A structure in Berrydale Quarry, parish of St. Ann, north central Jamaica, described as a submarine paleo-channel incised into the Upper Pliocene Hope Gate Formation, a raised reef, and infilled with scleractinian coral debris, is reassessed. The structure cross-cuts a thick sequence of talus including limestone cobbles and boulders in a red matrix (terra rosa), and is most probably no older than Pleistocene. The infill is of cobbles and boulders of reworked limestone, coated with dripstone and stained red. Both the substrate into which the structure is cut and the infill are terrestrial in origin. Rather than a palaeo-channel, we identify the structure as a sectioned sinkhole, a modern feature of this area. The fault said to control the direction of the paleo-channel is considered unproven.
How to translate text using browser tools
1 July 2008
Paleo-channel or sinkhole? Reinterpretation of an enigmatic structure near Discovery Bay, north central jamaica
Thomas A. Stemann,
Stephen K. Donovan
ACCESS THE FULL ARTICLE
Caribbean Journal of Science
Vol. 44 • No. 2
2008
Vol. 44 • No. 2
2008
channel
Jamaica
Quaternary
sinkhole
terrace