Project

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Late Paleozoic carbonate platforms and reefs

English title Late Paleozoic carbonate platforms and reefs
Applicant Samankassou Elias
Number 160019
Funding scheme Project funding
Research institution Département des sciences de la Terre Université de Genève
Institution of higher education University of Geneva - GE
Main discipline Geology
Start/End 01.10.2015 - 30.09.2019
Approved amount 303'978.00
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All Disciplines (2)

Discipline
Geology
Palaeontology

Keywords (5)

Carbonate platforms; Coral reefs; Carboniferous; Evolution; China

Lay Summary (French)

Lead
Ce projet traite de récifs coralliens récemment découverts au sud de la China. Cette découverte est en contradiction avec la thèse établie que suite à la crise majeure du Dévonien terminal, les récifs coralliens seraient absents durant le Carbonifère. Les analyses envisagées comprennent une cartographie des lithofaciès, la pétrographie, biostratigraphie, paléoécologie, chimiostratigraphie. Une reconstruction des plateformes carbonatées du sud de la Chine est envisagée.
Lay summary

Ce projet traite de récifs coralliens récemment découverts au sud de la China. Cette découverte est en contradiction avec la thèse établie que suite à la crise majeure du Dévonien terminal, les récifs coralliens seraient absents durant le Carbonifère. Les analyses envisagées  comprennent une cartographie des lithofaciès, la pétrographie, biostratigraphie, paléoécologie, chimiostratigraphie. Une reconstruction des plateformes carbonatées du sud de la Chine est envisagée.
L’objectif principal est de proposer un scénario susceptible d’expliquer la présence des récifs coralliens. L’étude permettra de tester  l’hypothèse que l’apport terrigène lié à l’Orogenèse serait inhibiteur du développement de récifs coralliens dans les zones limitrophes des centres d’orogenèse de l’ouest de la Paléo-Téthys, contrairement aux zones lointaines telles que le sud de la Chine. Ce scénario aurait des implications sur notre compréhension de l’évolution des systèmes récifaux et de leur vulnérabilité aux changements globaux.
Direct link to Lay Summary Last update: 13.08.2015

Responsible applicant and co-applicants

Employees

Name Institute
Marine Maillet

Publications

Publication
The onset of the major glaciation of the LPIA: record from South China
Huang W.T., Maillet M., Zhang Y.L., Guang C.Q., Miao Z.W., Samankassou E., Gong E.P. (2020), The onset of the major glaciation of the LPIA: record from South China, in International Journal of Earth Sciences.
Coral reefs and growth dynamics of a low-angle Carboniferous platform: Records from Tianlin, southern China
Maillet Marine, Huang Wen-Tao, Miao Zhuo-Wei, Gong En-Pu, Guan Chang-Qing, Zhang Yong-Li, Ueno Katsumi, Samankassou Elias (2019), Coral reefs and growth dynamics of a low-angle Carboniferous platform: Records from Tianlin, southern China, in Sedimentary Geology, 105550-105550.
Oases of biodiversity: Early Devonian palaeoecology at Hamar Laghdad, Morocco
Klug Christian, Samankassou Elias, Pohle Alexander, De Baets Kenneth, Franchi Fulvio, Korn Dieter (2018), Oases of biodiversity: Early Devonian palaeoecology at Hamar Laghdad, Morocco, in Neues Jahrbuch für Geologie und Paläontologie - Abhandlungen, 290(1), 9-48.
Spatial and temporal distribution of microbial carbonates, skeletal and non-skeletal grains in a Pennsylvanian carbonate platform (Valdorria, Northern Spain)
Chesnel Valentin, Merino-Tomé Óscar, Fernández Luis Pedro, Villa Elisa, Samankassou Elias (2017), Spatial and temporal distribution of microbial carbonates, skeletal and non-skeletal grains in a Pennsylvanian carbonate platform (Valdorria, Northern Spain), in Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology, 476, 106-139.
Facies, geometry and growth phases of the Valdorria carbonate platform (Pennsylvanian, northern Spain)
Chesnel Valentin, Samankassou Elias, Merino-Tomé Oscar, Fernandez Luis-Pedro, Villa Elisa (2016), Facies, geometry and growth phases of the Valdorria carbonate platform (Pennsylvanian, northern Spain), in Sedimentology, 63(1), 60-104.
Isotopic fingerprints of Milankovitch cycles in Pennsylvanian carbonate platform-top deposits: the Valdorria record, Northern Spain
Valentin Chesnel, Oscar Merino-Tomé, Luis Pedro Fernandez, Elisa Villa, Elias Samankassou (2016), Isotopic fingerprints of Milankovitch cycles in Pennsylvanian carbonate platform-top deposits: the Valdorria record, Northern Spain, in Terra Nova, 28, 364-373.
Growth of ancient carbonate mounds: In bathyal depths or in shallow shelf waters?
Hebbeln Dierk, Samankassou Elias (2015), Growth of ancient carbonate mounds: In bathyal depths or in shallow shelf waters?, in Earth-Science Reviews, 145, 56-65.
Pennsylvanian microbial-dominated carbonate platforms in Northern Spain: Potential outcrop analogs for the subsurface reservoirs of the Pricaspian Basin.
Samankassou Elias, Merino Tomé Oscar, Bahamonde Juan R., Della Porta Giovanna, Chesnel Valentin, Fernandez Luis Pedro, Villa Elisa (2015), Pennsylvanian microbial-dominated carbonate platforms in Northern Spain: Potential outcrop analogs for the subsurface reservoirs of the Pricaspian Basin., Congressi Stefano Franscini, 2015.

