late holocene higher sea level indicators from the south china coast dating of a relict shell horizon saccostrea cucullata on hong kong island located approximately 1 7 m above present day high tide level constrains the timing of a late holocene higher sea level at 5140 50 yr bp sea level in the south china area was 4 5 m higher with respect to the principal datum 2 7 m below high tide mark than at present

theoretical constraints and chronological evidence of holocene coastal development in central and southern new south wales australia abstract holocene coastal evolution in new south wales has been interpreted essentially as the unfolding of the impact of marine transgression sea level on this coast supposedly reached its present height at 6 6 5 ka and varied

holocene sea level change on the southeast coast of australia a review a revised holocene sea level curve for the southeast coast of new south wales australia is presented based on a review of previously published geochronological results for fossil molluscs organi

evidence for smoothly falling sea level relative to north queensland australia during the past 6 000 yr post glacial sea level curves are expected to differ between different parts of the world as a result of global isostatic changes1 or perhaps other forms of geoidal changes2 i report here results from the inner part of the northern great barrier reef which seem to show a pattern of smoothly falling sea level during the past 6 000 yr the results are consistent with stratigraphical results from prograded mangrove coasts on the nearby north queensland mainland the region is remote from the tectonically active margin of the south west pacific ocean and the results contribute to the global data set relevant to isostatic changes being assembled by the international sea level project igcp project no 61 they also provide a baseline relevant to holocene coral reef growth in the inner great barrier reef

holocene sea level change and coastal landscape evolution in the southern gulf of carpentaria australia a revised holocene sea level history for the southern gulf of carpentaria is presented based on new data from the south wellesley archipelago and age recalibration of previous research results confirm that rising sea levels during the most recent post glacial marine transgression breached the arafura sill ca 11 700 cal yr bp sea levels continued to rise to ca 30 m by 10 000 cal yr bp leading to full marine conditions by 7700 cal yr bp sea level reached present mean sea level pmsl and continued to rise to an elevation of between 1 5 m and 2 m above pmsl sea level remained ca 1 5 between 7000 and 4000 cal yr bp followed by rapid regression to within 0 5 m of pmsl by ca 3500 cal yr bp when placed into a wider regional context results from this study show that coastal landscape evolution in the tropical north of australia was not only dependent on sea level change but also show a direct correlation with holocene climate variability specifically the formation and preservation of beach rock deposits intertidal successions beach and chenier ridge systems hold valuable sea level and holocene climate proxies that can contribute to the growing research into lower latitude holocene sea level and climate histories

predicted and observed holocene sea levels on the australian coast what do they indicate about hydro isostatic models in far field sites data relating to holocene sea level elevations and ages obtained by radiocarbon dating of relict calcareous skeletons of intertidal organisms from widely spaced parts of the australian coast a far field region of comparative tectonic stability are divisible into two sets namely pre and post ca 3600 yr bp the older ages are from material consistently between 1 5 m and 2 2 m higher than present sea level whereas the younger ages ca 3600 1500 yr bp generally cluster around 1 m above present sea level the elevations do not display any decline in amplitude from north to south over an extensive transect contrary to predictions by hydro isostatic models also there appears to be little difference between time elevation results for the coasts of north queensland new south wales and the bass strait region adjacent to tasmania despite differences in the width of the continental shelf in these three locations and the expectation of some hydro isostatic warping of the continental shelf subsequent to the onset of the holocene transgression results from the south and southwest coasts of western australia also display similar elevations to the east coast for the same time periods there is sufficient evidence extending over 20 of latitude to suggest that north south differences related to hydro isostatic influence is limited or non existent there is insufficient data to test hydro isostatic models across continental shelves hydro isostasy and the lithological elasticity it reflects may not be as pronounced in far field sites with narrow continental shelves as models predict stable far field passive continental margins may be the best place to measure the ratio of inputs of eustatic and hydro isostatic influences on holocene relative sea levels copyright 2002 john wiley sons ltd journal of quaternary science

