Terminal Proterozoic carbonate platform development

Abstract

Abstract by author:

The results of this study demonstrate that first-order stratigraphic patterns were fundamentally influenced by accommodation variations produced through differential subsidence related to tectonic loading along the edge of the Kalahari craton. The Kuibis carbonate platform developed as a ramp which was in part supplied by carbonate bioclastic debris generated by the earth's oldest calcified organisms. Fossil contents are highest in association with thrombolitic facies and suggest a strong substrate control on organism habitat. However, the bulk of the sediment may have been produced through aggregation of micrite, precipitated by abiotically or microbially-regulated processes, to form larger, sand-sized particles. As such, the Kuibis platform shares many characteristics in common with older Proterozoic carbonate ramps, but also some features more typical of Paleozoic ramps