Grotzinger James Precambrian Carbonates

PRECAMBRIAN CARBONATES EVOLUTION OF UNDERSTANDING
JOHN P GROTZINGER
MA 02139 U S A
Department of Earth Atmospheric and Planetary Sciences Massachusetts Institute of Technology Cambridge
AND
NOEL P JAMES
Department of Geological Sciences Queen s University Kingston Ontario K7L 3N6 Canada
of abiotic and
higher organisms except near its end carbonate sediments formed by variety
a
ABSTRAcr In the Precambrian world devoid of
that the
microbial processes with patterns of deposition determined by tectonic eustatic and climatic processes These ancient rocks demonstrate
of carbonate sedimen
fundamental tenets of carbonate production and accumulation were initiated early in earth history with the basic attributes
tation well established by Neoproterozoic time
evolution of the earth s oceans
The broad temporal patterns of Precambrian carbonate facies composition and disposition parallel the long term
and atmosphere Archean and Paleoproterozoic carbonates commonly contain abundant
sea floor
precipitates whereas the Neoproterozoic record
are transitional
is dominated by clastic textured facies and abundant carbonate mudstones Mesoproterozoic carbonates Mesoproterozoic and
structure Grainstones dominated by giant ooids
early Neoproterozoic carbonates also contain abundant quantitites of the enigmatic molar tooth
of
with centimeter scale diameters are characteristic of many Neoproterozoic carbonates Texturally unusual carbonates featuring a reprise
Archean style sea floor precipitates often cap glacial deposits of middle Neoproterozoic age
reefs are
The influence of biology on sediment texture is best expressed in the history of Precambrian reefs Archean through Mesoproterozoic
of aragonite and calcite encrusting the
dominantly stromatolite based Lamination textures reveal the progressive shift from in situ precipitation
with accretion of loose sediment through trapping and binding
sea floor in Archean through Paleoproterozoic stromatolites to textures consistent
of
in Neoproterozoic stromatolites interpreted to reflect the progressive decrease of abiotic factors and the concomittant increase
This trend is
that likely
benthic microbial mats on
controlling growth Neoproterozoic reefs witness the appearance of more complex textures
stromatolite
surface complexity and
involve the participation of calcified microbes and noncalcified higher algae in colonizing the seafloor increasing its
Terminal Proterozoic thrombolitic reefs additionally contain the first
resulting in highly porous frameworks for the first time in geologic history
calcified metazoans
INTRODUCTION simple question asked of most Phanerozoic carbonates such as
Were the sediments and answered af

biologically
Precambrian carbonate rocks have within them a legible rec produced
firmatively in scores of introductory level textbooks and sum
ord of earth that spans more than three billion years
history
From the period of first continental accretion to the advent of mary articles is not so easily resolved for the Precambrian rec
ord For rocks of this age the absence of coarse skeletal debris
diverse biomineralizing metazoans these sedimen
ecologically in all but terminal Proterozoic carbonates does not provide an
tary rocks contain chemical biological and physical proxies
for the many platforms that are as vast and
for past tectonic regimes environmental change and the evo easy explanation
lution of life Their physical attributes reflect tectonic subsi compositionally diverse as any of Phanerozoic age The prob
lem of the origin of Phanerozoic carbonate mud so easily ex
dence and sea level fluctuation their chemical variability pro
vides insight into carbon burial rates continental growth and plained through the post mortem disintegration of green algae
does not find much basis in accounting for the mudstones pres
surficial redox their paleontology illustrates how microorgan
isms have evolved and how the structure of early ecosystems
ent across the 600 000 km2 late Archean Transvaal platform
at least 1 5 billion years older than the first direct evidence for
developed
Studies of Precambrian carbonates like of their green algae in the fossil record Precambrian carbonate sedi
analyses
younger counterparts generally fall into two
categories
one mentologists have thus had to rely on a number of different
in which the former sedimentary facies their constituent grains approaches to begin to address some of these simple yet essen
form are of interest and the tial questions and so the integration of sedimentological trace
and the platforms they primary
element isotopic biomarker and paleobiological data has be
other in which the sediments are viewed principally as carriers
record e g C and Sr isotopes which is itself come more widespread even for studies devoted to the origin
of a geochemical
of the sediment itself
the object of study In the first case investigations are motivated
by the desire to interpret sedimentation patterns that result from Thirty years ago it was not clear what facies comprised Pre
chemical and biological processes whereas in the cambrian carbonates if they formed differentiated platforms
physical
second studies are oriented more toward understanding biogeo and if they were well enough preserved for detailed study The
prevailing view was and to some extent still is that Precam
chemical cycles and the ancient ocean atmosphere system
endless hectares of stromat
In this volume we have assembled papers that fall into either brian carbonate rocks were simply
is obvious olites and fabric destructive dolostone Several key papers in
category Having done so an emerging trend
both This of inte the mid 1970s however provided distinct answers to these
several of these studies accomplish degree
the realization that the clearest records questions and demonstrated the clear potential for additional
gration is motivated by
detailed study Hoffman 1974 Serebryakov and Semik
of biogeochemical events are elucidated through careful study more
hatov 1974 Beukes 1977 Cecile and Campbell 1978 These

of sedimentary and diagenetic patterns Conversely sedimen
tation patterns are being explored in the context of the local studies in combination with the disovery ofextensive fields of
and global microbiological and physicochemical variability that stromatolites in Shark Bay ignited a major effort to better un
might influence textures and accumulations rates derstand the paleoenvironmental and paleobiological signifi
cance of stromatolites in platform carbonates Walter 1976
The study of Precambrian carbonate platforms necessitates
problem solving An apparently This effort led in turn to a second generation of studies in
such integrated approaches to
Diagenesis in the Evolving Precambrian World

