Coastal lagoons as archives of event deposits, Belize, Caribbean Sea

Applicant Professor Dr. Eberhard Gischler
Subject Area Palaeontology
Term from 2010 to 2016
Project identifier Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 181603219
 

Final Report

Final Report Year 2016

Final Report Abstract

Five principal sedimentary facies may be distinguished in coastal environments of Belize, including mud, sand, peat, shell concentrations, and soil. Facies boundaries indicate retrogradation during the Holocene sea-level rise. Facies distribution is characterized by strong heterogeneity. Eighteen sedimentary events were detected that presumably represent storm landfalls. They include shell concentrations, landward thinning sand beds including hiatus, and corals within brackish lagoon sediments (overwash). Comparison with existing local and regional storm records reveals both correlations and discrepancies. Likewise, it is difficult to detect the influence of climate variation and the land-use of the Maya civilization on the sedimentary successions investigated.

Publications

DFG Programme Research Grants
International Connection USA
Participating Persons Professor Robert Ginsburg, Ph.D.; Professor Dr. Wolfgang Oschmann; Dr. Rainer Petschick