Search USGS⌕ Search
Home/Archive/USGS

USGS · 70016509

Terraces on the Florida escarpment: Implications for erosional processes

D.C. Twichell·C. K. Paull·L.M. Parson
View original source ↗Export metadata ↓

Abstract

SeaBeam bathymetric data and GLORIA (Geologic LOng-Range Inclined Asdic) sidescan sonar images of a 175-km-long section of the Florida escarpment in the eastern Guff of Mexico show that this carbonate escarpment has been eroded since its initial formation, but its morphology suggests that erosional processes have not acted uniformly on the escarpment. Parts of the escarpment are notched by box canyons that have extremely steep headwalls and may be sites off active ground-water sapping. The intercanyon areas commonly have previously unrecognized terraces below 2600 m. Above 2600 m, the escarpment is steeper and has no terraces. The terraces may reflect differences in platform strata exposed at the escarpment that are responding differently to erosional processes.

Explore related subjects

GeologyArticle
90° N90° S · 180° W ← longitude → 180° E
Source-reported bounding extent: 25.005972656239187° to 29.907329376851553° latitude; -83.968505859375° to -79.47509765625° longitude. This indicates report coverage, not an exact sampling location. View area on OpenStreetMap.

Keep this discovery

Explore connections, maps & timelines

BibTeXRIS

D.C. Twichell, C. K. Paull, L.M. Parson. 1991. Terraces on the Florida escarpment: Implications for erosional processes. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(1991)019%3C0897%3Atotfei%3E2.3.co%3B2

Cite the original work for its findings. Save a collection to share your selection of sources.

KEEP EXPLORING

Related USGS reports

USGS2026

Zircon petrochronology fingerprints mantle sources of magmatic rare earth element deposits

The mantle sources of carbonatite and alkaline magmatic systems that host rare earth element (REE) deposits are difficult to constrain because whole-rock compositions are commonly altered. Alteration-resistant zircon trace-element compositions are used to fingerprint mantle sources at Mountain Pass, California, the largest REE deposit in the United States, and extend this approach to a global carbonatite−alkaline rock dataset. Autocrystic zircon samples from the Mountain Pass intrusive suite record subduction-like U-Sc-Nb-Yb compositions, oxidized fO2 (0.8−2.4 relative to fayalite-magnetite-quartz buffer [ΔFMQ]), and Ti-in-zircon temperatures up to ∼970 °C, indicating a lithospheric mantle source enriched and oxidized by Paleoproterozoic subduction and subsequently tapped during Mesoproterozoic postcollisional lithospheric thinning. This contrasts with the ocean island basalt−like enriched mantle recorded by Mesoproterozoic zircon from the Bayan Obo carbonatite complex, China, demonstrating that world-class REE deposits of comparable age can reflect fundamentally different mantle sources. New classifiers separate subduction-metasomatized from non-subduction-enriched mantle domains with ∼90% accuracy, providing a zircon-based tool for fingerprinting the mantle source regions of magmatic REE deposits.

Geology↗
USGS2026

Deformed submarine terraces in Puget Sound, Pacific Northwest, indicate only one M >~7.5 earthquake on the Seattle fault zone in the past 11,000 yr

Submerged marine terraces in Puget Sound, deformed across the Seattle fault zone (SFZ), indicate that only one earthquake as large as M~7.5 has occurred in at least the past 11 kyr. Previous paleoseismic studies document a M~7.5 earthquake between 923–4 CE, which uplifted coastal marine terraces by as much as 8 m. We demonstrate that this earthquake was the only such event since ~11 ka by mapping and quantifying deformation of older marine terraces, now submerged in Puget Sound. The submerged terraces, attributed to a late-glacial sea-level lowstand, record both glacial isostatic rebound and tectonic deformation. Vertical offset of the ~11 ka terraces within the SFZ is comparable to that of the marine terraces uplifted in 923 CE, implying no additional large (M>~7.5) earthquake on the SFZ since ~11 ka. This result implies a longer recurrence interval than current hazard estimates, which assumes recurrence of M>7.1 events every 5 kyr. Our mapping of SFZ deformation since ~11 ka also supports fault segmentation and contiguous block uplift between the Seattle and Tacoma fault zones.

Washington↗
USGS2025

Widespread anhydrite saturation in Laramide-age arc magmas of southwestern USA

Anhydrite is considered a rare mineral phase in magmas, with only ∼33 documented occurrences worldwide. However, anhydrite readily decomposes in the near-surface environment, making it difficult to recognize its former presence in rocks collected at or near Earth’s surface. In such samples, only small anhydrite inclusions fully shielded within other minerals can have survived. During a recent field trip to the southwestern USA, we sampled 17 Laramide-age (ca. 40−80 Ma) magma systems, most of which are associated with porphyry copper deposits. A systematic search for anhydrite inclusions preserved within apatite, amphibole, plagioclase, and quartz phenocrysts in ∼100 rock samples by optical microscopy and Raman spectroscopy revealed that each of these 17 magma systems was at least temporarily anhydrite-saturated. Also, most previously identified magmatic anhydrite-bearing intrusions are associated with porphyry copper deposits, and both intrusive and volcanic rocks containing magmatic anhydrite show high Sr/Y ratios. These observations suggest that anhydrite saturation and porphyry copper formation are linked via magma fractionation at high pressure. Compared to average arc magmas, anhydrite-bearing magmas are unusually oxidized and sulfur-rich and seem to also be unusually water-rich. Hence, our preferred interpretation is that magma generation and/or fractionation at high pressure promotes the formation of superhydrous and oxidized magmas, which in turn promotes high sulfur contents and ultimately the precipitation of anhydrite. The high mineralization potential of these magmas does not need to result from their high sulfur content but could be caused by other properties of high-pressure magmas.

Arizona, New Mexico↗