The turtle grass (Thalassia testudinum) community has a significant influence on sedimentation in Florida Bay, but the roles other processes may play in the buildup of mud bank and spit sediments are poorly understood. Samples from cores taken from Ramshorn Spit and Ramshorn Shoal were classified into 4 basic types on the basis of particle size distribution, organic content, and faunal assemblages. In order of increasing volumetric importance they are: (1) very thin, discontinuous shelly packstones, representing overbank or storm deposits; (2) thin, continuous basal shelly packstones, the initial marine deposit on the Pleistocene bedrock surface; (3) muddy wackestones, of variable thickness, deposited in the presence of a seagrass community; (4) very thick, faintly lamina ed fine mudstones, with very sparse fauna, representing weak current-transported sediments settling out of suspension. Discriminant function analysis confirms the classifications and shows that these sediment layers are indeed correlatable between cores.

Interpretation of the core logs from Ramshorn Spit indicates a definite change in stratigraphy southwestward from the spit and bank junction to the tip of the spit itself. The different sediment layers show a small but significant inclination to the southwest. Throughout its depositional history, Ramshorn Spit seems to have been actively accreting outward into the surrounding "lake" by means of a current-transported fine mud fraction. After settling out at the growing tip of the spit, the sediments are subsequently stabilized at some later time by a turtle-grass cover.

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