testing models of mid to late holocene sea level change north queensland australia understanding the nature of global ice equivalent eustatic sea level changes during the mid to late holocene is important to our understanding of how ice sheets will respond to future climate change this study re analyses the indicative meaning and age control of existing relative sea level rsl data from cleveland bay north queensland australia and presents new rsl data from a foraminifera based transfer function as a preliminary test of global geophysical models in this region during the mid to late holocene the foraminifera based transfer function produces reliable rsl estimates consistent through the mid to late holocene at different locations in cleveland bay analysis of the combined rsl database reveals that rsl rose above present between 8 and 6 2 ka cal bp with the peak of the sea level highstand c 2 8 m above present at c 5 ka cal bp remaining relatively stable above 1 5 m from 6 2 until at least 2 3 ka cal bp falling to present in the last millennia this long period of sea level above present in the mid to late holocene suggests a gradual rather than abrupt end to global ice melt which must have continued into the late holocene this new analysis also shows no evidence for episodic fluctuations within the highstand although they cannot be entirely ruled out by this study this study demonstrates that more sea level data needs to be collected from locations uncontaminated by glacio isostasy hydro isostasy and tectonic effects in order to better constrain the late holocene melt histories of the large polar ice sheets

warmer or cooler late holocene marine palaeoenvironments interpreting southeast australian and brazilian sea level changes using fixed biological indicators and their δ18o composition abstract relic inter tidal assemblages of sessile organisms which are referred to as fixed biological indicators fbis are shown to be useful proxies for late holocene climatic and environmental changes as well as direct indicators of short term fluctuations in sea level a detailed comparison of change in the inter tidal assemblages of two southern hemisphere sites at comparable latitudes port hacking new south wales south east australia and the laguna imbituba region of southern brazil indicates periods of marked similarities in the timing and nature of changes at 5200 3800 cal years bp and differences after 2400 cal years bp there is sufficient concurrence of cooling phases and falling sea levels to strongly suggest that in some cases global rather than regional forcing factors are at work the value of inter tidal organisms as indicators of changed environments is developed by identifying the past and present distributions of the common marker species tubeworms barnacles and mussels the 18 o content of these extant specimens at port hacking confirmed changes in ocean water temperature and associated sea level behaviour corresponding to invasion or extinction of temperature sensitive species a similar pattern is repeated although in a less marked fashion in the laguna imbituba region of southern brazil

the shaping of sydney by its urban geology abstract sydney s surface geology of hawkesbury sandstone capped with wianamatta shale has produced poor soils but good building material the topography derived from the subaerial erosion and extensive dissection of the permian triassic sedimentary strata of the sydney basin has been the strongest constraint on the city s growth steep sided valleys carved out of sandstone plateaux forced the direction of settlement along the flatter interfluves and in recent decades out onto the tectonic depression of the cumberland plain to the west holocene marine transgression flooded the eastern incisions of the eroded mass producing some of the few safe anchorages on the southeast australian coast as well as bedrock controlled zeta curved coastal beaches some of the geological disadvantages have turned into advantages over time the sterility of the skeletal sandstone soils made farming difficult but has allowed much of the native vegetation to be retained for conservation and recreation coastal quartz sand deposits produced equally infertile soils but provided pure sand fill for sydney s many attractive beaches along with industrial uses the depth of underlying coal deposits discouraged early mining within the city boundaries to the ultimate benefit of residential development while tectonic stability reduced complications for infrastructure engineering works

