Sedimentology (2001) 48, 189213

Septarian concretions: internal cracking caused

by synsedimentary earthquakes
BRIAN R. PRATT
Department of Geological Sciences, University of Saskatchewan, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan S7N 5E2,
Canada (E-mail: brian.pratt@usask.ca)

ABSTRACT

Septarian concretions are abundant in many Phanerozoic marine and marginal-

marine shales and mudstones. They range from a few centimetres to several
metres in size and are spherical or ellipsoidal in morphology. In general,
formation by localized calcite or siderite cementation in argillaceous sediments
began under less than a few metres of burial. Septarian cracks vary widely in
shape and conguration: included are networks of wide, vertically, radially and
sometimes concentrically oriented, lenticular shrinkage cracks; and narrower,
parallel-sided, straight to irregular tension cracks locally accompanied by
brecciation, and plumose and en echelon sigmoidal cracks indicative of shear
stresses. Crack types are intergradational; many concretions exhibit multiple
cracking events. Enclosed macrofossils and isopachous brous calcite cement
that lines earlier formed cracks are commonly broken and displaced. In some
cases, cracks contain injected lime mud and silt. These features, taken together,
testify that cracking involved a spectrum of responses in concretion interiors,
from loss of shear strength, dewatering and shrinkage to brittle failure,
demonstrating variations in, and contrasts between, the rheological properties
of the matrix and enclosed objects. Localization to interiors and outward tapering
of lenticular cracks make a case for fracture partitioning and indicate that
interiors were softer than exteriors at the time of shrinkage. Parallel-sided cracks
point to greater stiffness, and evolving crack shape in multiply cracked
concretions shows that rigidity increased with time. Crack orientations
indicate highly variable tensile and shear stress directions within individual
concretions. Rupture, brecciation, displacement of fragments, loss of shear
strength, liquefaction and injection of unconsolidated granular sediment suggest
that deformation events were rapid, if not virtually instantaneous. Previous
explanations for the internal cracking, such as gas generation, spontaneous
chemical dehydration or localized overpressuring due to compaction, seem
either untenable or fail to account for the spectrum of observed features.
However, syndepositional earthquake-induced shaking of cementing bodies of
varying rigidity at shallow burial depths seems to be a plausible source for the
requisite short-lived, variable to anisotropic, high-stress regime inside the
concretions. Septarian concretions may thus preserve a signature of basin
seismicity as it relates to their cementation history.
Keywords Concretions, cracks, deformation, diagenesis, earthquakes,
2 mudstones, shales.

2001 International Association of Sedimentologists 189

190 B. R. Pratt
INTRODUCTION
Septarian carbonate concretions have been docu-
mented from many, mainly marine, shaly
sequences, almost exclusively of Phanerozoic
age. Notwithstanding considerable debate for
over a century, the origin of the internal cracks
(septaria) has remained a mystery. Current theor-
ies entertain several possible mechanisms: chem-
ical dehydration from transformation of organic
molecules or clays, generation of gases, or over-
pressuring during rapid burial. None of these
explanations is satisfactory.
This paper reviews the basic characteristics of
septarian concretions, especially illustrating the
wide range of septarian crack shapes and other
deformation features. These observations are
interpreted qualitatively in terms of the genesis
of concretions and the stresses involved in
cracking. After the deciencies of previous the-
ories for the origin of the cracks are pointed out,
an alternative general model is proposed that
cracking was triggered by earthquake-induced
shaking of variably indurated concretionary bod-
ies. The exact process of internal shrinkage,
which took place inside many concretions before
they became stiffer and susceptible to brittle
deformation, is unclear. Nonetheless, if this
mechanism is correct, septarian concretions can
be classied with the group of sedimentary
structures and deformed beds called `seismites'
(Seilacher, 1984; Plaziat et al., 1990; Pratt, 1994,
1998a,b) that record the effects of syndepositional
tectonic activity. Consequently, they may take on
wider signicance, with implications for the
rheology of argillaceous sediments as it relates
to the nature and evolution of organic matter and
the microbiota, carbonate cementation history
and perhaps clay mineralogy.
Table 1. Selected occurrences of described septarian carbonate concretions.
Age Formation Location
Pleistocene Errol Beds Scotland
Pliocene (unnamed) Germany
Miocene (unnamed) Spain
Oligocene Boom Clay Belgium
Eocene/Oligocene Waikato, New Zealand
Mangakotuku
Eocene London Clay England
Argille scagliose Italy
Palaeocene Moeraki New Zealand
Sentinel Butte North Dakota
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
OCCURRENCE OF SEPTARIAN
CONCRETIONS
Septarian concretions seem to be nearly restricted
to Phanerozoic strata, and this may have impli-
cations for microbial evolution and the dynamics
of the carbon cycle. They occur in many marine
shales, silty shales and mudstones, as well as in
some lacustrine and uvial ood-plain deposits
(Table 1; Vanossi, 1964; Emiliani, 1994). None
has been observed in the process of formation in
recent sediments, but radially cracked concre-
tions have been described from unlithied Pleis-
tocene clays (Duck, 1995).
Septarian concretions occur in a variety of
tectonic settings, ranging from shelves and pro-
delta slopes of foreland and forearc basins, to
intracratonic basins adjacent to tectonically act-
ive arches. The potential for sporadic syndeposi-
tional tectonic activity is evident in all cases, not
just those in orogenic belts (e.g. England & Bustin,
1998) but also for occurrences in cratonic interi-
ors (e.g. Shurr et al., 1994; Eberth, 1996; Leckie &
Cheel, 1989), including the Pleistocene of the
British Isles (e.g. Davenport & Ringrose, 1987).
Concretions in apparently tectonically quiescent
regions typically lack septarian cracks (e.g. Con-
iglio & Cameron, 1990; Soudry & Lewy, 1990;
Coniglio & Melchin, 1995), but so do some where
tectonic activity was probably intermittent (Dwor-
atzek, 1987; Carpenter et al., 1988) or even
persistent (Pirrie & Marshall, 1991).
Septarian concretions occur clustered in indi-
vidual beds that may be regionally extensive (e.g.
Hattin, 1962). Intervals containing concretions
without cracks may be present in the same
succession (e.g. Caldwell, 1968; Morad & Eshete,
1990). These stratigraphic observations show
that the appropriate conditions for concretion
Setting Reference
Intracratonic Duck (1995)
Intracratonic Briggs et al. (1998) (lacustrine)
Intracratonic Blanco et al. (1989) (lacustrine)
Intracratonic de Craen et al. (1999)
Forearc Middleton & Nelson (1996)
Intracratonic Astin (1986); Huggett (1994);
Hewitt (1988)
Foreland Vanossi (1964)
Forearc Boles et al. (1985);
Thyne & Boles (1989)
Foreland Royse (1970) (uvial)
1 Septarian concretions 191
Table 1. Continued

