Quick Search:    advanced search

GSW Home   GeoRef Home   My GSW Alerts   Contact GSW   About GSW   Journals List   Help

This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Submit a response Alert me when this article is cited Alert me when eLetters are posted Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in ISI Web of Science Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Horton, B. P. Articles by Woodroffe, S. A. Search for Related Content GeoRef GeoRef Citation

RECONSTRUCTING HOLOCENE SEA-LEVEL CHANGE FOR THE CENTRAL GREAT BARRIER REEF (AUSTRALIA) USING SUBTIDAL FORAMINIFERA

¹ Sea Level Research Laboratory, Department of Earth and Environmental Science, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA 19104-6316, USA.
² Department of Geology, East Carolina University, Greenville, North Carolina 27858, USA.
³ Department of Geography, University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK.
⁴ Centre for Environment, Fisheries and Aquaculture Science, Pakefield Road, Lowestoft, Suffolk, NR33 0HT, UK.
⁵ Department of Earth Sciences, University of Durham, South Road, Durham, DH1 3LE, UK.
⁶ Dipartimento di Scienze del Mare, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Via Brecce Bianche, 60131 Ancona, Italia.
⁷ Micropaleontology Research, Department of Palaeontology, The Natural History Museum, London, SW7 5BD, UK.

⁸ Correspondence author. E-mail: bphorton{at}sas.upenn.edu

We assessed the utility of subtidal foraminifera to reconstruct Holocene relative sea levels from the central Great Barrier Reef shelf, Australia. We collected contemporary foraminiferal samples from Cleveland Bay and Bowling Green Bay, with water depths from –4.2 m to –48.0 m Australian Height Datum (AHD). The subtidal foraminiferal assemblages were divided into two distinct foraminiferal zones: an inner shelf zone occupied by Elphidium hispidulum, Pararotalia venusta, Planispirinella exigua, Quinqueloculina venusta and Triloculina oblonga; and a middle shelf zone dominated by Amphistegina lessonii, Dendritina striata and Operculina complanata. The zonations of the study areas and relative abundances of individual species indicate that the distributions of subtidal foraminifera are related to water depth.

We used the subtidal data to develop a transfer function capable of inferring past water depths of sediment samples from their foraminiferal content. The results indicated a robust performance of the transfer function (r²_jack = 0.90). We produced ten sea-level index points, which revealed an upward trend of Holocene relative sea level from –8.86 ± 4.5 m AHD at 9.3–8.6 cal kyr BP to a mid-Holocene high stand of +1.72 ± 3.9 m AHD at 6.9–6.4 cal kyr BP. Sea level subsequently fell from the highstand to the present-day. The sea-level reconstructions are consistent with geophysical models and previous published data.