Cathodoluminescence in Quaternary carbonate deposits

The cathodoluminescent oscillatory and sectoral growth zones common in crystals formed in ancient limestone successions in a variety of putative environments appear to be rare or absent from Recent and Pleistocene marine carbonate sequences. The factors controlling cathodoluminescence and reasons for this disparity are examined. The cathodoluminescent zones in the cements of ancient rocks have been interpreted as responses to variations in the redox potential of formative pore waters during crystal growth; although similar cathodoluminescent behaviour is recorded from some deposits, including travertines and Quaternary speleothems, formed in what are thought to have been strongly oxidizing environments. The apparent absence of cathodoluminescence in the most Recent and Pleistocene marine deposits, that presumably reflect deposition and diagenesis in environments that are also characteristically oxidized, therefore seems anomalous. The controlling influences on cathodoluminescence are reviewed, together with evidence relating to observations of Pleistocene marine deposits and likely conditions of formation but, where it is present, the mechanism(s) for its development remain elusive.