Age Formation Location Setting Reference

Cretaceous-Upper Bearpaw Alberta, Montana, Foreland Tsujita (1995); this paper

Saskatchewan
Marshybank Alberta Foreland McKay et al. (1995)
Gammon Shale Montana Foreland Gautier & Claypool (1984);
Coleman (1993)
Horseshoe Canyon Alberta Foreland This paper
Dakota, Graneros, South Dakota, Iowa, Foreland Hattin (1962);
Carlile Shale Kansas, Montana Ludvigson et al. (1994);
this paper
Blackstone Alberta Foreland This paper
Thermopolis Montana Foreland This paper
Chispa Summit, Texas, Mexico Foreland Kennedy et al. (1977)
Eagle Ford,
Ojinaga
Mancos Shale Utah Foreland This paper
Kemp Texas foreland Graber (1996)
Trent River British Columbia Forearc This paper
Cretaceous-Lower (unnamed) Germany Foreland Lippmann (1955)
Cretaceous-Lower/ Deer Bay Arctic Canada Foreland This paper
Jurassic-Upper
Jurassic-Upper Kimmeridge Clay England Intracratonic Astin & Scotchman (1988);
Scotchman (1991)
Swift Montana Intracratonic This paper
Jurassic-Middle Oxford Clay England Intracratonic Hudson (1978);
10 Martill & Hudson (1989)
Ludwigien Germany Intracratonic Wetzel (1992)
Schichten
Jurassic-Lower Black Ven Marls England Intracratonic Raiswell (1971);
Hesselbo & Palmer (1992)
Jet Rock England Intracratonic Hallam (1962);
Coleman & Raiswell (1981)
Posidonienschiefer Germany Intracratonic Einsele & Mosebach (1955)
Whiteaves British Columbia Forearc Desrochers & Al-Aasm (1993)
Permian-Upper Teekloof South Africa Intracratonic Smith (1990) (lacustrine)
Carboniferous- `Transition unit' Spain Foreland Aso et al. (1992) (lacustrine)
Upper/Permian-
Lower
Carboniferous- Francis Creek Illinois Foreland Woodland & Stenstrom (1979);
Upper Baird et al. (1986)
Carboniferous- Fayetteville Arkansas Foreland Zangerl et al. (1969)
Lower
Exshaw Alberta Foreland This paper
Devonian-Upper Geneseo New York Foreland Dix & Mullins (1987)
Devonian-Middle Hamilton Group New York Foreland Dix & Mullins (1987);
Siegel et al. (1987)
Silurian-Lower Aberystwyth Grits Wales Back-arc Collinson (1994)
Rastrites Shale Sweden Intracratonic Morad & Eshete (1990)
Cambrian-Upper Lingula Flags Wales Intracratonic Raiswell (1971)
Proterozoic-Lower Rove Ontario Rift? Tanton (1931);
Moorehouse (1963);
Winter & Knauth (1992)

Vanossi (1964) and Emiliani (1994) cited or gured further ones from the Upper Cretaceous of western United States,
Lower Cretaceous of Brazil, MiddleUpper Jurassic of France, Switzerland, Poland and Madagascar, Upper Triassic
of Italy, Middle Triassic of Germany, Upper Permian of Australia, Carboniferous of Morocco, Silurian of Morocco and
Bohemia and Middle Cambrian of Sweden. They have also been observed in the Upper Devonian of Algeria
and Lower Ordovician of Bolivia.

2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213

 192 B. R. Pratt
formation and crack development were neither
always nor everywhere present, but that the
cracking mechanism was a geographically wide-
spread phenomenon.
Although it has been claimed that septarian
concretions occur in areas of rapid sedimentation
(Astin, 1986), many if not most successions show
no independent evidence of this. Indeed, Jurassic
concretion-bearing shales in England have
calculated sedimentation rates that are highly
variable: 110 cm kyr)1 of compacted sediment
3 (Ebukanson & Kinghorn, 1990). Concretions in
some units are exhumed, encrusted by a hard-
substrate fauna and perforated by Trypanites
borings (Hallam, 1969; Hesselbo & Palmer,
1992), whereas in other concretions, the last of
several crack generations may contain burrowed
internal sediment (Ludvigson et al., 1994). These
occurrences indicate lowering of the sediment
water interface by erosion. Glauconite is present
in some concretions (Lippmann, 1955; Desro-
chers & Al-Aasm, 1993). Collectively, these
features are inconsistent with the rapid accumu-
lation of sediment. Relatively early timing of the
onset of concretion cementation and crack for-
mation suggests that burial rate was not a critical
factor anyway.
MORPHOLOGY OF SEPTARIAN
CONCRETIONS
Septarian concretions typically range in diameter
from 15 cm to 1 m, but locally are as small as
2 cm (e.g. Desrochers & Al-Aasm, 1993; Duck,
1995) and as large as 23 m (Hattin, 1962; Boles
et al., 1985). Their margins are rounded, and most
are spherical to ellipsoidal, or sometimes weakly
lobate or discoidal (Figs 1 and 2). This variation
in shape argues for a permeability control relating
to the degree of primary layering of the host
sediments. Coatings of cone-in-cone or elongate
calcite crystals may be present (e.g. Tarr, 1921;
Woodland, 1964; Raiswell, 1971; Marshall, 1982;
Boles et al., 1985). Upper surfaces are occasion-
ally broken (Lippmann, 1955; Zangerl et al., 1969;
Hudson, 1978), suggestive of soft interiors inside
harder exteriors. Most commonly, host laminae
terminate abruptly against, or are deected
around, septarian concretion margins, indicating
that the concretions were cementing generally
well before the onset of signicant burial com-
paction.
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
COMPOSITION OF SEPTARIAN
CONCRETIONS
Concretion matrix
Macrofossils often, but not invariably, comprise
the nuclei of concretions (e.g. Richardson, 1919;
4 Allison, 1988a), but are commonly present in a
compacted state in host strata (e.g. Seilacher
et al., 1976). This suggests that putrefaction of
large carcasses was not a prerequisite for concre-
tion formation.
Most septarian concretions from marine strata
have a matrix of siliciclastic silt and clay that is
identical to the host beds, plus calcite microspar
cement, which both envelopes and displaces the
terrigenous particles. The microspar is usually
equant, but meshes of elongate crystals and
spherulitic fabrics may be present, some of which
resulted from neomorphism either before or after
cracking (Vanossi, 1964; Aso et al., 1992). The
equant microspar may lengthen into radial crys-
tals near concretion margins (Astin & Scotchman,
1988).
Calcite of the concretion matrices typically
exhibits d18O values between )15& and 0&
PDB and a wide range of d13C values between
)20& and + 3& PDB (e.g. Mozley & Burns, 1993;
Raiswell & Fisher, 2000). In general, the carbon-
isotope data indicate carbonate derivation from
sea water and bacterial sulphate reduction (e.g.
Coleman, 1993; Coleman & Raiswell, 1993; Moz-
ley & Burns, 1993). Carbonate can also be diage-
netically redistributed through dissolution of
calcareous sediment and local reprecipitation as
calcite cement (Astin & Scotchman, 1988; Morad
& Eshete, 1990; Coniglio & Melchin, 1995; Rai-
swell & Fisher, 2000). These geochemical attrib-
utes argue for concretion cementation to be
initiated in most cases under relatively shallow
burial depths, between less than one to perhaps
tens of metres. This is corroborated by examples
of exhumed concretions.
Septarian concretions may also be cemented by
siderite, which has been suggested to result from
the inuence of meteoric waters (e.g. Baird et al.,
1986) or methanogenesis (Coleman, 1993). The
interpreted paragenesis of concretions of mixed
siderite and calcite composition has been used to
infer changing salinity of the overlying water
column (McKay et al., 1995). Septarian concre-
tions apparently composed of primary silica have
been documented in Oligocene palaeosols (Leckie
& Cheel, 1990) and Precambrian iron formations
(Gross, 1972).
1 Septarian concretions 193

2 cm

A B

2 cm
2 cm
2 cm

C
2 cm

F 2 cm

E 2 cm

G
2 cm
H

I
2 cm J 2 cm

Fig. 1. Tracings (slightly simplied) of surfaces cut vertically through the middle of septarian concretions, showing
various styles of septarian cracking. (A) Lenticular cracks. Matching of opposing crack surfaces can only be done if
shrinkage of the interior matrix is taken into account. Bearpaw Formation (Upper Cretaceous), central Saskatchewan.
(B) Lenticular cracks. Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous), central Kansas. (C) Lenticular cracks comprising 70% of
concretion. Mancos Shale (Upper Cretaceous), southern Utah. (D) Lenticular shrinkage cracks. Exshaw Formation
(Lower Mississippian), western Alberta. (E) Lenticular and parallel-sided cracks. Blackstone Formation (Upper
Cretaceous), western Alberta. (F) Lenticular and parallel-sided cracks. Trent River Formation (Upper Cretaceous),
Vancouver Island, British Columbia. (G) Lenticular cracks. Swift Formation (Upper Jurassic), northern Montana. (H)
Lenticular cracks. Swift Formation. (I) Mainly parallel-sided cracks. Horseshoe Canyon Formation (Upper Creta-
ceous), eastern Alberta. (J) Mainly parallel-sided cracks. Rove Formation (Palaeoproterozoic), north-western Ontario.
Black, calcareous mudstone matrix; white, calcite cement; in (F) stippling, injected geopetal sediment.
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
194 B. R. Pratt

