Diagenetic alteration and burial environment of fossil hard tissues

1996 Fiscal Year Final Research Report Summary

• Project/Area Number: 07454122
• Research Category: Grant-in-Aid for Scientific Research (B)
• Allocation Type: Single-year Grants
• Section: 一般
• Research Field: Geology
• Research Institution: FUKUOKA UNIVERSITY OF EDUCATION
• Principal Investigator: SUZUKI Seiichi Faculty of Education, Professor, 教育学部, 教授 (10154543)
• Co-Investigator(Kenkyū-buntansha): OSANAI Yasuhito Faculty of Education, Associate Professor, 教育学部, 助教授 (80183771) ; UENO Teiichi Faculty of Education, Associate Professor, 教育学部, 助教授 (10136393)
• Project Period (FY): 1995 – 1996
• Keywords: fossilization / diagenesis / carbonate cement / mollusca / pore water / silicification / calcite / aragonite

Research Abstract

Carbonate fossil hard tissues were collected from Lower Cretaceous to Quaternary systems in Japan, which are composed of non-carbonate clastic rocks, for the investigation of their diagenetic alteration. In clastic rocks cemented with carbonates (mainly calcite), three types of carbonate tissues (aragonite, low magnesium calcite=calcite and high magnesuim calcite) have the manner different from each other during burial stages, although all of the tissues within the host rocks with non-calcareous cement have usually been dissolved. Calcitic tissues are very stable so that the alteration did not occur in the calcitic specimens from the Upper Cretaceous and more younger strata. High-Mg-calcitic ones are comparatively well remaining in many cases, but they have been converted to low Mg calcite. Aragonitic ones show various patterns of the fossilization, such as preservation without any mineralogical alteration, calcitization (conversion to calcite through a thin solution film), dissolution and replacement with non-carbonate minerals. Original aragonite sometimes remains in the Upper Cretaceous rocks, though the calcitization commonly occurred in the Miocene and more older strata (sometimes in the Piocene and Pleistocene). Silicification of aragonitic tissues was observed in many strata of various ages, and chloritization, glouconitization and pyritization were also recognized in some strata. These are characterized by the preservation of microstructures. The alteration of araginitic tissues seems to have occurred in the mixing zone between marine and meteoric waters located near coastal regions.

Research Products

• [Publications] 鈴木清一: "軟体動物における殻層とその機能" 海洋生物の石灰化と硬組織(和田・小林編),東海大出版. 179-190 (1996)
  • Description: 「研究成果報告書概要(和文)」より
• [Publications] Suzuki, S., Togo, Y.and Hikida, Y.: Shell layering and its functional significance in molluscs. In Wada, K.and Kobayashi, I.eds., Biomineralization and Hard Tissue of Marine Organisms, Tokai Univ.Press, Tokyo, 179-190 (1996)
  • Description: 「研究成果報告書概要(欧文)」より