Styles and rates of mesophotic reef accretion on a Caribbean insular slope

Structural framework is fundamental to the concept of a coral-algal reef. However, our current understanding of reef framework is based largely upon studies of relatively shallow systems that formed at water depths of less than 30 m. There is comparatively limited information on deeper, mesophotic r...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Coral reefs 2023-10, Vol.42 (5), p.1025-1044
Main Authors: Sherman, Clark E., Carlo, Milton, Tuohy, Evan, Adey, Walter H.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Accretion
Algae
Biomedical and Life Sciences
Calcite
Coral reefs
Corals
Deposition
Dynamic stability
Freshwater & Marine Ecology
Insular slopes
Island slope
Life Sciences
Oceanography
Radiocarbon dating
Reefs
Slope gradients
Slope stability
Water depth
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Summary:Structural framework is fundamental to the concept of a coral-algal reef. However, our current understanding of reef framework is based largely upon studies of relatively shallow systems that formed at water depths of less than 30 m. There is comparatively limited information on deeper, mesophotic reef frameworks. Short drill cores collected at depths of ~ 50 m on the steep insular slope of southwest Puerto Rico allow for documentation of the composition and accretion rates of mesophotic reef framework. Framework is dominated by platy agariciid corals ( Agaricia spp.) and autochthonous micrite (automicrite) with calcareous algae, corallines and peyssonnelids, forming a secondary component. Conspicuously, well-lithified automicrite constitutes a major structural and volumetric component of the framework. It is composed of magnesian calcite and displays irregular clotted, peloidal and fenestral fabrics, consistent with in situ formation. Radiocarbon ages of corals and automicrite indicate that they have formed recently (
ISSN:0722-4028
1432-0975
DOI:10.1007/s00338-023-02402-7