Journal article
Have sea level fluctuations influenced coastal biological communities in eastern sub tropical Australia?
Quaternary International, Vol.279-280(Abstracts XVIII INQUA Congress, 21st–27th July, 2011, Bern, Switzerland), pp.482-482
16/11/2012
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Abstract
Eastern Australia has been tectonically stable throughout the late Quaternary. This provides an ideal situation to examine sea level change and the related influences on coastal plains. It is well accepted that sea level was higher during the mid Holocene, and fell to its present position in the late Holocene in this region. However, detailed sea level reconstructions vary with location and sources of evidence used. Evidence from sub-tropical eastern Australia suggests that sea level was 2.2 metres higher than present 3600 yr BP and greater than 1 metre higher than present 3600-1500 yr BP, before dropping to present levels. This study integrated records from a number of sites to examine if sea level changes have influenced the biological communities of coastal lakes and estuaries on the coastal plain in sub tropical eastern Australia. A range of sites were investigated using palaeolimnological techniques including novel uses of biological proxies, sediment and isotopic evidence. Multi-proxy results indicate that minimal biological fluctuations have been experienced in sub-tropical east Australian coastline for the past 5000 years. The proxies employed indicated a small range of environmental variability with no major change of community composition. Much of the variability experienced is related to salinity and implies changes in effective rainfall, in particular the effects this has on the balance of freshwater input and tidal exchange within estuarine environments. Evidence of anthropogenic impacts were observed in younger sediments at some sites, causing a change of biological composition not previously experienced during the Holocene. These changes were most probably due to changes of nutrient status rather than water depth or salinity. This compilation of data demonstrates that whilst fluctuations of sea level may have been experienced in sub-tropical eastern Australian in the past 5000 years, this has caused minimal biological change.
Details
- Title
- Have sea level fluctuations influenced coastal biological communities in eastern sub tropical Australia?
- Creators
- Kathryn H Taffs - Southern Cross University
- Publication Details
- Quaternary International, Vol.279-280(Abstracts XVIII INQUA Congress, 21st–27th July, 2011, Bern, Switzerland), pp.482-482
- Publisher
- Elsevier Ltd
- Identifiers
- 991012979170302368
- Copyright
- Copyright © 2012 Published by Elsevier Ltd.
- Academic Unit
- Science; Faculty of Science and Engineering
- Language
- English
- Resource Type
- Journal article