute a typical sequence coarsening upwardly. dramatically concomitant with rise of O2 level in the
The sandy facies often show planar cross-bedding which atmosphere (Karhu and Holland 1996). A global positive
display moderate variation in paleocurrent pattern. The δ 13Ccarb event during the interval 590-550 Ma is
overlying Birmania Formation is represented by different accompanied by high 87Sr/ 86Sr values (Derry et al. 1992) which
lithofacies association. The carbonate and siliciclastic facies helps to infer that this geochemical event triggered an
form repetitive sequence while phosphorite facies form enhanced rate of continental erosin which was sustained
intermediate sequence with repetition of quartz arenite through the Pan-African uplift (Asmerom et al. 1991).
horizon only. It may be noted that each sequence starts with Consequently, it is believed that the absolute rates of organic
carbonate facies at the base and terminates in the form of sedimentation were accelerated during the closing phase of
quartz arenite at the top. This sort of vertical distribution of Neoproterozoic and the atmospheric oxygen levels markedly
carbonates and siliciclastic facies signify repetitive events of increased (Kaufman and Knoll 1995). The end-
sea level changes amounting to marine incursions followed by Neoproterozoic isotope event accompanied the first well
depositional regressions. Such a sequence is considered as demonstrated occurrence of multicellular life (Kaufman and
shallowing upward cycle evolved due to repetitive Knoll 1995; Brasier 1990). Both carbon isotopic and
transgressive events followed by carbonate sedimentation and accompanying biological events are consistent with an
influx of terrigeneous detritus representing regressive events increase in atmospheric O2 level (Knoll and Holland 1995;
(Mack and James 1986). Des Marais 1997) at this juncture of the earth history. The
carbon isotopic records of Neoproterozoic sections from
ANALYTICAL METHODS AND SAMPLING China, Iran, Lesser Himalaya and Rajasthan in India, Oman and
a general review by Ripperdan (1994) demonstrate an overall
Carbonates were sampled at close interval around Birmania consistency in the variation pattern. The terminal
and Kohra town in the Birmania basin. A total of 32 carbonate Neoproterozoic carbonates in these sections are characterised
samples were collected. CO2 was extracted from carbonates by positive δ 13Ccarb value with negative excursions due to
in a high vacuum line after reaction with phosphoric acid at presence of phosphorite beds sandwiched between normal
25°C, and cryogenically cleaned, according to the method dolomites.
described by Craig (1957). CO 2 gas released by this method
was analyzed for O and C isotopes in a double inlet, triple We have obtained δ 13C values for 32 carbonate samples
collector V.G. ISOTECH mass spectrometer, using the collected through the Birmania basin around Birmania and
reference gas BSC (Borborema Skarn Calcite) that calibrated Kohra town. These data have been provided in Table 1 and
aginst NBS-18, NBS-19 and NBS-20, has a δ 18O value of – plotted in figure 2 along the lithocolumn. The primary
11.28 0.004 ‰ PDB and δ 13C = -8.58 0.02 ‰ PDB. The Birmania basin carbonates appeared to underwent early fabric-
results are expressed in the notation ‰ (per mil) in relation retentive dolomitization, rendering them relatively imperme-
to international PDB scale. able. The carbonates of Birmania basin sampled for present
study have neither suffered deep burial nor alteration.
RESULTS AND DISCUSSION Consequently, Birmania carbonates may provide pristine
status of the C cycle at the time of their deposition and these
The carbon isotopic composition of Phanerozoic marine values can, therefore, be useful in inter-regional correlations.
carbonates is complicated by the vital effects of skeletal
organisms and pervasive bioturbation. Proterozoic carbon- The carbon isotope composition of the Birmania basin
ates are not plagued with these problems (Hoffman et al. carbonates are provided in Table 1. The isotope profile of
1998). The palaeontologic information necessary for Birmania succession is shown in Fig. 2. The base of Birmania
characterizing the boundary interval in Birmania formation is Formation is represented by stromatolitic phosphorite. The
absent however, it is now widely accepted that the isotope age carbonate interlayers associated with phosphorite are
curve provides a useful tool for stratigraphic analysis and characterised by negative δ 13C (upto - 3.56 PDB ‰). The
correlation, particularly for unfossiliferous successions. The lower microsparitic dolostone underlying to stromatolitic
Birmania succession is represented by phosphorite horizon phosphorite provide negative δ 13C value around Kohra block.
and number of carbonate formations. The carbon and oxygen The middle microsparitic dolostone, lower & upper micritic
3
 CARBON ISOTOPE FLUCTUATIONS THROUGH THE BIRMANIA BASIN, INDIA

Table 1. Carbon-isotope ratios of Birmania carbonates.

