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A carbonate platform is a geologic structure composed of carbonate sediments that have accumulated and lithified over a long period of time. Their tops are typically in shallow water, though the total thickness of rock may be considerable; the carbonates of the Bahama Banks can be traced down to a depth of at least 8,000 meters.^[1]

The Bahama Banks are the most well-known carbonate platforms; the Yucatán Peninsula is another. Even the Florida Peninsula is a carbonate plaform, albeit one no longer submerged.^[2]

Contents 1 Depositional Environment 2 See also 3 =Footnotes: 3.1 References:

[edit] Depositional Environment

Carbonate platforms are today restricted to warm, shallow, tropical ocean waters, which are favorable for carbonate-secreting organisms.^[3] They are also limited to regions where the influx of terrestrial sediment (e.g., mud and silt from rivers) is minimal; murky water limits the growth of plankton, as well as dilutes any sediments that are deposited.^[4]

[edit] See also

• Bahama Banks

[edit] =Footnotes:

1. ^ http://www.tamug.edu/cavebiology/Bahamas/BahamaIntro.html
2. ^ http://geology.about.com/library/bl/maps/blfloridamap.htm?terms=geologic+map+of+Florida
3. ^ Pinet 94.
4. ^ Pinet 94.

[edit] References:

• "Bahamas Introduction" (Accessed 3/8/06)

• About.com: Geologic Map of Florida (Accessed 3/8/06)

• Pinet, Paul R. Invitation to Oceanography. St. Paul: West Publishing Company, 1996. ISBN 0-314-06339-0