Holocene Astrangia (Scleratinia) In Foreshore Shell Accumulations, Bouge Banks, North Carolina

Abstract

Shell accumulations in the foreshore zone at Pine Knoll Shores, near the eastern end of Bogue Banks, contain a complex environmental and temporal mixture of molluscs, including Pleistocene estuarine species, subfossil marine Holocene material, and modern shells derived mostly from the adjacent shoreface. Mixed with these shells are the coralla of Astrangia danae, also mostly derived from the modern shoreface. The coral colonized mollusc shells from a variety of sources during varied intervals of exposure at the seafloor. Occurrence of the coral facilitates identification of pathways of shell transport and shell exposure intervals in modern nearshore environments. Astrangia danae is interesting in its own right because it is one of the only shallow-water scleractinians now living in the Cape Lookout area.