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Evidence for carbonate platform failure during rapid sea-level rise; ca 14 000 year old bioclastic flow deposits in the Lesser Antilles

Evidence for carbonate platform failure during rapid sea-level rise; ca 14 000 year old bioclastic flow deposits in the Lesser Antilles
Evidence for carbonate platform failure during rapid sea-level rise; ca 14 000 year old bioclastic flow deposits in the Lesser Antilles
Bioclastic flow deposits offshore from the Soufrière Hills volcano on Montserrat in the Lesser Antilles were deposited by the largest volume sediment flows near this active volcano in the last 26 kyr. The volume of these deposits exceeds that of the largest historic volcanic dome collapse in the world, which occurred on Montserrat in 2003. These flows were most probably generated by a large submarine slope failure of the carbonate shelf comprising the south-west flank of Antigua or the east flank of Redonda; adjacent islands that are not volcanically active. The bioclastic flow deposits are relatively coarse-grained and either ungraded or poorly graded, and were deposited by non-cohesive debris flow and high density turbidity currents. The bioclastic deposit often comprises multiple sub-units that cannot be correlated between core sites; some located just 2 km apart. Multiple sub-units in the bioclastic deposit result from either flow reflection, stacking of multiple debris flow lobes, and/or multi-stage collapse of the initial landslide. This study provides unusually precise constraints on the age of this mass flow event that occurred at ca 14 ka. Few large submarine landslides have been well dated, but the slope failures that have been dated are commonly associated with periods of rapid sea-level change.
0037-0746
735-759
Trofimovs, Jessica
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Fisher, Jodie K.
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Macdonald, Heather A.
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Talling, Peter J.
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Sparks, R. Stephen J.
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Hart, Malcolm B.
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Smart, Christopher W.
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Boudon, Georges
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Deplus, Christine
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Komorowski, Jean-Christophe
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Le Friant, Anne
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Moreton, Steven G.
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Leng, Melanie J.
71755042-2b5f-44a6-8420-019f13a4a946
Trofimovs, Jessica
f77f3f44-6fbd-4efb-ba3a-d4818b229b10
Fisher, Jodie K.
e47d15b2-a931-4ff5-bace-1e3c17cbc5af
Macdonald, Heather A.
16ea9223-4c36-40ed-9986-6d01bf6ab232
Talling, Peter J.
1cbac5ec-a9f8-4868-94fe-6203f30b47cf
Sparks, R. Stephen J.
4061b9a3-c979-4515-a8cf-89c848648401
Hart, Malcolm B.
1ed16a38-3047-4ed5-b8a4-8f426c3d2023
Smart, Christopher W.
7cb76d81-800c-41aa-9355-1e7847bc711d
Boudon, Georges
e836e5cd-5c6d-45da-bd28-ade2811a2af5
Deplus, Christine
6f4143a0-b6c3-4133-ae43-63d92fef367a
Komorowski, Jean-Christophe
fbe9fcd6-75f9-47be-894f-13684e952c1e
Le Friant, Anne
cfb10a7b-5725-4c9e-a3b1-1ad6211c1bb9
Moreton, Steven G.
eee3aaf1-9d6c-4fd5-a72c-0aae89de36e8
Leng, Melanie J.
71755042-2b5f-44a6-8420-019f13a4a946

Trofimovs, Jessica, Fisher, Jodie K., Macdonald, Heather A., Talling, Peter J., Sparks, R. Stephen J., Hart, Malcolm B., Smart, Christopher W., Boudon, Georges, Deplus, Christine, Komorowski, Jean-Christophe, Le Friant, Anne, Moreton, Steven G. and Leng, Melanie J. (2010) Evidence for carbonate platform failure during rapid sea-level rise; ca 14 000 year old bioclastic flow deposits in the Lesser Antilles. Sedimentology, 57 (3), 735-759. (doi:10.1111/j.1365-3091.2009.01117.x).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Bioclastic flow deposits offshore from the Soufrière Hills volcano on Montserrat in the Lesser Antilles were deposited by the largest volume sediment flows near this active volcano in the last 26 kyr. The volume of these deposits exceeds that of the largest historic volcanic dome collapse in the world, which occurred on Montserrat in 2003. These flows were most probably generated by a large submarine slope failure of the carbonate shelf comprising the south-west flank of Antigua or the east flank of Redonda; adjacent islands that are not volcanically active. The bioclastic flow deposits are relatively coarse-grained and either ungraded or poorly graded, and were deposited by non-cohesive debris flow and high density turbidity currents. The bioclastic deposit often comprises multiple sub-units that cannot be correlated between core sites; some located just 2 km apart. Multiple sub-units in the bioclastic deposit result from either flow reflection, stacking of multiple debris flow lobes, and/or multi-stage collapse of the initial landslide. This study provides unusually precise constraints on the age of this mass flow event that occurred at ca 14 ka. Few large submarine landslides have been well dated, but the slope failures that have been dated are commonly associated with periods of rapid sea-level change.

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More information

Published date: 19 April 2010
Organisations: Marine Geoscience, National Oceanography Centre,Southampton

Identifiers

Local EPrints ID: 72708
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/72708
ISSN: 0037-0746
PURE UUID: 83fba700-74df-47a9-848a-ccd796148602

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Date deposited: 19 Feb 2010
Last modified: 13 Mar 2024 21:40

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Contributors

Author: Jessica Trofimovs
Author: Jodie K. Fisher
Author: Heather A. Macdonald
Author: Peter J. Talling
Author: R. Stephen J. Sparks
Author: Malcolm B. Hart
Author: Christopher W. Smart
Author: Georges Boudon
Author: Christine Deplus
Author: Jean-Christophe Komorowski
Author: Anne Le Friant
Author: Steven G. Moreton
Author: Melanie J. Leng

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