Late-Holocene evolution of a coastal lagoon in the Gulf of Lions (South of France)

2010 ◽  
Vol 181 (1) ◽  
pp. 27-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre Sabatier ◽  
Laurent Dezileau ◽  
Mickaël Barbier ◽  
Olivier Raynal ◽  
Johanna Lofi ◽  
...  

Abstract The central part of the Gulf of Lions shoreline is characterized by many coastal wetlands that resulted from the interaction between a process of shoreline regularization by migrations of littoral barriers and a slow filling of the back-barrier areas by the riverine and marine inputs. Analyses of Late-Holocene deposits with a very high-resolution multi-proxy study of two sediment cores, allow us to reconstruct the evolution of this coastal system. Two main Holocene sediment units are identified overlying a Pliocene carbonate continental formation. The lower unit consists of sandy and pebbly marine sediments deposited around 7800 B.P., during the final stand of the last sea level rise. Just above, the upper unit displays lagoonal grey clay silts with shells and some intercalated layers of silty sands related to paleostorm events. The age model was established from radiocarbon dating, for the oldest part of the core. Over the last century, sedimentation rates were calculated using the CFCS 210Pb model, together with 137Cs data. Radiocarbon data show an increase in the accumulation rate from the base to the top of cores. Marine sand units related to the last transgressive deposit allow to refine the curve of Holocene post-glacial sea level rise. Sedimentological and faunal analyses associated with chronological data provide a means for reconstructing the Late-Holocene paleoenvironments along this part of the coast and suggest that the final closure of the coastal lagoon by the sandy barrier occurred at around 730 ± 120 yr cal B.P. The beginning of this closure, together with the progradation of the coastal plain, could be responsible for the decline in economic activity of the Lattara harbour during the Roman period.

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 109 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curt D. Peterson ◽  
Sandy Vanderburgh

The late-Holocene record of tidal flat deposition in the large shallow Willapa Bay estuary (43 km in length), located in the Columbia River Littoral Cell (CRLC) system (160 km length), was investigated with new vibracores (n=30) and gouge cores (n=8), reaching 2–5 m depth subsurface. Reversing up-core trends of muddy sand to peaty mud deposits in marginal tidal flat settings demonstrate episodic submergence events resulting from cyclic tectonic uplift and subsidence (1–2 m) in the Cascadia subduction zone. These short-term reversals are superimposed on longer-term trends of overall sediment coarsening-up, which represent the transgression of higher-energy sandy tidal flats over pre-existing lower-energy tidal flat mud and peaty mud deposits in late-Holocene time. Fining-up trends associated with channel lateral migration and accretionary bank deposition occurred only infrequently in the broad intertidal flats of Willapa Bay. Vibracores and gouge cores were dated by 14C (n=16) and paleo-subsidence event contacts (n=17). Vibracore median probability 14C ages ranged from 0 to 6,992 yr BP and averaged 2,174 yr BP. Dated sample ages and corresponding depths of tidal flat deposits yield net sedimentation rates of 0.9–1.2 m ka-1, depending on the averaging methods used. Net sedimentation rates in the intertidal flat settings (~1.0 m ka-1) are comparable to the rate of net sea level rise (~1.0 m ka-1), as based on dated paleo-tidal marsh deposits in Willapa Bay. Reported modern inputs of river sand (total=1.77x104 m3 yr-1), from the three small rivers that flow into Willapa Bay, fall well short of the estimated increasing accommodation space (1.9x105 m3 yr-1) in the intertidal (MLLW-MHHW) setting (1.9x108 m2 surface area) during the last 3 ka, or 3.0 m of sea level rise. The under-supply of tributary sand permitted the influx of littoral sand (1.1x105 m3 yr-1) into Willapa Bay, as based on the net sedimentation rate (~1.0 m ka-1) and textural composition (average 60 % littoral sand) in analyzed core sections (n=179). The long-term littoral sand sink in Willapa Bay’s intertidal setting (55 % of total estuary area) is estimated to be about 5 % of the Columbia River supply of sand to the CRLC system, and about 30% relative to the littoral sand accumulated in barrier spits and beach plains during late-Holocene time. A 2.0 m rise in future sea level could yield a littoral sand sink of 2.2x108 m3 in the Willapa Bay intertidal setting, resulting in an equivalent shoreline retreat of 600 m along a 50 km distance of the barrier spit and beach plains that are located adjacent to the Willapa Bay tidal inlet. Willapa Bay serves as proxy for potential littoral sand sinks in other shallow mesotidal estuary-barrier-beach systems around the world following future global sea level rise.


2007 ◽  
Vol 44 (10) ◽  
pp. 1453-1465 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julia F Daly ◽  
Daniel F Belknap ◽  
Joseph T Kelley ◽  
Trevor Bell

Differential sea-level change in formerly glaciated areas is predicted owing to variability in extent and timing of glacial coverage. Newfoundland is situated close to the margin of the former Laurentide ice sheet, and the orientation of the shoreline affords the opportunity to investigate variable rates and magnitudes of sea-level change. Analysis of salt-marsh records at four sites around the island yields late Holocene sea-level trends. These trends indicate differential sea-level change in recent millennia. A north–south geographic trend reflects submergence in the south, very slow sea-level rise in the northeast, and a recent transition from falling to rising sea-level at the base of the Northern Peninsula. This variability is best explained as a continued isostatic response to deglaciation.


2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Miriam C. Jones ◽  
G. Lynn Wingard ◽  
Bethany Stackhouse ◽  
Katherine Keller ◽  
Debra Willard ◽  
...  