dolostone and calcrete dolostones overlying the phophorites Cambrian the prevailing stagnancy in the ocean basin was
are represented by positive δ 13C values upto +3.87‰ PDB. A interrupted by a well maked phase of ventillation, concomitant
swing to less positive δ 13C values may be observed in with a sharp negative swing in the carbon isotope value.
uppermost carbonates of study sequence. Oxygen isotopic Continental rifting at this period of time enhanced the
composition of carbonates are very much prone to alteration possibility of phosphate deposition by providing shallow
during diagenesis. However, the carbonates of Birmania water locales in the lower latitudes (Cook and Shergold 1984).
succession show very high oxygen isotopic composition and The logical comparison of phosphorite beds of Birmania in
may be taken to represent compositions close to the original western Rajasthan with Krol belt in lesser Himalaya and
values. This further indicates that the carbon isotopic signals Hazara in the Salt Range (Banerjee 1986) indicate as
preserved in this succession are primary and not affected by representing the end phase of the Neoproterozoic and dawn of
diagenesis. a new era.

The widespread occurrence of phosphorite during late The Precambrian-Cambrian Transition

Neoproterozoic-early Cambrian time interval demands global
synchronicity of events like movement of continents in The Precambrian-Cambrian transition was a geological
environmentally conducive latitudes, development of large interval characterised, most discernibly, by profound changes
scale rifting, oceanic turnover, development of upwelling in the biosphere, with the evolution of many new metazoan
cells, shallowing of the basin and carbon burial, oxidation and groups and the development of bio-mineralisation (Cowie and
reduction. This period of phosphate accumulation was closely Brasier 1989). Certainly, the changes in the biosphere were
linked with periods of continental extension and rifting (Bond also associated with changes in the other related domains, such
et al. 1984) which resulted into creation of many shallow as atmosphere, hydrosphere, cryosphere and lithosphere.
epicontinental seaways at low latitudes (Cook and McElhinny Evidence indicates that there was a glacial epoch at or near the
1979) in which phosphorites formed in substantial quantity. Precambrian-Cambrian boundary reaching down to low
The late Neoproterozoic-Early Cambrian phosphogenesis is latitudes. The terminal Precambrian glacial climate was
therefore, an expression of geological and geochemically replaced by warm Cambrian climate with melting of glaciers
activities commencing around ~800 Ma when large scale and rise in sea level (Tucker 1992) and the Precambrian-
organic matter burial took place leading to O2 buildup in the Cambrian boundary appears to straddle an interval between
contemporary atmosphere. The carbon reservoirs of the cool ice-house and warm greenhouse conditions (Brasier
contemporary oceans and continents will be drastically 1992). It has been found that at many places the transitional
affected by such environmental changes expressed in the form Precambrian-Cambrian beds contain phosphorite (Brasier
of considerable increase followed by a sharp decrease of δ 13C 1992; Tucker 1992) and their proper interpretation and
in the marine carbonates and phosphates deposited during this evaluation may lead to profound implications for the
time. The phosphogenic event was either triggered by, or the Precambrian-Cambrian transitional regime. It appears that the
result of transformation of soft-bodied organisms into period of Precambrian-Cambrian transition was a time of
mineralised skeletons closely connected to the increasing global change, with increased plate movements and opening
pCO2 level which can be safely linked to continental rifting. oceans and a climate progression from late Precambrian
During the late Neoproterozoic and beginning of the early glaciation to Cambrian global warming.
4
 MAHESHWARI, SIAL, AND MATHUR

Figure 2. Secular variations in δ 13C of carbonates through the Birmania Basin. + Kohra Block sample; Birmania Block
sample

5
 CARBON ISOTOPE FLUCTUATIONS THROUGH THE BIRMANIA BASIN, INDIA
1984) at or near, the Pc/C boundary supports the inference
The carbon isotopic records of the Pc/C transition are (Tucker 1986; Lambert et al. 1987) of biological controls
available only from shallow-marine carbonates. Carbon driven by ocean fertility changes and acting on the marine
isotope determinations of carbonates from stratigraphically carbon reservoir.
continuous sedimentary successions have yielded well-
defined records of δ 13C variations during the time interval ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
immediately preceding the appearance of shelly metazoans at
the base of Cambrian. Carbon isotope profiles are now AM is thankful to CNPq for financial assistance to visit to
available from boundary sections of many parts of world NEG-LABISE, Recife, Brazil. AM and ANS wish to express
including Siberia, Iran, India, China, Morocco and South their gratitude to Gilsa M. de Santana and Vilma S. Bezerra for
Australia (see Brasier et al. 1990 for references). There are the assistance with the carbon isotope analyses at the NEG-
remarkable similarities in the patterns of δ 13C variations LABISE, UFPE, Brazil. We are also thankful to V.K.Chittora
imprinted in the shallow marine carbonate sequences in spite and Salil Agarwal for their help during the course of this work.
of their wide geographic distribution. In all cases the trend
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