New evidence of Hawaiian coral reef drowning in response to meltwater pulse-1A

Fossil coral reefs are valuable recorders of glacio-eustatic sea-level changes, as they provide key temporal information on deglacial meltwater pulses (MWPs). The timing, rate, magnitude, and meltwater source of these sea-level episodes remain controversial, despite their importance for understandin...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Quaternary Science Reviews
Main Authors: Sanborn, Kelsey L., Webster, Jody Michael, Yokoyama, Yusuke, Dutton, Andrea, Braga, Juan C, Clague, David A, Paduan, Jennifer B, Wagner, Daniel, Rooney, John J.B, Hansen, John R
Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
Language:English
Published: Elsevier 2017
Subjects:
Coastal
Coral reef drowning
Deglaciation
Geomorphology
Hawaii
Late pleistocene
Meltwater Pulse-1A
Sea-level changes
Submerged terraces
040305
Ice Sheet
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/2123/21764
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.quascirev.2017.08.022
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Summary:Fossil coral reefs are valuable recorders of glacio-eustatic sea-level changes, as they provide key temporal information on deglacial meltwater pulses (MWPs). The timing, rate, magnitude, and meltwater source of these sea-level episodes remain controversial, despite their importance for understanding ocean-ice sheet dynamics during periods of abrupt climatic change. This study revisits the west coast of the Big Island of Hawaii to investigate the timing of the −150 m H1d terrace drowning off Kawaihae in response to MWP-1A. We present eight new calibrated 14C-AMS ages, which constrain the timing of terrace drowning to at or after 14.75 + 0.33/-0.42 kyr BP, coeval with the age of reef drowning at Kealakekua Bay (U-Th age 14.72 ± 0.10 kyr BP), 70 kms south along the west coast. Integrating the chronology with high-resolution bathymetry and backscatter data, detailed sedimentological analysis, and paleoenvironmental interpretation, we conclude the H1d terrace drowned at the same time along the west coast of Hawaii in response to MWP-1A. The timing of H1d reef drowning is within the reported uncertainty of the timing of MWP-1A interpreted from the IODP Expedition 310 Tahitian reef record. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd Australian Research Council-DP1094001, DP120101793, NSF-OCE-1559040, and Japan Society for the Promotion of -JP15KK0151 and 17H01168

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