rapid relative sea level fall along north eastern australia between 1200 and 800 cal yr bp an appraisal of the oyster evidence a fast paced post glacial sea level rise and subsequent mid holocene sea level highstand are well documented at several far field locations away from the presence of former ice sheets but sea level development during the late holocene remains ambiguous in this study we present new data from modern and fossil oysters attached to shoreline rocks along the north eastern australian coastline that reveal new constraints on the nature and timing of relative sea level change over the past 2500 yr surveyed elevations of various contemporary oyster zones contextualize modern oyster growth forms in relation to sea level datum and build the reference for our fossil oyster data based on survey data and field observations we developed a robust set of criteria for measuring fossil oysters to determine their relative sea level position and constrain the uncertainties associated with these reconstructions thick 10 cm fossil oyster visors above the equivalent modern growth suggest higher relative sea levels in the past i e 1200 cal yr bp radiocarbon analyses of the modern oyster visors suggest continuous lateral accumulation over the past 800 yr which implies relatively stable sea level over this period the modern and fossil dataset defines a distinct and rapid relative 1 m sea level fall between 1200 and 800 cal yr bp whether the sea level fall was stepped or followed a broader smooth monotonic pattern is unclear the timing coincides with the initiation of some inshore fringing coral reefs in the great barrier reef region and other major geomorphological changes along the coastal zone a combination of various factors may have been the driving mechanism behind this relative sea level fall with rates between 1 0 to 5 2 mm yr 1

inter tidal fixed indicators of former holocene sea levels in australia a summary of sites and a review of methods and models abstract the reconstruction of mid to late holocene marine environments using the calcareous remains of inter tidal fixed biological indicators as sea level proxies is reviewed useful palaeo environmental information can be obtained from the fossil evidence of successive invasions and disappearances of tropical and temperate species within the sub fossil inter tidal biological sequences examples illustrating spatially synchronous late holocene sea level fluctuations are described from 3000 km of north south coastline along eastern australia the method uses tightly constrained species such as the tubeworm galeolaria caespitosa which allows for the precise measurement of relative sea level fluctuations by using the differential between emerged sub fossil encrustations and current distributions of the same species the error range can be defined according to the extent of preservation of the relic distributions particularly the extent that diagnostic boundaries between species limited to different inter tidal zones have been preserved the rapidity of sea level fluctuations is inferred by the preservation from erosion of emerged shell layers as well as discontinuities in the relic biological sequences and the relative preservation of fragile species this apparent rapidity of sea level fluctuations as well as evidence of near uniform synchronous sea level heights along the north south span of the entire australian coast and equally consistent variations australia wide in spencer gulf and rottnest island raises questions about the predicted poleward decline of sea level curves derived from hydro isostatic rebound modelling

late holocene higher sea level indicators from eastern australia abstract new age data from intertidal organisms exposed on coastal cliffs in northern new south wales suggest that in that area sea level was slightly more than 1 m higher about 3420 yrs b p and may have fallen to its present level since 1780 yrs b p these findings if regionally significant are important because they indicate that the tidally constructed zonations of organisms on high energy rocky coast could provide a more precise record of sea level behaviour than the study of constructional geomorphic features often related to storm events such as beach ridges chenier plains tidal deltas etc or mangrove peats

large scale washover sedimentation in a freshwater lagoon from the southeast australian coast sea level change tsunami or exceptionally large storm a distinct lens of marine sand up to 90 cm thick confined vertically by peat is found in the upper fill of a closed freshwater back barrier lagoon on the southeast australian coast coring of the deposit suggests it extends continuously up to 600 m inland and tapers landward rising to 1 6 m above principle datum in places the sand is overlain by accumulations of organic rich silt that contain charophytes indicating re estab lishment of lagoon conditions hypotheses considered for the deposition of the sandsheet are higher holocene sea level storms and tsunami ground penetrating radar transects of the seaward dune system suggest a penecontemporaneous erosional contact between a series of truncated pre event dunes and several small over lying post event dunes dating the sandsheet was problematic but it is confined to the last 800 years the young age combined with a lack of associated beach deposits and evidence of wave scouring suggest that a higher sea level hypothesis is unlikely this sand lens is attributed to a large scale washover event from the southeast based on comparisons with modern storm deposits from the same coast and sedimentological diagnostic crite ria derived from studies of modern storm and tsunami deposited sandsheets it is concluded that this sand deposit is the product of a short lived large scale overwash event attributed to a late holocene tsunami

