Evaluation of Oolitic Limestone in Hubbard Springs in the Northern  West-FL Shelf 

Hubbard Springs is a submerged sinkhole feature found in the Northeast Gulf of Mexico (NEGoM) during a side scan sonar survey aboard the R/V Western Flyer performed as part of FIO’s (Florida Institute of Oceanography) PEERSIDE Program. Diver investigation of the sinkhole discovered a cave-like feature with unknown depth and divers observed multiple Goliath Grouper in this cave feature. Increased biological activity was observed relative to the surrounding area and divers collected sediment samples through push cores and surface grabs, some of which included chunks of oolitic limestone, which were identified and separated for analysis. Oolites are a carbonate grain typically formed in shallow, high energy environments. The sediments can be composed of varying percentages of predominantly calcium, magnesium, and strontium. These variations in elemental composition as well as mineralogical structure could provide indications of age or location of origin. These samples as well as oolites collected from Joulter’s Cay, Bahamas were processed using XRF analysis to determine elemental composition in order to identify and provide a baseline for aforementioned trends. By performing these XRF analyses, a relatively significant difference in strontium and magnesium concentrations were detected between the Hubbard Springs and Joulter’s Cay samples. This difference could prove important to identify any consistent trends of a similar nature with samples taken from other sites. In future work these results can be combined with XRD data to identify any consistent changes of mineralogical and elemental composition over different sites and times.

For more information: jcwheat@eckerd.edu

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