Acropora palmata reef framework: A reliable indicator of sea level in the western atlantic for the past 10,000 years

Lighty, Robin G.; Macintyre, Ian G.; Stuckenrath, Robert

doi:10.1007/bf00301694

Cited by 270 publications

(165 citation statements)

References 20 publications

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“…The most common reef terraces and associated coral assemblages, for instance, are generally interpreted as indicating deposition between mean low tide level and 5 m below mean low tide level (Lighty et al, 1982;Camoin et al, 2001). Intertidal sedimentary facies indicate deposition within the tidal range.…”

Section: Nature Of the Indicators And Depositional Rangesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probabilistic assessment of sea level during the last interglacial stage

Kopp¹,

Simons²,

Mitrovica³

et al. 2009

Nature

698

578

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The Last Interglacial (LIG) stage (ca. 130-115 ka), with polar temperatures likely 3-5 • C warmer than today, serves as a partial analogue for low-end future warming scenarios. Multiple indicators suggest that LIG global sea level (GSL) was higher than at present; based upon a small set of local sea level indicators, the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC)'s Fourth Assessment Report inferred an elevation of approximately 4-6 m. While this estimate may be correct, it is based upon overly simplistic assumptions about the relationship between local sea level and global sea level. Sea level is often viewed as a simple function of changing global ice volume. This perspective neglects local variability, which arises from several factors, including the distortion of the geoid and the elastic and isostatic deformation of the solid Earth by shifting ice masses. Accurate reconstruction of past global and local sea levels, as well as ice sheet volumes, therefore requires integrating globally distributed data sets of local sea level indicators. To assess the robustness of the IPCC's global estimate and search for patterns in local sea level that are diagnostic of meltwater sources, we have compiled a comprehensive database that includes a variety of local sea level indicators from 47 localities, as well as a global sea level record derived from oxygen isotopes. We generate a global synthesis from these data using a novel statistical approach that couples Gaussian process regression to Markov Chain Monte Carlo simulation of geochronological errors. Our analysis strongly supports the hypothesis that global sea level during the Last Interglacial was higher than today, probably peaking between 6-9 m above the present level. This level is close to that expected from the complete melting of the Greenland Ice Sheet, or from major melting of both the Greenland and West Antarctic Ice Sheets. In the period when sea level was within 10 m of the modern value, the fastest rate of sea level rise sustained for a 1 ky period was likely about 80-110 cm per century. Combined with the evidence for mildly higher temperatures during the LIG, our results highlight the vulnerability of ice sheets to even relatively low levels of sustained global warming.

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Section: Nature Of the Indicators And Depositional Rangesmentioning

confidence: 99%

Probabilistic assessment of sea level during the last interglacial stage

Kopp¹,

Simons²,

Mitrovica³

et al. 2009

Nature

698

578

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Anderson et al [1991], Andrews [1967], Anuskiewicz [1988], Blum et al [2001], Blum et al [2003], Brannon et al [1957], Broecker and Kulp [1957], Broecker et al [1956], Byrne [1975], Coleman [1966], Coleman and Smith [1964], Cronin et al [2007], Curray [1960], Davies [1980], Faught [1996], Faught and Donoghue [1997], Frazier [1967, 1974, Törnqvist [2009], Goodbred [1994], Goodbred et al [1998], Gould and McFarlan [1959], Greene et al [2007], Kuehn [1980], Kulp et al [1952], Li et al [2012], Lighty et al [1978Lighty et al [ , 1982, Fearn [1993, 2000], Livsey and Simms [2013], Locker et al [1996], Lopez and Rink [2008], Maddox et al [2008], Mathews [1981], Mathews and Kearns [1981], McBride [1997], Miller [1983], Milliken et al [2008aMilliken et al [ , 2008bMilliken et al [ , 2008c, Morton et al [2000], Nelson and Bray [1970], Otvos [1981Otvos [ , 1985Otvos [ , 1991Otvos [ , 2004, …”