post glacial sea level changes around the australian margin a review abstract it has been known since rhodes fairbridge s first attempt to establish a global pattern of holocene sea level change by combining evidence from western australia and from sites in the northern hemisphere that the details of sea level history since the last glacial maximum vary considerably across the globe the australian region is relatively stable tectonically and is situated in the far field of former ice sheets it therefore preserves important records of post glacial sea levels that are less complicated by neotectonics or glacio isostatic adjustments accordingly the relative sea level record of this region is dominantly one of glacio eustatic ice equivalent sea level changes the broader australasian region has provided critical information on the nature of post glacial sea level including the termination of the last glacial maximum when sea level was approximately 125 m lower than present around 21 000 19 000 years bp and insights into meltwater pulse 1a between 14 600 and 14 300 cal yr bp although most parts of the australian continent reveals a high degree of tectonic stability research conducted since the 1970s has shown that the timing and elevation of a holocene highstand varies systematically around its margin this is attributed primarily to variations in the timing of the response of the ocean basins and shallow continental shelves to the increased ocean volumes following ice melt including a process known as ocean siphoning i e glacio hydro isostatic adjustment processes several seminal studies in the early 1980s produced important data sets from the australasian region that have provided a solid foundation for more recent palaeo sea level research this review revisits these key studies emphasising their continuing influence on quaternary research and incorporates relatively recent investigations to interpret the nature of post glacial sea level change around australia these include a synthesis of research from the northern territory queensland new south wales south australia and western australia a focus of these more recent studies has been the re examination of 1 the accuracy and reliability of different proxy sea level indicators 2 the rate and nature of post glacial sea level rise 3 the evidence for timing elevation and duration of mid holocene highstands and 4 the notion of mid to late holocene sea level oscillations and their basis based on this synthesis of previous research it is clear that estimates of past sea surface elevation are a function of eustatic factors as well as morphodynamics of individual sites the wide variety of proxy sea level indicators used their wide geographical range and their indicative meaning some progress has been made in understanding the variability of the accuracy of proxy indicators in relation to their contemporary sea level the inter comparison of the variety of dating techniques used and the nuances of calibration of radiocarbon ages to sidereal years these issues need to be thoroughly understood before proxy sea level indicators can be incorporated into credible reconstructions of relative sea level change at individual locations many of the issues which challenged sea level researchers in the latter part of the twentieth century remain contentious today divergent opinions remain about 1 exactly when sea level attained present levels following the most recent post glacial marine transgression pmt 2 the elevation that sea level reached during the holocene sea level highstand 3 whether sea level fell smoothly from a metre or more above its present level following the pmt 4 whether sea level remained at these highstand levels for a considerable period before falling to its present position or 5 whether it underwent a series of moderate oscillations during the holocene highstand

very high energy sedimentation supratidal hurricane deposits and mid holocene highstand on carbonate platforms andros bahamas an alternative view abstract twenty eight 14 c dates were obtained from 90 cores drilled through the tidal flats of western andros island a large area 2000 km 2 mostly covered by mangroves and stromatolitic deposits these dates are correlated with location of the samples sedimentological description position of the samples at the time of deposition and their present day sedimentological position measurements were made on bulk algal sediments and location of the relative paleo sea level is inferred from paleobathymetric reconstructions on the basis of 14 c dates i conclude that the whole area was flooded about 5000 years bp and then was covered by the subtidal greyish mud facies rich in peneroplids in the area of deep creek north of the study area pelican creek and wide opening southeast of the study area the level of this paleo great bahama bank sea continued to rise until 3500 years bp and then slowly fell asymptotically toward the present day level thick hurricane marks aragonitic lime mud with didemnids spicules several cm thick previously defined as hurricane trails can be observed throughout the cores from 2000 years bp onwards from 2000 years bp onwards it seems that the modern physiography was already established including tidal estuaries channels and stromatolite bearing swamps paleogeographic maps and sections have been drawn and accumulation rates calculated in the various sedimentological zones of the tidal flats of western andros these vary between 0 5 to 0 04 mm yr the modern topography of the tidal flats was established by 2000 years bp similarly the modern geological features controlled by a tropical climate strictly dependent on hurricanes were already established by 2000 years bp and seem to have been initiated between 2500 and 2000 years bp

