Developing Models and Analogs for Isolated Carbonate Platforms—Holocene and Pleistocene Carbonates of Caicos Platform, British West Indies

Abstract

Developing Models and Analogs for Isolated Carbonate Platforms-Holocene and Pleistocene Carbonates of Caicos Platform, British West Indies - For the past 30 years, Caicos Platform has been an important area for studies of Holocene and Pleistocene carbonate successions and a destination for numerous geoscientists interested in learning about modern carbonate sedimentary systems. During the past few years there has been a renewed interest in understanding the geology of the platform, stemming in large part from recognition in the petroleum industry that more refined reservoir models of carbonate systems are needed both in exploration and development. The impetus for the workshop and the publication was a desire to bring together both present and past Caicos Platform workers with those not familiar with the Platform to share knowledge on the Holocene and Pleistocene Sedimentology, diagenesis, platform evolution, and the applicability of the platform as an analogue for ancient isolated carbonate platforms. This volume should serve as an intermediate-term documentation of research efforts and a spur for additional studies to better understand controls on sediment distribution, diagenesis, and the evolution of platform growth, furthering the Caicos Platform as an analogue for ancient, isolated, carbonate platforms.