Carbonate Sediments and Reefs, Yucatan Shelf, Mexico and Other Papers on Florida and British Honduras and Tectonic Relations of Northern Central America and the Western Caribbean—The Bonacca Expedition
This book is divided into three sections: Carbonate Sediments and Reefs, Yucatan Shelf Mexico; Tectonic Relations of Northern Central America and the Western Caribbean—Bonacca Expedition; and Other Papers on Florida and British Honduras. Although either the Yucatan section or the Bonacca Expedition papers are complete alone, together they provide a more comprehensive and valuable treatment of the geology of the Yucatan shelf-Caribbean area. The subjects discussed in the two sections include Quaternary and recent sediments in the shelf areas, coral reefs and banks, bathymetry, and structural relations. The manuscript on faunas of British Honduras reef tracts and barrier lagoons is very closely related to both of the previously described papers, and thus adds to their completeness. These combined papers are a natural sequel to two earlier AAPG publications on marine geology. The crystalline basement rocks of Florida paper presents some original data on a related area and broadens the scope of the book.
Introduction
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Published:January 01, 1969
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CiteCitation
Alexander R. McBirney, 1969. "Introduction", Carbonate Sediments and Reefs, Yucatan Shelf, Mexico and Other Papers on Florida and British Honduras and Tectonic Relations of Northern Central America and the Western Caribbean—The Bonacca Expedition, Brain W. Logan, Manuel N. Bass, Donald E. Cebulski, Alexander R. McBirney
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Abstrack
In Central America and the Antilles are two of the major tectonic belts of the western hemisphere—the Antillean system, extending from Cuba through the islands of the eastern Caribbean to Venezuela, and the Central American system, following the Pacific Coast from northern Guatemala to Panama. Despite superficial differences, the two regions have much in common. Both have all the principal elements of island-arc systems: laterally migrating chains of andesitic volcanoes with parallel trenches; zones of seismic activity; gravity anomalies; and broad, low back- lands. These two tectonic belts are adjacent, together encompassing a region of about 3 million sq km.
Geologists working in one or the other of the two systems have tended to treat each as a separate entity divorced from the influence of the other. When the interpretations of the two regions are juxtaposed, inexplicable geologic anomalies result. The task of integrating Caribbean and Central American geology will be insurmountable until detailed studies are completed in those areas which are important in the interpretation of both systems. No region is better suited for such a study than the northwestern Caribbean and adjacent parts of Guatemala and northern Honduras where the Bartlett Trough impinges upon the mainland.