Sediments of the Caicos Outer Ridge, The Bahamas

Abstract

Research Article| December 01, 1966 Sediments of the Caicos Outer Ridge, The Bahamas ERIC D SCHNEIDER; ERIC D SCHNEIDER Dept. Geology and Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar BRUCE C HEEZEN BRUCE C HEEZEN Dept. Geology and Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information ERIC D SCHNEIDER Dept. Geology and Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York BRUCE C HEEZEN Dept. Geology and Lamont Geological Observatory, Columbia University, Palisades, New York Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 05 Apr 1965 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2674 Print ISSN: 0016-7606 Copyright © 1966, The Geological Society of America, Inc. Copyright is not claimed on any material prepared by U.S. government employees within the scope of their employment. GSA Bulletin (1966) 77 (12): 1381–1398. https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1966)77[1381:SOTCOR]2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 05 Apr 1965 First Online: 02 Mar 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Tools Icon Tools Get Permissions Search Site Citation ERIC D SCHNEIDER, BRUCE C HEEZEN; Sediments of the Caicos Outer Ridge, The Bahamas. GSA Bulletin 1966;; 77 (12): 1381–1398. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0016-7606(1966)77[1381:SOTCOR]2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGSA Bulletin Search Advanced Search Abstract Northeast of Caicos Island (Bahamas) a large sedimentary ridge rises from the deep sea floor. This asymmetrical ridge is steepest on the south side and lies parallel to the Bahama Banks. Four 6-m-long cores taken from 2850 to 2900 fathoms consist predominantly of pelagic clays (illite and chlorite); they contain interbedded calcarenites which consist of foraminifera (benthonic and pelagic), pteropods from both neritic and littoral depths (indicating considerable displacement of fauna), and finer material. Primary structures such as graded bedding, cross bedding, convolute bedding and parallel bedding are observed in these beds. Considerable mechanical sorting of faunal species produced two distinct sediment facies, the lower consisting of foraminifera and pteropod tests and the upper of clay, discoasters, and coccoliths.A single stratigraphic sequence is seen in the four cores. Each core exhibits similar variation in carbonate content, similar sequence of manganese-stained layers, and a similar sequence of sediment colors. One apparently correlative calcarenite thins from 58 cm to 28 cm and the mean grain size decreases from 0.17 mm to 0.012 mm, as distance from the Bahama Banks increases by 100 miles.The Caicos Outer Ridge consists predominantly of clays evidently deposited by a southeasterly flowing deep ocean current. Incorporated in this lutite ridge are calcarenites which originated on the Bahama Banks and spread along the ridge and onto the surrounding abyssal plains. This content is PDF only. Please click on the PDF icon to access. First Page Preview Close Modal You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.