An analysis and comparison of observed Pleistocene South Carolina (USA) shoreline elevations with predicted elevations derived from Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages

2014 ◽  
Vol 82 (1) ◽  
pp. 164-174 ◽  
Author(s):  
William Richardson Doar ◽  
Christopher George St. Clement Kendall

AbstractGeological maps of South Carolina, covering >6800 km2, confirm the existence of eight preserved Pleistocene shorelines above current sea level: Marietta (+ 42.6 m), Wicomico (+ 27.4 m), Penholoway (+ 21.3 m), Ladson (+ 17.4 m), Ten Mile Hill (+ 10.7 m), Pamlico (+ 6.7 m), Princess Anne (+ 5.2 m), and Silver Bluff (+ 3 m). Current geochronologic data suggest that these eight shorelines correlate with Marine Oxygen Isotope Stages (MIS) as follows: Marietta—older than MIS 77; Wicomico—MIS 55–45; Penholoway—MIS 19 or 17; Ladson—MIS 11; Ten Mile Hill—MIS 7; Pamlico—MIS 5; Princess Anne—MIS 5; and Silver Bluff—MIS 5 or 3. Except for the MIS 5e Pamlico, and possibly the MIS 11 Ladson, the South Carolina elevations are higher than predicted by isotope proxy-based reconstructions. The <4 m of total relief from the Pamlico to the Silver Bluff shoreline in South Carolina, for which other reconstructions suggest an expected relief of ~ 80 m, illustrates the lack of match. Our results suggest that processes affecting either post-depositional changes in shoreline elevations or the creation of proxy sea-level estimates must be considered before using paleo sea-level position on continental margins.

2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 1195-1233 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Trommer ◽  
M. Siccha ◽  
E. J. Rohling ◽  
K. Grant ◽  
M. T. J. van der Meer ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study investigates the response of Red Sea circulation to sea level and insolation changes during termination II and across the last interglacial, in comparison with termination I and the Holocene. Sediment cores from the central and northern part of the Red Sea were investigated by micropaleontological and geochemical proxies. The recovery of the planktonic foraminiferal fauna following high salinities during MIS 6 took place at similar sea-level stand (~50 m below present day), and with a similar species succession, as during termination I. This indicates a consistent sensitivity of the basin oceanography and the plankton ecology to sea-level forcing. Based on planktonic foraminifera, we find that increased water exchange with the Gulf of Aden especially occurred during the sea-level highstand of interglacial MIS 5e. From MIS 6 to the peak of MIS 5e, northern Red Sea SST increased from 21 °C to 25 °C, with about 3 °C of this increase taking place during termination II. Changes in planktonic foraminiferal assemblages indicate that the development of the Red Sea oceanography during MIS 5 was strongly determined by insolation and monsoon strength. The SW Monsoon summer circulation mode was enhanced during the termination, causing low productivity in northern central Red Sea core KL9, marked by high abundance of G. sacculifer, which – as in the Holocene – followed summer insolation. Core KL11 records the northern tip of the intruding intermediate water layer from the Gulf of Aden and its planktonic foraminifera fauna shows evidence for elevated productivity during the sea-level highstand in the southern central Red Sea. By the time of MIS 5 sea-level regression, elevated organic biomarker BIT values suggest denudation of soil organic matter into the Red Sea and high abundances of G. glutinata, and high reconstructed chlorophyll-a values, indicate an intensified NE Monsoon winter circulation mode. Our results imply that the amplitude of insolation fluctuations, and the resulting monsoon strength, strongly influence the Red Sea oceanography during sea-level highstands by regulating the intensity of water exchange with the Gulf of Aden. These processes are responsible for the observation that MIS 5e/d is characterized by higher primary productivity than the Holocene.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Deirdre D. Ryan ◽  
Alastair J. H. Clement ◽  
Nathan R. Jankowski ◽  
Paolo Stocchi

Abstract. This paper presents the current state-of-knowledge of the New Zealand (Aotearoa) last interglacial (MIS 5 sensu lato) sea-level record compiled within the framework of the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS) database. Seventy-seven total relative sea-level (RSL) indicators (direct, marine-, and terrestrial-limiting points), commonly in association with marine terraces, were identified from over 120 studies reviewed. Extensive coastal deformation around New Zealand has resulted in a significant range of elevation measurements on both the North Island (276.8 to −94.2 msl) and South Island (173.1 to −70.0 msl) and prompted the use of RSL indicators to estimate rates of vertical land movement; however, indicators lack adequate description and age constraint. Identified RSL indicators are correlated with MIS 5, MIS 5e, MIS 5c, and MIS 5a and indicate the potential for the New Zealand sea-level record to inform sea-level fluctuation and climatic change within MIS 5 (sensu lato). The Northland (North Island) and Otago (South Island) regions, historically considered stable, have the potential to provide a regional sea-level curve in a remote location of the South Pacific across broad degrees of latitude. Future work requires modern analogue information, heights above a defined sea-level datum, better stratigraphic descriptions, and use of improved geochronological methods. The database presented in this study is available open-access at this link: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.4056376 (Ryan et al., 2020a).


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Evan J. Gowan ◽  
Alessio Rovere ◽  
Deirdre D. Ryan ◽  
Sebastian Richiano ◽  
Alejandro Montes ◽  
...  