origins of holocene coastal strandplains in southeast australia shoreface sand supply driven by disequilibrium morphology abstract coastal barriers store depositional records of past environmental conditions such as sea level wave climate and sedimentary regime the embayed highstand coast of southeast australia features a diverse range of coastal sand barriers suggesting varying depositional responses to holocene environmental conditions in particular the varying chronologies of prograded barrier strandplains along a passive margin with a predominantly autochthonous sedimentary regime raises questions about relative sea level change and sediment sharing within and between compartments during the holocene here we apply detailed geological data and geochronology from the holocene prograded barrier system at tuncurry within a morphodynamic modelling approach to investigate the depositional response of the coastal system to possible drivers of strandplain growth including 1 forced regression driven by mid to late holocene relative sea level fall 2 time varying external sand supply via the alongshore transport system and 3 shoreface sand supply in response to disequilibrium morphology and stable sea level comparison between the simulated depositional response of the coastal system and the geological records suggests that progressively weakening and depth decaying shoreface sand supply in response to disequilibrium morphology was the primary driver of holocene strandplain growth alongshore sand transport into the tuncurry compartment via a headland attached shelf sand body may have provided a secondary sand source although the simulated barrier shoreface evolution precludes a dominant external sand supply mid to late holocene sea level fall from a highstand level within the range of uncertainty in available indicators 1 5 m above present could only have contributed a minor portion of strandplain growth by process of forced regression the simulations demonstrate the potential sensitivity of strandplain chronologies to the sampling location i e shoreface or dune facies which emerges from coupled barrier shoreface evolution that may support time decaying volumetric growth and steady shoreline progradation simultaneously shoreface sand supply driven by the ongoing relaxation of disequilibrium morphology may persist at subtle rates 1 2 m3 m yr today on some southeast australian beaches promoting shoreline stability and potentially moderating initial shoreline response to sea level rise

mapping groundwater contamination using dc resistivity and vlf geophysical methods a case study geophysical methods can be helpful in mapping areas of contaminated soil and groundwater electrical resistivity and very low frequency electromagnetic induction vlf surveys were carried out at a site of shallow hydrocarbon contamination in utah county utah previously installed monitoring wells facilitated analysis of water chemistry to enhance interpretation of the geophysical data the electrical resistivity and vlf data correlate well and vertical cross sections and contour maps generated from these data helped map the contaminant plume which was delineated as an area of high interpreted resistivities

geomorphic evidence for mid late holocene higher sea level from southeastern australia an elevated sheltered pocket beach sequence at batemans bay nsw australia composed of shelly fine to medium grained sand provides geomorphic evidence of higher than present sea level during the mid late holocene the sequence is composed of a sand facies with variable amounts of shell and contains a number of well defined dipping reflectors identified in ground penetrating radar gpr profiles indicative of a small prograded beach system this beach succession is overlain by storm or tsunami deposits the beach deposit accumulated between 2500 and 5000 cal bp under relatively high energy conditions within a more open immature estuary during a period of higher sea level both deposits have been preserved by a low energy mangrove facies that accumulated after the recent fall in sea level cut off ocean wave activity from the area approximately 2000 2500 cal bp this beach sequence provides new evidence for a period of higher sea level 1 1 5 m higher than present that lasted until at least c 2000 2500 cal bp and adds complementary geomorphic evidence for the mid to late holocene sea level highstand previously identified along other parts of the southeast australian coast using other methods

