Redating the earliest evidence of the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in Australia and implications for global sea-level rise
Reconstructing past sea levels can help constrain uncertainties surrounding the rate of change, magnitude, and impacts of the projected increase through the 21st century. Of significance is the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in tectonically stable and remote (far-field) locations from maj...
Published in: | PLOS ONE |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , |
Other Authors: | |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | unknown |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2019
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_60010 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/34e0a2e2-bb62-482b-b3e3-d58db50cc63b/download https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218430 |
id |
ftunswworks:oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/unsworks_60010 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftunswworks:oai:unsworks.library.unsw.edu.au:1959.4/unsworks_60010 2024-05-19T07:31:24+00:00 Redating the earliest evidence of the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in Australia and implications for global sea-level rise Dougherty, Amy J Thomas, Zoë A Fogwill, Christopher Hogg, Alan Palmer, Jonathan Rainsley, Eleanor Williams, Alan N Ulm, Sean Rogers, Kerrylee Jones, Brian G Turney, Chris Riva, Riccardo 2019-07 application/pdf http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_60010 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/34e0a2e2-bb62-482b-b3e3-d58db50cc63b/download https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218430 unknown Public Library of Science (PLoS) http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL100100195 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/CE170100015 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170104665 http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218430 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_60010 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/34e0a2e2-bb62-482b-b3e3-d58db50cc63b/download https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218430 open access https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ free_to_read urn:ISSN:1932-6203 PLoS ONE, 14, 7, e0218430-19 13 Climate Action Antarctic Regions Australia Carbon Isotopes Fossils History Ancient Ice Cover Sea Level Rise journal article http://purl.org/coar/resource_type/c_6501 2019 ftunswworks https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218430 2024-05-01T00:19:08Z Reconstructing past sea levels can help constrain uncertainties surrounding the rate of change, magnitude, and impacts of the projected increase through the 21st century. Of significance is the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in tectonically stable and remote (far-field) locations from major ice sheets. The east coast of Australia provides an excellent arena in which to investigate changes in relative sea level during the Holocene. Considerable debate surrounds both the peak level and timing of the east coast highstand. The southeast Australian site of Bulli Beach provides the earliest evidence for the establishment of a highstand in the Southern Hemisphere, although questions have been raised about the pretreatment and type of material that was radiocarbon dated for the development of the regional sea-level curve. Here we undertake a detailed morpho- and chronostratigraphic study at Bulli Beach to better constrain the timing of the Holocene highstand in eastern Australia. In contrast to wood and charcoal samples that may provide anomalously old ages, probably due to inbuilt age, we find that short-lived terrestrial plant macrofossils provide a robust chronological framework. Bayesian modelling of the ages provide improved dating of the earliest evidence for a highstand at 6,880±50 cal BP, approximately a millennium later than previously reported. Our results from Bulli now closely align with other sea-level reconstructions along the east coast of Australia, and provide evidence for a synchronous relative sea-level highstand that extends from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Tasmania. Our refined age appears to be coincident with major ice mass loss from Northern Hemisphere and Antarctic ice sheets, supporting previous studies that suggest these may have played a role in the relative sea-level highstand. Further work is now needed to investigate the environmental impacts of regional sea levels, and refine the timing of the subsequent sea-level fall in the Holocene and its influence on coastal evolution. Article in Journal/Newspaper Antarc* Antarctic UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks PLOS ONE 14 7 e0218430 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
UNSW Sydney (The University of New South Wales): UNSWorks |
op_collection_id |
ftunswworks |
language |
unknown |
topic |
13 Climate Action Antarctic Regions Australia Carbon Isotopes Fossils History Ancient Ice Cover Sea Level Rise |
spellingShingle |
