How do sea-level curves influence modeled marine terrace sequences?

• Published in: Quaternary Science Reviews
• Main Authors: De Gelder, Gino, Jara-Muñoz, Julius, Melnick, Daniel, Fernández-Blanco, David, Rouby, Hélène, Pedoja, Kevin, Husson, Laurent, Armijo, Rolando, Lacassin, Robin
• Other Authors: Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris (IPGP), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-IPG PARIS-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Université de La Réunion (UR)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institute of Earth and Environmental Science Potsdam, University of Potsdam, Morphodynamique Continentale et Côtière (M2C), Université de Caen Normandie (UNICAEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Normandie Université (NU)-Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Université de Rouen Normandie (UNIROUEN), Normandie Université (NU)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS), Institut des Sciences de la Terre (ISTerre), Institut national des sciences de l'Univers (INSU - CNRS)-Institut de recherche pour le développement IRD : UR219-Université Grenoble Alpes (UGA)-Université Gustave Eiffel-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)-Université Savoie Mont Blanc (USMB Université de Savoie Université de Chambéry ), Laboratoire de tectonique, mécanique de la lithosphère (LTML (UMR_7578)), IPG PARIS-Université Paris Diderot - Paris 7 (UPD7)-Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (CNRS)
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: HAL CCSD 2020
• Subjects: Marine terraces; Coastal geomorphology; Global; Sea-level changes; Quaternary; Corinth rift; Landscape evolution models; [SDU.STU.TE]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Tectonics; [SDU.STU.GM]Sciences of the Universe [physics]/Earth Sciences/Geomorphology; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-02436871; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-02436871/document; https://hal-insu.archives-ouvertes.fr/insu-02436871/file/preprint_gdegelder_slcurvesterraces.pdf; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.106132

(IF 4.12; Q1) International audience Sequences of uplifted marine terraces are widespread and reflect the interaction between climatic and tectonic processes at multiple scales, yet their analysis is typically biased by the chosen sea-level (SL) curve. Here we explore the influence of Quaternary SL curves on the geometry of marine terrace sequences using landscape evolution models (LEMs). First, we modeled the young, rapidly uplifting sequence at Xylokastro (Corinth Rift; <240 ka; ∼1.5 mm/yr), which allowed us to constrain terrace ages, model parameters, and best-fitting SL curves. Models that better reproduced the terraced topography used a glacio-isostatically adjusted SL curve based on coral data (for ∼125 ka), and a eustatic SL curve based on ice-sheet models (for ∼240 ka). Second, we explored the opposite end-member of older, slower uplifting sequences (2.6 Ma; 0.1–0.2 mm/yr). We find that cliff diffusion is important to model terrace sequence morphology, and that a hydraulic-model based SL curve reproduced observed terrace morphologies best. Third, we modeled the effect of SL noise with various amplitudes and wavelengths on our interpretations, finding that younger, faster uplifting sequences are less noise-sensitive and thus generally more promising for LEM studies. Our results emphasize the importance of testing a variety of SL-curves within marine terrace studies, and highlight that accurate modeling through LEMs may provide valuable insight on climatic and tectonic forcing to Quaternary coastal evolution.