1990 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
pp. 33-46 ◽  
Author(s):  
Joseph F. Donoghue

AbstractTrends are discernible in the estimates of late Holocene rates of sedimentation and sea-level rise for the Chesapeake Bay. During most of the Holocene Epoch sedimentation rates and relative sea-level rise were equal, within the limits of measurement, at approximately 1 mm yr−1. Sedimentation rates measured over the past century, however, are nearly an order of magnitude higher, while the rate of relative sea-level rise for the Chesapeake Bay now averages 3.3 mm yr−1, as measured on long-term tide gauge records. When the acceleration in these rates occurred is uncertain, but it appears to have been confined to the past millennium, and probably to the past few centuries. The rapid sedimentation rates recorded during historic time may be a temporary disequilibrium that has resulted from a recent acceleration in the rate of relative sea-level rise.


2019 ◽  
Vol 520 ◽  
pp. 150-162 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elsa Arellano-Torres ◽  
Alexander Correa-Metrio ◽  
Diego López-Dávila ◽  
Jaime Escobar ◽  
Jason H. Curtis ◽  
...  

2019 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Faming Wang ◽  
Xiaoliang Lu ◽  
Christian J. Sanders ◽  
Jianwu Tang

AbstractCoastal wetlands are large reservoirs of soil carbon (C). However, the annual C accumulation rates contributing to the C storage in these systems have yet to be spatially estimated on a large scale. We synthesized C accumulation rate (CAR) in tidal wetlands of the conterminous United States (US), upscaled the CAR to national scale, and predicted trends based on climate change scenarios. Here, we show that the mean CAR is 161.8 ± 6 g Cm−2 yr−1, and the conterminous US tidal wetlands sequestrate 4.2–5.0 Tg C yr−1. Relative sea level rise (RSLR) largely regulates the CAR. The tidal wetland CAR is projected to increase in this century and continue their C sequestration capacity in all climate change scenarios, suggesting a strong resilience to sea level rise. These results serve as a baseline assessment of C accumulation in tidal wetlands of US, and indicate a significant C sink throughout this century.


2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andy Emery ◽  
David Hodgson ◽  
Natasha Barlow ◽  
Carol Cotterill

<p>Coastal landforms such as barriers are crucial in protecting coastlines and reducing the rate of erosion and retreat. Sea-level rise threatens to change the baseline in which such landforms exist, therefore changing sediment fluxes and hydrodynamics at coastlines. Understanding the stability of landforms under changing conditions is crucial to protect and mitigate against the influence of future sea-level rise on coastal infrastructure, ecology and populations. By studying past periods of sea-level rise with rates similar to those projected for the future, we can begin to understand how coastlines may evolve over the next few centuries.</p><p>Dogger Bank, in the southern North Sea, experienced marine transgression during the Early Holocene. Over a period of 800 years, sea level rose by 7-8 m. This rate of ~10 mm/yr is similar to that projected within the next century. Our study area is located on the southeastern side of the former Dogger Bank island. Between 9.5 and 8.7 ka BP, two phases of coastal barriers were present, retreating with different mechanisms at different time periods due to antecedent topographic changes and evolving hydrodynamics. Barrier phase A was drowned in place due to a low-angle topography and little reworking of the barrier. Barrier phase B retreated by continuous overstepping, which occurred due to a higher-angle topography and an increase in wave energy. Complete inundation of the study area occurred by 8.7 ka, with the barrier phase B first becoming an isolated barrier, then breaking down completely. The subsequent wave ravinement transitioned the landform from barrier to offshore sand bar. At this time, the rate of sea-level rise had increased to as much as 20 mm/yr during the pre-8.2 ka sea-level jump, causing the final barrier breakdown and inundation of Dogger Bank. The coastal morphology in the study area is now buried beneath up to 20 m of shallow marine sand, deposited as the dominant tidal current transported sediment from west to east.</p><p>The unique landform preservation at Dogger Bank allows unprecedented spatial and temporal resolution into the investigation of coastal response to sea-level rise. This study adds evidence to the growing body of work that sea-level rise is the driver of, but not necessarily the controlling factor in, barrier retreat mechanism. Furthermore, a rarely-preserved landform, the isolated barrier, is presented. The results of the study provide valuable insights into the transition from coastal to fully marine during transgression of low-relief coastal areas, which provides an analogue for future sea-level rise scenarios.</p>


Geology ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 37 (12) ◽  
pp. 1115-1118 ◽  
Author(s):  
S. E. Engelhart ◽  
B. P. Horton ◽  
B. C. Douglas ◽  
W. R. Peltier ◽  
T. E. Tornqvist

2014 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 1 ◽  
Author(s):  
Curt Peterson ◽  
Sandy Vanderburgh ◽  
Michael C. Roberts

Abundant river sediment supply and an open-water central bay area characterize the geomorphology of the large Columbia River estuary (~ 100 km in length). Lateral floodplains and marsh islands do constrict the uppermost reaches of the estuary, but the central axes of the lower estuary are dominated by shallow sand shoals (0–4 m water depth). A total of 58 vibracores are used to document the grain size and age (0–2,500 14CyrBP) of late Holocene deposits in the estuary. Sedimentation rates in stable floodplains (1.1 m ka-1) reflect rates of relative sea level rise (0.75 m ka-1). Sedimentation rates of muddy sand accretionary banks and prehistoric sand shoals (1.5–7 m ka-1) greatly exceed coeval rates of sea level rise, so they must represent short–term rates of vertical accretion resulting from channel lateral migration and associated cut and fill processes. The apparent paradox of unfilled accommodation space in the estuary is resolved by 1) winter wind–wave erosion of sand shoals to -3 m NAVD88 elevation and 2) asymmetric fluvial-tidal advection that results in net seaward transport of bed load in shallow tidal channels (> – 10 m NAVD88) and shallow subtidal shoals (> – 4 m NAVD88) during spring river flooding. 


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