Rhodoliths and trace fossils record stabilization of a fan-delta system: An example from the Mio-Pliocene deposits of Gran Canaria (Canary Islands, Spain)

Abstract

Fan-delta systems are geomorphological structures and sedimentary records seldom preserved on oceanic volcanic islands. The generally coarse-grained deposits belonging to the Las Palmas Detritic Formation (Mio-Pliocene) at the Las Rehoyas section, NE part of Gran Canaria Island (Canary Islands, Spain), contain abundant but relatively small rhodoliths, non-nucleated, in partly bioturbated (Skolithos ichnofacies) sand-dominated strata. This section consists of four sedimentary units deposited in a fan-delta system that developed on a marine platform in the northeastern part of the island. The system was flooded during the late Miocene to early Pliocene, a non-eruptive phase on Gran Canaria Island. Stabilization of the fan delta due to a relative rise in sea level enabled colonization by burrowing organisms and the development of rhodoliths, which were redeposited by storms from the lower shoreface–offshore to the foreshore–middle shoreface environment.