Late Pleistocene—Holocene geology of the central Virgin Island Platform

Holmes, Charles W.; Kindinger, Jack L.

doi:10.1016/0025-3227(85)90159-8

Cited by 8 publications

(4 citation statements)

References 13 publications

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“…Ever since early explorers charted them for navigational purposes, the study of modern reefs has largely concentrated upon those that preferentially develop in the surf zone and form natural breakwaters. Yet in addition to 'breakwater reefs', several studies have also reported the existence of a submerged reef type that preferentially develops along the edge of shelves in deeper, quieter water (Macintyre, 1967(Macintyre, , 1972Goreau & Goreau, 1973;Ott, 1975;Rigby & Roberts, 1976;Hubbard et al, 1976;Morelock et al, 1977;James & Ginsburg, 1979;Burke, 1982;Roberts & Murray, 1983;Hine & Steinmetz, 1984;Holmes & Kindinger, 1985;Hubbard et al, 1986;Lidz et al, 1991). For example, James and Ginsburg (1979) described a submerged reef 'ridge' on the edge of the Belize shelf rising from z 35-15 m below mean sea level (rnsl).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hurricane control on shelf‐edge‐reef architecture around Grand Cayman

Blanchon

Jones

1997

Sedimentology

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Rimming the outer shelf of Grand Cayman is a submerged, 87 km long shelf‐edge reef that rises to within 12 m of mean sea level. It consists of an array of coral‐armoured buttresses aligned perpendicular to shore and separated by steep‐sided sediment‐floored canyons. Individual buttresses have a diverse coral‐dominated biota and consist of three architectural elements: a shield‐like front wall colonized by platy corals, a dome‐shaped crown colonized by head corals, and a shoreward‐projecting spur covered by varying amounts of branching coral. Buttresses are commonly fronted by coral pinnacles that, in some areas, have amalgamated with buttress walls to produce pinnacle‐and‐arch structures. As margin orientation changes, shelf‐edge‐reef architecture shows systematic variations that are consistent with changes in fetch and height of hurricane waves. Along margins exposed to fully developed storm waves, shelf‐edge‐reef buttresses are deep, have large amplitudes, and are dominated by robust head corals. These characteristics are consistent with hurricane‐induced pruning of branching corals and the flushing of significant quantities of sand from buttress canyons by return flows. Along margins impacted by fetch‐limited storm waves, reef buttresses are shallower, have intermediate‐amplitudes, and have a significantly higher proportion of branching corals. These characteristics are consistent with less coral pruning and sand flushing by weaker hurricane waves. Along margins fully protected from storm waves, the buttresses‐canyon architecture of the shelf‐edge reef breaks down producing a series of shallow, undulating, branching‐coral‐dominated ridges that merge laterally into an unbroken belt of coral. These characteristics correspond with negligible amounts of pruning and flushing during hurricanes. In addition to differences between margins, local intra‐marginal changes in shelf‐edge reef architecture are consistent with changes in the angle of hurricane‐wave approach. Open sections of the shelf‐edge reef, which face directly into storm waves, are pruned of branching corals and the fragments swept back onto the shelf producing extensive spurs. By contrast, on more sheltered, obliquely orientated sections, storm‐waves sweep debris along and off shelf producing little or no spur development. Instead, the debris shed seawards accumulates in front of the buttress walls and initiates the development of coral pinnacles. Over time, repeated buttress pruning and canyon flushing during hurricanes not only controls reef architecture but may also influence accretion patterns. Vertical accretion is limited by the effective depth of storm‐wave fragmentation. Once this hurricane‐accretion threshold is reached the reef moves into a shedding phase and accretes laterally via pinnacle growth, amalgamation, and infilling. Consequently, the reef steps out over its own debris in a kind of balancing act between lateral growth and slope failure — a pattern widely recognized in ancient reefs.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Hurricane control on shelf‐edge‐reef architecture around Grand Cayman

Blanchon

Jones

1997

Sedimentology

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“…Because it is predominantly composed of meta-sedimentary and volcaniclastic rocks, St. Croix is geologically more similar to the greater Antillean islands of Puerto Rico, Cuba, and Hispaniola (Dominican Republic/ Haiti) than to the volcanic Lesser Antillean islands along the collision zone between the North American and Caribbean plates (Holmes and Kindinger 1985). The island has a complex structural and tectonic geologic history, with units segmented by major fault zones as part of a deformed collisional plate boundary with ''initial compression followed by transcurrent tectonics and extension'' (Whetten 1966(Whetten , 1974Ratte 1974;Holmes and Kindinger 1985;Stanley 1987aStanley , b, 1988Stanley , 1989Nagle and Hubbard 1989;Speed 1989); Case et al (1984) categorized St. Croix and its platform as one of several moderately to strongly deformed basins of the Anegada Province. Speed and Joyce (1989) reinterpreted the geology of St. Croix as representing a tectonic complex of six faultbounded, stacked nappes formed in a forearc system with a north-dipping subduction zone during the Late Cretaceous, which later changed to southward subduction in the early Tertiary.…”

