Pyritization of microfossils: crinoid remains from the Middle Jurassic of Ogrodzieniec (Krakow-Czestochowa Upland, Poland

Pyritized crinoid skeletal elements have been found in the so-called "ore-bearing clays" of the Middle Jurassic exposed in Ogrodzieniec (Krakow-Czestochowa Upland, Poland). Their assem- blage consists of columnals, cirrals and brachials; calyx plates have not been found. Ossicles occur both as unpyritized and pyritized. Three main types of pyritization have been distinguished in investigated material: (a) original calcitic skeleton is not replaced by pyrite but its void spaces are infilled with pyrite; (b) calcitic skeleton is replaced by pyrite, with or without void infilling; (c) pyritization overwhelms the primary morphology of the ossicle. The first two types predominate in the studied material. The types of pyritization have been explained by several subsequent stages of this process. The main stage of crinoid pyritization happened probably in the sediment during early diagenesis and was limited to microenvironments of fossils. Different morphological forms of pyrite registered in the same ossicles (euhedra, framboids and massive pyrite, can be explained by different position and time of the fossil pyritization, the type and location of organic matter, porosity, several stages of pyritization, "openness" of skeleton, different assemblages of bacteria, and probably many other factors.