Abstract
Neptunian dikes (marine) and fissure infills (terrestrial) are deposits filling voids in older rocks and are widely reported from carbonate terrains, but sediment infills from brackish and freshwater phreatic environments (termed cavern infills here) have been less widely recognized. The initiation, development, and sedimentary filling of voids can take place in a variety of environments, which may be recognized from distinctive features including morphology, distribution, fauna, and sedimentology. These environments may change significantly during and between each stage; thus a detailed and complex record may be established by careful interpretation of both void and sediments. The initial voids may be de- positional, synsedimentary, or tectonic in origin, while their development is controlled largely by the rapidity of erosion (slow in marine, fast in vadose terrestrial and in the mixing zone between freshwater and saline water). While the contemporaneous rate of infill is rapid, erosive development of the void may be limited. Sediment character is dependent on external environment and on the ratio of allochthonous to autochthonous sediment.Autochthonous sedimentation may be rapid in poorly lithified rock under strong erosional attack, particularly if large voids are present. These ideas are illustrated by an account of the morphology, distribution, fauna, and sediments of “blue holes” (underwater caves) from the Bahama Banks, which we recognize as modern examples of neptunian dikes.
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Smart, P.L., Palmer, R.J., Whitaker, F., Paul Wright, V. (1988). Neptunian Dikes and Fissure Fills: An Overview and. In: James, N.P., Choquette, P.W. (eds) Paleokarst. Springer, New York, NY. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3748-8_8
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4612-3748-8_8
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