13 Climate Action Antarctic Regions Australia Carbon Isotopes Fossils History Ancient Ice Cover Sea Level Rise Dougherty, Amy J Thomas, Zoë A Fogwill, Christopher Hogg, Alan Palmer, Jonathan Rainsley, Eleanor Williams, Alan N Ulm, Sean Rogers, Kerrylee Jones, Brian G Turney, Chris Redating the earliest evidence of the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in Australia and implications for global sea-level rise |
topic_facet |
13 Climate Action Antarctic Regions Australia Carbon Isotopes Fossils History Ancient Ice Cover Sea Level Rise |
description |
Reconstructing past sea levels can help constrain uncertainties surrounding the rate of change, magnitude, and impacts of the projected increase through the 21st century. Of significance is the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in tectonically stable and remote (far-field) locations from major ice sheets. The east coast of Australia provides an excellent arena in which to investigate changes in relative sea level during the Holocene. Considerable debate surrounds both the peak level and timing of the east coast highstand. The southeast Australian site of Bulli Beach provides the earliest evidence for the establishment of a highstand in the Southern Hemisphere, although questions have been raised about the pretreatment and type of material that was radiocarbon dated for the development of the regional sea-level curve. Here we undertake a detailed morpho- and chronostratigraphic study at Bulli Beach to better constrain the timing of the Holocene highstand in eastern Australia. In contrast to wood and charcoal samples that may provide anomalously old ages, probably due to inbuilt age, we find that short-lived terrestrial plant macrofossils provide a robust chronological framework. Bayesian modelling of the ages provide improved dating of the earliest evidence for a highstand at 6,880±50 cal BP, approximately a millennium later than previously reported. Our results from Bulli now closely align with other sea-level reconstructions along the east coast of Australia, and provide evidence for a synchronous relative sea-level highstand that extends from the Gulf of Carpentaria to Tasmania. Our refined age appears to be coincident with major ice mass loss from Northern Hemisphere and Antarctic ice sheets, supporting previous studies that suggest these may have played a role in the relative sea-level highstand. Further work is now needed to investigate the environmental impacts of regional sea levels, and refine the timing of the subsequent sea-level fall in the Holocene and its influence on coastal evolution. |
author2 |
Riva, Riccardo |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Dougherty, Amy J Thomas, Zoë A Fogwill, Christopher Hogg, Alan Palmer, Jonathan Rainsley, Eleanor Williams, Alan N Ulm, Sean Rogers, Kerrylee Jones, Brian G Turney, Chris |
author_facet |
Dougherty, Amy J Thomas, Zoë A Fogwill, Christopher Hogg, Alan Palmer, Jonathan Rainsley, Eleanor Williams, Alan N Ulm, Sean Rogers, Kerrylee Jones, Brian G Turney, Chris |
author_sort |
Dougherty, Amy J |
title |
Redating the earliest evidence of the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in Australia and implications for global sea-level rise |
title_short |
Redating the earliest evidence of the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in Australia and implications for global sea-level rise |
title_full |
Redating the earliest evidence of the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in Australia and implications for global sea-level rise |
title_fullStr |
Redating the earliest evidence of the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in Australia and implications for global sea-level rise |
title_full_unstemmed |
Redating the earliest evidence of the mid-Holocene relative sea-level highstand in Australia and implications for global sea-level rise |
title_sort |
redating the earliest evidence of the mid-holocene relative sea-level highstand in australia and implications for global sea-level rise |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2019 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_60010 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/34e0a2e2-bb62-482b-b3e3-d58db50cc63b/download https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218430 |
genre |
Antarc* Antarctic |
genre_facet |
Antarc* Antarctic |
op_source |
urn:ISSN:1932-6203 PLoS ONE, 14, 7, e0218430-19 |
op_relation |
http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/FL100100195 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/CE170100015 http://purl.org/au-research/grants/arc/DP170104665 http://dx.plos.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218430 http://hdl.handle.net/1959.4/unsworks_60010 https://unsworks.unsw.edu.au/bitstreams/34e0a2e2-bb62-482b-b3e3-d58db50cc63b/download https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218430 |
op_rights |
open access https://purl.org/coar/access_right/c_abf2 CC BY https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ free_to_read |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218430 |
container_title |
PLOS ONE |
container_volume |
14 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
e0218430 |
_version_ |
1799469263618048000 |