Earth Science Frontiers ›› 2023, Vol. 30 ›› Issue (3): 195-207.DOI: 10.13745/j.esf.sf.2022.5.44

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SEM image characteristics and paleoenvironmental significance of framboidal pyrite from the Lower Cambrian Shuijingtuo Formation in Yichang area, western Hubei Province, southern China: A case study of well EYY1

SONG Hui1(), SHAO Deyong1, LUO Huan2, MENG Kang1, ZHANG Yu1, TANG Xuan3, ZHANG Tongwei4,*()   

  1. 1. State Key Laboratory of Continental Dynamics, Department of Geology, Northwest University, Xi’an 710069, China
    2. School of Earth Sciences, Lanzhou University, Lanzhou 730000, China
    3. School of Energy Resources, China University of Geosciences (Beijing), Beijing 100083, China
    4. Bureau of Economic Geology, The University of Texas at Austin, Austin TX 78713, USA
  • Received:2022-03-10 Revised:2022-04-29 Online:2023-05-25 Published:2023-04-27

Abstract:

Framboidal pyrite occurs widely in shales of all ages and its morphological and grain size characteristics can be used as a redox indicator in environmental research. In this study, micromorphology of pyrites in shale samples from the Lower Cambrian Shuijingtuo and Yanjiahe Formations in well EYY1, Yangtze area, was investigated in detail using Ar ion milling and scanning electron micrography (SEM) techniques, where relevant parameters for framboidal pyrite indicative of paleoenvironments were obtained through statistical analysis using image processing software (ImageJ). The results show that various types of pyrites including framboidal, lumpy, euhedral and anhedral pyrites are developed in EYY1. Among them, framboidal pyrite, as the most predominant type, shows obvious changes in gain size (D), microcrystalline grain shape and size (d) and D/d ratio in the vertical direction. The grain shape of microcrystalline framboidal pyrite in the Yanjiahe Formation is mainly octahedral; while in the Shuijingtuo Formation it is mainly dodecahedral or near-spherical in the lower part, octahedral or cubic in the middle part, and cubic or tetrahedral in the upper part, with decreasing microcrystalline grain roundness upward from the bottom part, indicating weaker reducing conditions in the same trend. The average grain sizes of framboidal pyrite in organic-rich shales and microcrystalline framboidal pyrite in the EYY1 core section are 4.43 and 0.338 μm, respectively, and gradually decrease from bottom to top, which is opposite to the upward reduction-to-oxidation trend revealed by geochemical parameters. The D/d ratio for framboidal pyrite is relatively small in the Yanjiahe Formation and largest at the bottom of the Shuijingtuo Formation then gradually decreases upward. These results suggest that framboidal pyrite developed at the boundary between the Shuijingtuo and Yanjiahe Formations may reflect the redox condition prior to the stratigraphical change. The small grain size of framboidal pyrite in the upper Shuijingtuo Formation may suggest an aqueous redox interface and reduced abundance of iron-bearing minerals in the source supply.

Key words: framboidal pyrite, SEM images, oxidation-reduction environments, Shuijingtuo Formation, Yichang area

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