Late Quaternary history of the Nouméa lagoon (New Caledonia, South West Pacific) as depicted by seismic stratigraphy and multibeam bathymetry

Roy, Pascal Le; Cabioch, Guy; Monod, Bernard; Lagabrielle, Yves; Pelletier, Bernard; Flamand, Benoit Mathot

doi:10.1016/j.palaeo.2008.08.012

Cited by 21 publications

(16 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…5). Analogous development of fluvial systems on attached carbonate platforms has been documented during the LGM: e.g., the Belize Barrier Reef (Droxler and Jorry, 2013); and Nouméa lagoon (Le Roy et al, 2008). However, neither fluvial geomorphologies nor incised valleys appear on the seismic data (cross-sections or attribute maps) which suggests that either these features are sub-seismic, or that rivers did not incise the shelf during emersion, in similarity to the Great Barrier Reef (Woolfe et al, 1998).…”

Section: The Yadana Platformmentioning

confidence: 81%

Evolution of Late Oligocene - Early Miocene attached and isolated carbonate platforms in a volcanic ridge context (Maldives type), Yadana field, offshore Myanmar

Paumard

Zuckmeyer

Boichard

et al. 2017

Marine and Petroleum Geology

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This study investigates the stratigraphic evolution of the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene carbonate platforms of the Yadana area (offshore Myanmar). Well data, regional 2D and local 3D seismic surveys allow the identification of three shallow-water carbonate platforms (Yadana, 3DF and 3DE) showing various morphologic and stratigraphic patterns influenced by the presence of a paleohigh. The identification of seven seismic sequences in the Yadana area constrains the stratigraphic evolution in three stages: (1) development of aggrading attached and isolated platforms during the Chattian; (2) a period of platform emersion during the Oligocene-Miocene transition; (3) drowning of the smaller buildup (3DE) associated with km-scale backstepping on the large platforms (3DF and Yadana) during the Aquitanian. The Aquitanian marks the onset of renewed volcanic activity associated with the development of fringing carbonate reefs during the Burdigalian. The rapid (∼6 My) development of these wide (∼5-70 km) and thick (∼300-850 m) carbonate platforms has been mainly controlled by the subsidence. However, the results highlight a strong overprint of eustatic fluctuations on the rates of change in accommodation, and hence on the stratigraphic architecture of the carbonate platforms. Based on an alternative model for the Cenozoic geodynamic evolution of the Yadana area, our results suggest that the platforms developed on a volcanic ridge of hotspot origin located in the Indian Ocean and not on a volcanic arc. Subduction jump processes are interpreted to have played a key role in the demise of all platforms by drastically changing the paleoenvironmental conditions during the Early Miocene, and led to the present-day location of the Yadana Ridge in a back-arc setting. The carbonate platforms from the Yadana area are thus a representative example of the interplay between global mechanisms and local paleoenvironmental parameters on carbonate platform initiation, growth and demise. Highlights ► Three carbonate platforms were developed in the Yadana area during the Late Oligocene-Early Miocene. ► These platforms show attached and isolated settings. ► Eustastic fluctuations affected their stratigraphic architecture. ► They were developed on a volcanic ridge of hotspot origin (Maldives type). ► Local environmental perturbations participated in the platform demise.

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Section: The Yadana Platformmentioning

confidence: 81%

Evolution of Late Oligocene - Early Miocene attached and isolated carbonate platforms in a volcanic ridge context (Maldives type), Yadana field, offshore Myanmar

Paumard

Zuckmeyer

Boichard

et al. 2017

Marine and Petroleum Geology

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“…Antithetic effects of unroofing the ridge of dense material and loading the adjacent basin resulted in subsidence of the basin and the uplift of the ridge (Moretti & Turcotte, ). These vertical motions, which we relate to postobduction isostasic readjustments, are thought to be still active south of New Caledonia (Le Roy et al, ). In the NCT basin, the thick postobduction sedimentary unit is composed of tabular uniform turbidites, with little deformation.…”

Section: Geological Settingmentioning

confidence: 81%

Deepwater Fold‐and‐Thrust Belt Along New Caledonia's Western Margin: Relation to Post‐obduction Vertical Motions

