Origin of Phosphate-bearing Carbonate Concretions in the Upper Triassic Lacustrine Black Shales of the Southern Ordos Basin,China

Carbonate concretions are conspicuous in organic-rich shales and are generally related to decomposition of organic matter.The black shales from the Chang 7 Member of the Upper Triassic Yanchang Formation of the southern Ordos Basin host abundant carbonate concretions,which provide a unique record of depositional and early diagenetic conditions of the paleo-lake sediments.However,little attention has been given to the genesis and growth processes of the concretions in these lacustrine petroleum source rocks.New petrographic observations and geochemical analysis show that the concretions are composed of calcite,phosphate fossil fragments,K-NH4-feldspar,quartz,bitumen,and minor Fe-dolomite.Phosphate minerals,mainly carbonate fluorapatite(CFA),show pervasive replacement by calcite,most of which contains phosphorus,ranging in concentration from 0.26 to 2.35 wt%.This suggests that the phosphate minerals are the precursors for concretion growth.Positiveδ13C(+5.6 to+12.4‰V-PDB)signatures and the absence of pyrite indicate that microbial methanogenesis was the dominant driver for concretion growth,rather than bacterial sulfate reduction.Quartz,bitumen,and Fe-dolomite are the last cements that occurred,at deep burial depths and high temperatures.The formation of phosphate minerals might have been induced by upwelling of phosphate-enriched deep water in the Late Triassic paleo-lake,which promoted phytoplankton blooms and further enrichment of organic matter.Extremely slow sedimentation rates of fine-grained detrital minerals,relative to dead organism accumulation,led to the high permeabilities of the organic-rich sediments and rapid concretion growth during shallow burial.The close association of phosphate-bearing carbonate concretions and organic-rich shales reflects that upwelling played a critical role in the formation of the high-quality petroleum source rocks in the Triassic paleo-Ordos lake.

Influences of LaCl3 on the mineral phase transformation during osteoblast mineralization in vitro

Rat calvarial osteoblasts were treated with lanthanum chloride（LaCl3） to explore its effect on the mineral crystalline phase during the process of osteoblast calcification in uitro.The results confirmed that La was readily deposited in the mineral component of the matrix.Employing high-resolution transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared microspectroscopy techniques,we demonstrated that features comparable to dicalcium phosphate dihydrate（DCPD） and octacalcium phosphate,and hydroxyapatite（HAP） were detected in the mineral phases in uitro.Particularly,LaCl3 treatment retarded conversion from DCPD-like phase into HAP during mineralization.In addition,La was introduced in DCPD powder during wet chemical synthesis.When compared with that of La-free DCPD,the dissolution rate of La-incorporated DCPD was lower,thereby leading to a delayed DCPD-to-HAP phase transformation.Thus,it can be concluded that LaCl3 treatment influences the kinetics of inorganic phase transition by decreasing the dissolution rate of DCPD.