scholarly journals Holocene coastal landscape development in response to rising sea level in the Central Wadden Sea coastal region

Author(s):  
Martina Karle ◽  
Friederike Bungenstock ◽  
Achim Wehrmann

Abstract The Holocene sea-level rise has led to significant changes in present-day coastal zones through multifold retrogradational and slightly progradational displacements of the mainland coastline. During the course of this postglacial transgression, sediments characteristic of coastal environments accumulated first in palaeovalleys of the pre-Holocene landscape and later on the subsequently developed coastal plain. Based on a compilation of sedimentological, lithological and litho-chronostratigraphical data of more than 1200 sediment cores, we generated four palaeogeographic maps of the coastal zone of the central Wadden Sea to document with a high spatial resolution the landscape changes during characteristic phases of the Holocene sea-level rise, i.e. the periods 8600–6500 cal BP, 6500–2700 cal BP, 2700–1500 cal BP and 1500–1000 cal BP. Along three cross-sections, representing different hydrodynamic conditions and exposure, we exemplify how the Holocene landscape development and sedimentary facies types are controlled by the local palaeorelief, sea-level changes, sediment supply, accommodation space, the morphodynamic impact of channel shifts, and their erosion base. This leads to a better understanding of main factors controlling the local depositional processes of the coastal landscape along the central Wadden Sea during the Holocene transgression.

The Holocene ◽  
2018 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
pp. 26-44 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manel Leira ◽  
Maria C Freitas ◽  
Tania Ferreira ◽  
Anabela Cruces ◽  
Simon Connor ◽  
...  

We examine the Holocene environmental changes in a wet dune slack of the Portuguese coast, Poço do Barbarroxa de Baixo. Lithology, organic matter, biological proxies and high-resolution chronology provide estimations of sediment accumulation rates and changes in environmental conditions in relation to sea-level change and climate variability during the Holocene. Results show that the wet dune slack was formed 7.5 cal. ka BP, contemporaneous with the last stages of the rapid sea-level rise. This depositional environment formed under frequent freshwater flooding and water ponding that allowed the development and post-mortem accumulation of abundant plant remains. The wetland evolved into mostly palustrine conditions over the next 2000 years, until a phase of stabilization in relative sea-level rise, when sedimentation rates slowed down to 0.04 mm yr−1, between 5.3 and 2.5 cal. ka BP. Later, about 0.8 cal. ka BP, high-energy events, likely due to enhanced storminess and more frequent onshore winds, caused the collapse of the foredune above the wetlands’ seaward margin. The delicate balance between hydrology (controlled by sea-level rise and climate change), sediment supply and storminess modulates the habitat’s resilience and ecological stability. This underpins the relevance of integrating past records in coastal wet dune slacks management in a scenario of constant adaptation processes.


1993 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 103-108 ◽  
Author(s):  
Philip R. Hill ◽  
Arnaud Héquette ◽  
Marie-Hélène Ruz

New radiocarbon ages pertaining to the Holocene sea-level history of the Canadian Beaufort shelf are presented. The ages were obtained on samples of freshwater and tidal-marsh peat beds from offshore boreholes and shallow cores in the coastal zone and on molluscs and a single piece of wood deposited in foraminifera-bearing marine sediments. Although none of the samples record directly the position of relative sea level, the suite of ages constrains the regional curve sufficiently to suggest a faster rate of mid Holocene sea level rise (7–14 mm/a) than previously thought. The rate of relative rise slowed markedly in the last 3000 years, approaching the present at a maximum probable rate of 2.5 mm/a.


Water ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (10) ◽  
pp. 2807
Author(s):  
Ozren Hasan ◽  
Slobodan Miko ◽  
Dea Brunović ◽  
George Papatheodorou ◽  
Dimitris Christodolou ◽  
...  

Detailed multi-beam bathymetry, sub-bottom acoustic, and side-scan sonar observations of submerged canyons with tufa barriers were used to characterize the Zrmanja River karst estuary on the eastern Adriatic coast, Croatia. This unique karst environment consists of two submerged karst basins (Novigrad Sea and Karin Sea) that are connected with river canyons named Novsko Ždrilo and Karinsko Ždrilo. The combined use of high-resolution geophysical data with legacy topography and bathymetry data in a GIS environment allowed for the description and interpretation of this geomorphological setting in relation to the Holocene sea-level rise. The tufa barriers had a predominant influence on the Holocene flooding dynamics of the canyons and karst basins. Here, we describe the possible river pathways from the basins during the lowstand and the formation of a lengthening estuary during the Holocene sea-level rise. Based on the analyzed morphologies and the relative sea-level curve for the Adriatic Sea, the flooding of the Novsko Ždrilo occurred 9200 years before present (BP) and Karinsko Ždrilo was flooded after 8400 years BP. The combination of high-resolution geophysical methods gave an accurate representation of the karst estuarine seafloor and the flooding of semi-isolated basins due to sea-level rise.


