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Facies Relationships and Diagenesis in Waulsortian Mudmounds from the Lower Carboniferous of Ireland and N. England

  • Chapter
Reef Diagenesis

Abstract

Waulsortian buildups are dominated by lime mud, and conspicuously lack frame-building organisms such as corals, calcareous algae and stromatoporoids. They were first described by Dupont (1863) from the Dinantian (Lower Carboniferous) of the Waulsort area in Belgium. Dupont had already described certain sparry masses (“Stromatactis”) from Devonian mud mounds as stromatoporoids. In 1883, he recognized similar structures in the Waulsortian limestones, and considered these massive buildups to be reefs of stromatoporoids and fenestellid bryozoans. Nowadays, the sparry fabrics are considered to be diagenetic features. Lacking a skeletal framework, Waulsortian buildups are best regarded as carbonate banks rather than true reefs (Lees 1964).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Grant Institute of Geology, West Mains Road, Edinburgh, EH9 3JW, Scotland

    J. Miller

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  1. J. Miller
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. George Washington University, Washington, USA

    Johannes H. Schroeder Ph.D.

  2. Institut für Geologie und Paläontologie, Technische Universität, Hardenbergstraße 42, 1000, Berlin 12, FR Germany

    Johannes H. Schroeder Ph.D.

  3. Laboratoire de Pétrologie Sédimentaire et Paléontologie, Université Paris-Sud Orsay, Bâtiment 504, 91405, Orsay Cedex, France

    Bruce H. Purser

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© 1986 Springer-Verlag Berlin Heidelberg

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Miller, J. (1986). Facies Relationships and Diagenesis in Waulsortian Mudmounds from the Lower Carboniferous of Ireland and N. England. In: Schroeder, J.H., Purser, B.H. (eds) Reef Diagenesis. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82812-6_16

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-642-82812-6_16

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg

  • Print ISBN: 978-3-642-82814-0

  • Online ISBN: 978-3-642-82812-6

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

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