Contemporary foraminiferal distributions of a mangrove environment, Great Barrier Reef coastline, Australia: Implications for sea-level reconstructions

B. P. Horton, P. Larcombe, S. A. Woodroffe, J. E. Whittaker, M. R. Wright, C. Wynn

Research output: Journal Publications and ReviewsRGC 21 - Publication in refereed journalpeer-review

92 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

Contemporary foraminiferal samples and associated environmental information were collected from Cocoa Creek, a mesotidal fringing mangrove environment on the Great Barrier Reef (GBR) coastline, Australia, to elucidate the relationship of the foraminiferal assemblages with elevation and environment. There is a strong and highly significant relationship between elevation and the foraminiferal assemblages, supporting the intertidal vertical zonation concept, which suggests that the distribution of foraminifera in the intertidal zone is usually a direct function of elevation, with the most important controlling factors being the duration and frequency of subaerial exposure. Multivariate analyses separate the intertidal foraminiferal assemblages into three elevational zones, with Zone I the highest and Zone III the lowest: Zones I and II are dominated by agglutinated species Trochammina inflata and Miliammina fusca, respectively; and Zone III is dominated by calcareous species, notably Ammonia tepida and Elphidium discoidale multiloculum. These assemblage zones are similar to those found in both tropical and temperate intertidal environments. A predictive transfer function has been developed to allow reconstruction of former sea levels for tropical environments, based upon the relationship between foraminiferal assemblage and elevation. Results suggest that a precision of ±0.07 m should be attainable, superior to most similar studies from temperate, mid latitude environments. Our work has produced the first foraminifera-based transfer function for environmental interpretations for tropical Australia, and allows the potential development of a new generation of high-resolution sea-level reconstructions for the post-glacial sequences of the GBR shelf. © 2003 Elsevier Science B.V. All rights reserved.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)225-243
JournalMarine Geology
Volume198
Issue number3-4
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 15 Jul 2003
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

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Funding

The authors thank the Marine Geophysical Laboratory, James Cook University, for hosting B.P.H. whilst this fieldwork was undertaken, and the Department of Geography, University of Durham for hosting P.L. during the completion of the manuscript. We acknowledge and greatly appreciate research funding provided by the British Ecological Society, the Department of Geography, University of Durham, the Menzies Foundation, the Nuffield Foundation, the Quaternary Research Association, the Royal Society and the Australian Research Council. The authors also thank Steve Juggins and Carol ter Braak for the use of the statistical package, CALIBRATE (1997).

Research Keywords

  • Australia
  • Foraminifera
  • Great Barrier Reef
  • Mangroves
  • Sea-level changes
  • Transfer functions

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