Structure and Development of the Continental Margin of British Honduras

Research Article| August 01, 1973 Structure and Development of the Continental Margin of British Honduras WILLIAM P. DILLON; WILLIAM P. DILLON 1U.S. Geological Survey, Woods Hole, Massachusetts 02543 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar JOHN G. VEDDER JOHN G. VEDDER 2U.S. Geological Survey, Menlo Park, California 94025 Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (1973) 84 (8): 2713–2732. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1973)84<2713:SADOTC>2.0.CO;2 Article history first online: 01 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation WILLIAM P. DILLON, JOHN G. VEDDER; Structure and Development of the Continental Margin of British Honduras. GSA Bulletin 1973;; 84 (8): 2713–2732. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1973)84<2713:SADOTC>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract The continental margin of British Honduras is characterized by elongate ridges that are sub-parallel with the coast and that diverge slightly northward. Each ridge apparently is formed by aligned fault blocks composed of continental basement rock that rotated and subsided during rifting of the margin. The western part of the Cayman Ridge may be underlain by similar rock that extends southwestward into the margin.Little sediment has been trapped in the basins between the ridges, presumably as a result of long-term, low rates of sedimentation. A canyon system that is controlled by both fault-block ridges and cross faults transects the margin and opens into the Yucatan Basin. Deep-sea sediments are characterized by a succession of pelagic deposits above acoustic basement rocks; these deposits are covered by turbidites that have formed deep-sea fan deposits in some places. The change from pelagic to turbidite deposition may have occurred at the end of Cretaceous time when regional uplift provided a source for clastic materials. The principal channel for transport of sediment to the deep sea is believed to be a graben that extends northeastward from the southwest corner of the Gulf of Honduras.Development of the margin may have begun in Late Jurassic time when sphenochasmic rifting created the ancestral Gulf of Honduras. Near the end of Cretaceous time, a new set of motions began, with the Caribbean plate moving relatively eastward and slightly away from the North American plate. This new motion resulted in continued movement of basement blocks through Tertiary and Quaternary time. Although this margin is not young, it has a geomorphically youthful aspect in that the sedimentary sequences do not obscure the rift structures. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.