Collaboration

Group / person Country
Types of collaboration
University of Oviedo, Spain Spain (Europe)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
- Publication
- Research Infrastructure
University of Madrid Spain (Europe)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
University of Shenyang, China China (Asia)
- in-depth/constructive exchanges on approaches, methods or results
- Publication
- Research Infrastructure

Scientific events

Active participation

Title Type of contribution Title of article or contribution Date Place Persons involved
27th Meeting of Swiss Sedimentologists, Fribourg, February 23, 2019 Poster Growth dynamics of a Pennsylvanian carbonate platform and coral reef development: Record from Ziyun, Guizhou (southern China). 23.02.2019 Fribourg, Switzerland Samankassou Elias; Marine Maillet;
20th International Sedimentological Congress Talk given at a conference Growth dynamics of a Carboniferous carbonate platform: Record from Tianlin County, Guangxi Region (Southern China) 13.08.2018 Québec, Canada Marine Maillet; Samankassou Elias;
20th International Sedimentological Congress Poster Paleokarst in the Cantabrian Zone: Witness to Pennsylvanian paleoclimate evolution at equatorial latitudes 13.08.2018 Quebec, Canada Samankassou Elias;
20th International Sedimentological Congress Poster OASES OF BIODIVERSITY: DEVONIAN MUDMOUNDS AT HAMAR LAGHDAD, MOROCCO 13.08.2018 Quebec, Canada Samankassou Elias;
20th International Sedimentological Congress Talk given at a conference Late Visean-Serpukhovian cyclic sequences in Southern China, recording the onset of the Late Paleozoic Ice Age Presentation type: 13.08.2018 Quebec, Canada Marine Maillet; Samankassou Elias;
20th International Sedimentological Congress Talk given at a conference Lithofacies of shallow-water deposits in upper Visean-Serpukhovian, Southern China 13.08.2018 Quebec, Canada Marine Maillet; Samankassou Elias;
26th Meeting of Swiss Sedimentologists Talk given at a conference Growth dynamics of a Carboniferous carbonate platform: Record from Tianlin County, Guangxi Region (Southern China) 24.02.2018 Fribourg, Switzerland Samankassou Elias; Marine Maillet;
33th IAS & 16th ASF Joint Meeting Talk given at a conference Carboniferous carbonate platforms and coral-reefs in Southern China. 10.10.2017 Toulouse, France Marine Maillet; Samankassou Elias;
25th Meeting of Swiss Sedimentologists Poster Evolution of Pennsylvanian carbonate platform and reefs in Southern China. 25.02.2017 Fribourg, Switzerland Marine Maillet; Samankassou Elias;
32nd International Meeting on Sedimentology Individual talk Keynote Lecture: Where did ancient carbonate mounds grow: In bathyal depths or in shallow shlef waters? 23.05.2016 Marrakech, Morocco Samankassou Elias;
1st International Carbonate Mound Conference Talk given at a conference Pennsylvanian microbial-dominated carbonate platforms in Northern Spain: Potential outcrop analogs for the subsurface reservoirs of the Pricaspian Basin 01.11.2015 Monte Verita, Locarno, Switzerland Samankassou Elias;
1st International Carbonate Mound Conference Talk given at a conference Growth of ancient carbonate mounds: In bathyal depths or in shallow shelf waters? 01.11.2015 Monte Verita, Locarno, Switzerland Samankassou Elias;


Self-organised

Title Date Place
Carbonate mounds through time and space: from organisms to giant sedimentary structures 13.08.2018 Quebec, Canada
Carbonate mounds through time and space: from organisms to giant sedimentary structures 25.09.2017 Bremen, Germany

Abstract

This project deals with extended coral reefs discovered recently in Guizhou and Langping, south China. This discovery is at odd with current published data that the Mississippian-Pennsylvanian (“Carboniferous”) is a “reefless lag time”, following the Frasnian-Famennian extinction event. Research plan encompasses lithofacies mapping, petrography/microfacies analysis, biostratigraphy, paleoecology, chemiostratigraphy, and platform reconstruction. The goal is to reconstruct the overall depositional setting and suggest a robust scenario to explain the occurrence of extended Carboniferous coral reefs in South China. Investigation will allow testing the hypothesis that the continental runoff resulting from Orogens inhibited the development of metazoan reefs in the western Paleo-Tethys whereas setting remote from the runoff developed extended metazoan reefs (South China and settings such as Japan and Thailand) after the Frasnian-Famennian extinction event.Coral reefs in China fill, and significantly shorten, the duration the end-Devonian reef gap. Results will lead to reconsider reef evolution globally, and the potential of coral reef to persist in specific settings during intervals of harsh perturbations. This has a significant scientific and societal impact in the context of current and predicted future global perturbations.
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