Quaternary Coasts of the United States: Marine and Lacustrine Systems
Quaternary Coasts of the United States: Marine and Lacustrine Systems Project #274 Quaternary Coastal Evolution - This Special Publication represents the major cumulative contribution of the Working Group of the United States of America to IGCP Project 274. The primary aims of Project 274 are to: (1) document and explain local to global variations in coastal and continental-shelf evolution, incorporating knowledge of coastal and shelf processes and environment with geodynamic, climatic, oceanographic and other data to produce local and regional models, ranging from descriptive to numerical, leading to a better understanding of interactive forces responsible for past, present and future changes to the coasts of the world; and (2) promote specified thematic studies, which are necessary to solve problems of coastal change affecting human occupation of the coastal zone. The volume contains sections on Atlantic, Pacific, Gulf and Lacustrine shorelines, covering both Holocene and Pleistocene deposits, representing a summary of decades of research into coastal and continental-shelf evolution of North America.
Holocene Coral Reef on Kauai, Hawaii: Evidence for a Sea-Level Highstand in the Central Pacific
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Published:January 01, 1992
Abstract
Evidence of a late Holocene sea-level highstand has been found on the island of Kauai, Hawaii. A fossil reef complex in growth position is exposed approximately 500 m inland in the Hanalei River estuary at a maximum elevation of +1.8 m above present sea level. A fossil reef flat is also exposed in the adjacent Waioli Stream. Radiocarbon ages (uncalibrated) of corals within the reef complex range from 4.2 to 3.23 ka. The coral species identified imply a shallow-water environment. Although buried by fluvial sediments, the paleoshoreline should be several tens of meters landward of the study site. The elevation and age of the Kauai reef support recent geophysical models of the last deglaciation and indicate an emergence approximating that in French Polynesia and the Cook Islands. It is proposed that as the relative sea level retreated to its present position, the Hanalei River built a delta that buried the fossil reef with unconsolidated alluvium.