Carbonate Rock Petrography as an Indicator of Climate Change and Sea Level Fluctuations: A Literature Review
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.30872/gpcf6544Keywords:
Carbonate rork petrography, Climate change, Sea Level, Microfacies, Paleoclimate, DiagenesisAbstract
Carbonate rock petrography is an important approach for reconstructing climate change and sea-level fluctuations throughout geological time. This study aims to review carbonate
petrographic characteristics that can be used as indicators of climate change and sea-level fluctuations, the methodological approaches applied in paleoenvironmental interpretation, and
the limitations of their application. A systematic literature review was conducted on scientific publications addressing carbonate petrography, climate change, paleoclimate, sea level, microfacies, diagenesis, isotope geochemistry, and sequence stratigraphy. The review shows that petrographic indicators of climate change include mineralogical composition, clay mineral assemblages, fossil content and biotic assemblages, textural characteristics, and diagenetic features. Sea-level fluctuations can be reconstructed through changes in microfacies and depositional depth, transgressive-regressive patterns, carbonate platform architecture, and variations in carbon and oxygen isotopes. The most reliable interpretations are obtained by integrating petrographic analysis with geochemical data, including stable isotopes, trace elements, XRD, XRF, and other advanced analytical techniques. However, several challenges remain, particularly diagenetic overprinting, seasonal and environmental biases, and the difficulty of distinguishing climatic signals from tectonic influences. Therefore, the integration of multi-proxy approaches and rigorous assessment of preservation conditions is essential for improving the reliability of carbonate rocks as geological archives of climate and sea-level
change.
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