Miocene karst drainage system: seismic stratigraphy of the continental shelf west of Florida

Conference · Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6458508

Herbert, J A

High-resolution geophysical data recorded on the continental shelf west of Tampa Bay, Florida show three stratigraphic units: Holocene, Plio-Pleistocene, and Miocene. Within the Miocene unit is an expansive drainage system extending about 80 kilometers offshore. In most areas, a system such as this would typically be characterized as a paleo-fluvial system. Although this drainage system probably initiated fluvially, geophysical data showing much evidence of karstification suggest that this system probably formed on the inner shelf as a result of large scale dissolution and collapse of Miocene limestones during lowered sea-level. The overlying Plio-Pleistocene unit infills the Miocene drainage system, while exiguously covering Miocene rocks in areas where the system is absent. Deposition of this unit probably took place during high-stands of sea-level, followed by erosion and transport of sediment farther offshore, exposing Miocene rocks. The Holocene unit sporadically covers underlying units throughout the study area. Sediments making up this unit have been reworked into several bedform types probably resulting from various boundary layer flow events such as hurricanes, storms, currents and tides. This scenario is probably not unique to the continental shelf west of Tampa Bay, Florida, but may also characterize other karstic shelves where paleo-fluvial processes were previously thought to be the dominant mechanism forming paleo-coastal drainage systems.

• Research Organization: Univ. of South Florida, St. Petersburg (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6458508
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Journal Information: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States), Vol. 17; Conference: 98. annual meeting of the Geological Society of America, Orlando, FL, USA, 28 Oct 1985
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
CONTINENTAL SHELF
SEISMIC SURVEYS
STRATIGRAPHY
FLORIDA
CAVES
DISSOLUTION
LIMESTONE
MIOCENE EPOCH
CARBONATE ROCKS
CAVITIES
CENOZOIC ERA
CONTINENTAL MARGIN
FEDERAL REGION IV
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGY
GEOPHYSICAL SURVEYS
NORTH AMERICA
ROCKS
SEDIMENTARY ROCKS
SURVEYS
TERTIARY PERIOD
USA
580100* - Geology & Hydrology- (-1989)