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Miami Geological Society Publications ATLAS of Structural Evolution and Facies Development on the Florida - Bahama Platform - Triassic Through PaleoceneBy George O. Winston ABSTRACT The Triassic through Paleocene lithology presented in this paper is based entirely on my top-to-bottom examination of drill cuttings from 161 wells on the Florida-Bahama Platform. As used herein, the Florida-Bahama Platform encompasses all of Florida on and offshore, the Blake Plateau, Great and Little Bahama Banks including channels and straits, and northern Cuba. From the Upper Jurassic through Paleocene, three different structural regimes formed through time. During the Upper Jurassic-Coahuilan, the Northwestern Sedimentary Province contained the Middle Ground Arch separating the Tampa Basin from the DeSoto Salt Basin to the north. The Southeastern Sedimentary Province, which was separated from the Northwestern Province by the Sarasota and Peninsular Arches, contained no definable basins at that time. During the Comanchean, this Province developed into the South Florida, Bahama and Blake Plateau basins, separated respectively by the Cay Sal Arch and the Little Bahama High. Early in the Gulfian these basins were radically modified by tectonic activity centered in Cuba. From the Upper Jurassic through the Comanchean, the continental margin of the Platform was occupied by a carbonate complex that restricted marine circulation in much of the area. In the Southeastern Sedimentary Province, this barrier caused the deposition of lagoonal carbonates and anhydrites. Deposition of these rock types ended at the close of the Comanchean with the break-up of the Florida-Bahama Platform and the destruction of the carbonate complex. Early in the Gulfian,
the rapid subsidence of the Blake Plateau basin to bathyal depths and the
collapse of the Florida Straits accompanied tectonic activity in Cuba. Also
in the early Gulfian, the Rebecca Shoal barrier reef appeared on the upthrown
northern side of the Straits. By the end of the Gulfian the reef had expanded
to encircle the Florida peninsula, causing deposition of the Cedar Keys
(Paleocene) lagoonal dolomite and anhydrite. (The entire report is available below)
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30 September, 2003 @ 09:44 AM
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