Current and sea level control the demise of shallow carbonate production on a tropical bank (Saya de Malha Bank, Indian Ocean)
Metadatos
Mostrar el registro completo del ítemEditorial
The Geological Society of America
Fecha
2021-07-30Referencia bibliográfica
Betzler, C... [et al.], 2021, Current and sea level control the demise of shallow carbonate production on a tropical bank (Saya de Malha Bank, Indian Ocean): Geology, v. 49, p. 1431–1435, [https://doi.org/10.1130/G49090.1]
Patrocinador
Federal Ministry of Education & Research (BMBF) 03G0270A 03G0270BResumen
Carbonate platforms are built mainly by corals living in shallow light-saturated tropical
waters. The Saya de Malha Bank (Indian Ocean), one of the world’s largest carbonate platforms,
lies in the path of the South Equatorial Current. Its reefs do not reach sea level, and
all carbonate production is mesophotic to oligophotic. New geological and oceanographic
data unravel the evolution and environment of the bank, elucidating the factors determining
this exceptional state. There are no nutrient-related limitations for coral growth. A switch
from a rimmed atoll to a current-exposed system with only mesophotic coral growth is proposed
to have followed the South Equatorial Current development during the late Neogene.
Combined current activity and sea-level fluctuations are likely controlling factors of modern
platform configuration.