Theses and Dissertations

Issuing Body

Mississippi State University

Advisor

Mylroie, John E.

Committee Member

Kirkland, Brenda

Committee Member

Grimes, Craig

Date of Degree

5-12-2012

Document Type

Graduate Thesis - Open Access

Major

Geosciences

Degree Name

Master of Science

College

College of Arts and Sciences

Department

Department of Geosciences

Abstract

Banana holes are a common karst feature of The Bahamas and several theories have been presented to explain their origin. The current model for banana hole formation places their dissolution at the mixing zone at the top of the fresh water lens. This theory is based on the observation that banana holes are often found in the interior of islands, far from the dissolutionally aggressive fresh water lens margin. This study proposes that banana holes form at the lens margin as it follows a prograding strandplain. Spatial observations show that banana holes appear to be associated with low inland ridges and their orientation appears to correlate with features found on modern shorelines. Bedding features such as herringbone cross beds and back-beach rubble found in banana hole wall rock point to a progradational environment of deposition for banana hole host rock.

URI

https://hdl.handle.net/11668/21160

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