Controls on carbonate sedimentation
Areas of shallow marine carbonate sedimentation are
known as carbonate platforms. They can occur in a
wide variety of climatic and tectonic settings provided
that two main conditions are met: (a) isolation from
clastic supply and (b) shallow marine waters. The
types of carbonate grains deposited and the facies
they form are mainly controlled by climatic conditions
and they have varied through time with the
evolution of different groups of organisms. The places
where carbonate platforms occur are determined by
tectonic controls on the shape and depth of sedimentary
basins: tectonic subsidence factors also strongly
influence the stratigraphy of successions on carbonate
platforms (Bosence 2005). Patterns of depositional
sequences are also affected by sea-level fluctuations
(Chapter 23).
processes can determine the characteristics of the