Carbonate-siliciclastic sedimentation on a high-energy, ocean-facing, tropical ramp, NE Brazil

Abstract

Abstract The inner portion of the continental shelf of Rio Grande do Norte State, Brazil has been investigated by Landsat-TM imagery and by scuba diving. The area experiences high-energy, shoreline and shelf-margin parallel currents driven by a combination of oceanic, tidal and wave processes. The high meso-tidal range (<4 m) further distributes the high-energy waters over the entire inner shelf region (0–25 m). This shelf is a high-energy, distally steepened ramp in which the distribution of carbonate and siliciclastic facies belts is controlled by the energy of the environment, the sources of siliciclastic sediment and the Quaternary history of the area. Carbonate sediments are generated throughout the sublittoral zone and are dominated by calcareous red and green algae. Small, low-diversity coral patch reefs occur in shallow areas. Quartz-rich sands form beaches and subaerial longitudinal dunes, and an offshore, submarine, sandstone outcrop interpreted as a former Quaternary shoreline. This sandstone has been eroded during the Holocene transgression to generate quartz sands deposited in a train of transverse dunes migrating parallel to the coast. Longitudinal sand ribbons comprising bioclastic gravelly sands attest to high-energy, shore-parallel currents in the inner shelf. Branching coralline algae (maërl) form stabilized sea-floor areas. Preliminary 14 C dating indicates a Pleistocene highstand period when coarse algal sands accumulated. Holocene lowstand conditions spread quartz-rich sands over the inner ramp area, which were reworked during the Holocene transgression. Present-day erosion, transport and in situ carbonate production results in mixing of these earlier carbonate and siliciclastic units. The Brazilian ramp has similar, but narrower morphology, when compared with the distally steepened ramps of the Yucatan and west Florida. All three ramps are swept by coastline-parallel currents. In Brazil, the higher-energy, windward-facing, inner ramp has calcareous algal sands and patch reefs compared with the inner ramps of the leeward-facing Gulf of Mexico examples that accumulate molluscan sands. Outer ramp facies in each example are planktonic foraminiferal oozes.