Late Holocene relative sea-level records from coral microatolls in Singapore

Fangyi Tan; Benjamin P. Horton; Lin Ke; Tanghua Li; Jennifer Quye-Sawyer; Joanne T. Y. Lim; Dongju Peng; Zihan Aw; Shi Jun Wee; Jing Ying Yeo; Ivan Haigh; Xianfeng Wang; Lin Thu Aung; Andrew Mitchell; Gina Sarkawi; Xinnan Li; Nurul Syafiqah Tan; Aron J. Meltzner

doi:10.1038/s41598-024-62937-9

Late Holocene relative sea-level records from coral microatolls in Singapore

Fangyi Tan^*
, Benjamin P. Horton
, Lin Ke
, Tanghua Li
, Jennifer Quye-Sawyer
, Joanne T. Y. Lim
, Dongju Peng
, Zihan Aw
, Shi Jun Wee
, Jing Ying Yeo
, Ivan Haigh
, Xianfeng Wang
, Lin Thu Aung
, Andrew Mitchell
, Gina Sarkawi
, Xinnan Li
, Nurul Syafiqah Tan
, Aron J. Meltzner

^*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Journal Publications and Reviews › RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal › peer-review

15 Citations (Scopus)

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Abstract

Late Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) data are important to understand the drivers of RSL change, but there is a lack of precise RSL records from the Sunda Shelf. Here, we produced a Late Holocene RSL reconstruction from coral microatolls in Singapore, demonstrating for the first time the utility of Diploastrea heliopora microatolls as sea-level indicators. We produced 12 sea-level index points and three marine limiting data with a precision of < ± 0.2 m (2σ) and < ± 26 years uncertainties (95% highest density region). The data show a RSL fall of 0.31 ± 0.18 m between 2.8 and 0.6 thousand years before present (kyr BP), at rates between − 0.1 ± 0.3 and − 0.2 ± 0.7 mm/year. Surface profiles of the fossil coral microatolls suggest fluctuations in the rate of RSL fall: (1) stable between 2.8 and 2.5 kyr BP; (2) rising at ~ 1.8 kyr BP; and (3) stable from 0.8 to 0.6 kyr BP. The microatoll record shows general agreement with published, high-quality RSL data within the Sunda Shelf. Comparison to a suite of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models indicate preference for lower viscosities in the mantle. However, more high quality and precise Late Holocene RSL data are needed to further evaluate the drivers of RSL change in the region and better constrain GIA model parameters. © The Author(s) 2024.

Original language	English
Article number	13458
Journal	Scientific Reports
Volume	14
Online published	12 Jun 2024
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62937-9
Publication status	Published - 2024
Externally published	Yes

Funding

Funding for this work came from the National Research Foundation Singapore under its Singapore NRF Fellowship scheme (Award NRF-NRFF11-2019-0008 to A.J.M.), and the Ministry of Education, Singapore, under its Singapore Ministry of Education Academic Research Fund (Award MOE2019-T3-1-004 to B.P.H. and A.J.M.; Award MOE-T2EP50120-0007 to T.L.; Award MOE-T2EP10122-0006 to X.W.; and Award MOET32022-0006 to B.P.H.). This research was conducted under the Singapore National Parks Board research permit NP/RP20-122, with support of the Sentosa Development Corporation team, particularly G. Lee, L. Tan, and the Sentosa environmental management team. We are grateful for the help of many colleagues in field data collection, laboratory and data processing and figure improvements, including P.S. Aung, J.A. Encillo, C. Sundod and team from the Centre of Geohazards Observations, led by C.Y. Leong; B. Perttu; S.F. Wee; D.W. Huang; D. Lallemant; and M.H. Ikhsan. The GIA modelling is conducted in part with services offered by Information Technology Services at the University of Hong Kong. This is Earth Observatory of Singapore contribution no. 560.

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This full text is made available under CC-BY 4.0. https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

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Tan, F., Horton, B. P., Ke, L., Li, T., Quye-Sawyer, J., Lim, J. T. Y., Peng, D., Aw, Z., Wee, S. J., Yeo, J. Y., Haigh, I., Wang, X., Aung, L. T., Mitchell, A., Sarkawi, G., Li, X., Tan, N. S., & Meltzner, A. J. (2024). Late Holocene relative sea-level records from coral microatolls in Singapore. Scientific Reports, 14, Article 13458. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-62937-9