Carbonate Sedimentation and
Copyright @ 2000 SEPM Society for Sedimentary Geology Special Publication 67 ISBN 1 56576 072 7
4 PRECAMBRIAN CARBONATES EVOLUTION OF UNDERSTANDING
which platforms were mapped facies were interpreted in the velopment of Precambrian carbonate platforms is identical to
context of modern analogs and complementary diagenetic modern ones Important controls on
platform
geometry include
studies were aimed at trying to unravel primary mineralogy and patterns of differential subsidence eustatic fluctuations silici
carbonate precipitation mechanisms Kerans 1982 Grotzinger clastic sediment flux and paleoclimate Ramps and rimmed
and Read 1983 Bertrand Sarfati and Moussine Pouchkine shelves both present rocks show
are
although Neoproterozoic
1983 Tucker 1983 Teitz and 1985 and dominance of ramps
Mountjoy Grey a over rimmed shelves The reasons for
Thorne 1985 1986a 1986b Hofmann and Jack
Grotzinger this trend of abundant
Neoproterozoic ramps are unclear but
son 1987 Beukes 1987 Fairchild and Spiro 1987 Zempolich may be related to the abundance of grainstones in some systems
aI 1988
et
Syntheses of Precambrian carbonates at the close e g Knoll and Swett 1990 Clough and Goldhammer this
of the decade Grotzinger 1988 1989b summarized volume the general decline of stromatolites that
existing might have
data and demonstrated that to a first order the formed effective barriers Grotzinger 1988 1990 and the rise
approximation
geometries of carbonate platforms their primary mineralogies of higher algae Butterfield et a 1988 that might have com
and the general distribution of facies since at least the late Ar
peted effectively for substrate space Knoll and Swett 1990
chean similar to those present in Paleozoic
were
through Recent Nevertheless many platforms beginning with the late Ar
carbonates chean Malmani structure Beukes
Campbellrand 1980 1987
This phase of research however also that show
pointed out large morphologic development from an initial ramp that un
parts of the Precambrian record were non actualistic with no dergoes progressive transition to a rimmed shelf Fig 1
in the modern
for that matter in the Phanerozoic
analogues or
Younger examples include the Paleoproterozoic Pethei and
The last ten years has been a watershed in our Rocknest platforms Hoffman 1974
understanding Grotzinger 1986b Sami
in this regard as Precambrian carbonates have been and James the Neoproterozoic Yellowhead platform
interpreted 1993
on their own merits and not viewed
simply as variants on Phan Teitz and Mountjoy 1985 1989 and terminal Proterozoic car
erozoic models Furthermore new analytical techniques have bonates of the Gourma basin Bertrand Sarfati and Moussine
allowed heretofore unimagined correlation and thus revealed Pouchkine 1983 and the central Oman basin Mattes and Con
previously unknown attributes of sediment dynamics Finally way Morris 1990 In these cases basin development is the
fresh geochemical
techniques have permitted different proxies dominant control on transitions from ramp to rimmed shelf
to speak about the
compositions of the Precambrian oceans and with intial flooding of antecedent topography and rapid rates
atmospheres Important papers on Precambrian carbonates that of accommodation giving way to slower long term subsidence
identify potentially age dependent facies andor processes in and attendant reduced accommodation This pattern is charac
clude Archean carbonates Simonson et a 1993 Sumner and teristic of many Phanerozoic transitions
1996a 1 996b Simonson and Jarvis 1996 Sumner
Grotzinger The sequence architecture of all well studied Precambrian
1997a 1997b
Paleoproterozoic carbonates Burdett et a platforms Fig 2 shows patterns that are identical to Phaner
1990 Kah and Grotzinger 1992 Karhu 1993 Sami and James ozoic platforms g Grotzinger 1986b Christie Blick et
e a
1993 1994 1996 Grotzinger and Rothman 1996 1988 Sami and James 1993 1994 Knoll et a 1995a Saylor
Mesopro
terozoic carbonates Pelechaty and James 1991 Pelechaty et et aI 1995 Pelechaty et a 1 996a Sami et a this volume
a a a
1991 Buick et 1995 Sergeev 1995 Knoll et aI
et
Clough and Goldhammer this volume Jackson et aI this vol
1995b Kah and Knoll 1996 Frank et a
1997 Furniss a
et ume implying that the ratio of accommodation space creation
1998 Narbonne and James 1996 Xiao a
1997 Knoll and to sediment flux was not
et
significantly different In most cases
Semikhatov 1998 and Neoproterozoic carbonates Aitken sediment production rates were higher than what was required
1988 Aitken and Narbonne 1989 Southgate 1989 Peryt et that the meter scale
so shallowing upward paradigm is as ubiq
a
1990 Wright et a
1990 Fairchild 1991 1993 Knoll and uitous in Archean Martin et a 1980 Sumner and Grotzinger
Swett 1990 Kaufman et a
1991 Knoll et a 1993 1995a this volume and Proterozoic Grey and Thorne 1985 Grot
Sumner and Grotzinger 1993 Grotzinger and Knoll 1995 zinger 1986a Southgate 1989 Sami and James 1994 Jackson
a
Fairchild et 1997 1989 1990 Saylor et a 1995 1998 a
this volume carbonates 3 it is in Phanerozoic
et Fig as
a
et 1 996a a
Pelechaty 1996b Hoffman et 1998a 1998b carbonates Pratt et a
1992
Kennedy 1996 Kennedy et a 1998 Turner et a
1993 The architecture of Precambrian carbonates alone provides
1997 The papers in this volume represent a milestone of that powerful evidence that sediment accumulation rates have al
effort and strive to extract some of the most important issues ways been anomalously high in comparison to shallow marine
that make Precambrian carbonates so fascinating The goal of siliciclastic systems with sediment
production easily matching
this paper is to review briefly some of the progress
introductory and available accommodation space High
typically exceeding
that has been made over the past decade and to
identify the sediment production rates should not be viewed as a special
important outstanding problems Not surprisingly we find that attribute of Phanerozoic carbonate producing systems im
many of these problems are not unique to Precambrian carbon parted through the advent of biocalcifying higher organisms at
ates rather the record of Precambrian carbonate sedimentation the dawn of Cambrian time cf Riding 1982 Knoll et a
simply illustrates the fundamental nature of these problems 1993 It seems likely that the calcium carbonate saturation state
providing a fresh perspective on Phanerozoic carbonates of seawater has always been at least high as that
as in the Phan
erozoic and the for this is
reason
straightforward
PLATFORM GEOMETRY AND ARCHITECTURE Inorganic carbon on earth is distributed between the atmo
sphere the ocean and the crust Precipitation of calcium car
The many detailed studies of individual late Archean and bonate biologically or
inorganically represents transfer from
platforms confirm that the and de Over
younger general structure ocean to crust
long periods of time millions of years
JOHN P GROTZINGER AND NOEL P JAMES 5
50 km
J J J J J J J J J
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o Lagoonal
o Shallow Subtidal I Intertidal
I I Supratidal
I I Banded Iron Formation
1 I Slope Basin Facies 1 1 Giant Elongate Stromatolites
IT Deep Subtidal Microbialite o Grainstone Shoal
Late Archean 2 5 Ga Province South Africa Note well defined facies differentiation and transition from
FIG I Campbell rand platform northern Cape
ramp to rimmed shelf morphology After Beukes 1987 and Sumner and Grotzinger this volume
NW SE
accommodation space
creation
@ @ @ @
A II
IIIIII11 Microdigitate stromatolites

00 Stromatolite bioherms
Fenestral microbial laminite
Domal stromatolites
Wavy microbial laminite
Prone microbial laminite Oncoid intraclast grainstone
@
@ Oolite Limestone rhythmite
Note accentutation of rim geometry during
FIG 2 Sequence stratigraphic development of Paleoproterozoic 18 Ga Pethei platform northwest Canada
times of accommodation increase similar to Phanerozoic platforms After Sami and James 1994
w E
150 200 km
term
flooding of the continents than to the advent of biocalci
fication The transgression that started with the
breakup of the
late Proterozoic supercontinent and culminated in late Cam
I REEFAL BOUNDSTONE rn GRAINSTONE E TIDAL FLAT lAMINITES

brian time was responsible for the deposition and therefore
partitioning into the crust of great volumes of carbonate over
all the continents Bond et a
1989 As a consequence much
aPERITIDAL STROMATOLiTES D DOlOSllTlTE lAGOONAL SHALE
carbon
inorganic was buried and removed from the oceanic
A realm
5
tom
CHEMOSTRATIGRAPHIC CORRELATION TECHNIQUES
Correlation techniques based on carbon and strontium have

revolutionized Precambrian carbonate stratigraphy Veizer and
B colleagues Veizer and Compston 1976 Veizer and Hoefs

