Holocene sedimentation in a blue hole surrounded by carbonate tidal flats in The Bahamas: Autogenic versus allogenic processes

Abstract The sediment in North Atlantic blue holes preserves paleoclimate records. However, accurate paleoclimate reconstructions require an improved understanding of allogenic versus autogenic processes controlling blue hole sedimentation. Here we provide a detailed case study of the Holocene stratigraphy within Freshwater River Blue Hole, which is currently surrounded by carbonate tidal flats in the northern Bahamas (Abaco Island). During the Holocene, concomitant coastal aquifer elevation and relative sea-level rise controlled internal blue hole depositional environments. The general Holocene facies succession observed is: (i) basal detrital and freshwater peat, (ii) palustrine to lacustrine marl, (iii) algal sapropel, and finally (iv) bedded carbonate mud. During the middle Holocene when groundwater levels were lower, small changes in accommodation space that were inherited from the bedrock surface below (

• Publication year

  2020

• Venue

  Marine Geology

• Publication date

  Unknown publication date

• Fields of study

  Geology, Environmental Science

• Identifiers
  DOI 10.1016/j.margeo.2019.106051
• External record

  Open on Semantic Scholar

• Source metadata

  Semantic Scholar

• No claims are published for this paper.

• No concepts are published for this paper.

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