ALBERT

Description: The Houtman Abrolhos reefs, situated on the western continental margin of Australia, occupy a transitional position between cool-water shelf carbonate sediments to the south and more tropical environments to the north. Their existence at the outer limits of the geographical range for coral reef growth is a result of the warm, poleward-flowing Leeuwin Current. Though the modern reefs differ ecologically from tropical reefs, their geological characteristics have been little known until recently. Each of the three island groups in the Abrolhos consists of a central platform of Last Interglacial reefs, about which windward and leeward Holocene reefs have developed asymmetrically. In the Easter Group the subtidal windward reef in the west is ca. 10 m thick and is backed by a leeward-prograding, lagoon sand sheet which is 0–3 m thick. The emergent parts of the leeward reefs in the east consist of an upward-shallowing sequence comprising reef facies, peritidal rudstone facies, and coral rubble storm ridges. This is underlain by over 26 m of Holocene reef facies. Coring and dating of the Holocene reefs (using both TIMS and 14C methods) in the Easter Group has shown significantly different lithofacies in the windward and leeward reefs, and has allowed reconstruction of Holocene reef growth and sea-level history. Coralline algal bindstones and interbedded coral framestone facies characterise the relatively slow-growing windward Holocene reefs, whereas the fast-growing leeward reefs consist of coral framestone facies which are dominated by Acropora. The leeward reefs commenced growth about 10,000 years ago and the Morley reef grew to 0.3 m above present sea level by 6400 years B.P., recording a relative high sea-level event. This generated Holocene constructional topography characterised by “blue-hole” terrain. Windward Holocene reef growth commenced after 8200 years B.P. following erosion of the windward part of the Last Interglacial platform. High wave energy and competition with macroalgae limited coral growth, and the coralline algal-dominated windward reefs grew more slowly to sea level. The Holocene sea-level record provided by dates from the 26 m core of the Morley reef (a “keep-up” reef) is the first such record from the western continental margin of Australia.

Description: Radiocarbon ages on CaCO3 from deep-sea cores offer constraints on the nature of the CaCO3 dissolution process. The idea is that the toll taken by dissolution on grains within the core top bioturbation zone should be in proportion to their time of residence in this zone. If so, dissolution would shift the mass distribution in favor of younger grains, thereby reducing the mean radiocarbon age for the grain ensemble. We have searched in vain for evidence supporting the existence of such an age reduction. Instead, we find that for water depths of more than 4 km in the tropical Pacific the radiocarbon age increases with the extent of dissolution. We can find no satisfactory steady state explanation and are forced to conclude that this increase must be the result of chemical erosion. The idea is that during the Holocene the rate of dissolution of CaCO3 has exceeded the rain rate of CaCO3. In this circumstance, bioturbation exhumes CaCO3 from the underlying glacial sediment and mixes it with CaCO3 raining from the sea surface.

Description: U/Th (TIMS) and 14C (AMS) measurements are presented from two coral cores from the Easter group of the Houtman Abrolhos Islands between 28°S and 29°S on the western continental margin of Australia. The U/Th measurements on the Morley core from Morley Island cover a depth interval from 0.2 m above present sea level to 24.4 m below present sea level and comprise eleven samples. The ages vary between 6320 ± 50 a, at 0.2 m above sea level, and 9809 ± 95 a, at 24.4 m below sea level (all errors are 2σ). The mean growth rate is 7.1 ± 0.9 m/ka. The 14C dates of selected Morley core corals show that the 14C ages are ∼ 1000 a younger than their corresponding U/Th ages, which agrees with previous results. The main purpose of our 14C measurements is to be able to compare them precisely with other coral cores where no U/Th measurements are available. The U/Th measurements of the Suomi core from Suomi Island cover a depth interval from 0.05 m to 14.2 m below present sea level and consist of four samples. The ages vary between 4671 ± 40 a, at 0.05 m below sea level, and 7102 ± 82 a, at 14.2 m below sea level, with a mean growth rate of 5.8 ± 0.2 m/ka. The growth history of both cores is explained by a simple model in which the growth rates of the Morley core can be interpreted as reflecting local rates of sea level rise, whereas the Suomi core is interpreted as reflecting lateral growth during the past ∼ 6000 a. Our results indicate that sea level relative to the western margins of the Australian continent was about 24 m lower than present at about 9800 a B.P. (14C gives a date of 8500 a B.P.). Sea level then rose and reached a highstand, slightly higher than the present position at about 6300 a B.P (14C date: 5500 a). This highstand declined but was still higher than present at 4600 a B.P. This is in agreement with previous observations along the Australian coastal margins and with observations from the Huon peninsula (Papua New Guinea). Our results are very similar to theoretical numerical models, which take into consideration water loading and isostatic compensation and viscous mantle flow. In contrast, coral cores from Barbados show that corals with a 14C age of ∼ 5500 a B.P. are some ∼ 10 m b.p.s.l. We interpret the difference between the Barbados core and the Morley core as resulting from additional “flooding” of Barbados by water redistribution, due to changes in the Earth's geoid but not reflecting global sea level rise or major addition of melt waters over the past ∼ 6000 a. The difference in the geoid at Barbados between ∼ 6000 a B.P. and the present will require a refinement in the geophysical models. Precise230Th (TIMS) measurements on continental coasts will be required to provide an adequate data base for modelling deformation, flow of mantle material and sea-level height