1976 first suggested that primary variations in the 813C and
FIG 3 Facies architecture
A and inferred chronostratigraphic relation
87Sr 86Sr composition of Precambrian carbonates
ships B in
single meter scale platform cycle Paleoproterozoic 19 Ga
a might reflect
Rocknest platform northwest Canada A Note that the differences in thecomposition of contemporaneous seawater
shallowing upward
Focus the
motif is best developed across middle section of
cycle To the west near the
on
Neoproterozoic part of the record confirmed the
shelf consist of
platform edge cycles unconformity bounded tidal flat facies potential magnitude and form of these major isotopic excur
whereas to the east cycles consist of conformable successions of
lagoonal shale sions Knoll et a
1986 Fairchild et aI 1989 Fairchild and
and dolosiltites B Note that cycles nucleated near the rim and then
prograded
dominantly eastward Downlapping shales were supplied by an eastern source Spiro 1987 The ensuing decade resulted in a major effort to
region and are in turn downlapped by prograding carbonates After Grotzinger prove the utility of the excursions in
providing Neoprotero a
I986a zoic
chronostratigraphy useful in global correlation of other
wise poorly fossiliferous strata Fairchild et aI 1990 Knoll
1991 Kaufman et aI 1991 Kaufman et aI 1993 Knoll and
Walter 1992 Pell et aI 1993 Burns and Matter 1993 Brasier
the only way to decrease the oceanic of
inventory inorganic et aI 1992 1997 Narbonne aI
carbon is to allow
et 1994 Kaufman and Knoll
long term
partioning of carbonate minerals
into the crust Walker 1985 1995 Kennedy 1996 Kennedy et a
1998 Knoll et aI 1995a
In this way a new steady state is
a
Knoll et 1995b Pelechaty et aI 1996b Saylor et aI 1998
reached in which the oceanic reservoir becomes
progressively Hoffman et aI 1998a 1998b Most the carbon
smaller The concentration
of carbonate in seawater would recently global
therefore decrease other factors being equal isotope curve has been used to subvide strata for the purpose
the advent of calcareous of high resolution intrabasinal correlation Pelechaty et aI
Prior to
microplankton in Jurassic 1 996a Smith 1998when used in combination with sequence
time carbonates were precipitated
abundantly only in shallow and biostratigraphic data this approach promises
marine environments Precipitation of shallow water carbon stratigraphic
a level of resolution for terminal Proterozoic strata that may
ates is limited to the space created as a result of sea level
rising rival that of Paleozoic time
relative to the land surface accommodation space Unlike sil
The conclusion of these studies is that correlation
iciclastic sediments carbonate sediments cannot be deposited techniques
based on carbon and strontium are a tremendous asset
above sea level because they are produced in the marine envi isotopes
in subdivision of Neoproterozoic the ter
age strata particularly
ronment
except for volumetric ally trivial amounts oflacustrine
minal Proterozoic part of the record Initial studies of the iso
carbonate Transgression and onlap commonly result in net
carbonate deposition whereas regression and topic variability of Mesoproterozoic and Paleoproterozoic car
offtap lead to sub
bonates however show that the
aerial exposure and net carbonate dissolution signal may be of much lower
Consequently and thus the prospect for high resolution correlation
the maximum amount of carbonate that could have been ex amplitude
tracted from pre Jurassic oceans is seems less promising Veizer and Hoefs 1976 Buick et aI
directly proportional to the 1995 Knoll et aI 1995b Frank and this volume Frank
accommodation space over the continents As has been shown Lyons
et aI 1997 Kah this volume A
1989b 1994 possible exception may be
previously Grotzinger Grotzinger and Kasting the
1993 carbonates have been able to fill the available accom Paleoproterozoic Lomagundi Event when the amplitude
of carbon
modation space since at least the late Archean In other words isotope anomalies seems to have been similar to that
their present in Neoproterozoic time Schidlowski 1988 Karhu
growth potential has always been high enough to effec
1993
tively fill the space created by eustatic rises in sea level or
accelerations in subsidence Therefore it is not clear that the
SECULAR CHANGES IN FACIES
inception of benthic biocalcification would have had an impor
tant effect on the saturation state of seawater the amount pre The past decade of research has confirmed that
significant
cipitated would still have been restricted by the available ac differences exist between Precambrian carbonate facies of dif
commodation space Biocalcification acts only as a catalyst ferent ages It is necessary to view the record of Precambrian
restrained in its potential sequester any more carbonate than
to carbonate sedimentation in discrete intervals marked
by impor
by inorganic means because of the impositions of subsidence differences in the style and mode of carbonate production
tant
and eustasy Considered collectively the progression of facies types pro

Indeed it seems that if there was decrease in the saturation vides the record of the
a
long term chemical evolution of sea
state of Paleozoic seawater it would be more attibutable to water and to lesser extent
long a
biological evolution
7
JOHN P GROTZINGER AND NOEL P JAMES
In some cases facies types are distinctly bounded in time Read 1983 Grotzinger 1989b Fairchild 1991 Bartley et aI
however in most cases the transitions are gradual Fig 4 this volume Pope and Grotzinger this volume Winefield this
Thus unlike the Phanerozoic record where abrupt changes in volume with the striking difference that they do not simply
the sea
carbonate facies often coincide with major evolutionary pulses fill voids but are
widespread as direct precipitates on
floor itself Facies include fans

in carbonate secreting organisms e g Ordovician radiation large upward divergent crystal
of calcite and dolomite replaced 1 aragonite with radii com
the Precambrian record appears to have been influenced mostly
monly the order of many tens to hundreds of centimeters
on
by inorganic processes that evolved over much longer time 5A 2 much smaller upward divergent aragonite forming
scales Indeed supposedly biologic parameters such as diver Fig
of stromatolite taxa show little correlation with the actual microdigitate stromatolites Fig 5B 3 isopachously encrust
sity
record of fossil microbes instead correlation with the broader ing micron to millimeter thick layers of former high mag
term
nesium calcite Fig 5C 4 isopachously encrusting layers of
range of carbonate facies supports the possibility that long
environmental change has influenced all carbonate facies in herringbone Fig 5D and rarely 5 marine tufas with
calcite
branching dendritic morphologies Figure 5E

cluding stromatolites Grotzinger and Knoll 1999 Combined The abundance of sea floor calcite and aragonite precipita
with the likely misrepresented history ofPrecambrian evaporite tion shows to a first order approximation a monotonic de
sedimentation Grotzinger 1989b Grotzinger and Kasting crease from late Archean through Mesoproterozoic time Grot
1993 Pope and Grotzinger this volume these changes in the
zinger 1989b 1993 1994 Grotzinger and Kasting 1993
record of carbonate sedimentation provide the warrant for non this vol
Grotzinger and Knoll 1995 Sumner and Grotzinger
uniformitarian models of earth evolution and accounts of en scale fans offormer
ume Decimeter to meter aragonite occur
vironmental secular change in virtually every well preserved late Archean carbonate plat
form and occur in open marine subtidal environments includ
Archean Sea Floor Encrusting Precipitates shelves and reefal rims
ing storm dominated fronting major
Sumner and Grotzinger this volume Sea floor en
Nature of the Precipitates platforms
crusting precipitatesform discrete beds up to several meters
One of the most conspicuous age dependent trends is the thick and cements beds as thin as 20 centimeters can be traced
decrease in the volume of carbonate precipitated di for over 100 kilometers
Sumner 1995 Individual
long term laterally
rectly on the sea floor Fig 4 These precipitates in the form aragonite botryoids calcite typically have radii on the
now
of aragonite and calcite pseudomorphs are present as discrete order of tens of centimeters Fig 5A and in some cases were
sea floor encrustations of both inorganic and microbial origin as great as 150 centimeters Grotzinger and Friedman 1989
Abiotic precipitates are morphologically and mineralogically aI 1993 Sumner and Grotzinger 1996a Sumner
Grotzinger et
identical to marine cements of Phanerozoic age Grotzinger and 1997 a Sumner and Grotzinger this volume
S13C Sea Tidal

I I Ice Iron Floor H bone CaS04 Flat Molar Giant
5 0 A e Fm Fans Calcite Eva s
Tufas Tooth Ooids
0 53
0
Q
t
I
Z
1 0
0
Jl
o Q
E
N
1 5
e
Q
0
0 I
2 0 a Q
a
a
2 5
0
Q
c Z
3 0 aj
Q
o
Jl
Q
E
3 5
iron formation glacial deposits and carbon isotope

FIG 4 Temporal evolution of Archean and Proterozoic carbonate facies calcium sulfate evaporites
of carbonates Sea Floor Fans include mesoscopic peudomorphs of calcite and dolomite replaced aragonite forming beds in excess of I meter
composition
rocks not including
thick The few occurrences of this facies in the Neoproterozoic record are specifically associated with the carbonates capping glaciogenic
Tidal Rat Tufas includes
the exceptions mentioned in the text H bone Calcite includes beds of herringbone calcite precipitated directly on the sea floor
restricted tidal flat environ
calcite and dolomite replaced pseudomorphs of aragonite and calcite precipitated as thin crusts and microdigitate stromatolites in
ments
FIG 5 Textures created by precipitation of carbonate directly on the sea floor A Large calcite
replaced aragonite fans interbedded with rippled ooid
glriaminstoen mudstone Late Archean 2 7 Ga Cheshire Formation
Belingwe greenstone belt Zimbabwe Scale in centimeters B Microdigitate stromatolites
Paleoproterozoic 197 Ga Kimerot platform Kilohigok Basin northwest Canada Coin is 2 centimeters in diameter C Isopachous laminites Late Archean
2 5 Ga Malmani Subgroup Transvaal Province South Africa D
Herringbone calcite late Archean 25 Ga Gamohaan Formation northern Cape Province
South Africa Scale in millimeters E
Dendriticany branching tufa Paleoproterozoic 18 Ga Hearne Formation Pethei platform northwest Canada Scale in
centimeters
These facies are representative of open marine rather than in younger rocks Grotzinger 1989b
are rare with these ex
restricted conditions Sumner and this volume
Grotzinger in ceptions often marking unusual local conditions in sea water
contrast to most early interpretations which assumed that the chemistry Grotzinger and Knoll 1995 One particularly well
crystal fans replaced gypsum and therefore deposited in
were
developed instance occurs in the Paleoproterozoic Teena Do
restricted environments e g Martin et aI 1980 see summary lomite where the fans form continuous sheets within a re
in Grotzinger 1989b Occurrences of crystal fans of this scale stricted anoxic basin Winefield this volume
likely Another
includes thin sheets within foreland basin siliciclastic

