Carbonate facies

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Exploring for Oil and Gas Traps
Series Treatise in Petroleum Geology
Part Predicting the occurrence of oil and gas traps
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Author Dan J. Hartmann, Edward A. Beaumont
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Factors that control facies

An interplay of hydrologic and biologic factors produces carbonates in place. Deposition of carbonate sediments is limited to water that is warm, shallow, clear, sunlit, and free of suspended clay. When these conditions prevail, carbonates accumulate rapidly.

Figure 1 Typical carbonate facies that develop within the three zones.[1] Copyright: SEPM.

Basic carbonate facies zones

In general, carbonate facies develop on gently sloping shelves that can be divided into three main zones:

  • A seaward zone below normal wave base
  • A zone where wave energy interacts with sediment
  • A landward low-energy zone

Depositional slope, geologic age, water energy, and climate control the basic facies pattern. Figure 1 shows typical carbonate facies that develop within the three zones.

Platform or ramp development

Figure 2 A platform's seaward edge steepens with time because subsidence cannot keep pace with carbonate sedimentation.

The high accumulation rates of carbonate sediments relative to subsidence generate shelf-to-basin submarine topography with a seaward face of variable steepness. As shown in the diagram in Figure 2, a platform's seaward edge steepens with time because subsidence cannot keep pace with carbonate sedimentation.

See also

References

  1. Sarg, J., F., 1988, Carbonate sequence stratigraphy, in Wilgus, C., K., Hastings, B., S., Kendall, C., G. St. C., Posamentier, H., W., Ross, C., A., Van Wagoner, J., C., eds., Sea Level Changes: An Integrated Approach: SEPM Special Publication 42, p. 155–182.

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Carbonate facies
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