Collot¹,

Patriat

Étienne

et al. 2017

Tectonics

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Classically, deepwater fold‐and‐thrust belts are classified in two main types, depending if they result from near‐ or far‐field stresses and the understanding of their driving and triggering mechanism is poorly known. We present a geophysical data set off the western margin of New Caledonia (SW Pacific) that reveals deformed structures of a deepwater fold‐and‐thrust belt that we interpret as a near‐field gravity‐driven system, which is not located at a rifted passive margin. The main factor triggering deformation is inferred to be oversteepening of the margin slope by postobduction isostatic rebound. Onshore erosion of abnormally dense obducted material, combined with sediment loading in the adjacent basin, has induced vertical motions that have caused oversteepening of the margin. Detailed morphobathymetric, seismic stratigraphic, and structural analysis reveals that the fold‐and‐thrust belt extends 200 km along the margin, and 50 km into the New Caledonia Trough. Deformation is rooted at depths greater than 5 km beneath the seafloor, affects an area of 3,500 km2, and involves a sediment volume of approximately 13,000 km3. This deformed belt is organized into an imbricate fan system of faults, and one out‐of‐sequence thrust fault affects the seabed. The thrust faults are deeply rooted in the basin along a low‐angle floor thrust and connected to New Caledonia Island along a major detachment. This study not only provides a better knowledge of the New Caledonia margin but also provides new insight into the mechanisms that trigger deepwater fold‐and‐thrust belts.

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“…, 2008). Lagoonal successions include both carbonates and siliciclastics, with the latter extending to the barrier reef platform and only reaching the shelf margin through incised valleys during the past ca 200 ka (Le Roy et al. , 2008).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Mixed carbonates and siliciclastics in the Quaternary of southern Belize: Pleistocene turning points in reef development controlled by sea-level change

Gischler¹,

Ginsburg

Herrle³

et al. 2010

Sedimentology

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The Belize barrier and atoll reefs represent one of the largest reef structures in the Atlantic Ocean. The southern shelf of Belize is a classic location of a modern mixed carbonate-siliciclastic system. Whereas knowledge of the Holocene deposits in the area is extensive, data on the Pleistocene system are fragmentary. Open questions include: (i) the nature of the reef foundations (carbonate versus siliciclastics); (ii) the ages of the deposits including the initiation of the barrier reef; and (iii) the response of the mixed system to sealevel fluctuations. The results of a study of borings on the southern Belize shelf are presented here. Six, up to 105 m long borings were made to better understand the history of this important mixed system. Uranium-series dating in the Pleistocene was not possible because of diagenetic alteration; however, lithostratigraphy, strontium isotopes and calcareous nannofossil biostratigraphy were used to constrain stratigraphic ages. Results support the contention that the Quaternary development in Belize was quite similar to that of other major barrier reefs such as the Florida Reef Tract and, further afield, the Great Barrier and the New Caledonian Barrier Reefs. All of these barrier reefs are mixed carbonate-siliciclastic systems and significant reef growth only began after the onset of high-amplitude, eccentricity-controlled sea-level changes and as late as during the exceptionally long and warm marine isotope stage 11, some 400 ka. In Belize, Early Pleistocene sections at bases of borings include mollusc-rich wackestones, rare coral packstones and marls, which were deposited under low to moderate energy conditions in a ramp setting before ca 900 ka, during the high sea-levels of marine isotope stage 25 and possibly earlier (marine isotope stage 31 or 37). The Belize shelf was subaerially exposed for most of the mid-Pleistocene and was dominated by siliciclastic sedimentation, possibly during marine isotope stages 24 to 12 when highstands were comparatively low. Continuous reefs at the shelf margin were developing during highstands. In the Late Pleistocene, beginning with the long and high highstand of marine isotope stage 11 (some 400 ka), the southern shelf was flooded entirely and carbonates started to dominate once more. Reefs developed on top of siliciclastic deposits on the shelf. A continuous barrier reef came into existence and largely developed on top of carbonates at the shelf margin. During Late Pleistocene lowstands, Present address: 1049 siliciclastics presumably no longer reached the shelf margin because of the topographic high of the barrier reef platform. The Quaternary Belize example may serve as a model for reconstructing ancient mixed systems in icehouse worlds, however, any extrapolations are limited by the fact that fast-growing Scleractinian reef-builders had not yet evolved in the Palaeozoic.

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Late Quaternary history of the Nouméa lagoon (New Caledonia, South West Pacific) as depicted by seismic stratigraphy and multibeam bathymetry

Cited by 21 publications

References 24 publications

Evolution of Late Oligocene - Early Miocene attached and isolated carbonate platforms in a volcanic ridge context (Maldives type), Yadana field, offshore Myanmar

Evolution of Late Oligocene - Early Miocene attached and isolated carbonate platforms in a volcanic ridge context (Maldives type), Yadana field, offshore Myanmar

Deepwater Fold‐and‐Thrust Belt Along New Caledonia's Western Margin: Relation to Post‐obduction Vertical Motions

Mixed carbonates and siliciclastics in the Quaternary of southern Belize: Pleistocene turning points in reef development controlled by sea-level change

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