exception
sediments of age formed along the maximum
Paleoproterozoic
flooding surfaces of
individual sequences where siliciclastic se
dimention rates were greatly reduced Grotzinger and Fried
mann 1989
calcite floor in
Herringbone was a common sea
precipitate
Archean carbonates that declined sharply in abundance at the
end of early Paleoproterozoic time Fig 4 Sumner and Grot
1996a 1996b The constituent of

zinger crystals herringbone
calcite have textures Fig 5D
that may indicate preferential
growth of crystal faces forced by the presence of an inhibitor
possibly FeH or MnH Sumner and Grotzinger 1996a Thus

its abundance in Archean carbonates has been explained in the
context of environmental models in which lower oxygen con
centrations in seawater lead to greater solubility of iron and
manganese which in turn interfered with calcite precipitation

the extent that calcite
to was
precipitated with highly distorted
that
crystals recrystallized to form the distinctive herringbone
texture
Herringbone calcite is rare in Phanerozoic rocks where
it may reflect locally dysaerobic to anaerobic pore fluids and
seawater Sumner and Grotzinger 1996b
Implications
The trend in floor is considered to
declining sea precipitates
be only a first order and does not rule out transient
relationship
reversals in response to short term events There are late Ar
chean that dominated by muds intraclasts ooids
platforms are
andor nonprecipitated stromatolites and lack the abundant en
crusting precipitates that define the late Archean norm Simi

the record contains exceptions to the gen
larly Neoproterozoic
eral dearth of macroscopic seafloor encrustations and other
carbonates The
precipitated exceptions occur in the so called FIG 6 Archean clastic carbonate sediments A Ripple cross stratified
ooid intraclast late Archean 2 5 Ga Cheshire Formation Be
cap carbonates that overlie Neoproterozoic glaciogenic rocks grainstone
lingwe greenstone belt Zimbabwe Hand lens is 2 cm wide B Thin bedded
see discussion below
dolomitic lime mudstone Late Archean 2 5 Ga Frisco Formation Transvaal
In an attempt to highlight this distinctive trend it should not
Province South Africa Hammer is 30 cm
long
be overlooked that all of these facies are associated with many
conventional clastic carbonate facies Large sea floor fans of
the late Archean carbonate platforms are often associated with The simplest interpretation is that Precambrian surface sea
ooid and wavy bedded interstratified
wave rippled grainstones water was substantially oversaturated with respect to calcium
limestones with dolomitic lime mudstone drapes Fig carbonate well above the factor of 3 5 that is typical of the
rippled
a
6A These facies are identical in terms of their primary bedding oceans today Li et 1969 so that the sea floor was directly
textures and diagenesis grains calcite mudstones do encrusted with marine carbonate Grotzin
coarse
prolific precipitates
lomite to the ubiquitous ribbon limestones of early Paleozoic ger 1989b Grotzinger and Kasting 1993 The only known
age Demicco 1983 In other cases the sea floor fans are as Holocene analogs are nonmarine thermal spring and alkaline
sociated with broad expanses or thick buildups of stromatolites lake deposits in which extreme levels of oversaturation result
although the stromatolites themselves may also be constructed in massive

precipitation at the sediment water interface Chaf
at least in part of laminae that were precipitated in situ In other etz and Folk 1984 Bensen 1994 Jones and Renaut 1995
cases successions of micritic limestones and dolostones may Fouke et a 1999 Counter to intuition extreme oversaturation
does not result in spontaneous micriti whitings in these set
c
be present Fig 6B with uncommon development of fans
Consequently the development of the sea floor fan facies is tings waters are generally clear and sediment is uncommon in
characterized by a high degree of variability with some plat the precipitated crusts Instead the precipiated crusts
commonly
forms apparently containing a smaller volume of sea floor pre feature growth of large crystals and in extreme cases with non
cipitates e g Carawine Dolomite Simonson et aI 1993 and crystallographic and dendritic textures Accordingly the satu
others constituting 50 or more by volume e g Cheshire and ration state of Precambrian surface seawater is inferred to have
a
Gamohaan Formations Grotzinger 1993 Sumner 1997a been highest in the Archean the
et
declining through Paleopro
Sumner and this volume The is terozoic and Mesoproterozoic and reaching Phanerozoic
Grotzinger important point near
that in addition to the usual association of stromatolites grain values only during the the 1989b
Neoproterozoic Grotzinger
stones and mudstones the late Archean seafloor commonly Knoll and Swett 1990 Fairchild et aI 1990 Grotzinger and
precipitated calcite and aragonite directly on the seafloor Kasting 1993 Grotzinger and Knoll 1995 Grotzinger and
sometimes in remarkable abundance Kasting 1993 noted that this interpretation is consistent with
partial pressure of atmospheric carbon di

observations that the ozoic Kotuikan Formation it is clear that these primary min
oxide may have been much greater early in Earth history Kast eralogies contemporaneous
were Grotzinger 1986a Bartley et
ing 1987 and that the total alkalinity in sea water may have aI this volume
been much higher as a result Other theoretical arguments have
Implications
been presented Kempe and Degens 1985 Kempe and Kaz
mierczak 1994 that also favor elevated in
alkalinity early When combined with the data from late Archean platforms
soda oceans albeit at extreme levels a substantial geologic where sea floor of both calcite and aragonite
precipitates seem
database evaporite and carbonate deposits however refutes

on to havedeveloped it is not clear that any long term trends in
the interpretation of such extreme conditions Young and Long the primary mineralogy of shallow marine carbonates are pres
1977 Jackson and Ianelli 1981 Muir 1987 Buick and Dun ent for this time interval Similarly
primary mineralogy as in
lop 1987 1990 Grotzinger and Kasting 1993 Pope and Grot ferred from ooids does not show any obvious trends Simonson
zinger this volume The long term decrease in the saturation and Jarvis 1996 Thus there is no evidence through this time
state of seawater is thought to be related to at least two factors
interval for a first order trend in mineralogy similar to that seen
1 long term transfer of inorganic carbon from the atmosphere aI
for the Phanerozoic Sandberg 1983 Wilkinson et 1985
and ocean to the continents as a result of the formation by 2 5
Macroscopically visible precipitate structures are rare in
2 0 Ga of large and stable continents capable of preserving
and 2
Neoproterozoic rocks Fig 4 In fact the only significant oc
substantial limestone and dolostone deposits a major associated with the discussed
currences are cap carbonates
decrease in concentration of reduced and therefore more sol
below One occurrence not associated with a cap carbonate
uble iron and manganese in seawater as a result of a
Paleopro comprises calcite replaced aragonite botryoids associated with
terozoic increase in oxygen levels in the atmsophere and surface stromatolites in the circa 900 Ma Atar Mauritania Fair
Group
seawater Sumner and Grotzinger 1996b It is postulated that child et a
1990 In another occurrence dolomite pseudo
FeH and MnH acted as in the same manner as MgH does in
morphs of aragonite fans up to 25 cm in diameter are interpreted
inhibiting calcium carbonate precipitation Berner 1975 Mucci to have been deposited in hypersaline low energy ponds rep
and Morse 1983 Sumner and Grotzinger I996b The major sented by the Katakturuk Dolomite northern Alaska Clough
decline of seafloor precipitates both inorganic and microbial and Goldhammer this volume The size of the Katakturuk fans
occurred hundreds of millions of years before the Precambrian are comparable to those seen in Archean carbonates and are
Cambrian boundary and thus cannot be related to the advent anomalous with respect to other Neoproterozoic carbonates
of carbonate secreting metazoans and higher algae In terms of
Unfortunately the age of the Katakturuk is poorly constrained
its effects on carbonate facies and textures this decline is as
543 Ma 800 Ma so it is difficult to place these carbonates
the Cambrian radiation of skeletonized
significant as
organisms within a broader framework of secular evolution
and the Mesozoic evolution of calcareous microplankton
Neoproterozoic Cap Carbonates

