Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-mwx4w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-07-04T05:19:02.991Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene Sea-Level Record on Funafuti and Potential Impact of Global Warming on Central Pacific Atolls

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

William R. Dickinson
William R. Dickinson*
Affiliation:
Department of Geosciences, Box 21077, University of Arizona, Tucson, Arizona, 85721
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Geomorphic features inherited from the mid-Holocene glacio-hydro-isostatic sea-level highstand that affected the central Pacific region influence the susceptibility of atoll islets to potentially enhanced wave erosion associated with rise in sea level from global warming. Shoreline morphology on multiple islets of Funafuti atoll in central Tuvalu reflects a relative mid-Holocene sea-level highstand 2.2–2.4 m above modern sea level. Typical islets are composed of unconsolidated post-mid-Holocene sediment resting disconformably on cemented coral rubble formed beneath now-emergent mid-Holocene reef flats. Exposed remnants of the lithified islet foundations serve as resistant buttresses protecting the flanks of atoll islets from wave attack. Islets lacking cemented mid-Holocene deposits as part of their internal structure are migratory sand cays with unstable shorelines. Any future sea-level rise ≥0.75 m, bringing high tide above the elevation of mid-Holocene low tide, might trigger enhanced wave erosion of stable atoll islets by overtopping the indurated mid-Holocene reef platforms. As analogous threshold relations are inferred for other central Pacific atolls, the risk of future inundation of island nations cannot be evaluated solely in terms of expected sea-level rise with respect to gross islet elevations.

