Physical Sciences and Mathematics Commons^™

Sedimentological And Foraminiferal Characterization Of A Holocene Island Slope (130-240m), North Jamaica, Craig V. Nelson

All Graduate Theses and Dissertations, Spring 1920 to Summer 2023

Recent carbonate sediments from (133-236m) on the northern Jamaican island slope are significantly different from shallower reef zones (l-70m) in grain constituents, textural parameters, and foraminiferal assemblages. The island slope sediment is dominated by coral fragments, calcareous algae, Halimeda plates, and foraminiferal tests. The sediment is characteristically poorly-sorted, nearly-symmetrically skewed, and mesokurtic, with a mean grain size in the fine sand range. Mineralogically, the sediment is predominantly aragonite (66%) and high-Mg calcite (22%), with some calcite (8%), and minor amounts of clays and other insoluble minerals (4%).

Q-mode cluster analyses of sediment constituents, textural parameters, and foraminiferal species and larger …