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Mineralized Microbialites As Archives of Environmental Evolution of a Hypersaline Lake Basin: Laguna Negra, Catamarca Province, Argentina

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Mineralized Microbialites As Archives of Environmental Evolution of a Hypersaline Lake Basin: Laguna Negra, Catamarca Province, Argentina University of Tennessee, Knoxville TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange Masters Theses Graduate School 8-2014 Mineralized microbialites as archives of environmental evolution of a hypersaline lake basin: Laguna Negra, Catamarca Province, Argentina Joy Buongiorno University of Tennessee - Knoxville, [email protected] Follow this and additional works at: https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes Part of the Biogeochemistry Commons, and the Geochemistry Commons Recommended Citation Buongiorno, Joy, "Mineralized microbialites as archives of environmental evolution of a hypersaline lake basin: Laguna Negra, Catamarca Province, Argentina. " Master's Thesis, University of Tennessee, 2014. https://trace.tennessee.edu/utk_gradthes/2867 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate School at TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. It has been accepted for inclusion in Masters Theses by an authorized administrator of TRACE: Tennessee Research and Creative Exchange. For more information, please contact [email protected]. To the Graduate Council: I am submitting herewith a thesis written by Joy Buongiorno entitled "Mineralized microbialites as archives of environmental evolution of a hypersaline lake basin: Laguna Negra, Catamarca Province, Argentina." I have examined the final electronic copy of this thesis for form and content and recommend that it be accepted in partial fulfillment of the equirr ements for the degree of Master of Science, with a major in Geology. Linda C. Kah, Major Professor We have read this thesis and recommend its acceptance: Annette S. Engel, Colin D. Sumrall Accepted for the Council: Carolyn R. Hodges Vice Provost and Dean of the Graduate School (Original signatures are on file with official studentecor r ds.) Mineralized microbialites as archives of environmental evolution of a hypersaline lake basin: Laguna Negra, Catamarca Province, Argentina A Thesis Presented for the Master of Science Degree The University of Tennessee, Knoxville Joy Buongiorno August 2014 ii Dedication For our beloved Nala, the most beautiful princess of a kitty there ever was. Rest in peace in the land of milk and honey ham, Nalabear. iii Acknowledgements I would like to express my immense appreciation to my thesis advisor, Linda Kah, for the boundless encouragement, thoughtfulness, and dedication. I also owe a great debt to my lab mates and fellow graduate students who helped me through this process in countless ways. Most of all, I am sincerely grateful to Michael Altom for his endless support and love. iv Abstract Environmental fluctuations related to climate, biological productivity, and evaporation can be recorded by sedimentary archives within lacustrine depositional systems. Sediments within terminal, closed-basin lakes are amongst the most sensitive paleoenvironmental indicators, and have great potential for permitting detailed reconstruction of environmental conditions via a variety of geochemical and isotopic proxies. Microbialites, however, have been largely overlooked as repositories of paleoenvironmental data. Here, we investigate mineralized microbialites within Laguna Negra, a high-altitude (4100 meters above sea level) hypersaline, closed-basin lake in the Argentinian Puna region and explore the potential recovery of environmental signals from these unique sedimentary archives. Mineralized microbialites within Laguna Negra preserve complex layering composed of three distinct carbonate fabrics— isopachous cement phases, botryoidal precipitates, and microbially-associated micrite. These phases are interpreted to reflect differential physical and biological influences on carbonate nucleation and growth. Detailed preservation of successive laminae within these microbialites provides the opportunity for time-wise reconstruction of geochemical signatures. Geochemical analysis of Laguna Negra microbialites shows overall range of δ13[delta- 13]Ccarb[carbonate carbon] is from +5.75‰ [permil] to +18.25‰ and from -2.04‰ to +7.36‰ 18 for δ [delta-18]Ocarb[carbonate oxygen]. Long-term signals preserved within successive laminae 13 18 of lighter δ Ccarb and δ Ocarb through time suggests increased input water contribution since the beginning of microbialite deposition. General hydrological evolution of Laguna Negra is v reconstructed via integration of observed oxygen isotopes signatures with published water balance models, and is consistent with regional records from other lacustrine systems. 13 13 Examination of paired δ Ccarb and δ [delta-13]Corg[organic carbon] permits interpretation of the relative effects of evaporation and biotic activity in the evolution of Laguna Negra, and reveals that extrinsic parameters, such as CO2 [carbon dioxide] degassing and evaporation are the primary control on isotopic evolution. Geochemical and petrographic differences between microbialites across a spatial gradient, however, suggest that Laguna Negra microbialites also preserve signals that represent both heterogeneous evolution of environments within the lake and influence of biogenic activity. Ultimately, understanding of the relative effects of environmental and biotic parameters on the evolution of lacustrine deposits will enhance our understanding of both paleoenvironmental change and its potential relationship to microbialite mineralization. vi Table of Contents Section 1: Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 1 Section 2: Geological Setting ............................................................................................................................ 4 Laguna Negra ............................................................................................................................................................................... 4 Lake Chemistry ................................................................................................................................................................. 7 Section 3: Microbialites as Paleoenvironmental Archives .................................................................. 13 Laguna Negra microbialites ............................................................................................................................................... 14 Section 4: Analytical Methods ....................................................................................................................... 16 Sample collection ..................................................................................................................................................................... 16 Mineralogical identification ............................................................................................................................................... 16 Isotopic composition of carbonate phases .................................................................................................................... 17 Elemental compositions of carbonate phases ............................................................................................................. 18 Organic carbon analyses ...................................................................................................................................................... 18 Statistics ....................................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Tukey Test ....................................................................................................................................................................... 19 Principal Component Analysis (PCA) .................................................................................................................. 20 Section 5: Results and Interpretation ........................................................................................................ 21 Petrographic components .................................................................................................................................................... 21 Interpretation of petrographic microfaBrics .................................................................................................... 24 Isotopic compositions of carbonate phases .................................................................................................................. 27 Interpretation of isotopic compositions ............................................................................................................. 27 Elemental compositions ........................................................................................................................................................ 49 Interpretation of elemental compositions ......................................................................................................... 49 Organic compositions ............................................................................................................................................................ 50 Interpretation of organic compositions ......................................................................................................................... 52 Principal Component Analysis ........................................................................................................................................... 57 Section 6: Hydrochemical Modeling ..........................................................................................................
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