NEUMANN ON NORTHERN GREAT BAHAMA BANK, 1989-1994: ACCOMMODATION AND HURRICANES AND WHITINGS, OH MY!

During the interval 1989-1994, Conrad Neumann was engaged in studies across Northern Great Bahama Bank focused on elucidating post-glacial sea-level rise on the Bahamas platform and attempting to decipher the ensuing sedimentary record of inundation. High-resolution, single-channel seismic profiles, coring, and underwater excavations provided primary information on Holocene sediment thickness across the northern bank-top and permitted analysis of sediment thickness versus accommodation space. Results demonstrated that sediment thickness and accommodation were uncorrelated. In 1992, Hurricane Andrew passed over the northern bank-top, traversing between the Berry Islands on the east and Bimini on the west. This provided opportunistic research on the impact of a major tropical cyclone on sedimentation and sediment geometries in shallow carbonate environments. Pre- and post-hurricane seismic profiles indicated no appreciable alteration of sediment geometries along the hurricane track. Reanalysis of meteorological data showed that Hurricane Andrew weakened substantially as it traversed the shallow bank-top thus limiting its capacity to alter sediment accumulations. Finally, the research on Northern Great Bahama Bank reviewed the geographic distribution of whitings using satellite imagery, identifying the central bank-top as the prime locus for whiting formation. A novel fluid dynamic process of sediment resuspension (turbulent bursts) was suggested as a potential mechanism triggering whiting occurrences on the central bank-top. The three papers derived from this work are enduring contributions to knowledge of carbonate sedimentation on shallow platforms that are still cited more than 25 years after their publication.