2 cm 2 cm

A
2 cm

E
2 cm 2 cm

C D
Fig. 2. Tracings (slightly simplied) of surfaces cut horizontally through the middle of septarian concretions
showing various styles of septarian cracking. (A) Lenticular cracks. Matching of opposing crack surfaces can only be
done if shrinkage of the interior matrix is taken into account. Bearpaw Formation, central Saskatchewan. (B) Mainly
parallel-sided cracks. Deer Bay Formation (Upper JurassicLower Cretaceous), Ellesmere Island, Canadian Arctic
Islands. (C) Lenticular and parallel-sided cracks. Blackstone Formation. (D) Lenticular and parallel-sided cracks.
Blackstone Formation. (E) Lenticular cracks with squashed bivalve at bottom. Swift Formation. Black, calcareous
mudstone matrix; white, calcite cement.

to the traditional model of progressive compac-

Concretion growth
The volume of carbonate in concretion matrices is
commonly 7090%, conventionally thought to
reect the amount of primary porosity lled
before signicant burial compaction (e.g. Rai-
swell, 1971, 1976). Two features render this
assumption unreliable: (1) the carbonate both
cements and displaces grains (e.g. Astin &
Scotchman, 1988; Fisher et al., 1998); and (2) a
portion of the carbonate in some calcite concre-
tions is primary calcareous sediment (although
grains may be recrystallized or enlarged through
cementation).
The distribution of carbonate in concretions
shows three basic patterns: outward decrease,
uniform, and outward increase. Outward de-
crease has been the most publicized and has led
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
tion while concretions expand in diameter via
outward cementation (Seibold, 1962; Raiswell,
1971; Curtis et al., 1986; Curtis & Coleman,
1986). Cracking is thought to have affected the
interiors, which are considered the rst regions
to have been cemented (e.g. Astin, 1986; Astin &
Scotchman, 1988; Collinson, 1994). Thus, Thyne
& Boles (1989) regarded the geochemical simi-
larities between the concretion margin and the
earliest crack-lling cement generation as evi-
dence that they precipitated contemporane-
ously, as part of the nal stage of concretion
formation. Their observations, however, can be
interpreted as equally indicative of an early
phase of cementation of just the exterior and the
cracks, with cementation of the interior occur-
ring later.
1 Septarian concretions
Actually, most calcite concretions exhibit a
rather uniform carbonate content (see data in
Raiswell, 1971, 1976; Coleman & Raiswell, 1981;
Dix & Mullins, 1987; Morad & Eshete, 1990). These
concretions probably formed by carbonate preci-
pitation concurrently in the whole body, a process
supported by the same zonation within matrix
cement crystals throughout (Wetzel, 1992; Mozley,
1996; Fisher et al., 1998; Raiswell & Fisher, 2000).
Nonetheless, the dying out of septarian cracks
towards concretion margins is suggestive of
fracture partitioning (differences in failure mode
between different layers, in this case the inner vs.
the outer zone of concretions). This can be
explained by a gradient in cementation whereby,
during crack formation, softer interiors shrink
against stiffer exteriors. Because shrinkage
requires some uncemented pore space into which
the sediment must withdraw, this would leave
less interparticle porosity available for subse-
quent cementation (see also Hesse, 1986; Wetzel,
1992; Hounslow, 1997). Signicantly, then,
numerous septarian specimens have been docu-
mented with a distinct outward increase in
carbonate content (Vanossi, 1964, Fig. 1, Table 3;
Boles et al., 1985; Dix & Mullins, 1987; Coleman,
1993).
The opposing sides of these kinds of cracks can
be tted back together like the pieces of a jigsaw
puzzle only if the non-ssured periphery of the
concretion is disregarded, that is, if a degree of
inwardly increasing shrinkage of the interior is
taken into account (see especially Figs 1AC and
2A). (An analogy to this is provided by the
virtually identical pattern of desiccation cracks
developed in a slurry allowed to dry at the bottom
of a rigid-walled container of circular outline.
Similarly, cracks produced experimentally with
centrifugally directed stresses caused extension
in the centre of a circular dish of material and
volume reduction by squeezing of the fragments
against the rigid margin; Ramberg, 1981,
g. 16.9a.) There is no obvious fabric evidence
to suggest that this apparent shrinkage can be
explained instead by dilation via stretching of
concretion exteriors. If exteriors were softer, there
should be widespread evidence for their plastic
deformation. Ultimately, on the basis of their
tapering terminations, it is difcult to see how
inward-widening and lenticular cracks could
form in a solid, fully cemented core surrounded
by a softer exterior, as envisaged by Astin (1986)
and Astin & Scotchman (1988).
Moreover, direct evidence for soft interiors is
provided by rare septarian concretions that still
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
195
retain unlithied cores (Boles et al., 1985), as
well as by examples exhibiting soft-sediment
deformation features conned to this zone. These
include convoluted silt and sand laminae,
squashed burrows (Astin & Scotchman, 1988),
vertically oriented, irregularly anastomosing clay
and organic seams with parallel-aligned silt
grains (Dix & Mullins, 1987) and offset bivalve
valves (Fig. 2E). Inoceramid shells are locally
pulled apart into their constituent calcite prisms,
which may then be rotated and shingled (Lud-
vigson et al., 1994). Fragments of brecciated or
crushed micro- and macrofossils can be displaced
and even dispersed (Hesselbo & Palmer, 1992).
These features indicate plastic deformation from
shear and tensile stresses while interiors were
soft and prone to loss of shear strength.
Some concretions also contain millimetre-
wide, diffuse, jagged fractures lled with a
mosaic of equant calcite microspar (Fig. 3A;
Vanossi, 1964, plates 10.3 and 11.3). These
crystals lack the standard petrographic criteria
indicative of pore-lling fabrics (see Bathurst,
1971, pp. 417419) and resemble the microspar of
Proterozoic molar-tooth structure (Pratt, 1998b).
They may similarly be from cementation of
granular lime mud that was ejected into narrow
ssures in the soft concretion matrix during a
dewatering event caused by cyclic loading and
elevated pore pressures.
Inwardly decreasing stiffness was, in fact, the
conclusion arrived at around the turn of the
twentieth century for septarian concretions (see
Davies, 1913), which remained largely unchal-
lenged until recently (Crook, 1913; Lippmann,
1955; Pettijohn, 1975). It is certainly conceivable
that, in the early stage of concretion formation, a
cementing (but still permeable) rim or hull
passing inwards to softer, perhaps somewhat
gel-like or only weakly lithied argillaceous
sediment, was set up because gradients in ionic
concentration and the rate of cementation do not
have to converge simply to a point. These
gradients could have been zoned in a manner
similar to those that formed Liesegang rings in
sandstone (see also Coleman & Raiswell, 1995).
Thus, three basic growth patterns should the-
oretically be exhibited by concretions (see also
McBride et al., 1999): (1) purely outward-cement-
ing concretions (which are not likely to undergo
internal shrinkage); these preserve bedding that
was incorporated but beds were progressively
deected during concomitant compaction (Rai-
swell, 1971; Oertel & Curtis, 1972); (2) concur-
rently cemented forms (Wetzel, 1992; Raiswell &
196 B. R. Pratt