Abstract. Coastal southeast South America is one of the classic locations where there are robust, spatially extensive records of past high sea level. Sea-level proxies interpreted as being Last Interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage – MIS 5e) exist along the length of the Uruguayan and Argentinian coast, with exceptional preservation especially in Patagonia. Many coastal deposits are correlated to MIS 5e solely because they form the next highest terrace level above the Holocene highstand; however, dating control exists for some landforms from amino acid racemization, U/Th (on molluscs), electron spin resonance (ESR), and optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating. As part of the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS) database, we have documented a total of 60 MIS 5 proxies attributed with various degrees of precision to MIS 5e. Among these, 48 are sea-level indicators, and 11 are marine limiting indicators (sea level above the elevation of the indicator), and 1 is terrestrial limiting (sea level below the elevation of the indicator). Limitations on the precision and accuracy of chronological controls and elevation measurements means that most of these indicators are considered to be low quality. The database is available at https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.3991597 (Gowan et al., 2020).


1993 ◽  
Vol 40 (3) ◽  
pp. 368-379 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joachim Schönfeld ◽  
Hermann-Rudolf Kudrass

AbstractSediments of 13 piston cores from opposite continental slopes of the South China Sea, off southern China and Sabah (northern Borneo), were analyzed by sedimentological methods and dated by oxygen isotope stratigraphy. Sediments mostly consist of hemipelagic clay with 20% carbonate off Sabah and 40% off China. We calculated terrigenous and carbonate accumulation rates for up to 11 time-slices from the Holocene to oxygen-isotope stage 6. Terrigenous accumulation rates generally increase with water depth and reach a maximum at the middle slope off Sabah and at the lower continental slope off China. During glacial and interglacial times this distribution pattern did not markedly change, despite an increase of accumulation rates for glacial periods by a factor of 2 to 5 compared to interglacial periods. Rates are negatively correlated with positions of sea level, which controls the partition of fluviatile terrigenous material for deposition on shelf, slope, and abyssal plain. Carbonate accumulation rates are higher off China by a factor of 2 compared to Sabah, probably indicating higher calcareous plankton productivity.


2014 ◽  
Vol 81 (1) ◽  
pp. 138-150 ◽  
Author(s):  
Clark E. Sherman ◽  
Charles H. Fletcher ◽  
Ken H. Rubin ◽  
Kathleen R. Simmons ◽  
Walter H. Adey

AbstractIn situ Pleistocene reefs form a gently sloping nearshore terrace around the island of Oahu. TIMS Th–U ages of in situ corals indicate that most of the terrace is composed of reefal limestones correlating to Marine Oxygen Isotope Stage 7 (MIS 7, ~ 190–245 ka). The position of the in situ MIS 7 reef complex indicates that it formed during periods when local sea level was ~ 9 to 20 m below present sea level. Its extensiveness and geomorphic prominence as well as a paucity of emergent in situ MIS 7 reef-framework deposits on Oahu suggest that much of MIS 7 was characterized by regional sea levels below present. Later accretion along the seaward front of the terrace occurred during the latter part of MIS 5 (i.e., MIS 5a–5d, ~ 76–113 ka). The position of the late MIS 5 reefal limestones is consistent with formation during a period when local sea level was below present. The extensiveness of the submerged Pleistocene reefs around Oahu compared to the relative dearth of Holocene accretion is due to the fact that Pleistocene reefs had both more time and more accommodation space available for accretion than their Holocene counterparts.


2011 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 941-955 ◽  
Author(s):  
G. Trommer ◽  
M. Siccha ◽  
E. J. Rohling ◽  
K. Grant ◽  
M. T. J. van der Meer ◽  
...  

Abstract. This study investigates the response of Red Sea circulation to sea level and insolation changes during termination II and across the last interglacial, in comparison with termination I and the Holocene. Sediment cores from the central and northern part of the Red Sea were investigated by micropaleontological and geochemical proxies. The recovery of the planktic foraminiferal fauna following high salinities during marine isotopic stage (MIS) 6 took place at similar sea-level stand (~50 m below present day), and with a similar species succession, as during termination I. This indicates a consistent sensitivity of the basin oceanography and the plankton ecology to sea-level forcing. Based on planktic foraminifera, we find that increased water exchange with the Gulf of Aden especially occurred during the sea-level highstand of interglacial MIS 5e. From MIS 6 to the peak of MIS 5e, northern Red Sea sea surface temperature (SST) increased from 21 °C to 25 °C, with about 3 °C of this increase taking place during termination II. Changes in planktic foraminiferal assemblages indicate that the development of the Red Sea oceanography during MIS 5 was strongly determined by insolation and monsoon strength. The SW Monsoon summer circulation mode was enhanced during the termination, causing low productivity in northern central Red Sea core KL9, marked by high abundance of G. sacculifer, which – as in the Holocene – followed summer insolation. Core KL11 records the northern tip of the intruding intermediate water layer from the Gulf of Aden and its planktic foraminifera fauna shows evidence for elevated productivity during the sea-level highstand in the southern central Red Sea. By the time of MIS 5 sea-level regression, elevated organic biomarker BIT values suggest denudation of soil organic matter into the Red Sea and high abundances of G. glutinata, and high reconstructed chlorophyll-a values, indicate an intensified NE Monsoon winter circulation mode. Our results imply that the amplitude of insolation fluctuations, and the resulting monsoon strength, strongly influence the Red Sea oceanography during sea-level highstands by regulating the intensity of water exchange with the Gulf of Aden. These processes are responsible for the observation that MIS 5e/d is characterized by higher primary productivity than the Holocene.


Author(s):  
Zinaida V. Pushina ◽  
Galina V. Stepanova ◽  
Ekaterina L. Grundan

Zoya Ilyinichna Glezer is the largest Russian micropaleontologist, a specialist in siliceous microfossils — Cenozoic diatoms and silicoflagellates. Since the 1960s, she systematically studied Paleogene siliceous microfossils from various regions of the country and therefore was an indispensable participant in the development of unified stratigraphic schemes for Paleogene siliceous plankton of various regions of the USSR. She made a great contribution to the creation of the newest Paleogene schemes in the south of European Russia and Western Siberia, to the correlations of the Paleogene deposits of the Kara Sea.


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