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Sedimentary Evolution of a Late Pleistocene Wetland Indicating Extreme Coastal Uplift in Southern Tanzania

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Markus Reuter ,
W.E. Piller ,
M. Harzhauser ,
B. Berning  and
A. Kroh
Markus Reuter*
Affiliation:
Insitute for Earth Sciences, Graz University, Heinrichstr. 26, A-8010 Graz, Austria
W.E. Piller
Affiliation:
Insitute for Earth Sciences, Graz University, Heinrichstr. 26, A-8010 Graz, Austria
M. Harzhauser
Affiliation:
Natural History Museum Vienna, Burgring 7, A-1010 Vienna, Austria
B. Berning
Affiliation:
Upper Austrian State Museum, Welserstr. 20, A-4060 Linz-Leonding, Austria
A. Kroh
Affiliation:
Upper Austrian State Museum, Welserstr. 20, A-4060 Linz-Leonding, Austria
*
*Corresponding author. Fax: +43 316 3809871. E-mail address:markus.reuter@uni-graz.at, werner.piller@uni-graz.at, , b.berning@landesmuseum.at, andreas.kroh@nhm-wien.ac.at
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Abstract

Facies analyses of Pleistocene deposits from southern coastal Tanzania (Lindi District) document that sediments formed in a wetland evolving on a coastal terrace in the Lindi Fracture Zone foreland. The exposed succession shows a marked sedimentary change from tidal to terrestrial facies. 14C analyses on gastropod shells indicate the emergence of the Lindi coast at ∼ 44 14C ka BP. Emergence and subsequent elevation of terraces to 21 m above present-day sea level was linked to the falling eustatic sea level prior to the last glacial maximum, and to a periodic elevation due to extensional tectonic episodes in the eastern branch of the East African Rift System (EARS). Since ∼ 44 14C ka BP tectonic uplift at the coast was 80-110 m, comparable to that in the extreme uplift areas of the EARS.

Keywords

Coastal terraceFaciesSea levelNeotectonicsWeichselianTanzania
Type
Short paper
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 73 , Issue 1 , January 2010 , pp. 136 - 142
Copyright
University of Washington

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