Proterozoic Sea Floor Precipitates
Attributes
Nature of the Precipitates
Tillites and
Seafloor precipitates are
widespread in Paleoproterozoic suc associated glaciogenic facies have long been
known to in middle
cessions but individual crystal fans and sheets more commonly occur
Neoproterozoic successions e g
have thicknesses measured in millimeters to centimeters rather Harland 1965 and from the time they were first recognized
than decimeters and often form microdigitate stromatolites their intimate stratigraphic association with carbonates was con
formed of radiating crystal fans Fig 5B Furthermore in con sidered paradoxical

g Schermerhorn
e 1974 Particularly
trast to the Archean sea floor precipitates these precipitated puzzling are the cap carbonates texturally unusual com
facies are mostly limited to restricted often peritidal environ monly pink or buff dolo stones less commonly limestones that
ments and Read 1983 and Thorne 1985 form distinctive beds several meters thick above many Neopro
Grotzinger Grey
1989b Hofmann and Jackson 1987 Sami terozoic tillites The cap carbonates are extraordinary in that
Grotzinger 1986a
and James 1996 By Mesoproterozoic precipitated time mi they were
globally deposited directly top of the glacial de
on
posits that carbonate sedimentation occurred world

crodigitate stromatolites and laminar crusts were more limited implying
wide at the onset of
in development although they are locally abundant in peritidal transgression over previously glaciated
strata that are associated with evaporites such as in the Society landscapes In most cases cap carbonates are remarkably pure
Cliffs Formation e g Kah and Knoll 1996 Other peritidal they commonly appear as laminated dolomicrospar Fig 7A
strata generally lack these structures except for occasional in showing evidence of rapid lithification but locally they include
tervals that represent small fraction of the overall seafloor cements of originally aragonitic centimeter to deci
only a plat
scale
form e
Bartley et aI this volume
g meter
crystalFig 7 B C Recently cap carbonates
fans
have been characterized as thin deep water deposits Kennedy
Petrographic studies indicate that the microdigitate stromat
olites and smaller scale botryoidal fans were precipitated as 1996 Although some cap carbonates may fit the deep water
aragonite Grotzinger and Read 1983 Hofmann and Jackson description it is also clear that in other cases the thin deep
1987 Kah and Knoll 1996 Bartley et aI this volume In water facies pass laterally into much thicker platformal facies
a
millimeter scale laminated crusts associations Williams et aI 1974 Cloud et 1974 Hegen
contrast the micron to Fig
a
have consistent with calcite berger 1993 Hoffman et 1998a 1998b Thus it seems that
5C textures more a precursor
Grotzinger 1986a Bartley et aI this volume In carbonates despite potentially rapid sea level rise associated with degla
of the Paleoproterozoic Rocknest Formation and Mesoproter ciation sediment production rates were
high enough to match
cordance between tillites and carbonates can be explained in

of stromatolite accretion in cold lakes in
terms as occurs
today
Antarctica this mechanism however cannot account for either
the texture or the distribution of most cap carbonates or the
observation that stromatolites are a minor facies in most cap
carbonates In contrast Tucker Singh 1987 and Fair

1986
child that the carbonates
1993 suggested might have been
warm interglacial intervals
precipitated during implying that
Neoproterozoic ice ages were terminated rapidly This model
invokes the thermodynamic relation between warming of sea
water and its
decreasing solubility of carbonate Warming of
seawater in shallow environments would have
triggered car
bonate precipitation An additional mechanism would include
turnover of a previously stratified ocean driven by rapid melt
ing of glacial ice which would have forced upwelling of an

eft oxic isotopically depleted alkaline deep water Kaufman et aI
1991 Grotzinger and Knoll 1995 This latter model can ac
1 count for the strongly negative o13C isotopic values that are
l
j
r
characteristic of all
cap carbonates Kaufman and
virtually
Knoll 1995 The sedimentology of cap carbonates is consis
tr
JttI
r r
J
f
tent
ocean
with this
anoxia
hypothesis
comes
and independent evidence for
from the iron formations found in associ
deep
ation with some tillites Beukes and Klein

ft llilll
r I
Neoproterozoic
J c
L
1993 The strongest evidence for sequential ocean stratification
I iI
0 j
and turnover is however provided by carbon isotope data o13C

fl values for later Neoproterozoic platform carbonates deposited
8 to 9 and locally
1 1
prior to glaciation are unusally high 0
higher whereas cap carbonates have values of 2 to 6

Kaufman and Knoll 1995 Co occurring organic carbon
shows the same secular variation supporting petrological
geochemical imd geographic data that the isotopic signatures

faithfully record secular changes in the isotopic composition
of the surface ocean
The surface waters of stratified oceans are

typically en
riched in I3C because large volumes of I3C depleted organic
matter are exported to anoxic bottom waters and the sediments
beneath them Deuser 1970 Bacterial sulfate reduction of
organic matter in the deep anoxic water column produces
and
HCO and C03 that are depleted in 13c The magnitude
inferred duration of pre glacial carbon isotope excursions in
Neoproterozoic successions are unusual implying a pro

tracted build up of isotopically Re
light deep ocean water
mixing of this alkalinity laden deep water into the surface

would have resulted in the of carbonates
ocean
precipitation
whose would be determined
isotopic composition primarily
by the of the reservoir Ar
composition large deep alkalinity
thur 1979 Holser 1984
FIG 7 Cap carbonate facies A Thinly laminated dolomite mudstone the of cap carbonates
Alternatively isotopic composition
Neoproterozoic Gariep Group southern Namibia Coin is 2 cm in diameter B could be explained by a model involving cessation of primary
Calcite replaced aragonite fans interbedded with shaly lime mudstones ter
minal Proterozoic Buschmannsklippe Formation central Namibia Coin is 2 productivity in the ocean thus shutting down the biological
cmin diameter C Calcite
carbon pump and driving ocean carbon isotope compositions
replaced aragonite fans interbedded with lime mud
a
terminal Proterozoic Ravensthroat cap carbonate Mackenzie Mountains to riverine values of 4 0 Hoffman et
stone
approximately
Canada Scale in centimeters in the surface
1998a Eliminating primary productivity
oceans for a time sufficiently long enough to drive carbon
exceed accommodation with isotopic to those consistent with nonbiologic sources
values
or production resulting strong
basin differentiation dramatic causal mechanisms cf Hsti and McKenzie
platform to requires
1985 such as covering the entire globe with ice Kirschvink
Origin 1992 Hoffman et a 1998a The differences between the
Models for the origin of these carbonates are di model and the snowball earth model
enigmatic ocean upwelling predict
verse Walter and Bauld 1983 proposed that the apparent dis fundamental differences in the regularity of carbon isotope
compositions and the duration of the negative anomalies With may have increased relative to younger and older periods be
the upwelling model substantial variability in the carbon iso cause of climate fluctuations associated with the waxing and
tope composition of cap carbonates is expected and the du waning of the extensive Neoproterozoic ice sheets Many giant
ration of anomalies should be short probably equal to or less ooid beds tabulation in Sumner and
see
Grotzinger 1993
than the residence time of carbon in the oceans or about 105 below tillites
occur
stratigraphically deposited during glacia
Broecker and Peng 1982 In terms of tion Tucker 1983 Herrington and Fairchild 1989 Swett and
years isotopic com
it has been noted

