Quaternary Sea-Level Changes: A Global Perspective

Contents
Preface page xiii
List of abbreviations xvi
1. Sea-level changes: the emergence of a Quaternary perspective 1
1.1 Introduction 1
1.2 The Quaternary Period 4
1.3 Sea-level changes: historical development of ideas 6
1.4 Observations from classical antiquity until the nineteenth century 7
1.4.1 Early Mediterranean studies 8
1.4.2 Eighteenth-century writings on universal changes to the Earth 8
1.4.3 Diluvial Theory – the universal flood 9
1.4.4 The Temple of Serapis: a compelling case for relative sea-level change 10
1.4.5 Lavoisier and the concepts of transgression and regression 11
1.5 Glacial action and recognition of the Ice Ages 13
1.5.1 Louis Agassiz and the Glacial Theory 13
1.5.2 The Croll–Milankovitch Hypothesis 15
1.6 Vertical changes in land and sea level related to Quaternary climate 19
1.6.1 Charles Darwin and James Dana 19
1.6.2 Insights from around the world 22
1.7 Evolution of ideas in the twentieth century 24
1.7.1 Developments in Europe 24
1.7.2 Advances in geochemistry and geochronology 26
1.7.3 Oxygen-isotope records from marine sediments and ice cores 27
1.7.4 Geophysical models of sea-level changes 30
1.7.5 Sequence stratigraphy 31
1.7.6 International concern and a focus on current and future sea-level trends 31
1.8 Theoretical concepts relevant to the study of Quaternary sea-level changes 33
1.9 Synthesis and way forward 37
1.9.1 Revisiting old ideas 38
1.9.2 Quaternary sea-level changes: the status quo 38
2. The causes of Quaternary sea-level changes 41
2.1 Introduction 41
2.2 Sea level and sea-level changes: some definitions 42
2.2.1 Sea level and base level 43
2.2.2 Relative sea-level changes 45
2.3 Processes responsible for relative sea-level changes in the Quaternary 49
2.3.1 Glacio-eustasy 49
2.3.2 Isostasy 52
2.3.3 Glacial isostasy and relative sea-level changes 55
2.3.4 Hydro-isostasy and relative sea-level changes 57
2.3.5 The geoid and changes to its configuration 60
2.3.6 Global variation in geophysical response and equatorial ocean siphoning 65
2.4 Tectonism, volcanism, and other processes resulting in relative sea-level changes 69
2.4.1 Tectonic movements 69
2.4.2 Volcanism and its link to sea-level changes 70
2.4.3 Lithospheric flexure 71
2.4.4 Changes in tidal range 71
2.4.5 Steric changes, meteorological changes, and the role of ENSO events 72
2.5 Geophysical models and the sea-level equation 73
2.6 Synthesis and conclusions 78
3. Palaeo-sea-level indicators 79
3.1 Introduction 79
3.1.1 Fixed and relational sea-level indicators 80
3.1.2 Relative sea-level changes, sea-level index points, and indicative meaning 81
3.1.3 Sources of uncertainty in palaeo-sea-level estimation 83
3.1.4 Palaeo-sea-level curve or envelope? 83
3.1.5 Facies architecture, allostratigraphy, and sea-level changes 85
3.2 Pleistocene and Holocene palaeo-sea-level indicators compared 86
3.3 Corals and coral reefs 88
3.3.1 Reefs and Pleistocene sea levels 89
3.3.2 Reefs and Holocene sea levels 90
3.3.3 Conglomerates and recognition of in-situ corals 93
3.3.4 Microatolls 95
3.4 Other biological sea-level indicators 98
3.4.1 Fixed biological indicators 98
3.4.2 Mangroves 100
3.4.3 Salt-marsh sediments and microfossil analysis 106
3.4.4 Seagrass 110
3.4.5 Marine molluscs 111
3.4.6 Submerged forests 113
3.5 Geomorphological and geological sea-level indicators 114
3.5.1 Marine terraces and shore platforms 114
3.5.2 Shoreline notches and visors 116
3.5.3 Isolation basins 119
3.5.4 Beach ridges 120
3.5.5 Cheniers 121
3.5.6 Aeolianites 123
3.5.7 Calcretes 124
3.5.8 Beachrock 125
3.6 Geoarchaeology and sea-level changes 127
3.7 Synthesis and conclusions 129
4. Methods of dating Quaternary sea-level changes 131
4.1 Introduction 131
4.1.1 Terminology 132
4.1.2 Historical approaches used for evaluating geological age of coastal deposits 134
4.2 Radiocarbon dating 135
4.2.1 Underlying principles of the radiocarbon method 136
4.2.2 Age range 138
4.2.3 Measurement techniques 139
4.2.4 Isotopic fractionation 139
4.2.5 Marine reservoir and hard-water effects 141
4.2.6 Secular 14C/12C variation and the calibration of radiocarbon ages to sidereal years 146
4.2.7 Contamination and sample pre-treatment strategies 149
4.2.8 Statistical considerations: comparisons of radiocarbon age and pooling of results 152
4.3 Uranium-series disequilibrium dating 153
4.3.1 Underlying principles of U-series disequilibrium dating 154
4.3.2 U-series dating of marine carbonates 156
4.3.3 U-series dating of other materials 158
4.4 Oxygen-isotope stratigraphy 159
4.5 Luminescence dating methods 162
4.5.1 Quantifying the cumulative effects of environmental radiation dose 163
4.5.2 Age range of luminescence methods 168
4.5.3 Anomalous fading and partial bleaching 168
4.6 Electron spin resonance dating 169
4.7 Amino acid racemisation dating 171
4.7.1 The amino acid racemisation reaction 172
