Sedimentary Facies and Ecosystems in the Balearic Shelf

J. J. Fornos, L. Pomar, A. Rodriguez-Perea

Sediments of the Balearic platform are mainly carbonate with low percentages of terrigenous influx. These influences are located in littoral areas related to rushing streams. Main bioclastic components are red algae, mollusks, foraminifers, and bryozoans. Terrigenous components are mainly calcareous lithoclasts.

Productive ecosystems are built by sea grasses of Posidonia oceanica and marl. Less important are coralline Vidalia volubilis, Cymodocea nodosa, Caulerpa prolifera, and several communities of photophile algae. Each of these ecosystems is the origin of their correlated biofacies. These biofacies are medium biogenic sands, algal sands and gravels, muddy sands, and coarse terrigenous sands.

Sediment distribution is directly related to ecosystem distribution, which can be matched with depth and energy variables. Hydrodynamic circumstances are revealed by minor sedimentary structures, like wavy and current ripples, or by hectometric sand waves placed south of Minorca Island at a depth of 48 to 68 m.

Sedimentary grains are suffering from erosion and boring processes, which are produced mainly by fungi but also by sponges, polychaetes, bryozoans, and mollusks. These bioerosions are sometimes accompanied by mechanical abrasion and less frequently by chemical corrosion, and this is the principal source of carbonate mud that is transferred to the outer shelf.

AAPG Search and Discovery Article #91032©1988 Mediterranean Basins Conference and Exhibition, Nice, France, 25-28 September 1988.