position Kennedy 1996 that the diverse Knoll 1989 or between glacial deposits Singh 1987 In
range of values in the global inventory of cap carbonates is either case increased agitation cannot be the sole catalyst for
consistent with this upwelling hypothesis In the snowball development of giant ooids because they are absent in similar
earth model the carbon isotope composition of cap carbonates
settings of Phanerozoic age including the Neogene icehouse
should be stable near riverine and mantle input values of
4 and could be maintained for much
0
continuously longer Molar Tooth Structure
a
than 105 years Hoffman et 107 years for
I 998a suggest
carbonates of northern Namibia based on Attributes
isotopically depleted
inferences of sediment accumulation rates Thus far direct age Lack of fossils that any
body means sedimentary features
constraints on the duration of any cap carbonates are non in Precambrian carbonates are inordinately important for pa
existent and proper calibration is required before any of these leoenvironmental One such group of annoy
interpretation
hypotheses are rejected ingly enigmatic features is molar tooth structure Molar
tooth structure
Fig 8B comprises mainly vertical
Neoproterozoic Giant Ooids ptygmatically folded sheets of finely crystalline calcite spar in
dolomitic lime mudstone Smith 1968
or
argillaceous
Ooids of the basic
are one
platform building components O Connor 1972 Horodyski 1976 The calcite spar filling is
of both Phanerozoic and Precambrian carbonates For Phan
erozoic carbonates variability in their abundance and miner
alogy through time has provided insight into changes in en
vironmental regimes and ocean chemistry Sandberg 1983
1985 Wilkinson et a 1985 The potential variability in the
primary mineralogy of Precambrian ooids has only recently
been summarized Simonson and Jarvis 1996
It is also instructive to consider variations in the size of
ooids Sumner and 1993 In general modern
Grotzinger
ooids tend to be less than I mm in diameter Bathurst 1975
This is true of most Phanerozoic oolites although there are
Swett and Knoll 1989 Archean and Proterozoic

exceptions
ooids tend to be but still less
slightly larger are
dominantly
than 2 mm in diameter During early and middle Neoproter
ozoic time Fig 4 however there were extreme exceptions
to this size limit and of 2 sized
significant deposits mm
ooids found in diverse Sumner and

are areas
Grotzinger
1993 For
example Fig 7A in the Akademikerbreen Group
Spitsbergen 400 m of a 2000 m section are dominated by
ooids with 4 0 9 0 mm diameters reaching a maximum size
of 14 mm Swett and Knoll 1989 Knoll and Swett 1990

such great volumes of giant ooids formed during
Why were
Neoproterozoic time and what environmental changes could

have generated these deposits
Sumner and Grotzinger 1993 concluded that the combi

nation of lower nucleation rate imparted by the lower flux of
nuclei higher growth rate due to higher carbonate saturation
of seawater and increased storminess due to the prevalence
of ramps and possibly stormier climate are all suggested to
have conspired to produce the giant ooids of the Neoproter
ozoic Of these environmental agitation was likely the most
important
An increase in environmental energy of deposits in late Pro
terozoic platforms could have been due to the predominance
of ramps over rimmed shelves Grotzinger FIG 8 Giant ooids ofNeoproterozoic Akademikerbreen Group Svalbard
1989b Unlike
Scale in centimeters Photograph by A H Knoll B Molar tooth structure in
rimmed shelves ramps feel the full force of storm events Bur
finely crystalline dolostone Neoproterozoic Little Dal Group Mackenzie
chette and 1992 Sumner and 1993 sug
Wright Grotzinger Mountains northwest Canada Scale in centimeters Photograph by G M Nar
that the absolute level of storminess bonne
gested Neoproterozoic
alternative model based on innovative experimental

peculiar The crystals are pure uniform equant polygonal In an
tightly packed blocky calcite crystals 5 15 mm across and in evidence Furniss et al 1998 visualize the formation of mo
sharp contact with surrounding sediment Such crystals are lar tooth structure as a two stage process Biogenic gas gen
neither obvious erated series of cracks
unusual in carbonate rocks They are cement by decaying organic matter creates a
cf Bathurst and bubbles filled with H2S CO2 and CH4 within a
1975 precipitate filling a void nor microspar
a fissures
surface
cf Folk 1965 a
neomorphic product of preexisting carbon meter or so of the depositional Experimental evidence
shows that the fissures is
ate Fairchild et al 997 report that some crystals contain as gas generated develop water
drawn from the

a luminescent rhomb shaped core sediment promoting compaction The gas
Molar tooth structure is globally distributed but temporally cannot escape because the surface is sealed perhaps by mi
restricted to rocks of
mostly Mesoproterozoic and early Neo crobial mats cf James et aI Calcite spar probably
1998
a
proterozoic age Fig 4 James et 1998 Molar tooth struc microbially mediated the open voids prior to
precipitates in
is also facies dependent with most in shal 13C data Frank and Lyons 1998 how
ture occurrences
compaction isotopic
low platform and inner mid ramp paleoenvironments James ever do not show any difference between the sediment and
et aI 1998 More specifically molar tooth structure is a dis the crack filling
and Fairchild 1989 Knoll all hypotheses fail to the
tinctly subtidal feature Herrington Unfortunately current explain
and Swett 1990 Fairchild et aI 1997 and is scarcity of molar tooth structure in older Proterozoic and Ar
particularly
abundant in the lower parts of shallowing upward cycles chean carbonate rocks The ubiquity of both earthquakes and
O Connor 1972 Frank and Lyons 1998 Pratt 1998 Molar microbes ensures that such processes should have been active
tooth structure is not found in either basinal the of Precambrian carbonates

usually or peri throughout geologic history
tidal facies that yet unrecognized factors must have been
suggesting as
operative
Origin
The origin of molar tooth structure has been debated for REEFS
than
more a century and continues to be highly contentious
include subaqueous shrinkage
recent interpretations or syn
General Attributes
aeresis Horodyski 1976 Knoll and Swett 1990 microbial
The robust of stromatolites to build reefs that
growth Smith 1968 O Connor 1972
replacement of evap capacity are
identical in many respects to the diversity of Phanerozoic

orites Eby 1975 microbially induced gas bubble expansion
reefs Geldsetzer et aI 1988 has been addressed in previous
Furniss et aI 1998 and earthquake induced dewatering
studies Grotzinger 1988 1989b 1990 1994 Existing data
Fairchild et aI 1997 Pratt 1998 The problem resembles
demonstrate that stromatolite reefs variety of dif
that of stromatactis in Phanerozoic carbonates the struc occupied a
tures haveobvious modern counterpart they are composed

no ferent niches similar to their younger counterparts These in
clude major barrier reefs Fig 9A adjacent to large seaways
of calcite spar they may have been open spaces originally
and while organisms may have been involved physical pro Grotzinger 1986b 1989a Beukes
Clough and Gold 1987
reefs and
cesses were clearly important
hammer this volume pinnacle reefs Fig 9B
patch
The cracks belong to a family of structures that
seem to C located on gentle ramps facing open seaways Grotzinger
a
include cracks in and Khetani 1994 Grotzinger et aI 1995 Narbonne et
synaeresis terrigenous clastic rocks and di
this volume and even downslope bioherms that grew entirely
astasis cracks in earliest Phanerozoic carbonates They are not
within a deeper quieter water setting Aitken 1988 Kerans
desiccation cracks Recent thought points to the geotechnical
and Donaldson 1988 Turner et aI 1993 Narbonne and
properties of the sediment as playing an important role in the
James 1996 Turner et aI this volume
of both diastasis and molar tooth cracks Dias
development
Research over the past three decades has established that
tasis cracks from Phanerozoic carbonates superficially resem
ble molar tooth but they are clearly voids filled with grains many stromatolite buildups are true reefs sensu James and
from the overlying bed not calcite in Bourque 1992 Stromatolitic reefs could grow from deeper
finely crystalline as mo
lar tooth The process of crack formation may involve the quiet water settings upwards into the shallow zone of contin
diastasis Cowan and James 1992 ual wave agitation to resist and continue growth in the zone
action of waves or seis
action and
micity molar tooth Fairchild et aI 1997 Pratt 1998 Al of wave
expand laterally to significant sizes so as
ternatively and perhaps most likely Furniss et a 1998 pro
to
surroundings by affecting circulation salin
influence their
vide compelling experimental evidence to show that ity and sediment production Precambrian reefs commonly
show the catch up keep up and give up phases of develop
biological particularly microbial processes are fundamental
in the genesis of the cracks ment commonly associated with younger Phanerozoic reefs
Pratt 1998 envisages the sediment as an original clay lime