Fisher, 2000), which preserve uncompacted cementing concretions, that similarly preserve
primary bedding (e.g. Raiswell, 1971; Savrda & internal fabrics but were prone to cracking until
Bottjer, 1988) but would probably be less cementation of interiors was advanced. There
susceptible to internal cracking; and (3) inward- appear to be cases in which more than one
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
1 Septarian concretions
Fig. 3. Various styles of septarian cracking, indicating
variation in stiffness. Scale is the same for AC and
EG. (A) Lenticular shrinkage cracks lled with isopac-
hous brous calcite. [Earlier formed, diffuse-walled,
jagged cracks lled with calcite microspar (arrowed)
may be analogous to Proterozoic molar-tooth structure;
subhorizontal white cracks across the middle part are
an artifact of thin-section preparation.] Carlile Shale
(Upper Cretaceous), northern Montana. (B) Lenticular
shrinkage cracks tapering towards concretion exterior;
small akes of matrix are perched at the upper right.
Bearpaw Formation, southern Saskatchewan. (C) Con-
centric lenticular shrinkage cracks, with small akes
and blocks of matrix resting on dislodged core (see also
Fig. 4B). Blackstone Formation. (D) Parallel-sided
cracks with rough margins, probably from fracture of
less stiff matrix. Blackstone Formation. (E) Smooth-
walled parallel-sided cracks from cracking of rigid
matrix. Bearpaw Formation, northern Montana (hori-
zontal section). (F) Parallel-sided cracks and brecciated
matrix. Blackstone Formation. (G) Two episodes of
cracking: concentric and radial lenticular shrinkage
cracks, followed by parallel-sided cracks causing
spalling of core and brecciation. Whiteaves Formation
(Lower Jurassic), Queen Charlotte Islands, British
Columbia. (H) Three phases of cracking: lenticular
shrinkage crack at left with small anastomosing cracks
along its margin, followed by two sets of parallel-sided
cracks, the second brecciating matrix and cement.
Whiteaves Formation.
process operated, such as when an inwardly
cementing septarian concretion underwent a
second phase of growth by outward cementation
5 (Raiswell, 1971; Selles-Martnez, 1996); some
mixed siderite-calcite examples (Coleman, 1993;
perhaps McKay et al., 1995) may have formed
this way.
Growth of fully cemented concretions some
tens of centimetres in diameter has been estima-
Fig. 4. Flaking of concretion matrix during formation of lenticular shrinkage cracks, indicating somewhat stiff but
not hard matrix. (A) Flakes along crack margins, overlain by several generations of ferroan and non-ferroan brous
calcite cement. Whiteaves Formation. (B) Flakes and blocks forming geopetal sediment in shrinkage cracks (see also
Fig. 3C). Blackstone Formation.
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
197
ted to require tens to hundreds of thousands of
years, and millions of years for those larger than a
metre (Berner, 1968a; Boles et al., 1985; Middle-
ton & Nelson, 1996). Shorter times can be envis-
aged if cementation involved locally derived
calcareous sediment that was diagenetically
remobilized. In any case, considerably less time
would be adequate for partial cementation, at
which point a concretion could undergo septarian
cracking.
Septarian crack lls
Cracks are occasionally empty (e.g. Blanco et al.,
1989; Duck, 1995). In some septarian concre-
tions, akes and blocks of matrix are dislodged
and form geopetal sediment (Zangerl et al.,
1969; Dix & Mullins, 1987; see also Figs 3B, C
and 4B). Besides externally derived geopetal
lime mud thought to have drifted in during
phases of erosion of overlying deposits, cracks
can also be lled by lime mud, silt or sand
injected from super- or subjacent beds (Hudson,
1978; Martill & Hudson, 1989; see also Fig. 1F)
during liquefaction events caused by elevated
pore pressure.
Septarian cracks in marine concretions are
commonly lined or even lled by Mg-enriched,
non-ferroan, sometimes UV-uorescent, isopac-
hous brous or bladed calcite that may be
banded with organic inclusion-rich and inclu-
sion-poor zones (e.g. Astin & Scotchman, 1988;
Scotchman, 1991; Hesselbo & Palmer, 1992;
Desrochers & Al-Aasm, 1993; Ludvigson et al.,
1994; see also Figs 3A, G, H and 4A). Remain-
ing pore space is typically lled by colourless,
white or yellow blocky calcite that may be
198 B. R. Pratt

ferroan (e.g. Lindholm, 1974; Astin & Scotchman,
1988; Scotchman, 1991; Desrochers & Al-Aasm,
1993). In some cases, blocky calcite is the only
cement (Fig. 3B, C and F). The d18O values of the
brous and the blocky zones are between )3& and
)15& PDB. The d13C of the brous cement is
similar to that of the matrix microspar, typically
lying between )6& and )13& PDB and is like-
wise thought to be caused by precipitation from
sea water modied by bacterial sulphate reduc-
tion (e.g. Mozley & Burns, 1993). Small crystals of
pyrite impregnating the matrix along cracks (Dix &
Mullins, 1987; Hesselbo & Palmer, 1992) and large
crystals within the cracks are consistent with
crack opening in the sulphate reduction zone for
these examples.
The rst generation of brous cement may be
broken and peeled off by subsequent episodes
of cracking (Astin, 1986; Astin & Scotchman,
1988; Hesselbo & Palmer, 1992; Desrochers &
Al-Aasm, 1993; Ludvigson et al., 1994; see also
Fig. 5A and B), and these later cracks may also
be lined by similar brous cement, indicating
multiple episodes of cracking while still in the
same diagenetic milieu. In concretions that have
been exhumed on the sea oor, only the brous
cement, and not blocky cement, has been
observed to be bored by Trypanites or overlain
by geopetal sediment (Hesselbo & Palmer,
1992).
The isopachous brous habit suggests that
precipitation was relatively rapid under phre-
atic conditions (Given & Wilkinson, 1985),
when pore waters ushed through the freshly
opened crack system. Pore-lling habit and
zonation also mean that the growth of the

Fig. 5. Variation of septarian crack timing with respect to diagenetic evolution. Scale is the same for AC. (A) Two
phases of cracking: rst, lenticular shrinkage cracking with dislodging of inoceramid valves, followed by lining with
brous calcite cement; secondly, brecciation of rigid matrix, cement linings and shells and injection of lime mud
(now microspar). Trent River Formation (see also Fig. 8F). (B) Three phases of cracking: rst, lenticular shrinkage
cracking with injection of lime mud; secondly, opening of large lenticular shrinkage cracks cross-cutting the rst
phase and then lined with brous calcite; thirdly, narrow parallel-sided cracks cross-cutting previous crack and
cement generations and inoceramid valves. Trent River Formation. (C) Neomorphic radial calcite prisms cut by
parallel-sided cracks. Rove Formation. (D) Matrix replaced by neomorphic radial brous calcite after lenticular
shrinkage cracking because crystal splays do not match across cracks. Thermopolis Formation (Lower Cretaceous),
northern Montana.

2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213

1 Septarian concretions
cement did not exert a sort of crystallization
pressure (`force of crystallization') that widened
the cracks. In some concretions, the rst
cement generation may thin towards the taper-
ing ends of lenticular cracks (Boles et al., 1985;
Hesselbo & Palmer, 1992; see also Figs 3A and
6B). This has been taken as evidence for their
slow outward propagation, i.e. subcritical crack
growth (Astin & Scotchman, 1988; Hesselbo &
Palmer, 1992; Hounslow, 1997), even though
this does not rule out widening in the core
without corresponding lengthening of the
cracks. Be that as it may, brous cements in
stable reef cavities and stromatactis exhibit
virtually identical thinning in narrower areas
(e.g. Bourque & Boulvain, 1993), thereby inval-
idating cement thickness as a measure of the
rate of crack growth.
MORPHOLOGY OF SEPTARIAN CRACKS
Cracks occupy a variable proportion of concre-
tions, from less than a few per cent (Lippmann,
1955; Raiswell, 1971) to 70% (Fig. 1C). Field
observations suggest that crack proportion and
geometry tend to be similar in concretions in the
same bed, but commonly differ between beds in
the same sequence. This suggests that cracking
occurred simultaneously in all concretions of
individual beds, rather than being an unrelated
but obligate event in the diagenetic evolution of
each concretion.
Septarian cracks are grouped into two basic
forms: (1) wide lenticular cracks, the most con-
spicuous style of septarian cracking, which are
normally regarded as resulting from shrinkage;
and (2) narrow parallel-sided cracks, which can
be straight, curved or jagged. Many concretions
contain both varieties. These crack types are
intergradational, in the sense that lenticular
cracks may be relatively narrow and consequently
involved minimal shrinkage. This supports the
notion that both crack types formed by the same
mechanism, but that their morphology was gov-
erned in large part by rheological properties of the
concretion interiors.
Opposing sides of lenticular cracks do not
match exactly, so tting the areas of matrix back
together can only be achieved if internal shrink-
age is taken into account. In rare cases, the
concretion matrix possesses an indistinct con-
centric zonation that is clearly distorted by these
cracks, indicating that cracks were not caused by
dissolution (cf. Blanco et al., 1989).
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
199
Lenticular cracks
Radially and concentrically oriented, wide len-
ticular cracks in spheroidal concretions usually
form polygonal networks (Figs 1A, C, D and F, 2A
E, 3C and G, 4A, 5D and 6BE, e.g. Astin, 1986),
which lend a breccia-like aspect to many interiors.
In elongate concretions, these cracks are often
vertical or subvertical and straight to sinuous
(Figs 1G, H, 3A and B, e.g. Raiswell, 1971; Astin,
1986; de Craen et al., 1999). Crack terminations are
sometimes visible on concretion exteriors (e.g.
Desrochers & Al-Aasm, 1993; Emiliani, 1994;
Selles-Martnez, 1996). Crudely concentric len-
ticular cracks comprise almost the whole septarian
pattern in rare cases (Fig. 1B). Lenticular cracks are
variable in width but are generally several milli-
metres to several centimetres across (Fig. 1C; Boles
et al., 1985). Their margins are usually smooth
(Fig. 3A), although some are rough (Fig. 3B), rag-
ged (Fig. 3C) or aky (Fig. 4A and B; Dix & Mullins,
1987; Hesselbo & Palmer, 1992; Ludvigson et al.,
1994).
Parallel-sided cracks
These cracks are commonly vertical, but many are
horizontal, oblique or concentric, either isolated
or interconnected (Figs 1E, F, I, J and 3EH). A
clearly brecciated, even cataclastic, fabric is
sometimes exhibited (Figs 3EH and 5A; Zangerl
et al., 1969; Hudson, 1978). Cracks are usually
fairly straight to arcuate (Figs 1E, F, I and J, 2B, D,
3E and F, e.g. Ludvigson et al., 1994), but
sometimes are undulating (Fig. 6D) or stepped
(Fig. 3E). They are typically less than a few
millimetres in width and, although cracks are
primarily parallel sided, their terminations do
taper gently. Crack walls are usually smooth
(Fig. 3H) but may instead be rough (Fig. 3D).
Opposing sides match up almost exactly, indica-
ting mainly mode I opening (i.e. perpendicular)
and an absence of signicant shrinkage. In rare
cases, cracks are visible on concretion exteriors
(Leckie & Cheel, 1990). Although they can com-
prise the only phase of septarian cracking, paral-
lel-sided cracks commonly cross-cut an earlier
phase of lenticular cracks plus the brous cement
lining them (Figs 3G and H, 5A and B; e.g. Morad
& Eshete, 1990; Ludvigson et al., 1994).
Away from these millimetre-sized, parallel-
sided cracks, the matrix may be cut by arrays
of cracks 0051 mm wide with plumose
(Fig. 6A), anastomosing (Fig. 3H), branching
(`horsetail'; Fig. 6CE; Astin & Scotchman, 1988)
200 B. R. Pratt

