SGER Sequence Stratigraphy and Paleocommunity Analysis of an Oligocene Reef Tract, Lares Limestone, Puerto Rico

Indiana University, Bloomington IN

Investigators

Abstract

ABSTRACT SGER Sequence stratigraphy and paleocommunity analysis of an Oligocene reef tract, Lares Limestone, Puerto Rico (EAR-0224868) Claudia Johnson Indiana University The Lares Limestone in Puerto Rico provides a unique opportunity to study a 30 million year old Oligocene reef from its initiation surface through its drowning, and from its seaword to landward expression. The opportunity is short lived, for heavy tropical rainfall has compromised the quality of this roadcut exposure. There is an urgency to document and analyze this tropical carbonate platform and to address hypotheses in the fields of paleobiology, sequence stratigraphy and paleoclimatology. Research results will provide valuable information on evolution in a tropical environment.