Coral reef complexes at an atypical windward platform margin: Late Quaternary, southeast Florida

Research Article| July 01, 2004 Coral reef complexes at an atypical windward platform margin: Late Quaternary, southeast Florida Barbara H. Lidz Barbara H. Lidz 1U.S. Geological Survey, 600 4th Street South, St. Petersburg, Florida 33701, USA Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar GSA Bulletin (2004) 116 (7-8): 974–988. https://doi.org/10.1130/B25172.1 Article history received: 06 May 2002 rev-recd: 06 Oct 2003 accepted: 13 Oct 2003 first online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation Barbara H. Lidz; Coral reef complexes at an atypical windward platform margin: Late Quaternary, southeast Florida. GSA Bulletin 2004;; 116 (7-8): 974–988. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/B25172.1 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 Major coral reef complexes rim many modern and ancient carbonate platforms. Their role in margin evolution is not fully understood, particularly when they border a margin atypical of the classic model. Classic windward margins are steeply inclined. The windward margin of southeast Florida is distinct with a very low-gradient slope and a shelf edge ringed with 30-m-high Quaternary outlier reefs on a shallow upper-slope terrace. A newly developed synthesis of temporally well-constrained geologic events is used with surface and subsurface seismic-reflection contours to construct morphogenetic models of four discontinuous reef-complex sequences. The models show uneven subsurface topography, upward and landward buildups, and a previously unreported, rapid, Holocene pro-gradation. The terms backstepped reef-complex margin, backfilled prograded margin, and coalesced reef-complex margin are proposed for sections exhibiting suitable signatures in the stratigraphic record. The models have significant implications for interpretation of ancient analogues.The Florida record chronicles four kinds of geologic events. (1) Thirteen transgressions high enough for marine deposition occurred between ca. 325 ka and the present. Six gave rise to stratigraphically successive coral reef complexes between ca. 185 and ca. 77.8 ka. The seventh reef ecosystem is Holocene. (2) Two primary coral reef architectures built the outer shelf and margin, producing respective ridge-and-swale and reef-and-trough geometries of very different scales. (3) Massive outlier reefs developed on an upper-slope terrace between ca. 106.5 and ca. 80 ka and are inferred to contain corals that would date to highstands at ca. 140 and 125 ka. (4) Sea level remained below elevation of the shelf between ca. 77.8 and ca. 9.6 ka. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.