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A study of carbonate beach sands from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: a case study

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Abstract

Sedimentological, geochemical, and X-ray diffraction (XRD) analyses in addition to the determination of biogenic fraction components (BFC) were performed in mollusk shells from carbonate beach samples collected on the northern coast of the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico. The most abundant components of the BFC were bivalves and gastropods shells, ranging from 88.1 to 99.2 % and from 0.1 to 6.0 %, respectively, followed by minor percentages of foraminifera, coral fragments, bryozoa, oolites, spicules, and ostracods. A combination of major element, trace element, and XRD techniques were performed to show how the Mg/Ca and Mg/Sr ratios determine the possibility of a recrystallization process in bivalves and gastropods, which may be attributed to early diagenetic mechanisms caused by groundwater flows, subaerial exposure, high evaporation rates, and neomorphism. The rare earth element analyses gave the average anomalies for the following ratios (Pr/Yb)PAAS and MuQ ratio > 1, (Eu/Eu*)PAAS and MuQ and (Ce/Ce*)PAAS and MuQ < 1, suggesting little incorporation of sea water in the BFC of the shells from the Yucatan beach sands. This is also supported by the flat pattern trends of bivalves and gastropods based on the normalized patterns of light rare earth element compared to heavy rare earth element concentrations. This paper is also a contribution to the methodology of analysis of carbonate sands, i.e., whole bulk composition isolation into their main biogenic components and the accumulation of major, trace, and rare earth elements deposited into their shells, initially under subaquatic marine conditions and currently exposed to subaerial coastal influences based on the allochthonous character of the shells.

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Acknowledgments

We are grateful to Dr. Ofelia Morton-Bermea, Elizabeth Hernández-Alvarez, Rufino Lozano-SantaCruz, Patricia Girón-García, and Dr. Teresa Pi-I-Puig, for the geochemical and X-diffraction analysis. This research was supported by the Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, UNAM (109), and by the SEP-Conacyt 238457 and PAPIIT (IA101213) Projects. We thank Mr. Patrick Bennett Weill for English language review. All authors are grateful to the Editor and three anonymous reviewers for the comments and corrections made to improve this paper.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Instituto de Ciencias del Mar y Limnología, Unidad de Procesos Oceánicos y Costeros, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, 04510, México, D.F., Mexico

    J. J. Kasper-Zubillaga & J. S. Armstrong-Altrin

  2. Facultad de Ciencias, Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México, Circuito Exterior s/n, 04510, México, D.F., Mexico

    E. Arellano-Torres

  3. Nucleo de Estudos Geoquímicos e Laboratório de Isótopos Estáveis (NEG - LABISE), Departmento de Geologia, Universidade Federal de Pernambuco, Caixa Posta 7852, Recife, PE, 50670-000, Brazil

    A. N. Sial

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  1. J. J. Kasper-Zubillaga
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Kasper-Zubillaga, J.J., Arellano-Torres, E., Armstrong-Altrin, J.S. et al. A study of carbonate beach sands from the Yucatan Peninsula, Mexico: a case study. Carbonates Evaporites 32, 1–12 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13146-015-0283-0

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