2009 ◽  
Vol 72 (3) ◽  
pp. 325-336 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hendrik Lantzsch ◽  
Till J.J. Hanebuth ◽  
Vera B. Bender

AbstractThe high-energy, low-accumulation NW Iberian shelf features three confined Holocene mud depocentres. Here, we show that the evolution of such depocentres follows successive steps. The flooding of inner shelf zones and river catchment areas by the late deglacial sea-level rise provided the precondition for shelf mud deposition. Following this, the Holocene deceleration of the sea-level rise caused a rapid refill of the accommodation space within river valleys. Subsequently, the export of major amounts of fines was initiated. The initial onset and loci of shelf mud deposition were related to deposition-favouring conditions in mid-shelf position or to the presence of morphological highs, which act as sediment traps by providing protection against stronger hydrodynamic energy. The detailed reconstruction of the Holocene depocentre evolution shows for the first time that the expansion of such shelf mud deposits cannot only occur by linear growth off the associated sediment source. Rather, they might develop around centres that are fully disconnected from the source of original sediment supply, and expand later into specific directions. Based on these differences and on the connection of the individual mud depocentres to the material source we propose a conceptual subdivision of the group “mid-shelf mud depocentres”.


2007 ◽  
Vol 86 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-54 ◽  
Author(s):  
M.J.P. Gouw ◽  
G. Erkens

AbstractThe Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta is formed under the influence of sea-level rise, tectonics, and variations in discharge and sediment supply. This paper aims to determine the relative importance of these external controls to improve our understanding of the evolution of the Rhine-Meuse fluvio-deltaic system. To do this, the geological and lithological composition of the fluvio-deltaic wedge has to be known in detail, both in space and time. This study presents five cross-valley sections in the Holocene Rhine-Meuse delta, based on almost 2000 shallow borings. Over 130 14C dates provide detailed time control and are used to draw time lines in the sections. Distinct spatio-temporal trends in the composition of the Holocene fluvio-deltaic wedge were found. In the upstream delta, the Holocene succession is characterised by stacked channel belts encased in clastic flood basin deposits through which several palaeo-A-horizon levels are traceable. In a downstream direction, the fluvio-deltaic wedge thickens from 3 to 7 m. The Holocene succession in the downstream cross sections formed from <8000 cal yr BP onwards and is characterised by single channel belts encased in organic flood basin deposits. The main part of the organic beds accumulated between 6000 and 3000 cal yr BP. After 3000 cal yr BP, clastic deposition dominated throughout the delta, indicating an increase in the area of clastic sedimentation. The Holocene fluvio-deltaic wedge is subdivided into three segments based on the relative importance of eustatic sea-level rise, subsidence, and upstream controls (discharge and sediment supply). Before 5000 cal yr BP, eustatic sea-level rise controlled the build-up of the wedge. After eustatic sea-level rise ceased, subsidence was dominant from 5000 to 3000 cal yr BP. From 3000 cal yr BP onwards, increased sediment supply and discharge from the hinterland controlled the formation of the fluvio-deltaic wedge. A significant part of the present-day Rhine-Meuse fluvio-deltaic wedge aggraded after eustatic sea-level rise ceased. We therefore conclude that external controls other than eustatic sea-level rise were also of major importance for the formation of the fluvio-deltaic wedge. Because this is probably true for other aggrading fluvial systems at continental margins as well, all external controls should be addressed to when interpreting (ancient) fluvio-deltaic successions.


2021 ◽  
Vol 43 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Long Hoang Van ◽  
Thanh Nguyen Tien ◽  
Tuan Vu Tat ◽  
Tung Nguyen Thanh ◽  
Anh Nguyen Lam ◽  
...  

Offshore Southeast (SE) Vietnam is considered a transition zone, with the sedimentary evolution of this area controlled by land-sea interactions, especially by the Holocene sea-level rise. This study presents some new findings regarding Holocene sedimentation and its linkage to the heavy mineral placers within the study area based on high-resolution seismic interpretation and sediment analysis. Our obtained results show that the Holocene sediments directly overlie the Late Pleistocene sedimentary formation, from which they are separated by an erosional/unconformity surface (R­1­ seismic reflector). Sediments deposited in the Early (~11.7-8.2kyr BP), Middle-Late (8.2kyr BP-present-day) Holocene sub-epochs correspond to the Transgressive and Highstand System tracts, which were closely controlled by the three stages of Holocene sea-level rise. The recent sediments distributed on the seafloor are dominated by sand and gravelly sand, demonstrating high-energy conditions, while the heavy minerals are rich in ilmenite and zircon. Most of these are concentrated along the present shoreline zones, but we do not exclude their accumulation in the paleo-shoreline and incised channels. Two ilmenite dispersion halos (1st and 2nd order) and one zircon dispersion halo (1st order) suggest that ilmenite and zircon are the most dominant heavy minerals while gold is only observed locally. The minerals were potentially derived from the weathering products of the Triassic-Cretaceous ilmenite-, zircon-, and gold-bearing granite and granitoid in central Vietnam.


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