See discussions, stats, and author profiles for this publication at: https://www.researchgate.

net/publication/264844775

Complex Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of an Inner Shelf Shoal and Nearshore

along the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, USA

Article · December 2008

CITATIONS READS

0 50

3 authors, including:

Amy Spaziani Baozhu Liu

Berry Petroleum Louisiana State University
5 PUBLICATIONS   16 CITATIONS    14 PUBLICATIONS   391 CITATIONS   

SEE PROFILE SEE PROFILE

Some of the authors of this publication are also working on these related projects:

NE Gulf of Mexico Thesis View project

Wave-bottom interaction and bottom boundary layer dynamics in evaluating sand mining at Sabine Bank for coastal restoration, southwest Louisiana.
U.S. Department of the Interior, Bureau of Ocean Energy Management View project

All content following this page was uploaded by Amy Spaziani on 16 February 2016.

The user has requested enhancement of the downloaded file.

 Complex Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of an Inner Shelf Shoal
and Nearshore along the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, USA

Amy L. Spaziani1,2, Gregory W. Stone1,2, and Baozhu Liu2

1
Department of Oceanography and Coastal Sciences, Louisiana State University,
218A Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803
2
Coastal Studies Institute, Louisiana State University,
216 Howe-Russell Geoscience Complex, Baton Rouge, Louisiana 70803

EXTENDED ABSTRACT

The inner shelf and nearshore region of the northeast Gulf of Mexico (GOM) has
been well documented as a massive sheet sand known as the Mississippi-Alabama-
Florida (MAFLA) sand sheet (Doyle and Sparks, 1980). This transgressive deposit is
believed to be homogeneous throughout the region, is a result of re-worked sediment
during the latest transgression (Ludwick, 1964), and is economically important in terms
of borrow sources for beach/barrier island restoration projects. While many studies of
sediment stratigraphy, sedimentology, and lithology offshore exist around the Apalachi-
cola region and from Pensacola west to Louisiana, few papers have documented the sedi-
ments and stratigraphy offshore the central Florida Panhandle. Hyne and Goodell
(1967) interpreted shallow stratigraphy (the uppermost portion of the MAFLA unit) of
two inner shelf shoals off Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida (Fig. 1). However, the relation-
ship of the MAFLA deposit to earlier, late Quaternary deposits is of interest, in particu-
lar to beach restoration projects. In addition, the decreased rate of sea level rise
(approximately the last 3000 yr) due to tectonic stability of the region has fostered an
interest in the effects of modern hydrodynamics on the MAFLA and other late Quater-
nary deposits offshore. Therefore, the objectives of this study are to (1) delineate the
sedimentary units and lateral facies relationships of the inner shelf and nearshore,
(2) interpret the geologic history and depositional environments during the late Quater-
nary, and (3) to evaluate the modern seafloor topography and sedimentology, due to
effects of sea level and modern hydrodynamics. It is proposed that the stratigraphy and
sedimentology of this region is a product of transgressive processes during the last sea
level rise and modern hydrodynamics, particularly those during storms.
This study utilizes approximately 1100 km (~684 mi) of sub-bottom seismic profiles
along the inner shelf shoal and nearshore. The seismic profiles are high resolution
CHIRP and ORE Geopulse “boomer” profiles. In addition, 257 vibracores were col-
lected on separate cruises from the shoal and nearshore. The cores are approximately 5-
6 m (~16-20 ft) in length and were split longitudinally, logged and photographed.
Bathymetry was obtained during all cruises (seismic and coring) and integrated with
bathymetry from the National Geophysical Data Center. The cores were sampled at 46
cm (1.5 ft) intervals for granulometric analysis. Granulometry was performed by dry
sieving using the GilSonic AutoSiever GA-6 Model. Granulometry was calculated ac-
cording to Folk and Ward (1957). Percent carbonate was determined by acid digestion

Spaziani, A. L., G. W. Stone, and B. Liu, 2009, Complex stratigraphy and sedimentology of an inner shelf shoal and near-
shore along the northeastern Gulf of Mexico, USA: Gulf Coast Association of Geological Societies Transactions, v. 59,
p. 719-722.

