The origin of meter-scale upward-shallowing parasequences in carbonate stratigraphy: Comparing the Holocene of northwest Andros Island, Bahamas to the Paleozoic and Precambrian (Invited)
Abstract
We present a field study of Holocene peritidal carbonate accumulation at Triple Goose Creek, northwest Andros Island, Bahamas. Our aim is to understand the possible origin of the meter-scale upward-shallowing parasequences that frequently dominate stratigraphic records of ancient carbonate platforms. We determine the relative importance of channel migration and sea level change in controlling parasequence architecture by integrating surface lithofacies maps and differential GPS topographic surveys with 187 sediment cores that each span the entire Holocene stratigraphy. We show that channels have migrated at rates of 0-6 cm per year. Visibly very different lithofacies are sensitive to elevation changes as small as 5 cm, and are responding to both internal (sediment supply) and external (sea level rise) controls. Therefore, although the location of channels is responsible for the modern mosaic of lithofacies, these lithofacies and the channels that control them have not migrated substantially during the 1200 years of sediment accumulation at Triple Goose Creek. We discuss the evolution of the Holocene upward-shallowing parasequence at Triple Goose Creek, and compare it to pre-Cenozoic icehouse and greenhouse examples.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFMOS11F..02M
- Keywords:
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- 1641 GLOBAL CHANGE Sea level change;
- 1856 HYDROLOGY River channels;
- 1051 GEOCHEMISTRY Sedimentary geochemistry;
- 1862 HYDROLOGY Sediment transport