Sea level change on the Great Barrier Reef: an introduction

Abstract

Evidence for Holocene shorelines from the Queensland coast, off which the Great Barrier Reef lies, has epitomized the problems of eustatic fluctuations over the last 6000 years. While some areas of southern and central Queensland show evidence of no sea level higher than the present over this period, other areas, particularly within 150 km of Townsville on the mid-North coast, have provided radiometrically dated evidence for an emergence of up to 4.9 m. The area in which the 1973 Expedition worked has been described previously by several authors, and evidence for higher shorelines in the form of cemented platforms, raised reefs and related features suggesting higher sea levels, though without isotopic dating, has been noted. Research was aimed at confirming and accurately measuring and dating such evidence and relating it to the pattern described elsewhere. Any divergences must then be explained in terms of spatially and temporally varying oceanographic or geomorphic conditions and Earth movements of tectonic and/or isostatic origin.

Holocene Relative Sea-Level Changes from Near-, Intermediate-, and Far-Field Locations

“…Their far-field location and relative tectonic stability have made the coastal margins of Australia an important setting for studies of deglacial sea-level changes [174][175][176][177][178]. This region is characterized by a mid-Holocene highstand.…”