Sedimentary and microbial record of the Middle/Late Ordovician phosphogenetic episode in the northern Holy Cross Mountains, Poland

Numerous phosphorite beds and phosphatic nodules occur in the upper Middle and lower Upper Ordovician carbonate-shale succession of the Bukowiany Formation outcropping in the northern Holy Cross Mountains, central Poland. The vertical stacking pattern of this succession indicates that phosphatic and accompanying strata reflect a conformable sedimentary succession accumulated during a rise of relative sea level. The base of the Bukowiany Formation is marked by a conspicuous phosphorite horizon revealing a low net sediment accumulation rate reflecting a switch into a mesotrophic ecological system. This horizon was produced by reworking and redeposition of pristine phosphate sediment (e.g. by currents activity) during the late Darriwilian transgression. The overlying sedimentary record appears to reflect nucleation of the phosphate phase in the sediment–water interface and its subsequent burial by the accompanying sediment. The phosphatized tiny stromatolites and nodules preserved within the Bukowiany Formation indicate that benthic microbial communities played an important role in redistribution and concentration of phosphate during deposition of this succession.