Sedimentology and diagenesis of Miocene Lirio Limestone, Isla de Mona, Puerto Rico

Conference · Fri Mar 01 04:00:00 EST 1991 · AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States)

OSTI ID:7158882

Ruiz, H; Gonzalez, L A; Budd, A F ^[1]

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1. Univ. of Iowa, Iowa City (United States)

Isla de Mona is a carbonate plateau, 50 mi west of Puerto Rico. The island lies on the southern portion of the Mona Platform. It is composed mostly of two Miocene carbonate units: Isla de Mona Dolomite overlain by Lirio Limestone. The Lirio Limestone was deposited on a sloping erosional surface over the Isla de Mona Dolomite. The Miocene Lirio Limestone consists mostly of backreef sands (packstones) with a reefal sequence (boundstones and grainstones) present in the southwestern portion of the island. The reefal sequence is made up mostly of Stylophora, Porites, and Millepora. Thin, discreet pockets of carbonate mud, rich in planktonic foraminifera and radiolarians and mixed with shallow benthic fauna/flora (foraminifera, echinoderms, red algae, and corals) interpreted as storm deposits, are found throughout the unit. An extensive reefal zone can be inferred to be present throughout the southwestern to southern portions of the Mona Platform. The Lirio Limestone is heavily karstified and is riddled with sinkholes on the plateau surfaces and caves around the periphery of the island. Caves are exposed around the periphery of the island, radiating from a depression in the central portions of the Lirio Limestone, near contacts with the Isla de Mona Dolomite, are partially dolomitized. The southwestern outcrops exhibit partial dolomitization throughout. The distribution of sinkholes, seaward caverns, and partial dolomitization of the lowermost Lirio Limestone suggests diagenetic modifications by meteoric fluids in central exposed portions of the island and by marine-meteoric fluids in the lowermost portions of the phreatic lens.

• OSTI ID: 7158882
• Report Number(s): CONF-910403--
• Conference Information: Journal Name: AAPG Bulletin (American Association of Petroleum Geologists); (United States) Journal Volume: 75:3
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580000* -- Geosciences
CARBONATE ROCKS
CAVES
CAVITIES
CENOZOIC ERA
DEPOSITION
DEVELOPED COUNTRIES
DIAGENESIS
DISSOLUTION
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC FORMATIONS
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GREATER ANTILLES
ISLANDS
LATIN AMERICA
LIMESTONE
LITHOLOGY
MIOCENE EPOCH
NORTH AMERICA
PUERTO RICO
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
TERTIARY PERIOD
USA
WEST INDIES