Krause, Federico F.¹, Christopher R. Scotese², Carlos Nieto², Selim G. Sayegh¹, John C. Hopkins¹, Rudolf O. Meyer³
(1) University of Calgary, Calgary, AB 
(2) University of Texas at Arlington, Arlington, TX 
(3) Memorial University New Foundland, St. John's, NF

ABSTRACT: Paleozoic Carbonate Mud-Mounds: Global Abundance and Paleogeographic Distribution

Carbonate mud-mounds with zebra and stromatactis structures are present in every Paleozoic system and series. Yet within this interval they are more common in Middle and Lower Upper Paleozoic deposits, reaching their abundance acme in Lower Carboniferous Series rocks. In addition, global paleogeographic distribution plots of mud-mounds illustrate that they spanned the globe during the Paleozoic, as they are found at localities that were positioned from tropical to polar circles. That these carbonate buildups covered such a wide latitudinal span signifies that they were not limited to tropical marine settings, but that they grew and occupied a wider ecosedimentary spectrum that included locales where oceanic waters were cold and seasonally light-limited. Moreover, the proliferation of mud-mounds during the Middle and Lower Upper Paleozoic is curious in that it parallels a period during which global climatic ice-house conditions are thought to have prevailed on the planet. Thus, mud-mounds may be products of cool and cold-water carbonate sedimentation and should be reexamined and studied with this alternative in mind.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #90026©2004 AAPG Annual Meeting, Dallas, Texas, April 18-21, 2004.