Holocene Core Logs and Site Methods for Modern Reef and Head-Coral Cores: Dry Tortugas National Park, Florida

The Dry Tortugas are a series of islands, banks, and channels on a carbonate platform off the west end of the Florida Keys. Antecedent topography of the Dry Tortugas reflects carbonate accumulations of the last interglacial (marine isotope substage 5e, 125,000 years ago, ka) when sea level was 6 to 7 meters (m) higher than present (Schrag and others, 2002). The substage 5e surface was subsequently lithified and modified during subaerial exposure associated with lower sea level from 120 ka to 8 ka. The lithified late Pleistocene carbonates are known as the Key Largo Limestone, a coral reef (Hoffmeister and Multer, 1964; Multer and others,2002), and the Miami Limestone, a tidal-bar oolite (Sanford, 1909; Hoffmeister, 1974). The Holocene and modern sediments and reefs of the Dry Tortugas then accreted during the rise of sea level associated with the end of the last glacial and the start of the current interglacial (marine isotope Stage 1).

Author: U. S. Department of the Interior

Publisher: Createspace Independent Publishing Platform

Publication Date: Apr 28, 2014

Number of Pages: 32 pages

Binding: Paperback or Softback

ISBN-10: 1499256256

ISBN-13: 9781499256253