Modern and Ancient Hurricane Deposits--Their Geological Significance: ABSTRACT

Abstract

The shoreline sands along the coastlines of the northern Gulf of Mexico offer excellent examples of the varying processes that have created them and determine their distribution. Sands of such varying origin as eolian sands of the south Texas sand sheet, the islands of the Central Texas Bay-Barrier Island province, the chenier sands of southwestern Louisiana, the channel sands of the active and inactive passes of the Mississippi River delta complex, the reworked sands of the old distributary channels of the Mississippi delta, and the Mississippi-Alabama island chain, are well documented in this almost unique basin of deposition. These sands are made by nearshore processes from other sand-containing sediments and are not deposited as such from their sourc . They, in essence, are all multicycle sands. The normal shoreline and nearshore processes maintain these sand deposits in their present environments. Major storms, however, completely disrupt these processes and cause unusual sand distributions. Many of the storm-caused distributions are repaired by the normal processes shortly after they are formed. Some, however, remain as a permanent distribution and probably are included in the geologic record as such. Many examples of sand bodies in the subsurface Tertiary of the Gulf Coast geosyncline are directly analogous to modern normal and abnormal sand bodies available for study in the northern Gulf of Mexico. For example, the Oligocene Frio barrier in South Texas is associated with probable storm deposits. End_of_Article - Last_Page 1909------------