Carbonate platform
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A carbonate platform is a geologic structure composed of carbonate sediments that have accumulated and lithified over a long period of time. Their tops are typically in shallow water, though the total thickness of rock may be considerable; the carbonates of the Bahama Banks can be traced down to a depth of at least 8,000 meters.[link]
The Bahama Banks are the most well-known carbonate platforms; the Yucatán Peninsula is another. Even the Florida Peninsula is a carbonate plaform, albeit one no longer submerged.[link]
Depositional Environment
Carbonate platforms are today restricted to warm, shallow, tropical ocean waters, which are favorable for carbonate-secreting organisms.(Pinet 94) They are also limited to regions where the influx of terrestrial sediment (e.g., mud and silt from rivers) is minimal; murky water limits the growth of plankton, as well as dilutes any sediments that are deposited.(Pinet 94)See also
References:
- Pinet, Paul R. Invitation to Oceanography. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1996. ISBN 0314063390
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