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Subaerially exposed Holocene coral reef, Enriquillo Valley, Dominican RepublicAn extremely well-preserved Holocene fringing coral reef occurs at an average elevation of 5 m below sea level around the margins of the central Enriquillo Valley, Dominican Republic. The reef records the latest marine incursion from the east into an 85-km-long, 12-km-wide tectonic depression and appears to represent a unique preservation. Excellent cross sections of the reef exposed in erosional gullies reveal a composition and zonation typical of modern Caribbean reefs that are found in offshore low-energy environments. Radiocarbon age determinations (2) indicate that reef growth coincided with sea-level rise following the last ice age (5,930 + or - 100 to 4,760 + or - 90 yr B.P.). Deltaic deposition and possible vertical movements on active fault scarps dammed the eastern mouth of the valley and created Lago Enriquillo, the level of which was then rapidly lowered by evaporation in an arid climate to produce a saline lake approximately 40 m below sea level. Stratigraphic studies of rocks along the valley edge and data from drill holes in the basin center indicate that there were earlier post-Miocene marine incursions similar to that described here.
Document ID
19850036944
Acquisition Source
Legacy CDMS
Document Type
Reprint (Version printed in journal)
Authors
Mann, P.
(Texas, University Austin, TX; New York, State University, Albany, NY, United States)
Taylor, F. W.
(Texas, University Austin, TX, United States)
Burke, K.
(Lunar and Planetary Institute; Houston, University Houston, TX; New York, State University, Albany, NY, United States)
Kulstad, R.
(Secretaria de Estado de Industria y Comercio Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic)
Date Acquired
August 12, 2013
Publication Date
September 1, 1984
Publication Information
Publication: Geological Society of America Bulletin
Volume: 95
ISSN: 0016-7606
Subject Category
Geosciences (General)
Accession Number
85A19095
Funding Number(s)
CONTRACT_GRANT: NAG5-155
CONTRACT_GRANT: NSF EAR-81-09592
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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