Episodes of reef growth at Lord Howe Island, the southernmost reef in the southwest Pacific

Woodroffe, Colin D.; Dickson, Mark E.; Brooke, Brendan; Kennedy, David M.

doi:10.1016/j.gloplacha.2005.09.003

Cited by 13 publications

(6 citation statements)

References 46 publications

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“…The surrounding waters, which have been declared a State Marine Park since 1999 and a Commonwealth Marine Park since 2000 [6,7], contain a high degree of endemic taxa, including 10% of the marine invertebrates [8]. However, a much more extensive relict reef feature occurs in the middle of the shelf, rising from water depths of around 50 m to a mean depth of approximately 34 m [11,12]. However, a much more extensive relict reef feature occurs in the middle of the shelf, rising from water depths of around 50 m to a mean depth of approximately 34 m [11,12].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphic Features and Infauna Diversity of a Subtropical Mid-Ocean Carbonate Shelf

Brooke

McArthur

Woodroffe

et al. 2012

Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Geomorphic Features and Infauna Diversity of a Subtropical Mid-Ocean Carbonate Shelf

Brooke

McArthur

Woodroffe

et al. 2012

Seafloor Geomorphology as Benthic Habitat

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“…However, carbonate sediments with temperate biota, such as foraminifera and algal rhodoliths, dominate the surrounding shelf [ Kennedy et al , 2002]. A broad ridge‐like feature, rising from water depths of 30–50 m, is prominent in mid shelf and represents a relict coral reef that formerly encircled the island [ Woodroffe et al , 2005, 2006]. We describe sonar swath mapping to determine the extent of the reef, and coring and dating that establishes its age and demise.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Response of coral reefs to climate change: Expansion and demise of the southernmost Pacific coral reef

Woodroffe

Brooke

Linklater

et al. 2010

Geophysical Research Letters

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[1] Coral reefs track sea level and are particularly sensitive to changes in climate. Reefs are threatened by global warming, with many experiencing increased coral bleaching. Warmer sea surface temperatures might enable reef expansion into mid latitudes. Here we report multibeam sonar and coring that reveal an extensive relict coral reef around Lord Howe Island, which is fringed by the southernmost reef in the Pacific Ocean. The relict reef, in water depths of 25-50 m, flourished in early Holocene and covered an area more than 20 times larger than the modern reef. Radiocarbon and uranium-series dating indicates that corals grew between 9000 and 7000 years ago. The reef was subsequently drowned, and backstepped to its modern limited extent. This relict reef, with localised re-establishment of corals in the past three millennia, could become a substrate for reef expansion in response to warmer temperatures, anticipated later this century and beyond, if corals are able to recolonise its surface.

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“…In Australia, coral reefs of the Great Barrier Reef (including Torres Strait) and Ningaloo Reef provinces are very well studied (Veron, 2000), and their growth histories and character are well established (e.g., Woodroffe et al, 2000;Collins et al, 2002;Hopley et al, 2007). Smaller reef complexes such as the Houtman-Abrolhos Reefs in Western Australia (Collins et al, 1996;Wyrwoll et al, 2006), Sahul Banks and Ashmore and Cartier Reefs in the Timor Sea (Heyward et al, 1997), Lord Howe Island, Middleton and Elizabeth Reefs in the Tasman Sea (Woodroffe et al, 2004(Woodroffe et al, , 2005, and Cocos-Keeling and Christmas Islands in the Indian Ocean (e.g., Woodroffe et al, 1991Woodroffe et al, , 1994 have received less treatment but their post-glacial history is still reasonably well known. Until our study, few modern coral reefs had been documented in Australia outside of these regions.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A new coral reef province in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia: Colonisation, growth and submergence during the early Holocene

et al. 2008

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Multibeam sonar mapping, drill cores and underwater video data have confirmed the existence of a previously unknown coral reef province in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia. Seven reefs, comprised of coral limestone that support living corals have been mapped so far and as many as 50 other reefs may exist in the region. U/Th ages show that reef growth commenced shortly after limestone pedestals were submerged by rising sea level around 10.5 kyr BP, making them the oldest Holocene reefs known in Australia. Reef growth persisted for 2.0 kyr but it had ceased at most locations by~7.0 kyr BP. Measurements of reef growth rates (0.95 to 4 m kyr − 1), indicate that the reefs were unable to keep pace with contemporaneous rapid sea level rise (N10 m kyr − 1), which is consistent with a "give up" reef growth history. Core samples from reef platforms demonstrate that Pleistocene limestone is exposed at depths of 27 and 30 m below present mean sea level. These depths represent regionally significant phases of reef growth during a prolonged sea level still stand. We conclude that the reefs are therefore mostly relict features, whose major phase of growth and development relates to an earlier, pre-Holocene sea level still stand.

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Episodes of reef growth at Lord Howe Island, the southernmost reef in the southwest Pacific

Cited by 13 publications

References 46 publications

Geomorphic Features and Infauna Diversity of a Subtropical Mid-Ocean Carbonate Shelf

Geomorphic Features and Infauna Diversity of a Subtropical Mid-Ocean Carbonate Shelf

Response of coral reefs to climate change: Expansion and demise of the southernmost Pacific coral reef

A new coral reef province in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia: Colonisation, growth and submergence during the early Holocene

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