Claypile Bank

Edit

From: Poag and Sweet, 1972.
Claypile Bank is a low relief flat-topped mound located approximately 112 km southeast of Galveston, Texas in the vicinity of Stetson Bank. The bank is the result of an uplifted salt dome and rises to a maximum height of 18 m above the surrounding bottom. Water depth over the bank is an average of 56 m. Fossil evidence suggests that the bank supported a reef-like community in the middle Holocene (7,000-8,000 years ago) when sea level was approximately 40 m below present levels. After sea level began to rise, however, the reef was 'drowned' and no longer exhibits the characteristics of a living reef. Thirty-one species of living foraminiferans (ie. Amphistegina) and 47 fossilized species can be found in the sediments of Claypile Bank.

References

  • Poag, C.W. and W.E. Sweet. 1972. Claypile Bank, Texas Continental Shelf. In:Rezak, R. and V.J. Henry (eds.) 1972. Texas A&M University Oceanographic Studies, Volume 3: Contributions on the geological and geophysical oceanography of the Gulf of Mexico. Gulf Publishing Company, Houston. 303pp.

Keywords