Project Details
Projekt
Geomorphology of the Belize Barrier Reef margin: a survey for IODP drilling
Applicant
Professor Dr. Eberhard Gischler
Subject Area
Geology
Term
from 2019 to 2024
Project identifier
Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 428310421
Post-glacial reef successions including sea-level data were obtained from cores and outcrops in the Indo-Pacific (Huon Peninsula, Vanuatu), including IODP drilling (Tahiti, Great Barrier Reef). In the Atlantic, there is only one comparable record from offshore Barbados, eastern Caribbean. The Barbados core data are extremely valuable, however, there are also limitations and challenges. The cores were not rigorously investigated regarding sedimentology, paleoecology, and taphonomy, and there are apparent differences to IODP-based data (evidence of meltwater pulse 1B), the timing and height of sea level during the last glacial maximum (LGM), the mismatch with regional Holocene sea-level curves, and the apparent lack of microbialites. Therefore, it is planned to obtain post-glacial reef sections by coring in the western Caribbean, which would provide valuable comparisons with the existing eastern Caribbean and the Indo-Pacific records. The barrier and atoll reef system offshore Belize is the largest modern tropical reef complex in the Atlantic Ocean, and well-suited for this purpose, and has not been exploited yet in this context. Whereas late Quaternary reefs on top of the platforms, deposited largely during sea-level highstands (Holocene and marine isotope stage 5) are well-studied, deposits from lower highstands and sea-level lowstands were never investigated. The latter deposits including those from the last post-glacial can be recovered by drilling in fore-reef areas along the 250 km-long barrier reef. During the first phase of the project, highly resolved bathymetrical data (multibeam) with GPS-control as well as limited seismic data from the fore reef of the Belize Barrier Reef have been collected during May 2022. A Magellan+ workshop was organized and held in Frankfurt in July 2022 with 22 international scientists. The outcome was the submission of a preproposal to IODP (together with 16 co-proponents), which was recommended in July 2023 to be developed into a full IODP proposal. Two major issues have to be resolved though, including (1) collection of more and better-quality seismic data in the three selected drill areas and (2) inclusion of a Belizean scientist. To achieve these goals, another trip to Belize is planned including a second site-survey and personal visits with Belizean government officials, offices, organizations, and the local university. Following the trip to Belize, a full proposal to IODP will be written in close collaboration with the co-proponents and submitted to IODP before the early October 2024 deadline.
DFG Programme
Infrastructure Priority Programmes
International Connection
Canada, Switzerland
Cooperation Partners
Professor Dr. Flavio Anselmetti; Dr. Stefano Fabbri
