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ABSTRACT Carbonate concretions, lenses and bands in the Pleistocene, Palaeogene and Upper Triassic coalfields of Japan consist of various carbonate minerals with varied chemical compositions. Authigenic carbonates in freshwater sediments are siderite > calcite > ankerite > dolomite >> ferroan magnesite; in brackish water to marine sediments in the coal measures, calcite > dolomite > ankerite > siderite >> ferroan magnesite; and in the overlying marine deposits, calcite > dolomite >> siderite. Most carbonates were formed progressively during burial within a range of depths between the sediment‐water interface and approximately 3 km. The mineral species and the chemical composition of the carbonates are controlled primarily by the initial sedimentary facies of the host sediments and secondarily by the diagenetic evolution of pore water during burial. Based on the regular sequence and burial depth of precipitation of authigenic carbonates in a specific sedimentary facies, three diagenetic stages of carbonates are proposed. Carbonates formed during Stage I ( 2000 m) are Fe calcite and extremely high Ca‐Mg siderite; the latter is exclusively in marine mudstones. The supply of Ca is partly from the alteration of silicates in the sediments at elevated burial temperatures. After uplift, calcite with low Mg content precipitates from percolating groundwater and fills extensional cracks.
Matsumoto et al. (Wed,) studied this question.