Paleoclimatic approach to the origin of the coloring of Turonian pelagic limestones from the Vispi Quarry section (Cretaceous, central Italy)

Samples of Turonian white to light gray and red limestones from the Vispi Quarry section in central Italy have been examined by X-ray Diffractometry (XRD), Electron Probe Micro-analysis (EPMA), Electron Spin Resonance (ESR), and Ultra violet-visible-near infrared (UV-VIS-NIR) Diffuse Reflectance Spectroscopy (DRS). The ESR, EPMA and XRD results suggest that Mn2+ was well-incorporated into the structure of calcite during the precipitation of the limestones. Amorphous ferric oxide (most probably hematite) and the Mn2+-bearing calcite endowed the limestone with a red color as the major pigmentation, and the Mn2+-bearing calcite gave it a pink tinge. The mineral assemblage is composed mainly of detrital boehmite and quartz, which are interpreted as having been imported from the Eurasian paleo-continent into the ocean by seasonal northeasterly winds. The boehmite formed by dehydration of gibbsite as an end-product of intensive chemical weathering of Fe, Mg, and Al-bearing aluminosilicates exposed in a subtropical environment. XRD results for the residues of Cretaceous Oceanic Red Beds (CORBs) dissolved in dilute acetum differed from those from Cretaceous Oceanic White Beds (COWBs) in that they contain hematite. This suggests that no hematite was imported into the ocean during the precipitation of the white limestone, and may explain why the same detrital origin for red and white limestones resulted in different colors by suggesting that climatic variations occurred on the paleo-continent during the precipitation of these two types of limestone. The presence of boehmite and hematite suggests that, during the Late Cretaceous, central Italy lay within a subtropical climatic zone with a seasonal alternation of warm rainy winters and hot, dry summers during the formation of the CORBs, and a continuously warm climate during the formation of the COWBs. The Mn/Fe(mol) ratios in the shells of spherical carbonate assemblages (probable microfossils) suggested that the ocean was much richer in iron during the precipitation of COWBs.