Pleistocene coastal stratigraphy, sea‐level highstands and neotectonism of the southern Australian passive continental margin—a review

Abstract

Murray-Wallace, C. V. 2002. Pleistocene coastal stratigraphy, sea-level highstands and neotectonism of the southern Australian passive continental margin-a review.ABSTRACT: Located in a tectonically stable, intraplate setting and in the far field of former ice sheets, the southern Australian passive continental margin represents a globally important region for quantifying sea level during Pleistocene highstands. The stratigraphical record of the southern Australian margin is dominated by geographically extensive coastal barrier, estuarine and peritidal landforms of bioclastic, temperate carbonate affinity, a function of regional aridity. Siliciclastic successions dominate the eastern Australian coastline. Despite the generally high level of tectonic stability, regional contrasts are evident in the elevation of Pleistocene shoreline deposits that largely relate to pre-Quaternary geotectonic setting. The most complete record of Pleistocene highstand deposits occurs in the Murray Basin-Coorong Coastal Plain region, and indicates that interglacial sea-level highstands, for at least the past 11 interglacials, did not deviate by more than 6 m from present sea-level. The Pleistocene marginal marine record of southern Australia is dominantly represented by coastal successions deposited during marine oxygen isotope stages 5e and 7, equating with relative sea-level maxima of 2-6 m and greater than 1 m above present sea-level (APSL) respectively. Intertidal facies of Late Pleistocene interstadial successions rarely occur above present sea level. The most reliable record of glacio-eustatic (ice equivalent) sea level is registered on coastlines developed on stable Precambrian cratons such as the Gawler Craton (Eyre Peninsula), where a consistent elevation of 2 m APSL is registered for over 500 km for the last interglacial shoreline (125 ka).

Sea level ~400 000 years ago (MIS 11): analogue for present and future sea-level?

“…Along a transect from Robe to Naracoorte, the Woakwine deposits at 10 m have a TL age of 132±9 ka, and the East Avenue deposits at 26 m have a TL age of 414±29. Based on an uplift rate from an MIS 5.5 sea-level of 2 m the MIS 11 sea-level was calculated to be at −3 m at 420 ka (Murray Wallace, 2002). Tables 2 and 3 show estimates of the MIS 11 sea-level.…”

“…First: below present sea-level to ∼6 m above it (Bender et al, 1979;Suggate, 1992;McManus et al, 1999;Vézina et al, 1999;Murray-Wallace, 2002;Bowen, 2003a;Schellmann and Radtke, 2004a, b;Thompson and Goldstein, 2005). Second: a higher group at ∼20 m a.s.l.…”

Late Neogene and Quaternary Vertical Motions in the Otway Coast, Southeast Australia (I): Development and Geochronology of Quaternary Marine Terraces

“…In the Australian continent, terrestrial sea level records of the middle-late Quaternary are extensively well preserved as high-stand marine successions in the Coorong Coastal Plains, South Australia. From these successions, sea level for MIS 7 was estimated from −6 to 0 m with assumption of +2 m reference level of MIS 5e stage (Murray-Wallace, 2002). It is assumed herein that the sea level at MIS 7 stage was as high as present level.…”

“…The preservation of marine terraces above present sea level signifies both the sea level stand at the formation time and subsequent tectonic uplift. With increasing information on past sea levels, marine terraces have increasingly used to evaluate rates of tectonic controls in intraplate settings (Murray-Wallace, 2002;Claessens et al, 2009). In this study geographic distributions and vertical elevations of the marine terraces in the southern coast of the Otway Ranges, SE Australia have been mapped, and quantitative uplift rates have been established using Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating method from overlying terrace deposits.…”

Terrestrial-marine sedimentary cycles in the South Yellow Sea, China: implications for paleoenvironmental reconstruction since MIS 5

“…The highest sea levels during MIS 5 were estimated to be -11 to 10 m average sea level (a.s.l.) along the worldwide coasts (Steinen et al, 1973;Chappell, 1974;Chappell and Veeh, 1978;Murray-Wallace, 2002;Simms et al, 2009), while the highest sea levels during MIS 3 were estimated to be -15 to -10 m a.s.l. on the West Pacific coasts around Japan and New Guinea (Chappell and Shackleton, 1986;Fuji and Horowitz, 1989;Shi et al, 2001) and to be -10 to -5 m a.s.l.…”