the attached thin-section photos represent turonian- coniacian carbonate rocks collected from deposits of the Central-southern atlas of Tunisia. do they represent hard -ground surfaces?
They appear allochemical rocks...biosparite/ biomicrite as the micro fossils are clearly visible.
The presence of glauconite indicates marginal marine conditions of deposition, whereas normally phosphates are deposited in very shallow, near shore marine or low energy environments. This includes environments such as supratidal zones, littoral or intertidal zones, and most importantly estuarine.
Phosphatized fossils or fragments of original phosphatic shells are important components within some
you have to distinguish whether the phosphate is due to precipitation or due to presence of fossils
.phosphate may be precipitated either inorganically or biochemically, as the pH and
Glauconite is per se a marker of the marine environment. It depends upon the illite-smectite ratio whether the glauconite has undergone stronger diagenesis or not. With burial diagenesis increase you will find an increase in mica relative to smectite. Normally it signals an area with reduced siliciclastic input.
See my RG account:
DILL H.G., KÖTHE A., GRAMANN, F. and BOTZ, R. (1996) A palaeoenvironmental and palaeoecological analysis of fine-grained Palaeogene estuarine deposits of North Germany.- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 124: 273-32
DILL H.G. SCHEEL M., KÖTHE A., BOTZ R. and HENJES-KUNST F. (1997) An integrated environment analysis-lithofacies, chemofacies, biofacies-of the Oligocene calcareous-siliciclastic shelf deposits in northern Germany.- Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 131: 145-174.
Phosphates form in wide range of environments of deposition from continental through marine (phosphatic shark teeth are indicative of marine environments of deposition). Ca phosphates of the apatite s.s.s. get decomposed under pH < 7 and converted into Al phosphates which are stable under acidic conditions.
See my RG account:
DILL, H.G. and KANTOR, W. (1997) Depositional environment, chemical facies and a tentative classification of some selected phosphate accumulations.- Geologisches Jahrbuch, D 105: 3-43.
Please see the SEM images of phosphate within open marine carbonate rocks.The images belong to Jurassic Sargelu Formation, Iraqi Kurdistan.
Glauconite appears in impure limestones and in chalk. It develops as a consequence of diagenetic alteration of sedimentary deposits, bio-chemical reduction and subsequent mineralogical changes affecting iron-bearing micas such as biotite, and is also influenced by the decaying process of organic matter degraded by bacteria in marine animal shells. Glauconite forms under reducing conditions in sediments and such deposits are commonly found in nearshore sands, open oceans and the Mediterranean Sea. Glauconite remains absent in fresh-water lakes, but is noted in shelf sediments of the western Black Sea.
Do have any analysis check for phosphate in the samples? Are there any barrows or red algal debris or encrusting of fossils?We got something like you as the photos: