Extensive microbial mats and their influences on the erosional and depositional dynamics of a siliciclastic cold water environment (Lower Arenigian, Montagne Noire, France)

Lower Arenigian (Ordovician) rocks of the Montagne Noire, France, represent a shallow-marine environment of a high latitude position along the northern margin of Gondwana. Within the weakly metamorphosed siliciclastics six depositional units were recognized: (1) outer shelf; (2) foreshore zone, below wave base; (3) foreshore zone, above wave base; (4) sand bars of shoreface zone; (5) intertidal deposits; and (6) lagoonal zone. Wrinkle structures and various other phenomena were mediated by coherent (cyano-)bacterial mats. The structures can be related to the different facies zones of the paleoenvironment. Whereas the muddy outer shelf, and the high-energetic sand bars were not overgrown by any mat-constructing microbial populations, fine sands of the foreshore zone, the tidal flats and lagoonal areas were widely colonized. Restriction of mats due to competition of space by endobenthic macroorganisms, or by grazers was low. The microbially induced structures are composed of organic material, pyrite, clay minerals (illite, chamsonite, chlorite), and chert. The minerals precipitated in situ during degradation of the organic layers by the activity of heterotrophic bacteria at low temperatures. Because the microorganisms formed a dense organic carpet covering extensive areas of the ancient sea-bottom, they influenced significantly the erosional and depositional dynamics of the sedimentary system of the local Arenigian. Biostabilization counteracted erosion, and baffling, trapping and binding enriched mineral particles. Additionally, the in situ formed minerals contributed to the total amount of sediment. The biotic influence lead to increased accumulation of sediment within the depositional area. The study shows that microbial mats of great extension occur within Phanerozoic siliciclastics of cold paleoclimate zones, and that preservation of the mat fabrics was possible. The significant mats influenced the local sedimentary system, an aspect scarcely taken into account for such paleoenvironments.