Anatomy of a Modern Coral Reef Flat: A Recorder of Storms and Uplift in the Late Holocene

Yamano, Hiroya; Kayanne, Hajime; Yonekura, Nobuyuki

doi:10.1306/082900710295

Cited by 67 publications

(45 citation statements)

References 24 publications

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“…Moreover, without precise chronologies for lagoon profiles, the estimation of many other environmental parameters, such as carbonate production rates, global carbonate budget and carbon cycle (Berger, 1982b;Milliman, 1993;Smith, 1978;Smith and Harrison, 1977;Vecsei, 2004), are unreliable. This is because lagoons often make up a large proportion of the coral reef systems worldwide (Kennedy and Woodroffe, 2000) (e.g., making up 90% of Enewetak Atoll (Yamano et al, 2001)). For instance, 82.5% of coral reef systems in Nansha area (2906 km 2 ) are lagoons.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-precision TIMS U-series and AMS 14C dating of a coral reef lagoon sediment core from southern South China Sea

Zhao

Wang

et al. 2006

Quaternary Science Reviews

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

High-precision TIMS U-series and AMS 14C dating of a coral reef lagoon sediment core from southern South China Sea

Zhao

Wang

et al. 2006

Quaternary Science Reviews

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“…In the central Pacific, including the Marshall Islands, foraminiferal sand accounts for much of the unconsolidated sediment on atoll islets (Woodroffe and Morrison 2001). Because Calcarina and Baculogypsina tests among Foraminifera have several spicules that are easily abraded in the process of transportation by wave action on reef flats, the samples preserving fresh spicules should be effective in radiometric dating for calcitic sand sedimentation (Yamano et al 2001). It is also proper that geoarchaeological studies of atoll prehistory must devise a way to compare radiocarbon ages of terrestrial wooden charcoal samples with those of marine calcitic samples.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Archaeological Investigation of the Landscape History of an Oceanic Atoll: Majuro, Marshall Islands

Yamaguchi

Yamano

2009

Pacific Science

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Historical ecology has provided the field of geoarchaeology in Oceania with the concept of an island landscape as a historical product, invented from the dynamic interactions between natural processes and human agency. Since Davidson's work in Nukuoro (1971) and Dye's introduction to the prehistory of Majuro in the Marshall Islands (1987), systematic excavations of atoll islets have also been based on this tenet. Following this concept, this study presents a geoarchaeological examination of the long-term history of the pitagricultural landscape in Laura Islet of Majuro Atoll, which now consists of 195 pits showing remarkable undulation and anthropogenic vegetation on their spoil banks. Our excavations, conducted since 2003, have revealed that human habitation on Laura began as early as 2,000 years ago, soon after the emergence of the core islet, which probably followed a relative drop in sea level in the late Holocene. Some centuries later, the inhabitants started excavating agricultural pits for the cultivation of wet taro, probably Cyrtosperma spp. The subsequent sea-level decline would have enlarged the foraminiferal sediment; the islet then extended its landform both oceanward and lagoonward as well as along the longitudinal axis stretching north to south. The land accretion caused its inhabitants to increasingly extend their activity space and readjust areas for habitation. It would also have enlarged the volume of the freshwater lens, prompting additional construction of agricultural pits even in the area just behind the lagoonside beach ridge. Most of the current landscape was formed by around 1,000 years ago at the latest. Geoarchaeological synthesis of Pacific atolls will enable the precise elucidation of local chronological relationships between land accretion and expansion of human activities.More than 170 coral atolls are scattered in the trade-wind zone from the westernmost Caroline Islands to the easternmost Tuamotu Islands (Figure 1). Their islets of foraminiferal sand and coral shingle lie on mid-Holocene emergent reef flats, and a chain of these islets, which are covered with coconut trees, separate a turquoise lagoon from the surrounding navy blue ocean. On the surface, the scene appears to be a typical oceanic paradise. Most of the subaerial landforms, however, are no more than 2-3 m in elevation and a few hundred meters to less than a few kilometers at most in width. As such, they are highly susceptible to inundation by storm surges. Moreover, in the absence of running surface water, some atolls frequently suffer from droughts. Because of these and other factors, atolls have often been stereotyped as being extremely marginal environments for human settlement. This oversimplified image tends to be reflected even in the latest scientific reports on global warming,

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“…Davies and Montaggioni 1985;McLean and Woodroffe 1994). In Ishigaki Island, a windward reef (Kabira Reef, Figure 1b) caught up with sea level at around 4000 BP (Yamano et al 2001). The age of the top of Tonoshiro Reef (around 3500 BP) is younger than that of windward reefs as shown in Hopley and Barnes (1985).…”

Section: Comparison With Other Reef Systemsmentioning

confidence: 88%

“…The age of the top of Tonoshiro Reef (around 3500 BP) is younger than that of windward reefs as shown in Hopley and Barnes (1985). Tectonic uplift occurred in Ishigaki Island at around 2000 BP (Kawana 1989) caused the aerial exposure of the Kabira Reef crest during low tides and no corals are distributed there (Yamano et al 2001), whereas Tonoshiro Reef is rarely exposed to the air and living corals are distributed on the reef, although the amount of uplift (1.4 m) is greater than that of Kabira Reef (0.6-0.8 m) (Kawana 1986). This result also suggests the delayed evolution of the reef.…”

Section: Comparison With Other Reef Systemsmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Coral Reef Evolution at the Leeward Side of Ishigaki Island, Southwest Japan

Yamano¹,

Abe

Kitagawa

et al. 2001

Radiocarbon

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ABSTRACT. In comparison with windward coral reefs, the facies and evolution of leeward coral reefs has been discussed to a lesser extent. By accelerator mass spectrometry (AMS) carbon-14 dating of coral specimens collected from the trench excavated across a modern coral reef during a fishery port repair, we revealed the internal facies and Holocene evolution of a leeward reef in Ishigaki Island, Ryukyu Islands, southwest Japan. The reef facies can be split into three facies: the tabular Acropora framework facies, the tabular Acropora reworked facies, and the unconsolidated bioclast facies. The tabular Acropora reworked facies first formed a ridge by 3500 BP. Then, the tabular Acropora framework facies grew both upward and seaward. The accumulation rates of the tabular Acropora framework facies ranged from 2.2 to 8.3 m/ka. Thus, the reef framework facies and accumulation rates of this leeward reef is similar to those of windward reefs, although the age of the reef top is younger than that of windward reefs.

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Anatomy of a Modern Coral Reef Flat: A Recorder of Storms and Uplift in the Late Holocene

Cited by 67 publications

References 24 publications

High-precision TIMS U-series and AMS 14C dating of a coral reef lagoon sediment core from southern South China Sea

High-precision TIMS U-series and AMS 14C dating of a coral reef lagoon sediment core from southern South China Sea

Archaeological Investigation of the Landscape History of an Oceanic Atoll: Majuro, Marshall Islands

Coral Reef Evolution at the Leeward Side of Ishigaki Island, Southwest Japan

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