SEQUENCE STRATIGRAPHY OF A SOUTH FLORIDA CARBONATE RAMP AND BOUNDING SILICICLASTICS (LATE MIOCENE-PLIOCENE)

INTRODUCTION

Until the early 1990's, stratigraphic investigations of Miocene-Pliocene siliciclastics and carbonates beneath southern Florida focused on lithostratigraphy (Peck et al., 1979; Wedderburn et al., 1982; Peacock, 1983; Missimer, 1984; Knapp et al., 1986; Scott, 1988; Smith and Adams, 1988; Missimer, 1992). Recently, sequence stratigraphy has contributed to conceptualizing a more accurate spatial and temporal framework of the Miocene-Pliocene stratigraphic framework of southern Florida (Evans and Hine, 1991; Warzeski et al., 1996; Missimer, 1997; Cunningham et al., 1998; Guertin et al., 1999; Missimer, 1999; Guertin et al., 2000). This developing sequence-stratigraphic framework for southern Florida is the result of integrating lithostratigraphy, micropaleontology, magnetostratigraphy, strontium-isotope chemostratigraphy, and seismic stratigraphy along with delineating unconformities that bound depositional sequences (Missimer, 1997; Weedman et al., 1997; Cunningham et al., 1998; Edwards et al., 1998; Guertin, 1998; Missimer, 1999; Weedman et al., 1999). The purpose of this study is to integrate new lithologic and paleontologic data with established subsurface data to more accurately describe the regional lithostratigraphic and sequence-stratigraphic framework of the Miocene-Pliocene siliciclastics and carbonates of southern Florida. Correlating these data will improve understanding of the regional stratigraphic framework and constrain time boundaries for depositional sequences.