Middle Permian Rhizoid Limestones of the Kazan Volga Region (Russia)

This paper presents the results of a study of rhizoid limestones of the Urzhumian age, Middle Permian, on the example of one of the typical layers using field and laboratory methods to clarify their depositional settings. Bulk geochemistry, isotope analysis of stable carbon and oxygen isotopes, optical microscopy, scanning electron microscopy (SEM), X-ray computed tomography (XCT) and electron paramagnetic resonance (EPR) were used.

The limestone under study has a two-part structure: the main (lower) part is penetrated by a dense network of root canals (rhizoid limestone), and the upper part is composed of thin-laminated limestone (laminated limestone) with desiccation cracks filled with dark gray massive limestone. All limestone types contain lacustrine fauna of ostracods, bivalves and fishes. Rhizoid limestone has a micrite bioturbated structure, overlapping laminated limestone is characterized by microbially induced thin-laminated micrite-ostracod structure. Massive limestone has a micrite-peloid structure and hosts rhizoid limestone intraclasts.

Massive limestone filling desiccation cracks clearly differs from the host limestones in its “lighter” isotopic composition, the presence of microbial films with the development of coccoid and filamentous bacteriomorphs. The EPR spectra of massive limestone are characterized by the presence of signals from sulfate radicals and organic radicals of non-carbonized organic matter of plants.

Using XCT, the structure of root canals in rhizoid limestone was revealed, from which the distance between plants was estimated to be 10-12 cm. The morphology of the root canals allows them to be attributed to the ichnotaxa Radicites sp., and Radicites erraticus.

The studied rhizoid limestone is interpreted as a lacustrine carbonate sediment processed by plant roots during the shallowing of the lake. The laminated limestone is interpreted as bacterial mat formed in palustrine (littoral) environments. The massive limestone is a microbial structure of mud mounds type formed in littoral environments.

The recurrence of rhizoid limestone horizons in the Urzhumian sections reflects the cyclicity associated with short-term climate fluctuations, where rhizoid limestones are confined to conditionally transgressive phases of lake basin development. The lithostratigraphic potential of rhizoid limestones requires further study.

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