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title = "Late Holocene relative sea-level records from coral microatolls in Singapore",

abstract = "Late Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) data are important to understand the drivers of RSL change, but there is a lack of precise RSL records from the Sunda Shelf. Here, we produced a Late Holocene RSL reconstruction from coral microatolls in Singapore, demonstrating for the first time the utility of Diploastrea heliopora microatolls as sea-level indicators. We produced 12 sea-level index points and three marine limiting data with a precision of < ± 0.2 m (2σ) and < ± 26 years uncertainties (95\% highest density region). The data show a RSL fall of 0.31 ± 0.18 m between 2.8 and 0.6 thousand years before present (kyr BP), at rates between − 0.1 ± 0.3 and − 0.2 ± 0.7 mm/year. Surface profiles of the fossil coral microatolls suggest fluctuations in the rate of RSL fall: (1) stable between 2.8 and 2.5 kyr BP; (2) rising at \textasciitilde{} 1.8 kyr BP; and (3) stable from 0.8 to 0.6 kyr BP. The microatoll record shows general agreement with published, high-quality RSL data within the Sunda Shelf. Comparison to a suite of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models indicate preference for lower viscosities in the mantle. However, more high quality and precise Late Holocene RSL data are needed to further evaluate the drivers of RSL change in the region and better constrain GIA model parameters. {\textcopyright} The Author(s) 2024.",

author = "Fangyi Tan and Horton, \{Benjamin P.\} and Lin Ke and Tanghua Li and Jennifer Quye-Sawyer and Lim, \{Joanne T. Y.\} and Dongju Peng and Zihan Aw and Wee, \{Shi Jun\} and Yeo, \{Jing Ying\} and Ivan Haigh and Xianfeng Wang and Aung, \{Lin Thu\} and Andrew Mitchell and Gina Sarkawi and Xinnan Li and Tan, \{Nurul Syafiqah\} and Meltzner, \{Aron J.\}",

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doi = "10.1038/s41598-024-62937-9",

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T1 - Late Holocene relative sea-level records from coral microatolls in Singapore

AU - Tan, Fangyi

AU - Horton, Benjamin P.

AU - Ke, Lin

AU - Li, Tanghua

AU - Quye-Sawyer, Jennifer

AU - Lim, Joanne T. Y.

AU - Peng, Dongju

AU - Aw, Zihan

AU - Wee, Shi Jun

AU - Yeo, Jing Ying

AU - Haigh, Ivan

AU - Wang, Xianfeng

AU - Aung, Lin Thu

AU - Mitchell, Andrew

AU - Sarkawi, Gina

AU - Li, Xinnan

AU - Tan, Nurul Syafiqah

AU - Meltzner, Aron J.

PY - 2024

Y1 - 2024

N2 - Late Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) data are important to understand the drivers of RSL change, but there is a lack of precise RSL records from the Sunda Shelf. Here, we produced a Late Holocene RSL reconstruction from coral microatolls in Singapore, demonstrating for the first time the utility of Diploastrea heliopora microatolls as sea-level indicators. We produced 12 sea-level index points and three marine limiting data with a precision of < ± 0.2 m (2σ) and < ± 26 years uncertainties (95% highest density region). The data show a RSL fall of 0.31 ± 0.18 m between 2.8 and 0.6 thousand years before present (kyr BP), at rates between − 0.1 ± 0.3 and − 0.2 ± 0.7 mm/year. Surface profiles of the fossil coral microatolls suggest fluctuations in the rate of RSL fall: (1) stable between 2.8 and 2.5 kyr BP; (2) rising at ~ 1.8 kyr BP; and (3) stable from 0.8 to 0.6 kyr BP. The microatoll record shows general agreement with published, high-quality RSL data within the Sunda Shelf. Comparison to a suite of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models indicate preference for lower viscosities in the mantle. However, more high quality and precise Late Holocene RSL data are needed to further evaluate the drivers of RSL change in the region and better constrain GIA model parameters. © The Author(s) 2024.

AB - Late Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) data are important to understand the drivers of RSL change, but there is a lack of precise RSL records from the Sunda Shelf. Here, we produced a Late Holocene RSL reconstruction from coral microatolls in Singapore, demonstrating for the first time the utility of Diploastrea heliopora microatolls as sea-level indicators. We produced 12 sea-level index points and three marine limiting data with a precision of < ± 0.2 m (2σ) and < ± 26 years uncertainties (95% highest density region). The data show a RSL fall of 0.31 ± 0.18 m between 2.8 and 0.6 thousand years before present (kyr BP), at rates between − 0.1 ± 0.3 and − 0.2 ± 0.7 mm/year. Surface profiles of the fossil coral microatolls suggest fluctuations in the rate of RSL fall: (1) stable between 2.8 and 2.5 kyr BP; (2) rising at ~ 1.8 kyr BP; and (3) stable from 0.8 to 0.6 kyr BP. The microatoll record shows general agreement with published, high-quality RSL data within the Sunda Shelf. Comparison to a suite of glacial isostatic adjustment (GIA) models indicate preference for lower viscosities in the mantle. However, more high quality and precise Late Holocene RSL data are needed to further evaluate the drivers of RSL change in the region and better constrain GIA model parameters. © The Author(s) 2024.

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U2 - 10.1038/s41598-024-62937-9

DO - 10.1038/s41598-024-62937-9

M3 - RGC 21 - Publication in refereed journal

C2 - 38862568

SN - 2045-2322

VL - 14

JO - Scientific Reports

JF - Scientific Reports

M1 - 13458

ER -

Late Holocene relative sea-level records from coral microatolls in Singapore

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