Fig. 6. Narrow parallel-sided cracks in matrix suggesting either or both tensile and shear stresses. Scale is the same
for A and CE. (A) Array of plumose cracks. Swift Formation. (B) Crudely reticulate array of straight cracks in silica
concretion. Cypress Hills Formation (Oligocene), southern Saskatchewan (crossed nicols with gypsum plate).
(C) Two generations of branching cracks splaying towards concretion exterior from shrinkage crack terminations.
Swift Formation. (D) Array of branching cracks splaying from shrinkage crack termination. Rove Formation. (E)
Branching cracks splaying from terminations of radiating lenticular shrinkage cracks. Swift Formation.

or crudely reticulate (Fig. 6B) arrangements.

Branching cracks sometimes splay from the ter-
minations of lenticular cracks. En echelon sigm-
oidal cracks (`tension gashes') 025 mm long
may occur (Fig. 7A and B), and these indicate
mode II crack opening (i.e. oblique).
Fossil breakage
In many septarian concretions, all types of cracks
split and even brecciate enclosed macrofossils
such as belemnites (Fig. 8A; Hudson, 1978),
bivalves (Fig. 8BF; Ludvigson et al., 1994), gas-

Fig. 7. Parallel-sided cracks in matrix, indicating the effects of shear stresses. (A) En echelon sigmoidal cracks
passing into straighter cracks. Swift Formation. (B) Large lenticular shrinkage cracks and small cracks with en
echelon lenticular segments. Whiteaves Formation.

2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213

1 Septarian concretions
tropods (Fig. 8D and E), serpulid worm tubes
(Astin & Scotchman, 1988), vertebrate bones (Mar-
till, 1987), calcitized wood (Fig. 8D), and ammon-
ites and nautiloids whose outer as well as inner
chamber walls and septa may be shattered into
pieces that are unoriented, separated or shingled
in multiple directions (Figs 8G, 9 and 10; Kauff-
man, 1965; Astin & Scotchman, 1988; Hewitt,
1988). Broken aragonitic molluscs either retain
their primary mineralogy (Fig. 8I) or aky edges
conforming to precursor foliated microstructure
suggest that breakage preceded neomorphism to
calcite pseudospar or leaching and blocky calcite
cementation (Astin & Scotchman, 1988; Hesselbo
& Palmer, 1992). This is evidence for the relatively
early timing of cracking. Cracks also cut neomor-
phic radial calcite crystals in some cases (Fig. 5C).
Hewitt (1988) interpreted examples of ruptured
Eocene nautiloids in concretions as having
imploded because of increased hydrostatic
pressure during sinking into deep water. How-
ever, associated fragments of concretion matrix
indicate, instead, that breakage accompanied
septarian cracking during burial. Furthermore,
the outermost body chamber is typically broken
up in septarian concretions, which would not be
predicted from implosion of ammonites and
nautiloids resulting from increasing pressure
inside the sealed innermost chambers (see West-
ermann, 1985).
Stresses and rheology
Lenticular cracks mean that concretion interiors
were brittle plastic, although it remains uncertain
what exact properties of the sediment would
permit shrinkage. However, parallel-sided cracks
resulted from brittle failure of stiffer interiors:
straighter cracks developed in more rigid mater-
ial, whereas irregular ones suggest `crumbling' of
less cohesive matrix. Evolution of crack shape in
multiply cracked concretions consistently indi-
cates a trend with time to increasing induration.
The variation in wall roughness is also probably
related to the precise composition and stiffness of
the material. Most parallel-sided cracks are ex-
tensional features, thus indicating local tensile
stresses. However, plumose and en echelon sigm-
oidal cracks argue for the effects of shear. Because
the instantaneous tensile strength of the kinds of
macrofossils (and radial calcite crystals) found
broken by septarian cracks is at least several
megapascals (see Appendix), the stresses
involved are far greater than passive geostatic
stresses at shallow burial.
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
201
The isopachous nature and zonation of brous
cement in cracks indicate rapid opening, relative
to the rate of cementation, followed by a period of
stability and precipitation. The precise span of
time during which deformation operated is
unclear for some cracks when taken out of context.
For example, en echelon sigmoidal cracks in
subaerially exposed muds can arise by creep
during desiccation (Allen, 1987). Although Astin
& Scotchman (1988), Hesselbo & Palmer (1992)
and Hounslow (1997) believed that cracking of
matrix and rupture of macrofossils resulted from
subcritical crack propagation, brecciation and
geopetal attitude of fragments in cracks are evi-
dence of practically instantaneous failure, rather
than sporadic or incremental opening. The close
association of such features with displacement of
fossil fragments in multiple directions, the occur-
rence of shrinkage and brittle failure as repeated,
discrete events and the injection of liquidized
sediment argue that septarian cracking is a dra-
matic, forceful phenomenon.
Taking septarian concretions together, the vari-
ation in crack shape and orientation indicates
that stresses were not of the same magnitude in
all directions, as they would be under hydrostatic
stress. In the rare cases of dominantly concentric
cracks, it is possible that the stress eld had
rotational or centrifugal components. Concretions
with mostly subvertical cracks suggest that verti-
cal compression was the dominant stress. How-
ever, radially oriented lenticular cracks and
variably oriented parallel-sided cracks, plumose,
reticulate and en echelon sigmoidal cracks indi-
cate that the stresses were also variably directed
during deformation events. Hounslow (1997) also
believed that stresses inside concretions were
heterogeneous if not anisotropic.
In summary, a wide range of deformation
features is present in septarian concretions but
absent in surrounding strata (Fig. 11). Stresses
were clearly conned to concretion interiors and
were highly variable in magnitude and direction.
However, given the uncertainties about concre-
tionary processes, it is beyond the scope of this
paper to attempt a quantitative treatment of the
mechanics of cracking in concretions of varying
and evolving rheologies.
ORIGIN OF SEPTARIAN CRACKS
Table 2 summarizes the roster of septarian con-
cretion features that need to be considered in a
comprehensive model for their formation.
202 B. R. Pratt