Section: Previous Workmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Holmes and Kindinger's (1985) study of the Virgin Islands platform around St. Thomas and St. John indicated that tectonic fragmentation of the area controlled carbonate sedimentation and shelf processes, but the study did not address St. Croix. Masson and Scanlon (1991;see also Whetten 1966;Donnelly 1966) provide useful indications of local post-Oligocene extensional shelf faulting (associated with the northern margin of the extensional Virgin Islands Basin and continuing northeast through the Anegada Passage) that is active to the present day; however, they do not discuss mechanisms for tectonic tilting or how the movements may be controlling (or have controlled) deposition and erosion in the recent geologic past.…”

Section: Coral Reefsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Last interglacial reef limestones, northeastern St. Croix, US Virgin Islands—evidence of tectonic tilting and subsidence since MIS 5.5

2011

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Most last interglacial (MIS 5.5) coral reef deposits in the Caribbean are emergent. However, in St. Croix, these are found mainly at depth, underneath Holocene material and confirmed by TIMS U-Th dated corals from eight cores through Holocene reefs. The only emergent MIS 5.5 marine deposit peaks at ?1.5 m MSL at the northwestern end of the island. The Late Pleistocene surface decreases at least 9.25 m (based on reef crest elevations) in elevation over 15 km along a 0.62 m/km eastward (alongshore) slope. Neither differential erosion nor a naturally sloping deposit is likely, thus the directional elevation decrease requires the influence of tectonic processes. Platform tilting or differential subsidence increasing in rate to the east probably operated both during and since the last interglacial and created progressively greater accommodation space for increasingly thicker overlying Holocene reefs in an eastward direction. Rates of subsidence since MIS 5.5 increase from west to east, from 0.02 mm/year to 0.1 mm/year, assuming a MIS 5.5 ?6-m sea level and ?4 m initial reef elevation. St. Croix's association with extensional shelf faulting from the northern part of the Virgin Islands Basin, the Anegada Fault to the east and the Puerto Rico Trench to the north may be significant in terms of identifying mechanisms for, or past events resulting in, directional tilting. Identification of differential elevations of MIS 5.5 reefs adds substantially to the information on Late Quaternary tectonism of the area.

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“…comm.). Attached platforms are: F, Florida Bay (Ginsburg and James, 1974); G, Golfo de Batabano (Daetwyler and Kidwell, 1959); B, Belize Shelf (Steers and Stoddart, 1973); S, St. Croix, Lang Bank (Hubbard, 1989); N, Nicaragua Shelf, Miskito Bank (Murray et al ., 1982); V, Virgin Islands, Central Platform (Holmes and Kindinger, 1985); Y, Yucatan Shelf (Logan et al ., 1969); A, Arafura Shelf (Jongsma, 1974); P, Paternoster Platform (Boichard et al ., 1985); Q, Queensland Shelf (Maxwell and Swinchatt, 1970); S, Sahul Shelf (van Andel and Veevers, 1965, 1967). * Average, ** minimum and maximum of range.…”

Section: Distributionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Systematic yet enigmatic depth distribution of the world's modern warm‐water carbonate platforms: the ‘depth window’

Vecsei

2003

Terra Nova

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The world's modern warm‐water carbonate platforms are large‐scale topographic features. This paper shows that the distribution of platform depths is systematic. The depths to the seafloor of most isolated banks and continent‐attached platforms, and the depths to the lagoon floors of most atolls, are all less than 70 m below present sea‐level, so that there is a 0–70 m ‘depth window’. The depth distribution reflects the platforms' evolution and its controls. The relation of this distribution to Quaternary sea‐level fluctuations and sedimentary dynamics sheds light on these controls.

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Late Pleistocene—Holocene geology of the central Virgin Island Platform

Cited by 8 publications

References 13 publications

Hurricane control on shelf‐edge‐reef architecture around Grand Cayman

Hurricane control on shelf‐edge‐reef architecture around Grand Cayman

Last interglacial reef limestones, northeastern St. Croix, US Virgin Islands—evidence of tectonic tilting and subsidence since MIS 5.5

Systematic yet enigmatic depth distribution of the world's modern warm‐water carbonate platforms: the ‘depth window’

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