Publication Type: | Journal Article |
Year of Publication: | 2011 |
Authors: | R. Rémy, Véronique, C., Guy, C., Norbert, F., S. George, B. |
Journal: | Quaternary Science ReviewsQuaternary Science Reviews |
Volume: | 30 |
Pagination: | 2827-2838 |
ISBN Number: | 0277-3791 |
Keywords: | algae, Animal fossils, Climatic changes, Coasts, COMMUNITIES, coral reefs, Coral reefs and islands, Coralgal assemblages, Corals, Cores, development, Energy, Environmental aspects, Environmental changes, environmental factors, FRINGING REEFS, Fungi, GEOGRAPHY, PHYSICAL, GEOSCIENCES, MULTIDISCIPLINARY, GREAT-BARRIER-REEF, GROWTH, Growth patterns, Holocene, Hydrodynamics, INDIAN-OCEAN, ISEW, Pacific, New Caledonia, ISEW, Pacific, New Caledonia, Grande Terre, Marine, Microbioerosion, Microendolith assemblages, New Caledonia, NINO-SOUTHERN-OSCILLATION, palaeo studies, palaeoenvironments, Paleo-water depth, Pleistocene, Reef, Sea level changes, SEA-LEVEL CHANGES, SW PACIFIC, Tectonics (Geology), WEST PACIFIC |
Abstract: | Coral reef growth and development depend on several environmental factors, including tectonic and climatic parameters and local ecological drivers. Reef growth is especially sensitive to sea-level variations. Paleo-water depth reconstructions are essential tools used to determine reef growth patterns during different periods of reef growth. Assemblages of corals and/or coralline algae have been commonly used in such paleodepth reconstructions. This study shows that using microendolith ichnocoenoses can sometimes provide better accuracy than traditional coralgal analyses, particularly in the depth-range 0-10 m where coralgal assemblages usually show broad distribution ranges. Holocene and Pleistocene cores from two barrier reef sites on the west coast of Grande Terre in New Caledonia are examined here. Holocene reef development at these sites feature examples of microendolith ichnocoenoses that document rapid environmental changes and small sea-level variations of about 2-5 m in amplitude, and record these changes with more accuracy than coral and coralline algae assemblages which are highly dependant on the hydrodynamic energy of the setting. During the Pleistocene, which was less chronologically constrained, the microendolith ichnocoenoses also reflect paleo-water depths and reef-growth patterns at different periods of reef history. © 2011 Elsevier Ltd. |