Previous theories of septarian crack formation unsaturated `soils', i.e. clayey sediments in which
air is present (e.g. Fredlund & Rahardjo, 1993).
Desiccation
Observed effects are desiccation cracks and
Soil suction refers to the substantial stresses in shrinkage of soil away from objects; cracking of
the form of tensile pulls that can be exerted in large structures such as roads and building
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
1 Septarian concretions 203

Fig. 8. Breakage of macrofossils, indicating high ten-

sile stresses. (A) Belemnite rostra split by wide len-
ticular crack. Swift Formation. (B) Bivalves split by
parallel-sided cracks; crack on the right is lined with
brous calcite and lled by injected, laminated silty
microspar. Carlile Shale, northern Montana. (C)
Cracked Gryphaea nebrascensis Meek & Hayden 1861;
narrow cracks are irregular and rough-walled where
crossing matrix but straighter and smooth-walled
where crossing valves, indicating primary differences
in stiffness. Swift Formation. (D) Gastropods split by
wide lenticular cracks containing two generations of
brous calcite cement along with injected silty micro-
spar lling. Carlile Shale, northern Montana. (E) Gas-
tropods and wood (on the right) split by narrow
parallel-sided cracks. Blackstone Formation (up is to
the right). (F) Inoceramid valves split by parallel-sided
cracks that in places cut individual prisms; prisms are
dislodged, separated and shingled in matrix. Trent
River Formation (see also Fig. 7B). (G) Shattered Plac-
enticeras meeki Boehm 1898 ammonite retaining pri-
mary aragonite mineralogy. Bearpaw Formation,
southern Alberta. A similar fabric was interpreted by
Astin & Scotchman (1988) as being from dissolution.
(H) Still aragonitic Placenticeras shell wall and septal 5 cm
fragments dislodged and scattered, indicating, along
with distorted silt laminae, that the matrix had lique- Fig. 10. Tracing of Asteroceras stellare (J. Sowerby
ed and lost shear strength. Bearpaw Formation, 1815) ammonite showing shattering of portions of the
southern Alberta. (I) Dislodged Placenticeras fragments shell and shingling of the fragments during septarian
shattered by narrow parallel-sided cracks. Bearpaw cracking. Blue Lias (Lower Jurassic), southern England
Formation, southern Alberta. (Natural History Museum, London, cat. no. BMNH
C.540). Stippling, calcareous mudstone matrix; black,
shell; white, calcite cement.

experimentally at the airwater interface as the

Fig. 9. Photograph of outer surface of Proplacenticeras
pseudoplacenta (Hyatt 1902) ammonite inside concre-
tion. Shell wall (light) was shattered and pulled apart
by septarian cracking and shrinkage of matrix mud
encasing ammonite; cracks are now lled with cement
(dark). Carlile Shale (Upper Cretaceous), central Kansas
(Sternberg Museum of Natural History, Fort Hays State
University, cat. no. FHSM IP-652).
sediment dries and loses volume. In practical
situations, however, they are much less than a
megapascal, so that effective stresses acting on
buried small objects such as macrofossils are
probably too small to lead to breakage. In addi-
tion, soil suction does not adequately account for
the variable orientation of cracks and shingled
macrofossil fragments. Subaerial desiccation can-
not be invoked generally because the depositional
environment was permanently submerged (Todd,
1903), and there is no evidence yet documented
to indicate that drying could occur inside con-
cretions within wet sediments. Even in non-
marine concretions for which desiccation might
be imaginable, the cracks on the exterior, i.e. the
free surface, should be outward opening as they
are in desiccated coprolites (Schmitz & Binda,
1991), but they are not.

Chemical dehydration
foundations occurs because of either heaving
when unsaturated soils get wet and expand or It has been suggested that gel-like concretion
differential settling resulting from localized fail- interiors suffered shrinkage from chemical de-
ure of the soil. Very high stresses can be produced hydration during clay mineral transformation
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
204 B. R. Pratt

1
5
2

4
10
6
11
7
9

3
8

Fig. 11. Schematic cut surface through interior of a septarian concretion showing 11 features suggestive of earth-
quake-induced deformation. 1, lenticular shrinkage cracks; 2, broken macrofossil; 3, broken, dislodged and shingled
macrofossil fragments from loss of shear strength by matrix; 4, aky surface of shrinkage crack; 5, parallel-sided
cracks cutting matrix and rst stage of brous cement in shrinkage cracks; 6, breccia fragment of matrix and rst stage
of cement; 7, reticulate arrays of parallel-sided cracks; 8, branching cracks; 9, en echelon sigmoidal cracks; 10,
plumose cracks; 11, geopetal sediment in shrinkage crack injected from outside concretion after rst stage of brous
calcite cementation in shrinkage cracks.

