MASCARA

Summary
The proposal aims to test the hypothesis that the Saya de Malha Bank is a tropical carbonate platform controlled by water mass boundaries and currents which exert a strong control on sedimentation, ecosystems and biogeochemistry. We therefore plan (1) to amend models of carbonate sequence stratigraphy, (2) to develop a sedimentological model for a carbonate platform under the influence of internal waves, and (3) to establish a model of carbonate sedimentation in an area with varying biogeochemical nature and to unlock the record of paleoceanographic changes recorded in the deposits of SMB. Sedimentology, micropaleontology and hydroacoustics will characterize the deposits, seismics and Parasound will resolve the stratigraphy, CTD, ADCP and biogeochemical data will resolve oxygen and nutrient regimes, and sediment-water interaction. The expected results will extend our knowledge about controlling factors on carbonate deposition which is relevant for both, a better understanding of how carbonate platforms may evolve in a changing world, and for the interpretation of carbonate platform successions in the geological record.