Authigenic barite nodules and carbonate concretions in the Upper Devonian shale succession of western New York – A record of variable methane flux during burial

• 34S-enriched barite is found in the Hanover Shale, Devonian, western New York.
• Barite formed after associated 13C-depleted carbonate concretions.
• Carbonate may have formed as a result of anaerobic oxidation of biogenic methane.
• Sinking of the sulfate–methane transition zone (SMT) preserved the barite.
• The SMT depth may have responded to variable methane generation during burial.

Authigenic barite nodules associated with modestly 13C-depleted calcium carbonate concretions and 34S-enriched pyrite at the bottom of the Upper Devonian Hanover Shale of western New York provide evidence of sulfate reduction coupled with anaerobic oxidation of methane (AOM). The methane, much of it biogenic in origin, may have diffused upward from Middle Devonian Marcellus Shale and perhaps the Upper Ordovician Utica Shale. Strong 34S enrichment and high δ34S/δ18O values of the barite nodules reflect: (1) substantial kinetic fractionation induced by microbial sulfate reduction perhaps intensified by a low seawater sulfate recharge rate and (2) upward delivery of Ba2+- and CH4- bearing pore fluid sourced within underlying sulfate-depleted deposits. However, the association of authigenic calcium carbonate and barite in the same stratigraphic interval, especially the presence of barite overgrowths on carbonate concretions, is not consistent with what is known of AOM-related mineralization of a sediment column passing downward through the sulfate–methane transition (SMT). The documented early formation of authigenic carbonate followed by barite observed relations may reflect a diminished rate of methanogenesis and/or CH4 supply. The tempered methane flux would have induced the SMT to descend the sediment column enabling barite to form within the same stratigraphic horizon that 13C-depleted calcium carbonate had most recently precipitated. Diminished methane flux may have been caused by burial-related passage of the organic-rich Marcellus Shale below the depth of peak biogenic methane generation and its replacement at that depth interval by organic-lean deposits of the upper part of the Hamilton Group. Subsidence of the SMT would have increased the preservation potential of authigenic barite. However, continued survival of the labile barite as it eventually moved through the SMT suggests that the underlying sulfate-depleted zone was strongly enriched in Ba2+.