Coral reef evolution on rapidly subsiding margins

Coral-reef records of Quaternary changes in climate and sea-level

“…Observations of reefs are limited by the present interglacial state, and most changes identified relate to perturbations within highstand events, particularly MISs 7 and 5, with some evidence for disturbances during (Dansgaard et al 1993) and following (Webster et al 2009) the last deglaciation. New data continue to appear (e.g.…”

“…If these results are replicated elsewhere they imply that there will never be a complete post-glacial (or any other) record, although parts of intervals will be represented in separate lowstand and transgressive systems tracts. Greater continuity could be achieved in rapidly subsiding regions, as indicated by Webster et al (2007) by reference to Hawaii and the Huon Gulf, Papua New Guinea (Webster et al 2009), but numerical models suggest that although some intervals are likely to have been brief, subaerial erosion remains a significant feature of even these. The inference of reef sequences that are typically punctuated by gaps in deposition is by no means unique to either reefs or carbonate systems and mirror recent work by Miall (2014) …”

Submerged fossil reefs discovered beyond the limit of modern reef growth in the Pacific Ocean

“…The evolution of the Balls Pyramid shelf appears to have undergone a complex erosional and depositional history, and represents a post-erosional stage of island evolution, which has not reached the stage of an emergent reef (Ramalho et al, 2013). Had the island-reefs around the Balls Pyramid shelf developed in tropical seas on a rapidly subsiding surface, their morphologies might have been expected to fit into the Hawaiian or Tahitian examples of island-reef sequences (Webster et al, 2009;Blanchon et al, 2014). However, since they developed in a tectonically stable setting at the margin of reef-forming seas, they have experienced significant erosion before substantial reef accretion occurred, and thus developed a characteristic morphology unique to this setting (Fig.…”

A pulse of ooid formation in Maui Nui (Hawaiian Islands) during Termination I

“…Possible causes of the cessation of ooid formation might include: (1) filling of the shallow water accommodation space by prolific ooid deposition (Hearty et al, 2006); (2) a major ecological shift from hardground communities to a diverse benthic habitat (Kindler, 1995); (3) a rapid sea-level history fall causing emergence; or (4) a substantial sea-level history rise. The filling of accommodation Webster et al, 2004Webster et al, , 2009. Barbados (Peltier and Fairbanks, 2006); Tahiti (Bard et al, 1996); Sunda Shelf (Hanebuth et al, 2000); Huon Peninsula (Fairbanks et al, 2005); GISP2 ice core (Grootes et al, 1993). space and ecological change require considerable time, and there is no evidence for sea-level history fall at any time during Termination I (Fig.…”