Section: Appendix A: Database Acknowledgmentsmentioning

confidence: 99%

The contribution of glacial isostatic adjustment to projections of sea‐level change along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America

et al. 2016

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We determine the contribution of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) to future relative sea-level change for the North American coastline between Newfoundland and Texas. We infer GIA model parameters using recently compiled and quality-assessed databases of past sea-level changes, including new databases for the United States Gulf Coast and Atlantic Canada. At 13 cities along this coastline, we estimate the GIA contribution to range from a few centimeters (e.g., 3 [−1 to 9] cm Miami) to a few decimeters (e.g., 18 [12][13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20][21][22] cm, Halifax) for the period 2085-2100 relative to 2006-2015 (1− ranges given). We provide estimates of uncertainty in the GIA component using two different methods; the more conservative approach produces total ranges (1− confidence) that vary from 3 to 16 cm for the cities considered. Contributions from ocean steric and dynamic changes as well as those from changes in land ice are also estimated to provide context for the GIA projections. When summing the contributions from all three processes at the 13 cities considered along this coastline, using median or best-estimate values, the GIA signal comprises 5-38% of the total depending on the adopted climate forcing and location. The contributions from ocean dynamic/steric changes and ice mass loss are similar in amplitude but with spatial variation that approximately cancels, resulting in GIA dominating the net spatial variability north of 35 ∘ N.

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“…Detailed logging of the cores involved a standard sedimentological characterization of framework/sediment size and composition to species level following Blanchon and Perry (2004). We used several distinguishing criteria to differentiate large clasts from in-place coral colonies, including (i) the presence of lateral or basal attachment surfaces, formed when a growing coral encrusts its substrate, (ii) distinctive asymmetrical thicknesses of corallite growth in branches and fronds of Acropora palmata (Lighty et al, 1982), and (iii) Orientation of the growth axis of A. palmata branches, assuming angles >20 • from the horizontal represent in-situ colonies (Blanchon and Eisenhauer, 2000). Reef shows a typical Caribbean zonation with zones delineated by slope breaks: the crestline separates the back-reef and reef-front zones.…”

Section: Core Drilling and Loggingmentioning

confidence: 99%

Retrograde Accretion of a Caribbean Fringing Reef Controlled by Hurricanes and Sea-level Rise

Blanchon

Richards²,

Bernal

et al. 2017

Front. Earth Sci.

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Predicting the impact of sea-level (SL) rise on coral reefs requires reliable models of reef accretion. Most assume that accretion results from vertical growth of coralgal framework, but recent studies show that reefs exposed to hurricanes consist of layers of coral gravel rather than in-place corals. New models are therefore needed to account for hurricane impact on reef accretion over geological timescales. To investigate this geological impact, we report the configuration and development of a 4-km-long fringing reef at Punta Maroma along the northeast Yucatan Peninsula. Satellite-derived bathymetry (SDB) shows the crest is set-back a uniform distance of 315 ±15 m from a mid-shelf slope break, and the reef-front decreases 50% in width and depth along its length. A 12-core drill transect constrained by multiple 230 Th ages shows the reef is composed of an ∼2-m thick layer of coral clasts that has retrograded 100 m over its back-reef during the last 5.5 ka. These findings are consistent with a hurricane-control model of reef development where large waves trip and break over the mid-shelf slope break, triggering rapid energy dissipation and thus limiting how far upslope individual waves can fragment corals and transport clasts. As SL rises and water depth increases, energy dissipation during wave-breaking is reduced, extending the clast-transport limit, thus leading to reef retrogradation. This hurricane model may be applicable to a large sub-set of fringing reefs in the tropical Western-Atlantic necessitating a reappraisal of their accretion rates and response to future SL rise.

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Acropora palmata reef framework: A reliable indicator of sea level in the western atlantic for the past 10,000 years

Cited by 270 publications

References 20 publications

Probabilistic assessment of sea level during the last interglacial stage

Probabilistic assessment of sea level during the last interglacial stage

The contribution of glacial isostatic adjustment to projections of sea‐level change along the Atlantic and Gulf coasts of North America

Retrograde Accretion of a Caribbean Fringing Reef Controlled by Hurricanes and Sea-level Rise

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