Mid-late Holocene sea-level variability in eastern Australia

Lewis, Stephen E., Wust, Raphael A.J., Webster, Jody M., and Shields, Graham A. (2008) Mid-late Holocene sea-level variability in eastern Australia. Terra Nova, 20 (1). pp. 74-81.

[img] PDF (Published Version) - Published Version
Restricted to Repository staff only

View at Publisher Website: http://dx.doi.org/10.1111/j.1365-3121.20...
 
102
272


Abstract

A re-analysis of sea-level data from eastern Australia based on 115 calibrated C-14 ages is used to constrain the origin, timing and magnitude of sea-level change over the last 7000 years. We demonstrate that the Holocene sea-level highstand of +1.0–1.5 m was reached ~7000 cal yr BP and fell to its present position after 2000 yr BP. These findings are in contrast to most previous studies that relied on smaller datasets and did not include the now common conversion of conventional C-14 ages to calendar years. During this ~5000 year period of high sea level, growth hiatuses in oyster beds and tubeworms and lower elevations of coral microatolls are interpreted to represent short-lived oscillations in sea-level of up to 1 m during two intervals, beginning c. 4800 and 3000 cal yr BP. The rates of sea level rise and fall (1–2 mm yr-1) during these centennial-scale oscillations are comparable with current rates of sea-level rise. The origin of the oscillations is enigmatic but most likely the result of oceanographic and climatic changes, including wind strengths, ice ablation, and melt-water contributions of both Greenland and Antarctic ice sheets.

Item ID: 1855
Item Type: Article (Research - C1)
ISSN: 1365-3121
Keywords: sea level change, sea level indicators, Holocene sea level fluctuations
Date Deposited: 07 Apr 2008
FoR Codes: 04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0405 Oceanography > 040599 Oceanography not elsewhere classified @ 0%
04 EARTH SCIENCES > 0403 Geology > 040310 Sedimentology @ 0%
SEO Codes: 96 ENVIRONMENT > 9611 Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water > 961104 Physical and Chemical Conditions of Water in Marine Environments @ 100%
Downloads: Total: 272
More Statistics

Actions (Repository Staff Only)

Item Control Page Item Control Page