03.06.2013 Views

Institution

Institution

Institution

SHOW MORE
SHOW LESS

You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles

YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.

)<br />

)<br />

REGIONAL PATTERNS<br />

CHAPTE R V<br />

CHRONOLOGY OF SEDIMENTATION<br />

The average rates of sedimentation for the provinces<br />

in the vi ci ni ty of the Greater Anti 11 es Outer Ri dge over<br />

approximately the past 45 million years can be estimated<br />

from the thi ckness of sedi ments above Datum A, whi ch is<br />

inferred to be of middle Eocene age (Table 5.1) (see<br />

Chapter III). These rates are not absolute, since they<br />

probably include periods of erosion, nondeposition, and<br />

unusually rapid sedimentation. However, even rough<br />

accumulation rates can be used to place constraints on some<br />

sedimentation conditions. The two striking trends that<br />

appear are: 1) relatively high rates of deposition along<br />

the axi s of the Greater Anti 11 es Outer Ri dge, and 2) low<br />

average rates (probably with long periods of nondeposition<br />

or erosion) along the southeast Bahama Banks and on the<br />

north slope of the Puerto Rico Trench. The relationship of<br />

these generalized observations to Pleistocene/Holocene<br />

sedimentation is discussed below.<br />

GREATER ANTILLES OUTER RIDGE<br />

Although two cores taken on the Greater Antilles Outer<br />

Ridge are more than 20 m long (KN25:4GPC - 21.59 m;<br />

V16: 17PC - 21.70 m), neither these cores nor any of the<br />

other 23 outer ri dge cores studi ed penetrated the<br />

105

Hooray! Your file is uploaded and ready to be published.

Saved successfully!

Ooh no, something went wrong!