an examination of spatial variability in the timing and magnitude of holocene relative sea level changes in the new zealand archipelago holocene relative sea level rsl changes have been reconstructed for four regions within the new zealand archipelago the northern north island including northland auckland and the coromandel peninsula the southwest coast of the north island the canterbury coast south island and the otago coast south island in the north island the rsl highstand commenced c 8100 7240 cal yr bp when present mean sea level pmsl was first attained this is c 600 1400 years earlier than has been previously indicated for the new zealand region as a whole and is consistent with recent holocene rsl reconstructions from australia in north island locations the early holocene sea level highstand was quite pronounced with rsl up to 2 75 m higher than present in the south island the onset of highstand conditions was later with the first attainment of pmsl being between 7000 6400 cal yr bp in the mid holocene the northern north island experienced the largest sea level highstand with rsl up to 3 00 m higher than present this is demonstrably higher than the highstand recorded for the southwest north island and otago regions a number of different drivers operating at a range of scales may be responsible for the spatial and temporal variation in the timing and magnitude of rsl changes within the new zealand archipelago one possible mechanism is the north south gradient in rsl that would arise in the intermediate field around antarctica in response to the reduced gravitational attraction of the antarctic ice sheet ais as it lost mass during the holocene this gradient would be enhanced by the predicted deformation of the lithosphere in the intermediate field of the southern ocean around antarctica due to hydro isostatic loading and mass loss of the ais however no such long wavelength signals in sea surface height or solid earth deformation are evident in glacial isostatic adjustment gia model predictions for the new zealand region while research from australia has suggested that north south variations in holocene rsl changes due to hydro isostatic influences are limited or non existent at the regional to local scale post glacial meltwater loading on the continental shelf around new zealand is predicted by gia modelling to have a significant effect on the timing and magnitude of rsl changes through the phenomenon of continental levering the spatial variation in continental levering is controlled by the configuration of the coast and the width of the adjacent continental shelf with continental levering providing a robust explanation for the observed spatial and temporal variations in rsl changes further research is required to characterise the regional and local effects of different tectonic regimes wave climates and sediment regimes these are potentially very significant drivers of rsl variability at the regional to local scale however the magnitude of their potential effects remains equivocal

evaluating the impacts of huge waves on rocky shorelines an essay review of the book tsunami the underrated hazard abstract tsunami the underrated hazard draws together and summarizes a wealth of information about the nature impacts and causes of tsunamis written from a natural hazards perspective the book stresses that large tsunamis can affect even protected coasts that have not experienced large tsunamis historically many deposits and erosional features described and discussed as tsunami signatures have yet to be linked specifically with tsunamis cited references in the book do not necessarily support a tsunami origin for these features because accepted scientific citation practices have not been followed although rocky shorelines in southeastern australia the hawaiian islands and elsewhere generate and preserve a variety of boulder and block deposits and erosional features their sediment dynamics and geomorphology are poorly studied and unequivocal criteria for distinguishing between deposits of storms and tsunamis have yet to be developed despite its shortcomings this book should be on the library shelves of all marine geoscientists who study modern and ancient shorelines however it should be used with great circumspection because the process product relationships it assumes are equivocal

a review of heterogeneous materials and their implications for relationships between kinematics and dynamics in continents 1 the variation of mechanical properties as a function of depth in the lithosphere controls the relationship between surface deformation and whole lithosphere deformation where mechanical competence elastic strength or viscous stiffness is a continuous function with depth surface deformation can be used to constrain either force balance or rheological parameters for the lithosphere however where competence is vertically discontinuous the surface deformation and deformation at depth may have a range of relationships including complete independence therefore both inversions and forward models designed to test either rheology or stress state are highly sensitive to the a priori choice of a mechanical model

smooth or oscillating late holocene sea level curve evidence from cross regional statistical regressions of fixed biological indicators abstract what if any is the pattern of change of the late holocene sea level curve if a common pattern exists can it be better discerned in the non glaciated tectonically stable regions of the southern hemisphere and is sea level data more reliable from one type of marine sample than another to begin an investigation of these questions we present a review of regressing time elevation plots from the low to mid latitudes of the southern hemisphere based upon the differential between modern and past levels of various fixed biological indicators mainly calcareous tubeworms and corals stranded up to 2 m above present relative sea levels the sample sets come from our work in southeast australia and comparable work from north east australia the pacific islands and brazil we show that using evidence obtained from fixed intertidal tubeworm species there is no statistical exclusivity between the smooth and oscillating polynomials but corals are more problematic in situ tubeworm species with their reduced error bars in comparison to corals fulfil the condition of providing more robust results for statistical analysis regression curves based on these species point to cross regional similarities in the pattern of sea level movement of the last 6000 years across the lower latitudes of the southern hemisphere these statistical exercises while not able to yield definitive conclusions can highlight statistically equally likely alternative patterns of sea level movement which can then be tested by field evidence they can also give useful indications of the quality of sea level data obtained from different biological sources as in the difficulties in the use of corals compared to common intertidal tubeworm species