(Richardson, 1919). The normal-marine aspect of
the majority of host deposits indicates that salinity
changes conceivably required to induce a passive
syneresis phenomenon were unlikely. The possi-
bility that the salinity of porewaters increased
locally inside concretions because of cementation
seems an unrealistic mechanism for spontaneous
shrinkage, because cement volume and composi-
tion suggest free exchange of porewaters from
surrounding sediments. It has also been proposed
that volume reduction could have taken place by
precipitation of a calcium soap precursor, which
transformed to calcite (Berner, 1968b). However, it
is difcult to see how shrinkage could have taken
place in soft concretion interiors if volume reduc-
tion was directly related to the precipitation of the
matrix cement, whereas the rigid, more cemented
exteriors underwent no such change. In addition,
it is hard to envisage any kind of slow chemical
shrinkage at the particle scale as generating wide
lenticular and parallel-sided cracks and shear
features that cross-cut large areas of matrix and
macrofossils of considerable tensile strength and
may involve negligible shrinkage.
Gas expansion
Many authors (e.g. Weeks, 1953, 1957; Berner,
1968b; Zangerl et al., 1969; Sass & Kolodny, 1972;
Dickson & Barber, 1976; Allison, 1988b) have
suggested that concretions formed preferentially
around animal carcasses because putrefaction of
organic material created methane and alkalinity.
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
However, Richardson (1919) and Raiswell (1987)
emphasized that identiable organic carcasses are
rare and were probably not involved in the siting
of concretions in general. Also, there is an
incongruence between the normally high rate of
decay of carcasses in aerobic conditions (e.g.
Briggs, 1995) and the hundreds to thousands of
years thought necessary for concretion formation.
Zangerl et al. (1969) proposed that the methane
was prevented from escaping by the imperme-
able, early formed concretion exterior until the
pressure was great enough to shatter it explo-
sively. This mechanism is unsatisfactory because
the exteriors of most concretions are intact, and
because it does not easily explain the shapes and
orientation of internal shrinkage cracks.
External expansion
Todd (1903, 1913) and Davies (1913) claimed that
the outermost region successively expanded and
wrenched apart the interior. Expansion was
thought to have been caused by the addition of
calcite cement and the force of crystallization.
Astin (1986) and Astin & Scotchman (1988)
proposed that enlargement was due to overpres-
suring of porewaters from rapid sedimentation
and compaction, which caused tensile cracking
and dilation of rigid concretion interiors. Failure
was seen as instantaneous, but with dilation
continuing slowly with increasing load. Vertical
orientation of many lenticular cracks and their
polygonal arrangement in horizontal cross-
1 Septarian concretions
Table 2. Summary of criteria relevant to septarian crack formation in marine calcite concretions.
Evidence
Concretions in shales and mudstones are mostly a
Phanerozoic phenomenon
Many units lack concretions, or they are only
sporadically present
Concretions are locally encrusted and bored
d13C values of matrix calcite suggest HCO3 from
bacterial sulphate reduction
Concretions in many units lack cracks, or beds with
cracked concretions are sporadically developed
Septarian concretion-bearing beds are correlatable over
wide areas
Septarian concretion-bearing sediments were deposited
in foreland, forearc or intracratonic basins with active
arch movements
Most units with septarian concretions show no faunal
evidence of uctuating salinity
Most concretions lack a macrofossil nucleus
Sometimes macrofossil fragments are displaced and
sediment laminae are convoluted
d13C values of brous cement suggest HCO3 from
bacterial sulphate reduction
Pyrite lining or in cracks indicates that cracking took
place in bacterial sulphate reduction zone
Cracks within concretions in individual beds are
similar
First stage of cracks are usually outward-tapering
lenticular in shape
Concretions with shrinkage cracks typically show
inwardly decreasing proportion of matrix calcite
Parallel-sided cracks and brecciation typically cross-
cut lenticular shrinkage cracks
Cracking commonly involves macrofossil breakage and
shear crack arrays
Cracks break macrofossils and cements in earlier-
formed cracks
Cracks are variably oriented
Brecciation and cataclasis are sometimes present
Fibrous calcite lling various crack generations is
similar in composition
Stratigraphically adjacent sediment was injected into
some cracks
Details of these arguments are found in the text.
section were taken as evidence of a vertically
oriented maximum principal stress with roughly
equal subordinate horizontal stresses.
However, it is difcult to imagine a process
whereby a cementing rim could undergo contin-
ued ination concurrently with successive inter-
nal cracking of increasingly stiffer material,
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
205
Interpretation
Concretions are implicated in evolution of the carbon
cycle
Conditions suitable for concretion formation were not
always present
Localized cementation began under shallow burial,
but concretions could be exhumed on the sea oor
Concretion cementation began within a few metres
of burial
Conditions for crack formation were not everywhere
or always present
Cracking mechanism was geographically widespread
Occasional tectonic activity can be argued in all cases
of septarian concretions
Salinity-induced `syneresis' did not cause cracking
Gas build-up from putrefaction did not cause cracking
Concretion interiors were affected by liquefaction in
some cases
Cracking took place under a few metres of burial such
that overburden pressure was not the cause of
cracking
Cracking took place under a few metres of burial such
that overburden pressure was not the cause of
cracking
Cracking occurred simultaneously in all concretions in
individual beds
Shrinkage of softer interiors is usually the earliest stage
of cracking
These concretions possessed a primary gradient in
cementation, i.e. softer interiors within stiffer
exteriors, which caused fracture partitioning
Concretion interiors became stiffer with time, such that
brittle deformation characterizes later phases of
cracking
Tensile and shear stresses operated, typically together
Stresses that caused cracking were up to several MPa,
much greater than passive geostatic stresses
Stresses that caused cracking were variably oriented
Cracking was essentially instantaneous
Relatively little time elapsed between cracking events
Liquefaction from elevated pore pressures sometimes
occurred after crack opening
thereby producing radial cracks that demonstrate
an often major volume reduction of the concre-
tion matrix. It also seems more likely that pore
pressures in the surrounding unconsolidated
sediment would simply have dissipated rather
than being forced into rigid concretion interiors.
Wetzel (1992) pointed out that, if Astin's explan-
206 B. R. Pratt
ation was correct, then the radial cracks should be
parallel sided right to the concretion margin,
whereas they taper in all cases. External expan-
sion seems further disqualied by the lack of
textural evidence for stretching of the periphery.
Hounslow (1997) argued further that Astin's
mechanism of overpressuring from compaction is
impossible because: (1) shallow burial causes
negligible horizontal stresses; (2) it should not
generate failure localized only in concretions and
not throughout the sedimentary unit; and (3)
overpressuring in surrounding sediments in fact
reduces effective vertical stresses. Based on his
perception of a general predominance of vertical
shrinkage cracks, Hounslow considered that this
implicates a geostatic stress system, and he
ascribed subordinate horizontal cracks to dilation
from stress release resulting from phases of
erosion of overlying deposits. He argued that
cementation reduced permeability inside concre-
tions so much so that it prevented porewater
drainage, and pore pressures built up slowly such
that tensile failure occurred with stresses less
than predicted (<1 MPa), which would arise
under minimum burial depths of 100 m. Houns-
low also assumed that concretion strength was
considerably less (hardly more than that of
unconsolidated sediment) because of formation
under shallow burial depths.
However, Hounslow's concept of crack forma-
tion also seems implausible because: (1) broken
macrofossils indicate tensile stresses of at least
several megapascals, which cannot be achieved
by sediment loading and unloading under shal-
low burial; (2) substantial pore pressures some-
how arising passively inside fairly rigid periph-
eries at shallow burial depths should simply
rupture the concretions, release the excess pore
pressure and cause collapse; (3) the volume of the
cracks and central cavity in some cases seems too
great to be caused simply by a release of internal
pore pressure; (4) it does not adequately explain
shrinkage or the wide variety of crack shapes, the
combination of tensile and shear stresses, the
variable stress orientations and the evolving
rheology resulting from increasing cementation;
and (5) it is doubtful that multiple cracking
events could be produced by this process.
Seismic model for septarian crack formation
Earthquake-induced ground motion
Syndepositional earthquakes are a geologically
instantaneous source of kinetic energy available
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
to deform unlithied sediment over a geograph-
ically wide area. Strong ground motion begins
with the arrival of the S wave and intensies with
the longer wavelength surface waves. Interfering
and reecting waves can make the shaking
essentially chaotic. Those sediments susceptible
to deformation respond in different ways; micro-
faults, dykes and convoluted bedding are the
most commonly identied `seismites' (e.g. Sch-
warz, 1975; Plaziat et al., 1990; Pratt, 1994). In
uncompacted, relatively homogeneous argilla-
ceous sediment, the binding properties of organic
material would, in general, maintain a consis-
tency probably incapable of substantial dewater-
ing during seismic shaking. However, it is pro-
posed that seismic shaking caused dewatering,
liquefaction and injection of certain interbedded
clays, lime muds, silts and sands, leading to
syneresis cracks, dykelets and molar-tooth struc-
ture (Pratt, 1998a,b). The details of these shrink-
age phenomena are unclear, but clay mineral
content may have been important (see Jungst,
1934; Burst, 1965). Unfortunately, relatively little
experimental work has been carried out that can
be applied directly to these sedimentological
circumstances, and qualitative information is
not obvious from the more mathematical engin-
eering literature. Partly for these reasons, debate
still exists about whether or not such features can
be explained instead by water wave-induced
deformation (e.g. Cowan & James, 1992; Martel
& Gibling, 1993).
The dynamic response of large structures such
as building foundations or trees xed to soft
sediment typically becomes amplied (e.g. Wolf,
1985). However, shaking of unconsolidated
material containing an embedded, small, relatively
rigid body (such as a concretion) should cause
domains of contrasting stiffness within that body
to experience differential stresses.
Septarian concretions exhibit an assortment of
features that can be taken as direct and indirect
evidence of deformation by the passage of seismic
waves (Table 3; Fig. 11). Perhaps most important
are those indicating the combination of tensile
and shear stresses, their often great magnitude,
their common recurrence and the multiple stress
directions. Indeed, the arrays of straight, plu-
mose, branching and sigmoidal cracks in septar-
ian concretions are virtually identical to those
observed in deep-sea cores of seismically
deformed, semi-consolidated sediment (Brothers
et al., 1996). Nevertheless, the process described
below is necessarily hypothetical, for it lacks
a satisfactory mathematical rendering of the
1 Septarian concretions
Table 3. Direct and circumstantial evidence for stresses arising from earthquake-induced ground motion as the cause
of septarian cracking.
Evidence
Septarian concretions formed in settings known for
persistent or intermittent tectonic activity
Concretions in many units lack cracks, or beds with cracked
concretions are sporadically developed
Septarian concretion-bearing beds are correlatable
over wide areas
Cracks within concretions in individual beds are similar
Sometimes macrofossil fragments are displaced and
sediment laminae are convoluted
Cracking commonly involves macrofossil breakage and
shear crack arrays
Cracks break macrofossils and cements in earlier
formed cracks
Cracks are variably oriented
Brecciation, cataclasis and geopetal fragments are
sometimes present
Parallel-sided cracks and brecciation typically cross-cut
lenticular shrinkage cracks
Stratigraphically adjacent sediment was injected into
some cracks
Items of evidence are part of same list as that in Table 2.
complex rheologies and stresses involved, the
precise mechanism of shrinkage is not under-
stood and septarian cracks have yet to be repro-
duced in the laboratory.
Shaking of concretions
It is envisaged that strong shaking of concretions
consisting of more rigid exteriors enclosing softer
interiors with the appropriate consistency led to
internal shrinkage and dewatering, producing
lenticular cracks (Fig. 12). Tapering terminations
and branching cracks splaying from the ends of
these shrinkage cracks are from fracture partition-
ing resulting from a gradient in the stiffness of
these interiors. In some cases, the cyclic loading
involved in shaking caused accompanying lique-
faction, which was responsible for distortion of
silt and sand laminae and displacement of
macrofossils or macrofossil fragments. The various
shapes of parallel-sided cracks developed when
interiors were more brittle after dewatering or
increased cementation. Enclosed macrofossils
were broken during strong events, and fragments
were spread about. In some cases, subsequent
shaking events caused liquefaction and injection
of stratigraphically adjacent silts or sands, which
penetrated concretion interiors via ruptured
margins.
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
207
Interpretation
Occasional strong earthquakes were probable in
all cases
Earthquakes are intermittent
Earthquake-induced ground motion is
geographically widespread
Shaking affected all concretions in individual
beds simultaneously
Shaking caused elevated pore pressure and
liquefaction
Shaking led to a combination of tensile and
shear stresses
Shaking led to stresses up to several MPa,
which cannot be generated by other means
Shaking led to highly variable, typically chaotic
stress directions
Shaking caused nearly instantaneous cracking
Earthquakes often occurred repeatedly while
concretions lithied
Shaking caused elevated pore pressure,
liquefaction and injection
The amount of shrinkage and nature and
orientation of cracks were probably a function of
a combination of primary composition of the
matrix, magnitude of the earthquake, intensity of
shaking and timing of the event with respect to
degree of induration. Regarding earthquake mag-
nitude, examples with liquefaction features sug-
gest M 6 or greater (Allen, 1986), and brittle
failure of macrofossils might suggest stronger
events.
Nevertheless, it is difcult to reconcile how
brittle failure of macrofossils could occur purely
by physical shaking of concretions, unless stres-
ses were somehow strongly focused towards their
interiors. Hydraulic fracturing (`hydrofracturing')
is thought to be instrumental in opening tensional
features in fault zones because high pore pressure
build-up lowers the effective stresses needed for
brittle failure (e.g. Sibson, 1990; Behrmann, 1991;
Brown, 1994), but it is unlikely that this will take
place in soft sediments under the few metres of
burial accepted for concretion initiation. How-
ever, crack formation, perhaps under highly
elevated pore pressures, could have been pro-
voked instantaneously inside concretions during
strong shaking. It is beyond the scope of this
paper to explore further the mechanics of failure
through hydraulic fracturing, especially given the
208 B. R. Pratt

