During February 1986, a 0.5 km-wide by 2.0 km-long region of spectacular bottom
topography was discovered off the west coast of the northernmost island of the
Tobacco Range mangrove group, Belize. This unusual marine landscape consisted
of vertical submarine peat exposures, tilted slumping blocks of fossil peat, and long
narrow fractures. The upper edges of the exposed vertical walls were composed of a
10 to 20 cm-thick veneer of a living Thalassia testudinum community atop a 1 to 7 m thick
consolidated layer of fossil mangrove peat. This seagrass-dominated peat
surface sloped westward to its point of lowest relief ( < 1.0 m, 500 m offshore) and
contained poorly sorted sandy gravels and gravelly carbonate sands (mostly mollusc
and foraminiferan fragments) on the unfractured surfaces and muddy calcareous
peat sediments within the fracture depressions.
Member of
Contributors
Publisher
Smithsonian Institution Press
Date Issued
1995
Note
Language
Type
Genre
Form
Extent
34 p.
Subject (Topical)
Identifier
FA00007098
Additional Information
During February 1986, a 0.5 km-wide by 2.0 km-long region of spectacular bottom
topography was discovered off the west coast of the northernmost island of the
Tobacco Range mangrove group, Belize. This unusual marine landscape consisted
of vertical submarine peat exposures, tilted slumping blocks of fossil peat, and long
narrow fractures. The upper edges of the exposed vertical walls were composed of a
10 to 20 cm-thick veneer of a living Thalassia testudinum community atop a 1 to 7 m thick
consolidated layer of fossil mangrove peat. This seagrass-dominated peat
surface sloped westward to its point of lowest relief ( < 1.0 m, 500 m offshore) and
contained poorly sorted sandy gravels and gravelly carbonate sands (mostly mollusc
and foraminiferan fragments) on the unfractured surfaces and muddy calcareous
peat sediments within the fracture depressions.
topography was discovered off the west coast of the northernmost island of the
Tobacco Range mangrove group, Belize. This unusual marine landscape consisted
of vertical submarine peat exposures, tilted slumping blocks of fossil peat, and long
narrow fractures. The upper edges of the exposed vertical walls were composed of a
10 to 20 cm-thick veneer of a living Thalassia testudinum community atop a 1 to 7 m thick
consolidated layer of fossil mangrove peat. This seagrass-dominated peat
surface sloped westward to its point of lowest relief ( < 1.0 m, 500 m offshore) and
contained poorly sorted sandy gravels and gravelly carbonate sands (mostly mollusc
and foraminiferan fragments) on the unfractured surfaces and muddy calcareous
peat sediments within the fracture depressions.
Florida Atlantic University. Harbor Branch Oceanographic Institute contribution 1099
This manuscript is an author version with the final publication
available and may be cited as: Littler, M. M., Littler, D. S., MacIntyre, I. G., Brooks, B. L., Taylor, P. R., &
Lapointe, B. E. (1995). The tobacco range fracture zone: a unique system of slumped mangrove peat.
Atoll Research Bulletin 428, 1-31.
available and may be cited as: Littler, M. M., Littler, D. S., MacIntyre, I. G., Brooks, B. L., Taylor, P. R., &
Lapointe, B. E. (1995). The tobacco range fracture zone: a unique system of slumped mangrove peat.
Atoll Research Bulletin 428, 1-31.
Date Backup
1995
Date Text
1995
Date Issued (EDTF)
1995
Extension
FAU
IID
FA00007098
Person Preferred Name
Littler, Mark M.
Physical Description
34 p.
Title Plain
The tobacco range fracture zone: a unique system of slumped mangrove peat
Origin Information
1995
Smithsonian Institution Press
Washington
Place
Washington
Title
The tobacco range fracture zone: a unique system of slumped mangrove peat
Other Title Info
The tobacco range fracture zone: a unique system of slumped mangrove peat