Facies and faunal assemblage changes in response to the Holocene transgression in the Lagoon of Mayotte (Comoro Archipelago, SW Indian Ocean)

Abstract

This paper documents the facies change in response to the Holocene transgression within five sediment cores taken in the lagoon of Mayotte, which contain a Type-1 depositional sequence (lowstand, transgressive and highstand deposits underlain by an erosive sequence boundary). Quantitative compositional analysis and visual examination of the bioclasts were used to document the facies changes. The distribution of the skeletal and nonskeletal grains in the lagoon of Mayotte is clearly controlled by (1) the rate and amplitude of the Holocene sealevel rise, (2) the pre-Holocene basement topography and (3) the growth-potential of the barrier reef during sea-level rise, and the changes in bathymetry and continuity during this period. The sequence boundary consists of the glacial karst surface. The change-over from the glacial lowstand is marked by the occurrence of mangrove deposits. Terrigenous and/or mixed terrigenous-carbonate muds to sandy muds with a mollusc or mollusc-ostracod assemblage dominate the transgressive deposits. Mixed carbonate-siliciclastic or carbonate sand to gravel with a mollusc-foraminifer or mollusc-coral-foraminifer assemblage characterize the early highstand deposits on the inner lagoonal plains. The early highstand deposits in the outer lagoonal plains consist of carbonate muds with a mollusc-foraminifer assemblage. Late highstand deposits consist of terrigenous muds in the nearshore bays, mixed terrigenous-carbonate sandy muds to sands with a mollusc-foraminifer assemblage on the inner lagoonal plains and mixed muds with a mollusc-foraminifer assemblage on the outer deep lagoonal plains. The present development stage of the individual lagoons comprises semi-enclosed to open lagoons with fair or good water exchange with the open ocean.

Anatomy of the Holocene inundation of an isolated carbonate platform: Bermuda North Lagoon, western Atlantic

“…Usually, successions are incomplete and interrupted by hiatuses where the missing sequences were either not deposited or eroded. Similar observations were made in other Holocene lagoons of atolls (Gischler, ; Klostermann & Gischler, ) and isolated barrier reef systems (Isaack et al., ; Zinke, Reijmer, Thomassin, Dullo, et al., ; Zinke et al., ). Especially in the early Holocene deposits, there are usually lag times of up to 2 kyr between the first marine carbonate sediments and underlying mangrove peat deposits suggesting that a certain amount of time is necessary until the marine carbonate factory has been fully established (Isaack et al., ; Kim, Fouke, Quinn, Kerans, & Taylor, ; Klostermann & Gischler, ; Schultz et al., ; Tipper, ).…”

“…Only a few studies have combined coring and shallow seismics to reconstruct atoll-like and oceanic barrier reef development during the Holocene. They include Heron Reef, Australia (Smith, Frankel, & Jell, 1998), Mayotte, Indian Ocean (Zinke, Reijmer, Taviani, Dullo, & Thomassin, 2005;Zinke, Reijmer, & Thomassin, 2001, 2003Zinke, Reijmer, Thomassin, Dullo, et al, 2003), as well as Bora Bora (Isaack et al, 2016) and Tahaa (Toomey, Woodruff, Donnelly, Ashton, & Perron, 2016;Toomey et al, 2013), French Polynesia. All these examples of combined core-seismic approaches stem from the Indo-Pacific realm, where transgressive-regressive sea-level development dominated in the Holocene.…”

Sedimentation on Rasdhoo and Ari Atolls, Maldives, Indian Ocean

“…Major reef areas studied with regard to modern sediments in the tropical Pacific include the Great Barrier Reef (Maxwell 1968) and a number of Pacific atolls such as, e.g., Pearl and Hermes (Thorp 1936), Bikini (Emery et al 1954), Raroia (Newell 1956), Johnston (Emery 1956), Kapingamarangi (McKee et al 1959), Kure and Midway (Gross et al 1969), Suwarrow (Tudhope et al 1985), and Mataiva and Takapoto (Adjas et al 1990). In the Indian Ocean, modern reef and platform sediments were investigated in the Seychelles (Lewis 1969), Lakhsadweep (Mallik 1976), La Réunion (Gabrié and Montaggioni 1982), Cocos Keeling (Smithers et al 1992), and Mayotte (Zinke et al 2005). Modern reef and platform sediments from these settings are dominated by skeletal grains derived largely from corals, calcareous algae, mollusks, and foraminifera, as well as non-skeletal grains such as ooids, aggregates, and cemented fecal pellets.…”

A Re‐Evaluation of Facies on Great Bahama Bank I: New Facies Maps of Western Great Bahama Bank

“…Other carbonate platform lagoons such as those from Mayotte in the Indian Ocean (Zinke et al, 2001(Zinke et al, , 2003a, show a facies distribution pattern that is clearly infl uenced by the interplay of the antecedent topography and the rate of the Holocene sea-level rise (Zinke et al, 2003b(Zinke et al, , 2005. The rate with which the former topography was fl ooded determined the development of a current pattern within the lagoon and thus steered the facies distribution.…”