The effect of diagenesis on rare earth element geochemistry of the Quaternary carbonates at an isolated coral atoll in the South China Sea

The redox state of ancient seawater is crucial to understanding the variations in atmospheric and oceanic conditions in the geological past. Rare earth elements + Y (REY) in marine carbonates are believed to be one potential proxy for rebuilding paleoredox conditions. The impact of diagenetic alterations on REY distribution patterns and the Cerium anomaly, however, remains debatable. One deep well (NK1) was recently drilled on an isolated coral atoll in southern South China Sea (SCS). Because it is far away from land, carbonates from Well NK1 contain very low terrigenous concentrations. Quaternary carbonates from Well NK1 with minimal terrigenous contamination are used to systematically investigate the sole effect of diagenesis on the REY geochemistry. Different diagenetic realms, including meteoric diagenesis and dolomitization, are present in Quaternary carbonates on Meiji Atoll according to petrographic observations, X-ray diffraction analyses, and delta C-13 and delta O-18 results. Analyses on REY compositions in different diagenetic carbonates from Well NK1 show that the seawater-like REY patterns appear not to vary with the changes in diagenetic facies. And the Ce anomaly appears to have no correlations with isotopic, elemental and mineralogical proxies for carbonate diagenesis. This study confirms the conservative behavior of REY in reefal carbonates during various diagenetic transformations in the condition of low terrigenous contaminations. This study further supports the use of REY compositions of reefal carbonates to study the seawater compositional change in the past. (C) 2021 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Automated summary

The redox state of ancient seawater is crucial for understanding the variations in atmospheric and oceanic conditions in the geological past. Rare earth elements + Y (REY) in marine carbonates are considered a potential proxy for reconstructing paleoredox conditions. This study confirms the conservative behavior of REY in reefal carbonates during various diagenetic transformations under conditions of low terrigenous contaminations.