Storm-generated bedforms and relict dissolution pits and channels on the Yucatan carbonate platform
Abstract
The Yucatan 2013 (cruise number 2013/4_ECORD) geophysical and geotechnical hazard site survey took place aboard the R/V Justo Sierra in April 2013. Our study was conducted within the Chicxulub impact crater, encompassing three potential IODP drilling sites. The survey was located ~32 km northwest of Progreso, Mexico; data acquired included ~15.6 km2 of complete multibeam bathymetry coverage, ~435 line km of side scan sonar and CHIRP data, 204 line kilometers of magnetometer data, and 194 line kilometers of surface tow boomer profiles. Based on these data, this portion of the Yucatan Shelf consists of flat-lying, hard limestone rock overlain by isolated ribbons of carbonate sand <1.0 m thick. These ribbons are oriented along NE-SW trends and have smaller scale orthogonal sand-waves (~20-100 m wavelengths and relief of ~0.2-0.6 m) on them. The sand waves are anisotropic with steeper slopes facing the NE. The larger scale morphology can be classified as longitudinal bedforms (ribbons), and the smaller scale transverse bedforms formed in response to a NE-directed flow. This flow direction is inconsistent with the ambient west-directed current conditions, and may therefore be indicative of storm-driven currents. Numerous dissolution pits, ~5-50m in diameter, ~0.2-0.5 m deep with steep (0.1-0.5 gradient) walls, are present in the bare rock regions of most of the study area. These occasionally are floored by rippled, highly reflective (coarse) sediments. We interpret these pits as representing karstic morphology formed during the last sub-aerial exposure of the study area interpreted to have occurred during Holocene times given the present day ~17 m average water depth. A sub-surface reflector imaged on the surface tow boomer data lies 1-3 m below the hard seafloor reflection (sand ribbons are below the vertical resolution of the surface tow boomer), which we interpret as a layer within the limestone bedrock. This reflector is flat-lying and undisturbed throughout the survey area. Therefore, none of these dissolution pits appear to be underlain by a cenote or sink hole. The NW sector of the survey area exhibits a more complex morphology than the alternating ribbon/bare rock morphology elsewhere, including linear scarps (up to ~1 m relief), deeper pitting (up to ~1 m relief), and sinuous, dendritic channeling (up to ~2 m relief). The geologic origin of these features will require further investigation. Sand drifts are present in this region, but are thinner and cover less area. These observations show the dominant modern sediment formation and transport processes on this starved platform are from large storms and hurricanes that place large regions of the platform at wave base. Remaining observed features were generated during times of lower sea level.
- Publication:
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AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2013
- Bibcode:
- 2013AGUFMOS13C1713G
- Keywords:
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- 3002 MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS Continental shelf and slope processes;
- 3022 MARINE GEOLOGY AND GEOPHYSICS Marine sediments: processes and transport;
- 4546 OCEANOGRAPHY: PHYSICAL Nearshore processes;
- 4217 OCEANOGRAPHY: GENERAL Coastal processes