Calcium Carbonate Size Distribution on the West Florida Shelf and Experimental Studies on the Microarchitectural Control of Skeletal Breakdown

Abstract

ABSTRACT Mollusks tend to break down mechanically to three basic microarchitectural units: layers (500-250µ), sublayers (32-4µ), and unit crystals (0.5-.125µ). In natural environments the size distribution of carbonate in sediments differs from that produced artificially because of selective dispersal by waves and tidal currents. In the inner continental shelf off west Florida, the particles smaller than 500µ, produced mainly in the wave zone, tend to accumulate on the outer shelf and in the lagoons. The breaker zone contains most of the coarser particles.