1 2 3 4 5 6

sedimentation cementation EARTHQUAKE: cementation EARTHQUAKE : cementation &

shrinkage cracks parallel-sided cracks compaction
Fig. 12. Model for the formation of septarian concretions. Earthquake-induced shaking of silty muds causes len-
ticular shrinkage cracking of softer interiors within stiffer exteriors. Cracking is followed by further precipitation of
cement in the matrix and as isopachous linings of the cracks resulting from the entry of modied marine porewaters.
A subsequent earthquake causes parallel-sided cracking of the now more rigid matrix and cement in the shrinkage
cracks. Cementation of the matrix proceeds during compaction of the surrounding muds.

many uncertainties in even relatively straightfor- and degree of induration of the concretion. These
ward stratigraphic circumstances (e.g. Lorenz variables need to be considered in order to use the
et al., 1991). presence or absence of septaria as `seismographs'
The resulting cracks were inltrated with for the past synsedimentary tectonic history of
expelled porewater charged with carbonate, individual basins (Fig. 13). For example, there
which precipitated cement relatively rapidly, might be no effect on concretions that were well
giving rise to isopachous brous calcite; the
amount of cement observed indicates that a far
greater volume of uids entered the cracks from
the surrounding sediments than was produced
from dewatering of the concretion itself. With
continued cementation of the concretion, poros-
ity and permeability of the exterior would even-
tually have been diminished enough to prevent
further invasion of marine-derived porewaters.
Any remaining cavity space in the cracks was
then lled more slowly with blocky calcite and
other minerals or left open.

CONCLUSIONS

The septarian cracks in many carbonate concre-

tions are interpreted to be a syndepositional
deformation structure formed in response to the
passage of earthquake waves through water-sat-
urated sediments. Strong shaking during ground
motion led to a complex, heterogeneous and
changeable stress eld in concretion interiors,
resulting in a variety of effects including loss of
shear strength and brittle deformation from ten-
sile and shear stresses. The development of
lenticular shrinkage vs. parallel-sided cracks in
concretion interiors is considered to reect an
interplay between the timing and magnitude of
seismic shaking with respect to the composition
Fig. 13. Hypothetical stratigraphic section containing
both septarian and non-septarian concretions, along-
side a possible record of seismic activity. This shows
the potential, but also the limitations, concretions have
to act as proxy `seismographs'. Concretions lacking
cracks may form in the absence of seismic disturbance
or if they were too lithied to suffer cracking. Septarian
concretions at the bottom and top of the section record
earthquake events. Earthquakes will probably not be
recorded by silty muds lacking concretions.

2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213

1 Septarian concretions
cemented by the time a strong earthquake took
place.
Although plausible because it seems to explain
key observations of concretions and their strati-
graphic habit, this interpretation (like many
explanations of historical events) is necessarily
speculative, for septarian concretions have never
been observed forming today, their chemistry and
rheology can only be inferred, and reproducing
septarian cracks in the laboratory has not yet been
achieved.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
I dedicate this paper to the memory of Hugh
E. Hendry (19441994), my colleague in teaching
eld geology in the Little Rocky Mountains of
Montana during which these ideas rst took
hold. J. F. Basinger, J. A. Blanco, A. Desrochers,
S. A. Kissin, R. Ludvigsen, F. H. McDougall,
R. Zakrzewski and the curatorial staff of the
Natural History Museum (London) gave or lent
me specimens or showed me examples in the
eld. F. Hawthorne procured me a copy of
Vanossi's paper, and W. R. Danner brought to my
attention the book by G. Emiliani. Z. Sczepanic
helped with the point load strength testing, and
B. Novakovski made most of the thin sections.
This research was funded by the Natural Sciences
and Engineering Research Council of Canada. T.
R. Astin, M. Coniglio, R. C. Fletcher, R. Kerrich,
A. Maltman, P. Mozley, C. Perrin, R. Raiswell, M.
R. Stauffer and A. Wetzel commented on manu-
script drafts.
APPENDIX
Tensile strength of belemnites
About 30 belemnite rostra collected from the
Swift Formation were subjected to a standard,
diametral indirect point load strength test. This
involved placing the rostrum horizontally
between the two conical platen contact points of
a small table-top apparatus and increasing the
hydraulic load until the rostrum failed by break-
ing in a transverse direction. Between 05 and
1 kN of force was required to cause tensile
fracturing across rostra 717 mm in diameter
(Fig. 14). This indicates that the tensile strength
of these belemnites is crudely some 59 MPa.
LaBarbera & Merz (1992) tested gastropod shell
strength with a `Monsanto' tensometer. For shells
2001 International Association of Sedimentologists, Sedimentology, 48, 189213
209
1.2
1.0
FO RCE (k N)
0.8
0.6
0.4
0.2
0
0 50 100 150 200 250 300
D I A M E T E R ( m m2 )
Fig. 14. Graph of indirect tensile strength of belemnite
rostra against the square of rostrum diameter.
1525 mm in size, the force required was 02
07 kN. Much smaller and far more `delicate'
shells fail predictably under a fraction of this
force, in the case of terebratulid brachiopods and
ostracods, a hundredth and a thousandth of it
respectively (Daley, 1993; Kaesler et al., 1993).
The septa of Nautilus pompilius Linne 1758
impart a great deal of strength that has been
tested with more sophisticated measurements.
These cannot be related easily to the indirect
tensile strength test, but implosion is typically
induced with pressures of 6 MPa (Hewitt &
Westermann, 1987). Geostatic pressures of the
order of magnitude to break belemnites, gastro-
pods and ammonites are normally only experi-
enced after 400800 m of burial (for standard
pressureburial depth relationship, see e.g. Malt-
man, 1994, g. 1.4).
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Manuscript received 2 February 1999;
revision accepted 26 July 2000.
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