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Evidence for smoothly falling sea level relative to north Queensland, Australia, during the past 6,000 yr

Abstract

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.

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Chappell, J. Evidence for smoothly falling sea level relative to north Queensland, Australia, during the past 6,000 yr. Nature 302, 406–408 (1983). https://doi.org/10.1038/302406a0

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