See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Paleontological and Sedimentological Consequences of Calcite and Aragonite Sea Dynamics
Abstract:
Here we show that diverse solitary corals with well-preserved calcitic skeletons occur both in Europe in earlier epochs of Late Cretaceous (Campanian-Santonian) and in the Danian (Paleogene) deposits of America. All calcitic skeletons with well-preserved micro-structural features, represent simple "Desmophyllum-like" organization. The mid-septal zone consists of minute calcification centers, with bundles of fibers radiating perpendicular to the skeletal surfaces. Extremely fine-scale microstructural features, bioerosion-activity within the skeleton, occasional silification developed along the original organic-enriched regions, and other geochemical signatures support the conclusion that the original mineralogy of these fossils was purely calcitic. In contrast, some Turonian and Cenomanian solitary scleractinians whose skeletons are preserved in sediments devoid of originally aragonitic fossils, have calcitic coralla affected by diagenesis and are clearly recrystallized. Additionally, throughout the Upper Cretaceous deposits, there are abundant examples of scleractinians that produced aragonite skeletons, including skeletons with more advanced types of microstructural organization.
Based on these observations, we propose that mineralization of the Cretaceous scleractinians might be affected by changes in Mg2+/Ca2+ sea-water ratio but that the actual skeletogenic response is different among taxonomically different corals and strongly controlled by the biological processes involved in the skeletal formation.
See more from this Division: Topical Sessions
See more from this Session: Paleontological and Sedimentological Consequences of Calcite and Aragonite Sea Dynamics