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Tidal Flat Lecture Outline

Major Subenvironments
‡ Supratidal
-Physical and chemical processes
Carbonate Tidal Flat Environment -Facies present
‡ Intertidal
I t tid l
-Physical and chemical processes
-Facies present
‡ Subtidal
-Physical and chemical processes
-Facies present

Tidal Flat Depositional Model Supratidal

‡ Based on modern analogs - Florida Keys, Bahamas, western coast of
Persian Gulf, Shark Bay (Western Australia).
‡ Do not receive clastic input but accumulate calcium carbonate produced ‡ Sediments deposited above normal mean high tide, but
within the basin. flooded during spring and storm tides.

3 major sub-environments of Tidal Flat ‡ Spring tides = unusually high tides that occur twice a
1. Supratidal month when the sun,
sun moon and earth are in alignment.)
alignment )
2. Intertidal
3. Shallow Subtidal
‡ Setting:
- Subaerially exposed for long periods of time.
- Fluctuating salinities: Fresh all the way to saline
- Intermittent sedimentation - modified by
burrows, rooting, bioturbation, paleosol
development

Supratidal Diagnostic Sedimentary

Supratidal Setting is Highly climate influenced: Structures: Mudcracks

‡ Humid climates - Supratidal marsh ‡ Shrinking of carbonate mud upon desiccation.

‡ Arid climates – Sabkha ‡ Classic V-shape, edges curl-up

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Supratidal Diagnostic Sedimentary Supratidal Diagnostic Sedimentary

Structures: Mudcracks Structures: Laminations
‡ May form in intertidal, but are not generally preserved due to flooding and ‡ Restricted to supratidal and upper intratidal environments.
rewetting of next high tide or burrowing. ‡ In intertidal to subtidal zone laminations are destroyed by
‡ During storm events thick deposits - large polygons burrowing or grazing.
‡ Normal daily tidal events thin deposits - small polygons ‡ Generated in two ways:
‡ Algal mats modify the mudcracks allowing them to perpetuate up through 1.) biogenic - algal mats
several consecutive thin deposits creating giant mudcracks. 2.) current/storm generated (spring or storm tide deposition)
‡ Selective
S l ti Dolomitization
D l iti ti off material
t i l surrounding
di polygon
l mudcracks
d k
because more porous material ‡ Can be graded, ungraded, thick, thin, and with or w/out cross-
bedding
‡ Few to rare roots or burrows to destruct laminations are present.

Supratidal Diagnostic Sedimentary

Algal Laminations -
Structures: Bird's-eye Structure or Fenestrae

‡ 1) Flat laminated forms (algal mats) ‡ Occur predominantly in muddy rocks.

These are small mm sized vugs that form in supratidal sediment as a
‡ 2) Separate hemispheric-shaped domes ‡
result of:
‡ 3) Laterally linked hemispheric-shaped 1) Gas bubble formation - due to organic decay
2) Air escaping during flooding (extremely high tide)
domes
3) wrinkles in irregular growth patterns of algal mats
4) mineral (evaporite) growth; Vugs are generally filled with
calcite or anhydrite
‡ Preserved because of early cementation and diagenetic filling of the
vugs.

Supratidal Diagnostic Sedimentary Supratidal Diagnostic Sedimentary

Structures: Paleosol development and karst Structures: Intraclasts
features
All supratidal deposits can be ripped up and formed into
‡ Caliche horizons, CO3 nodules and/or ‡
intraclasts.
pisolites. ‡ Mainly during storm events
Occur in supratidal and in subtidal channels (channel lag
‡ Micrite intraclasts
‡
deposits)
‡ Most intraclasts are derived from supratidal zone because of
the hardening and cementation of muddy sediment occur
relatively quickly.
‡ Can be imbricated.

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Supratidal Diagnostic Sedimentary Displacive Anhydrite Evaporites in

Structures: Evaporites dolomitic caliche profile
‡ Evaporation and continual
supply of seawater from a
fluctuating ground water table
lead to concentration of
brines nears the supratidal
surface.
‡ Dolomitization and formation
of evaporates result.
‡ Evaporites periodically
dissolved away by meteoric
rainfall.

Displacive Anhydrite in Laminite

Halite Precipitation

Intertidal Depositional Environment Intertidal Depositional Environment

Lie within normal high tide and low tide range.

‡
‡ Lower to middle parts of intertidal zone
‡ Subaerially exposed once or twice daily.
‡ Lack laminations because of burrowing organisms contain specialized critters, no evaporites.
‡ Characteristic oxidized (reddish or bleached white) color ‡ Flood and ebb tide ripples often reworked by
in upper intertidal, but lower intertidal often reducing with
high H2S conc.
conc burrowers
‡ Lower fossil diversity than subtidal environment
‡ Dissected by subtidal tidal channels.
‡ Contain exposure tolerant biota.

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Intensely Burrowed Lower Intertidal
Tidal channels -
‡ Typically not deeper than 3m but can be as deep as 15m
and as wide as 100m wide (as in Bahamas).
‡ Become shallower and narrower landward.
‡ Sediment is delivered from the offshore subtidal carbonate
factory landward along channels ("backwards delta
system
system").
).
‡ Normal marine fossil debris can be swept landward up the
channels.
Shallowing upward sequences
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Shallow Subtidal Depositional
Environment
‡ Not generally exposed except form neap tides.
‡ Neap tides = unusually low tides that occur twice a month when sun and
moon are at right angles to the earth.)
‡ Except for tidal channels the subtidal zone forms a belt seaward of the
intertidal zone. This zone is vital to the tidal flat system because it supplies
the sediment needed for the tidal flats growth.
‡ Shallow,
Sh ll low
l energy conditions
diti (<5km)
(<5k ) mudd stirred
ti d into
i t suspension
i andd
transported to the flats dring storm tide conditions.
‡ Subtidal sediments are predominantly pelletal muds - can vary in grain size,
composition, and hardness. Winnowed, laminated or cross bedded peloidal
grainstone horizons are also common.
‡ Lack primary sedimentary structures because of burrowing organisms
‡ Characteristic mottled gray color
Tidal Channels
‡ The channel floor is usually covered with a basal lag containing intraclasts, derived
from bank erosion, together with coarse-grained skeletal debris.
‡ Intraclasts commonly consist of lithified tidal flat sediments (such as dolomitic
crusts).
‡ The channel walls undergo early cementation and may be reworked into the
channel lag.
‡ The bulk of the channel deposits
p consist of bioturbated muddyy sand.
ƒOrganisms are specialized and of low
diversity due to if hypersaline tidal flat waters
and freshwater run-off.
ƒ Levee deposits - commonly laminated with
bird's-eye structures and algal mats.
ƒChannels migrate laterally similar to
fluvial systems in that they meander and
generate point bars.