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Biogenic coastal deposits: Isla del Carmen, Gulf of California, Mexico

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Abstract

Coastal sedimentary deposits including beach and dunes within the south-central region of the Gulf of California show a high percentage of biogenic components, up to 84%, derived from the fragmentation of organisms that, among other oceanographic factors, reflect wave energy and effect of seasonal winds. Our report shows that due to high-energy waves, coastal deposits on points or islands with a northern exposure contain massive biocalcarenite deposits derived from mollusk shells, while areas of lower water energy located on coastal areas facing east or west commonly accumulate the crushed debris of coralline red algae, both as beach and dune deposits. Sheltered areas along any point or island oriented to the south will most likely attract colonization by coral reefs. Isla del Carmen clearly displays all these different types of biogenic deposits, making it an ideal model for the development of coastal carbonates throughout the western Gulf of California. Equally important, the general model has been persistent since early Pliocene times for the whole region. In particular for Isla del Carmen, this scenario precludes any tectonic block rotation, postulated in previous reports.

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Acknowledgments

Participation by Carreño and Ledesma-Vázquez was supported by a grant from the Universidad Autonoma de Mèxico PAIIT IN102211. Additional support to Ledesma-Vázquez and Guardado-France was provided by the 14 Convocatoria Interna from the Universidad Autónoma de Baja California. Critical comments from Markes E. Johnson and David Backus from the Geoscience Department at Williams College helped to improve the manuscript. We would also like to thank them for the many years of joint teamwork in the region. As always, logistic support was generously provided by Leon Fichman of Baja Outpost in Loreto, Baja California Sur, Mexico. Permits to work on the area were issued by the Parque Nacional Bahia de Loreto.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Facultad de Ciencias Marina, Universidad Autónoma de Baja California, Ensenada, 22800, Baja California, Mexico

    Jorge Ledesma-Vázquez & Rigoberto Guardado-France

  2. Instituto de Geología, Universidad Autónoma de México, México, D.F., Mexico

    Ana Luisa Carreño

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  1. Jorge Ledesma-Vázquez
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  2. Ana Luisa Carreño
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  3. Rigoberto Guardado-France
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Correspondence to Jorge Ledesma-Vázquez.

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Ledesma-Vázquez, J., Carreño, A.L. & Guardado-France, R. Biogenic coastal deposits: Isla del Carmen, Gulf of California, Mexico. Facies 58, 169–178 (2012). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10347-011-0277-x

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