mud sediment mixture Seismic shaking I compacts the sed Reef Construction
iment and generates a variety of sheet like cracks and pockets
Stromatolites
and 2 segregates the lime mud which is granular in character
from the clay and the lime mud is carried into the fissures and Having established that Precambrian stromatolite reefs
possess all the of true ecologic reefs first order

cracks as a slurry Continued shaking consolidates and shears properties a
the host sediment The lime mud in the fissures starts to lithify question remains What serves as the basic frame building
almost immediately by with CaC03 coming constituent For Phanerozoic reefs metazoan skele
grain growth rigid
from seawater tons supercalcifiers of Stanley and Hardie 1999 allow
tation sediment infiltration and bioerosion James and Bo
urque 1992 In this context individual stromatolites can be

considered the frame building element of stromatolite reefs
Grotzinger 1986b 1988 1989b This interpretation is
based the that because stromatolites
on assumption may
have been produced primarily through the trapping and bind
ing and or precipitation inducing activity of benthic micro
bial communities they can be regarded as having had the
same function as individual metazoans had
during the devel
opment of Phanerozoic reefs they are directly responsible for
the vertical accretion of the structure This view however nec
essarily ignores the microscopic aspects of stromatolite growth

in particular the specific roles of microorganisms in the accre
tionary process
This may no longer be justifiable for several reasons In the
first case recent studies of sediment mat interactions in both
modern and ancient stromatolites underscore the highly vari
able role of the organisms themselves in the generation of stro

matolitic laminae Grotzinger and Knoll 1999 New data sug
gest that in addition to the well established mechanism of
and binding Black 1933 Ginsburg and Lowenstam
trapping
1958 Gebelein 1974 stromatolites formed in mineralizing
systems are dominated by in situ calcification of cyanobacteria
Golubic 1991 Cady and Farmer 1996 and by precipitation
nucleation triggered by heterotrophic bacteria below the sedi
ment water interface Canfield and Raiswell 1991 Chafetz
and Buczynski 1992 In extreme cases the microbes behave
passively with accretion resulting from largely abiotic precipi

tation from highly oversaturated waters Cady and Farmer
a
1996 Fouke et 1999 These new studies of modern min
eralizing systems provide better analogs for the Precambrian

stromatolite textures which represent growth not through pro
cesses related to sediment trapping by mats but rather by crys

tal precipitation regulated by abiotic processes or mat degra
dation by heterotrophic bacteria Grotzinger and Read 1983
Hofmann and Jackson 1987 Kah and Knoll 1996 Grotzinger
a
and Rothman 1996 Sami and James 1996 this
Bartley et
volume Pope and Grotzinger this volume Seong Joo and Go
lubic this volume Although most stromatolites were likely
formed through the precipitation inducing andor trapping and
binding activities of a diverse range of microbes it is no longer

clear exactly what specific role these microorganisms had in the
construction of stromatolites particularly for early Precambrian

stromatolites
What is now clear is that the
unique influences of biology
FIG 9 Reefs A Prograding barrier reef of accretionary rimmed shelf may be best expressed microscopic scales but difficult to
at
from abiotic at macroscopic scales Grot

Paleoproterozoic 18 Ga Abner Formation northern
Quebec Canada Large distinguish processes
reefal mounds overlie reefal foreslope facies in progradational stacking pattern
zinger and Rothman 1996 Grotzinger and Knoll 1999 Future
Large mound in center of photograph is approximately 5 meters wide B Ag advances in the study of stromatolite accretion processes are
gradational reef about 100 m in height background developed on bedded
slope ribbon and parted limestones in gorge foreground Mesoproterozoic
strongly dependent on the interpretation of the textures that
12 Ga Victor Bay Formation Baffin Island Canada C Thrombolitic pin define individual stromatolitic laminae and thus the true frame
nacle reef developed on platform as
part of drowning succesion covering deep building processes Grotzinger and Knoll 1999 In the most
water shales have been mostly exhumed but are still visible on right side of abiotic cases microbes likely resided at the sediment water in
photograph Terminal Proterozoic Nama Group southern Namibia terface and therefore exerted some control on
probably passive
the accretion process Seong Joo and Golubic this volume on
the other hand the most obviously biological textures provide
the reef to grow in any environment from to evidence for the role of obligate calcifiers in the active
tranquil wave no con
dominated and influence other environ struction of accretion textures and Khetani 1994
settings thereby Grotzinger
ments A framework results from a combination of the Grotzinger and Knoll
1999 Thus unlike metazoan reefs in
calcified benthic organisms cemen which the biochemistry of enzymatic secretion depends little
intertwining growth by
the local environment Precambrian microbial reefs

on
physical
the
were always critically dependent on physical environment
of sediment to be
eitherthrough providing a source trapped and
bound or in providing a high degree of oversaturation to enable
local precipitation
Thrombolites
A second problem in identifying the basic frame building

constituent of inferred microbial reefs arises from the occur
rence of thrombolites
Fig lOA in addition to stromatolites in
some Proterozoic reefs Aitken and Narbonne 1989 Kah and
a
Grotzinger 1992 Turner et 1993 Turner et aI this vol
known from reefs thrombo
ume Although Paleoproterozoic
lites are not
important reef building components until Neopro
terozoic time Fig 4 For these reefs the basic frame building
element is considered to be the thrombolitic mesoclot Kennard
and James 1986 Because the growth of the irregular clots
the
imparts a
higher degree of irregularity to
actively accreting
sediment water interface the final structure contains a greater
compared to stromatolites
number of large primary
pores as
The oldest thrombolites appear to derive their distinctive tex

ture from early lithification of mats with high surface rough
of coccoid Kah and
ness
probably composed cyanobacteria
Grotzinger 1992 Evidence for this is provided bywell pre
servea fossil Entophysalis mats showing rough surface mor
phology in sediments of similar age Golubic and Hofmann

1976 Hofmann 1975 In comparison the high initial porosity
of Neoproterozoic thrombolites also is likely related to the early
lithification of coccoid dominated mats however the complex
ity and surface roughness of the mats may also have been in
the additional presence of green Feld
creased through algae
mann and McKenzie 1998 Grotzinger and Knoll 1999 This
is the presence of algae in rocks of this age Fig

supported by
4 Butterfield et aI 1988 Grant et a 1991 Xiao et a 1998
Microbes
Calcified
The other in later Precambrian time
important development
is the calcification of microbial filaments of many different
types calcimicrobes James and Gravestock 1990 Although

the taxonomic and phylogenetic affinities are
ambiguous and
many are products of diagenesis morphologically they resem

ble Fig lOB early Phanerozoic taxa such as Girvanella and
101
Renalcis Turner et aI 1993 These taxa are
recognized as
critical elements of and middle Paleozoic reefs James

early
and Bourque 1992 These calcimicrobes because oftheir var
ied architecture sometimes resulted in porous reef

highly FIG 1O Biolic elements of
Neoprolerozoic reefs A Outcrop photograph
frameworks Cavities produced in this way became sites for of thrombolitic mesoc1ots forming framestone within pinnacle reef of
dark
growth of cavity dwelling biotas cement precipitation and in Figure 9C Primary pore space is infilled by geopetal lime mudstone light
Coin is 2 5 cm
gray and void filling marine cement and blocky spar white
ternal geopetal sediment accumulation in diameter B Filamentous calcimicrobes preserved as tubules and threads
Neoproterozoic Little Dal reefs Canada Interstitial porosity is filled with fi

Evolution of the ReefArchetype brous calcite cement Scale bar 500 microns C Calcified metazoan fossils
associated with thrombolitic reefal facies terminal Proterozoic Nama Group