4.7.2 Environmental factors that influence racemisation 174
4.7.3 Sources of uncertainty in AAR dating 175
4.7.4 Application of AAR to dating coastal successions 177
4.8 Cosmogenic dating 179
4.9 Other dating techniques 182
4.9.1 Event markers 182
4.9.2 Palaeomagnetism 183
4.10 Synthesis and conclusions 185
5. Vertical displacement of shorelines 187
5.1 Introduction 187
5.2 Plate tectonics and implications for coastlines globally 188
5.2.1 Lithospheric plate domains 189
5.2.2 Plate margins 192
5.2.3 Plate tectonics and coastal classification 197
5.2.4 Ocean plate dynamics and island types 197
5.3 Styles of tectonic deformation and rates of uplift or subsidence 199
5.3.1 Coseismic uplift 199
5.3.2 Epeirogenic uplift 201
5.3.3 Folding and warping 202
5.3.4 Isostasy 204
5.3.5 Lithospheric flexure 204
5.3.6 Mantle plumes 205
5.3.7 Subsidence and submerged shorelines 206
5.4 The last interglacial shoreline: a reference for quantifying vertical displacement 206
5.4.1 Terrace age and elevation 207
5.4.2 Constraints on using the last interglacial shoreline as a benchmark 210
5.5 Coastlines in tectonically ‘stable’ cratonic regions 212
5.5.1 Australia 213
5.5.2 Southern Africa 219
5.6 Coastlines of emergence 219
5.6.1 Huon Peninsula 220
5.6.2 Barbados 227
5.6.3 Convergent continental margins: Chile 230
5.7 Vertical crustal movements associated with glacio-isostasy: Scandinavia 232
5.8 The Mediterranean Basin 236
5.8.1 Italy 237
5.8.2 Greece 240
5.9 The Caribbean region 242
5.9.1 Southern Florida and the Bahamas 242
5.9.2 Other Caribbean sites and more tectonically active islands 243
5.10 Divergent spreading-related coastlines: Red Sea 244
5.11 Pacific Plate 246
5.11.1 Pacific islands 246
5.11.2 Hawaii 248
5.11.3 Japan 249
5.11.4 New Zealand 251
5.12 Synthesis and conclusions 254
6. Pleistocene sea-level changes 256
6.1 Introduction 256
6.2 Prelude to the Pleistocene 257
6.3 Pleistocene icesheets 262
6.4 Early Pleistocene sea levels 264
6.4.1 Roe Calcarenite, Roe Plains, southern Australia 266
6.4.2 The Crag Group, southeastern England 268
6.5 The middle Pleistocene Transition 270
6.6 Middle Pleistocene sea-level changes 272
6.7 Sea-level highstands of the middle Pleistocene 276
6.7.1 Marine Isotope Stage 11 276
6.7.2 Marine Isotope Stage 9 – the pre-penultimate interglacial 278
6.7.3 Marine Isotope Stage 7 – the penultimate interglacial 278
6.8 Middle Pleistocene sea-level lowstands 279
6.9 Late Pleistocene sea-level changes 280
6.9.1 The last interglacial maximum (MIS 5e) 283
6.9.2 Timing and duration of the last interglacial maximum 284
6.9.3 Global estimates of last interglacial sea levels – the sanctity of the 6 m APSL datum? 285
6.10 Interstadial sea levels of the last glacial cycle (MIS 5c and 5a) 288
6.11 Interstadial sea levels during MIS 3 292
6.12 Late Pleistocene interstadial sea levels: Dansgaard–Oeschger and Heinrich Events 297
6.13 Eustatic sea levels during the Last Glacial Maximum (MIS 2) 299
6.14 Long records of Pleistocene sea-level highstands 305
6.14.1 Coorong Coastal Plain and Murray Basin, southern Australia 305
6.14.2 Wanganui Basin, New Zealand 311
6.14.3 Sumba Island, Indonesia 314
6.15 Synthesis and conclusions 316
7. Sea-level changes since the Last Glacial Maximum 320
7.1 Introduction 320
7.2 Deglacial sea-level records of marine transgression 322
7.3 Holocene relative sea-level changes in the far-field: Australia 327
7.3.1 Queensland 330
7.3.2 Southeastern Australia 334
7.3.3 Other parts of the Australian coast 336
7.4 Holocene sea level across the Pacific Ocean 340
7.4.1 High islands 340
7.4.2 Atolls 343
7.5 Other far-field locations 345
7.5.1 Holocene sea level in the Indian Ocean 346
7.5.2 Southeast Asia 348
7.6 Holocene relative sea-level changes: the intermediate-field 349
7.7 Holocene relative sea-level changes and glacio-isostasy: the British Isles 352
7.7.1 Northern Britain 354
7.7.2 Southern Britain 356
7.8 Europe 357
7.9 The Americas 359
7.10 The past two millennia 361
7.11 Unresolved issues in the postglacial record of sea level 364
7.11.1 The elusive eustatic sea-level record 364
7.11.2 The question of sea-level oscillations 365
7.12 Synthesis and conclusions 367
8. Current and future sea-level changes 369
8.1 Introduction 369
8.2 Historical sea-level change 371
8.3 Linking geological proxies with historical observations 377
8.4 Satellite altimetry and sea level over recent decades 379
8.5 Sea-level enigma: volume, mass, and sea-level fingerprinting 381
8.5.1 Thermal expansion – changing volume 383
8.5.2 Ice melt and mass exchanges 384
8.5.3 Glacial isostatic adjustment and response of the solid Earth 388
8.6 Sea level and climate models 389
8.6.1 Post-AR4 sea-level projections 393
8.6.2 The threat of catastrophic sea-level rise 396
8.7 Impacts and coastal vulnerability 397
8.8 Relevance of Quaternary sea-level changes 398
References 400
Index