Biogenic primary sulfide of the Permian Kupferschiefer and Marl Slate

Pyrite spheres in the Permian Kupferschiefer of the Mansfeld district, Germany, and the Marl Slate of northeast England (also a deposit of the early Zechstein sea) are shown to enclose remains of Pyritosphaera barbaria (mainly) or other fossil microorganisms considered to have been responsible for precipitation of primary iron sulfide in fetid bottom muds. At a later stage in diagenesis of the sediments, the iron of the authigenic pyrite was replaced by other metals (whose source has not been determined), leading to formation of the Kupferschiefer copper, zinc, and lead ores.

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				Y.-M. GONG, G. R. SHI, E. A. WELDON, Y.-S. DU, and R. XU Pyrite framboids interpreted as microbial colonies within the Permian Zoophycos spreiten from southeastern Australia Geological Magazine, January 1, 2008; 145(1): 95 - 103. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]