ÜBER EIN HOLOZÄNES KORALLEN- UND MANGROVENVORKOMMEN NAHE SANTA MARTA, KOLUMBIEN

Abstract

In November 1969 high swell from a hurricane in the northwestern Caribbean Sea caused temporary beach erosion at the "Punta La Loma", a sandy spit situated in front of the airport of Santa Marta. The erosion revealed the substrate of the spit which is formed of granodiorite incrusted by reef corals and covered with cemented sand, in which numerous remains of lithiied roots have been found. All the corals belong to species presently known from the Recent fauna of the Caribbean coast of Colombia. Based on their internal structure the lithiied roots have been attributed to mangroves. The fossil deposits are situated up to 1 m above low tide level. Their age has been estimated as Holocene. This is supported by the obvious lack of recrystallization of the corals. The considerable uplift of the Sierra Nevada that occurred during Pleistocene time, too suggests a very young i. e. Holocene age of the fossils