719
 Spaziani et al.

Figure 1. Complex bathymetry of the study area in the northeastern GOM. 1 m = ~3.28 ft, and 1 km =
~0.62 mi.

of selected samples. Sixty samples of wood and peat material were extracted at different
locations from 45 different cores. Five samples of in situ peat material from two differ-
ent cores were radiometrically dated.
Preliminary results indicate that the region is characterized by three major units
(two reflectors) in seismic profiles and by six sub-units delineated in core stratigraphy
five of which can be seen in Figure 2. The bottommost unit, unit 1a, of the core is char-
acterized by an oxidized and dark brown, silty clay deposit often heavily bedded with
peat and wood. Samples from this unit yield results of ages of 25,290 radiocarbon yrs
BP and older. The top of unit 1 is in good agreement with a fairly prominent reflector in
seismic profiles. Unit 1 is overlain by poorly to a moderately sorted unit of clayey silt
and sand, characterized by burrowing, wood and peat, and shell material. Unit 2 grades
upward into a muddy sand (unit 3), with mud filled burrows, and occasionally thin lay-
ers of silt and sand, and grades into unit 4, a lighter colored, better sorted, although
slightly finer sand with abundant shell. Unit 4 is overlain by the topmost unit, 5, a white,
well sorted, medium to coarse, quartz sand with some shells, and is at least 0.5 to 2.0 m
(~1.6-6.6 ft) in cores, representing the largest unit sampled by thickness. In many cores,
especially the eastern nearshore cores, a massive unit of carbonate cemented sediments
(unit 1b) replaces unit 1a, and sometimes unit 2, at the base of the core.
A preliminary investigation of the cores indicates that the bottommost unit is of
Pleistocene age, from the characteristics of the deposit and radiocarbon ages of in situ
peat material. This material is indicative of subaerial exposure during the last major
lowstand in sea level. Units 2 and 3 indicate lagoon or bay environments deposited dur-
ing the initial rise in sea level, post-lowstand. Unit 4 is interpreted as a beach deposit,
and Unit 5 is interpreted as the MAFLA sand sheet, both deposited during the last rapid

(FACING PAGE) Figure 2. Photograph and stratigraphic units of a core from the nearshore, with
radiocarbon ages. Units are labeled with numbers as discussed in the text.

720
Complex Stratigraphy and Sedimentology of an Inner Shelf Shoal and Nearshore along the Northeastern Gulf of Mexico

721
 Spaziani et al.

rise in sea level. These units are in good agreement with the findings of McBride (1997),
and McBride et al. (1999, 2004) in the sub-bottom stratigraphy of the inner shelf off-
shore of Pensacola, Perdido, and Mobile bays (western Florida and Alabama). Ongoing
investigations continue focusing on the sedimentology and the integration of seismic,
core, and granulometric data, with the goal of interpreting the geologic history of the
late Quaternary and formation of the inner shelf and nearshore stratigraphy.

REFERENCES CITED

Doyle, L. J., and T. N. Sparks, 1980, Sediments of the Mississippi, Alabama, and Florida (MAFLA) continental shelf:
Journal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 50, p. 915-905.

Folk, R. L., and W. C. Ward, 1957, Brazos River bar [Texas]; a study in the significance of grain size parameters: Jour-
nal of Sedimentary Petrology, v. 27, p. 3-26.

Hyne, N. J., and H. G. Goodell, 1967, Origin of the sediments and submarine geomorphology of the inner continental
shelf off Choctawhatchee Bay, Florida: Marine Geology, v. 5, p. 299-313.

Ludwick, J. C., 1964, Sediments in northeastern Gulf of Mexico, in R. L. Miller, ed., Papers in marine geology: Mac-
millan Co., New York, p. 204-238.

McBride, R. A., 1997, Seafloor morphology, geologic framework, and sedimentary processes of a sand-rich shelf off-
shore Alabama and northwest Florida: Northeastern Gulf of Mexico: Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge,
509 p.

McBride, R. A., L. C. Anderson, A. Tudoran, and H. H. Roberts, 1999, Holocene stratigraphic architecture of a sand-
rich shelf and the origin of linear shoals: Northeastern Gulf of Mexico, in K. M. Bergman, ed., Isolated shallow
marine sand bodies; sequence stratigraphic analysis and sedimentologic interpretation: Society of Economic Pale-
ontologists and Mineralogists Special Publication 64, Tulsa, Oklahoma, p. 95-126.

McBride, R. A., T. F. Moslow, H. H. Roberts, and R. J. Diecchio, 2004, Late Quaternary geology of the northeastern
Gulf of Mexico shelf; sedimentology, depositional history, and ancient analogs of a major shelf sand sheet of the
modern transgressive systems tract, in J. B. Anderson, and R. H. Fillon, eds., Late Quaternary stratigraphic evolu-
tion of the northern Gulf of Mexico margin: Society for Sedimentary Geology Special Publication 79, Tulsa,
Oklahoma, p. 55.

722

View publication stats