Predictably just as there is a secular change in the nature of Namibia
there is
sedimentary facies so parallel change in the nature
a
of Precambrian reefs Grotzinger 1989b Paleoproterozoic

buildups are constructed by cement rich stromatolites in tegrated into platforms and ramps as biostromes because abi
which the influence of synsedimentary carbonate precipitation otic precipitation is so extensive and widespread
exceeds that of microbes There is little variability in stromat Mesoproterozoic reefs record a long period of stasis with
olite form mostly hemispherical columnar laminated and stromatolites broadly similar to older growth forms They are
conical types Isolated buildups are not abundant most are in however more muddy and display increasing diversity in
stromatolite form It appears that the role of synsedimentary Late Archean and Paleoproterozoic carbonate deposition
abiotic precipitation and microbial influence were roughly formed mostly rimmed platforms in which a large proportion
in
equal importance Knoll and Semikhatov 1998 Increased of the carbonate was precipitated directly onto the seafloor as
stromatolite diversity relates more to environmental than bio aragonite fans microdigitate stromatolites and beds of mag
evolution
logic Grotzinger and KnoIl 1999 nesian calcite The
decreasing abundance of such precipitates
The Neoproterozoic 1 0 54 Ga was a
period of dramatic with time through the Paleo proterozoic suggests gradual deple
global change The appearance of calcimicrobes and thrombo tion of the highly oversaturated Archean seawater The sedi
lites in the Tonian 1 0 85 Ga coincides with the decline of ments otherwise composed of cement rich
reefs
are
grainy are
conical elements and decline in stromatolites It that the stromatolites and

seems even though glaciation occurred there are
role of microbes became than that of
more important synsedi surprisingly no cap carbonates
in overaIl reef structure at this time In
mentary cement
deep The Mesoproterozoic long regarded as a time of stasis was
water buildups their activities led to rapid upward accretion and a period in which ramps as well as rimmed platforms are seen
the formation of growth cavities containing both internal geo in the record Seafloor cement dimin
precipitation was greatly
petal sediment and synsedimentary cement The importance of ished except in platforms where contemporaneous evaporites
calcimicrobes appears to be less in shaIlow water reefs where were deposited and stromatolites show greater textural diver
they are mostly spar fiIled filament molds sity than in older rocks The platforms are somewhat muddier
The first calcified metazoans appear in thrombolite reefs to and molar tooth calcite is a significant part ofthe sediment with
ward the end of Neoproterozoic post glacial Vendian time Fig spar clasts 10caIly forming carbonate sands
4 further adding to their ecologic complexity Grotzinger and The Neoproterozoic is a period of dramatic global changes in
Khetani 1994 Grotzinger et aI 1995 Calcified fossils are tectonics oceanography and sedimentation
plat Carbonate
abundant in thombolitic facies of the Nama Group Namibia forms are mostly ramps there is vanishingly little seafloor ce
and within both clotted domal and columnar structures
occur ment
precipitation sediments are commonly muddy molar
that make up individual reefs as weIl as within the intrachannel tooth carbonate is abundant and shoals formed of
giant ooids
fiIl between domes and columns This fiIl consists of trough stromatolites still formed reefs
are
10caIly important Although
cross bedded skeletal and of tubes the appearance of thrombolites and calcified microbes in abun
packstone grainstone simple
more complex cups and goblets Cloudina and their bioclastic dance dramatically altered their internal structure creating void
detritus 1OC The thrombolitic cores of domes and col
Fig spaces that enabled bothrapid vertical accretion and provided
umns contain fossils and fossil fragments up to 1 centimeter internal spaces for cement precipitation sediment accumula
wide whereas the stromatolitic rinds of domes and columns tion and the growth of coelobites Cap carbonates occur di
contain millimeter scale fossils and
fragments The thromboli rectly above glacigene sediments and although their structure
tic reefal facies have
are
developed within unre
considered to is reminiscent of Archean carbonates dominated by seafloor
stricted shaIlow subtidal environments that during platform precipitation they contain their own distinctive facies motifs
drowning developed pinnacle geometries Fig 9C In this en We have only just begun to appreciate the holdings in this
vironmental context the development of the Nama thrombolite vast of information about the young earth and it is
repository
calcified fossil facies is to younger Cambrian reefal clear that many unresolved problems still exist The most im
analogous
facies dominated by thrombolites and other microbialites with portant of these problems such as the role of microbes in in
associated calcified higher organisms Soja 1994 Kruse et aI fluencing precipitation mechanisms and sediment textures
1995 Riding and Zhuravlev 1995 must be approached carefully with regard to the potential role
of modern based on thermal and alkaline lakes
analogs springs
rather than marine systems In other cases there may be no
SUMMARY AND CONCLUSIONS
suitable modern analog and research must utilize a non actu
The last decade has seen a surge in research on Precambrian alistic the rocks dictate the conditions for anal
approach letting
carbonate rocks These studies have been driven by the reali in this way will we be able to identify processes that
ysis Only
zation that many Precambrian platforms and ramps despite have
may changed over time or even have been unique in the
their antiquity are composed of preserved sedimen
beautifuIly history of carbonate sedimentation
tary rocks The important advances have been achieved
most
by searching out these exceptionaIly well preserved localities

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
documenting them in detail and applying new geochemical
techniques to resolve problems of stratigraphy composition This work
was supported by NSF Grant EAR 9628257 and
and NASA Astrobiology Institute grant NCC2 l053 to JPG and

paleoceanography
Precambrian platforms and ramps are strikingly similar to NSERC grant 2028 99 to NPJ A KnoIl and G Narbonne re
Phanerozoic structures with similar facies belts both particulate viewed the and
manuscript provided numerous helpful
and muddy sediment ooids reefs seafloor cement precipita comments
tion and recurring patterns of stratigraphic packaging Yet set

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PRECAMBRIAN CARBONATES EVOLUTION OF UNDERSTANDING

INTRODUCTION simple question asked of most Phanerozoic carbonates such as

Were the sediments and answered af

hatov 1974 Beukes 1977 Cecile and Campbell 1978 These

Diagenesis in the Evolving Precambrian World

IIIIII11 Microdigitate stromatolites

I REEFAL BOUNDSTONE rn GRAINSTONE E TIDAL FLAT lAMINITES

Correlation techniques based on carbon and strontium have

B colleagues Veizer and Compston 1976 Veizer and Hoefs

and eustasy Considered collectively the progression of facies types pro

floor itself Facies include fans

branching dendritic morphologies Figure 5E

S13C Sea Tidal

iron formation glacial deposits and carbon isotope

includes thin sheets within foreland basin siliciclastic

1996a 1996b The constituent of

possibly FeH or MnH Sumner and Grotzinger 1996a Thus

manganese which in turn interfered with calcite precipitation

andor nonprecipitated stromatolites and lack the abundant en

crusting precipitates that define the late Archean norm Simi

although the stromatolites themselves may also be constructed in massive

partial pressure of atmospheric carbon di

database evaporite and carbonate deposits however refutes

Neoproterozoic Cap Carbonates

formed of radiating crystal fans Fig 5B Furthermore in con sidered paradoxical

posits that carbonate sedimentation occurred world

cordance between tillites and carbonates can be explained in

observation that stromatolites are a minor facies in most cap

carbonates In contrast Tucker Singh 1987 and Fair

ing of glacial ice which would have forced upwelling of an

ation with some tillites Beukes and Klein

and turnover is however provided by carbon isotope data o13C

higher whereas cap carbonates have values of 2 to 6

geochemical imd geographic data that the isotopic signatures

The surface waters of stratified oceans are

Neoproterozoic successions are unusual implying a pro

mixing of this alkalinity laden deep water into the surface

it has been noted

Swett and Knoll 1989 Archean and Proterozoic

ooids found in diverse Sumner and

of 14 mm Swett and Knoll 1989 Knoll and Swett 1990

Neoproterozoic time and what environmental changes could

Sumner and Grotzinger 1993 concluded that the combi

alternative model based on innovative experimental

drawn from the

tooth structure is not found in either basinal the of Precambrian carbonates

identical in many respects to the diversity of Phanerozoic

tures haveobvious modern counterpart they are composed

Pratt 1998 envisages the sediment as an original clay lime

possess all the of true ecologic reefs first order

tation sediment infiltration and bioerosion James and Bo

urque 1992 In this context individual stromatolites can be

essarily ignores the microscopic aspects of stromatolite growth

able role of the organisms themselves in the generation of stro

passively with accretion resulting from largely abiotic precipi

eralizing systems provide better analogs for the Precambrian

cesses related to sediment trapping by mats but rather by crys

binding activities of a diverse range of microbes it is no longer

construction of stromatolites particularly for early Precambrian