RAPIDITY OF MARINE CARBONATE CEMENTATION - IMPLICATIONS FOR CARBONATEDIAGENESIS AND SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY - PERSPECTIVE

Lithification is a rapid process, but how rapid is rapid? A year after one of my visits to Joulter's Cay (Bahamas) I found a sardine can fro m my previous visit. The cementation of carbonate particles in and aro und the can was surprising. 382 g of ooids and skeletal material had f illed the can and lithified therein, or had become cemented to the out side of the can. The rapidity of marine carbonate cementation implies that during highstand of sea level shallow-water platform carbonate se diments are subject to marine lithification which retards erosion. Thi s conclusion is at variance with that of other workers who rely on fre shwater cementation during lowstands to generate cement which retards reworking. Clearly the historical debate over highstand versus lowstan d of shallow water marine carbonates is not yet over. (C) 1998 Elsevie r Science B.V. All rights reserved.