smooth or oscillating late holocene sea level curve evidence from the palaeo zoology of fixed biological indicators in east australia and beyond abstract the nature of late holocene sea level change has important palaeo environmental implications for the understanding of past and present coastal oceanic and climatic systems this study develops a fixed biological indicator fbi method based on tubeworm barnacle assemblages in order to construct a late holocene sea level curve for south east australia it also compares changes within and between mid latitude regions of the southern hemisphere using the palaeo biology of inter tidal sub fossils that have provided time elevation data covering the past 5000 years five sites from around the mouth of the port hacking estuary 29 km south of sydney are described in detail the results suggest that rather than relative sea level describing a stable or smoothly falling pattern from a maximum of 1 0 m above present over the last 5000 years on the southeast australian coast there have been complex movements from a maximum of over 1 5 m with at least one marked fall between 3500 and 3400 yr bp and the possibility of a small positive oscillation around 1900 yr bp furthermore changes in the inter tidal species at our sites suggest that there was a period between 4300 and 2800 years where ocean temperatures were warmer than present our port hacking findings are compared with other studies from the east coast of australia as well as the pacific islands and brazil evidence from each location suggests a broad similarity in the timing of environmental events and marine fluctuations across an expanse of the southern hemisphere are such similarities coincidental or part of mechanisms common to mid latitude southern hemisphere regions

the use of barnacles to measure and date relative sea level changes in the ryukyu islands japan abstract fossil intertidal barnacles are excellent indicators of recnet sea level stands even those of short duration especially on elevated rocky coasts this paper deals with problems related to finding sampling cleaning dating and interpreting the altimetric significance of fossil barnacle samples collected in a living position the distribution and ecology of octomeris sulcata tetraclitella and chthamalus are described examples are provided for the reconstruction of relative sea level variations due to sudden uplift movements okinawa and toku islands to gradual uplift movements kume island and to a slight relative emergence since ca 600 yr b p that has been reported for the first time in several ryukyu islands

glacial rebound and sea level change an example of a relationship between mantle and surface processes lambeck k 1993 glacial rebound and sea level change an example of a relationship between mantle and surface processes in r wortel u hansen and r sabadini editors relationships between mantle processes and geological processes at or near the earth s surface tectonophysics 223 15 37 the problem of glacial rebound provides an outstanding example of the relationship between surface and mantle processes on time scales of 103 to 105 years changes in surface loading of ice and melt water associated with the growth and decay of the great ice sheets deform the surface of the planet and induces flow in the mantle a measure of the earth s response to the changing surface loads and internal deformation is provided by observations of past sea levels relative to the present level and inversion of these observations provides constraints on both the models of the rheological response of the earth to loading and on models of the ice sheets constraints on ice sheet models include the total volume of the grounded ice at the time of maximum glaciation the global rates of melting of the ice sheets the thickness of the ice at maximum glaciation the extent of ice cover over shallow seas such as the north sea and the barents sea and the role of antarctica in the global ice balance constraints on mantle parameters include the effective lithospheric thickness and the effective viscosity of the mantle some recent results for both sets of parameters are discussed

further evidence from relic shellcrust sequences for a late holocene higher sea level for eastern australia abstract new evidence from dating the fossil residue of intertidal organisms on the central new south wales coast extends the findings of an earlier use of this method and supports the case for a regional highstand between 1 and 2 m above present relative sea level for much of the middle to late holocene evidence demonstrating a vertical shift over time by in situ intertidal organisms provides a more precise record of holocene sea level fluctuation than the more ambiguous evidence from estuarine and dunal depositional features by extrapolating back from dated hard evidence of this kind secondary evidence such as remnant rock platforms may be used to reconstruct the age and duration of coastal geomorphic features