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USGS · 70018960

A giant sediment trap in the Florida keys

E.A. Shinn·C. D. Reich·S. D. Locker·A. C. Hine
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Abstract

Aerial photography, high-resolution seismic profiling, coring and jet probing have revealed a large sediment-filled sinkhole in the Key Largo National Marine Sanctuary off Key Largo, Florida. The 600-m-diameter feature straddles coral reef and carbonate-sand facies and contains >55 m of marine lime sand and aragonite mud. Bulk 14C age determinations of mud from a 30- m sediment core indicate infilling rates exceeding 20 m/ka between 3 and 5.6 ka. The total thickness and nature of the sediment near the base of the sinkhole are not known.

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E.A. Shinn, C. D. Reich, S. D. Locker, A. C. Hine. 1996. A giant sediment trap in the Florida keys. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70018960

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