Keywords

atollsFunafutihydro-isostasyPacific Oceanreefssea levelshoreline geomorphologyTuvaluwave erosion
Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 51 , Issue 2 , March 1999 , pp. 124 - 132
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aalbersberg, B, Hay, J, (1992). Implications of Climate Change and Sea Level Rise for Tuvalu.Google Scholar
Athens, J.S., (1995). Landscape Archaeology: Prehistoric Settlement, Subsistence, and Environment of Kosrae, Eastern Caroline Islands, Micronesia. International Archaeological Research Institute, Honolulu.Google Scholar
Baines, G.B.K., Beveridge, P.J., Maragos, J.E., (1974). Storms and island building at Funafuti atoll, Ellice Islands. Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Coral Reefs, Great Barrier Reef Committee, Brisbane.p. 485–496.Google Scholar
Baines, G.B.K., McLean, R.F., (1976). Sequential studies of hurricane deposit evolution at Funafuti atoll. Marine Geology 21, M1–M8.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bard, E., Hamelin, B., Arnold, M., Montaggioni, L., Cabioch, G., Faure, G., Rougerie, F., (1996). Deglacial sea-level record from Tahiti corals and the timing of global meltwater discharge. Nature 382, 241–244.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bayliss-Smith, T.P., (1988). The role of hurricanes in the development of reef islands, Ontong Java atoll, Solomon Islands. Geographical Journal 154, 377–391.Google Scholar
Bloom, A.L., (1967). Pleistocene shorelines: A new test of isostasy. Geological Society of America Bulletin 78, 1477–1494.Google Scholar
Buddemeier, R.W., Smith, S.V., Kinzie, R.A., (1975). Holocene windward reef-flat history, Enewetak atoll. Geological Society of America Bulletin 86, 1581–1584.Google Scholar
Calhoun, R.S., Fletcher, C.H. III, (1996). Late Holocene coastal plain stratigraphy and sea-level history at Hanalei, Kauai, Hawaiian Islands. Quaternary Research 45, 47–58.Google Scholar
Chappell, J., (1974). Late Quaternary glacio- and hydro-isostasy on a layered Earth. Quaternary Research 4, 405–428.Google Scholar
Cloud, P.E. Jr., (1952). Preliminary report on geology and marine environments of Onotoa atoll, Gilbert Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 12, 1–73.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Connell, J, Maata, M, (1992). Environmental Planning. Climate Change and Potential Sea Level Rise: Report on a Mission to the Republic of the Marshall Islands .Google Scholar
Curray, J.R., Shepard, F.P., Veeh, H.H., (1970). Late Quaternary sea-level studies in Micronesia: CARMARSEL Expedition. Geological Society of America Bulletin 81, 1865–1880.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
David, T.W.E., Sweet, G., (1904). The geology of Funafuti The Atoll of Funafuti: Borings into a Coral Reef and the Results. Royal Society, London.p. 61–124.Google Scholar
Dye, T., (1987). Introduction Marshall Islands Archaeology. Bishop Museum, Honolulu.p. 1–16.Google Scholar
Emery, K.O., Aubrey, D.G., (1991). Sea Levels, Land Levels, and Tide Gauges. Springer Verlag, New York.Google Scholar
Fletcher, C.H. III, Jones, A.T., (1996). Sea-level highstand recorded in Holocene shoreline deposits on Oahu, Hawaii. Journal of Sedimentary Research 66, 632–641.Google Scholar
Fosberg, F.R., Carroll, D., (1965). Terrestrial sediments and soils of the northern Marshall Islands. Atoll Research Bulletin 113, 1–156.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ginsburg, R.N., (1953). Beachrock in south Florida. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 23, 85–92.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gray, S.C., Hein, J.R., Hausmann, R., Radtke, U., (1992). Geochronology and subsurface stratigraphy of Pukapuka and Rakahanga atolls, Cook Islands: Late Quaternary reef growth and sea level history. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 91, 377–394.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Grossman, E.E., Fletcher, C.H. III(1998). Sea level higher than present 3500 years ago on the northern main Hawaiian Islands. Geology 26, 363–366.Google Scholar
Hoffman, J.S., (1984). Estimates of future sea level rise. Barth, M.C., Titus, F.G. Greenhouse Effect and Sea Level Rise Van Nostrand–Reinhold, New York.79–103.Google Scholar
Holthus, P, Crawford, M, Makroro, C, Sullivan, S, (1992). Vulnerability Assessment for Accelerated Sea Level Rise. Case Study: Majuro Atoll, Republic of the Marshall Islands .Google Scholar
Hopley, D., (1987). Holocene sea-level changes in Australasia and the southern Pacific. Devoy, R.J.N. Sea Surface Studies: A Global View Croom Helm, London.375–408.Google Scholar
Jones, A.T., (1992). Holocene coral reef on Kauai, Hawaii: Evidence for a sea-level highstand in the central Pacific. Fletcher III, C.H., Wehmiller, J.F. Quaternary Coasts of the United States: Marine and Lacustrine Systems 267–271.Google Scholar
Jones, A.T., (1998). Late Holocene shoreline development in the Hawaiian Islands. Journal of Coastal Research 14, 3–9.Google Scholar
Kawana, T., Miyagi, T., Fujimoto, K., Kikuchi, T., (1995). Late Holocene sea-level changes and mangrove development in Kosrae Island, the Carolines, Micronesia. Kikuchi, T. Rapid Sea Level Rise and Mangrove Habitat Gifu Univ. Institute for Basin Ecosystems, 1–7.Google Scholar
Maragos, J.E., Baines, G.B.K., Beveridge, P.J., (1973). Tropical cyclone Bebe creates a new land formation on Funafuti atoll. Science 181, 1161–1163.Google Scholar
Marshall, J.F., Jacobson, G., (1985). Holocene growth of a mid-Pacific atoll: Tarawa, Kiribati. Coral Reefs 4, 11–17.Google Scholar
McKee, E.D., (1959). Storm sediments on a Pacific atoll. Journal of Sedimentary Petrology 29, 354–364.Google Scholar
McLean, R.F., Hosking, P.L., (1991). Geomorphology of reef islands and atoll motu in Tuvalu. South Pacific Journal of Natural Science 11, 167–189.Google Scholar
McLean, R.F., Woodroffe, C.D., (1994). Coral atolls. Carter, R.W.G., Woodroffe, C.D. Coastal Evolution: Late Quaternary Shoreline Morphodynamics Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.267–302.Google Scholar
Mitrovica, J.X., Peltier, W.R., (1991). On postglacial geoid subsidence over the equatorial oceans. Journal of Geophysical Research 96, 20,053–20,071.Google Scholar
Montaggioni, L.F., Pirazzoli, P.A., (1984). The significance of exposed coral conglomerates from French Polynesia (Pacific Ocean) as indicators of recent relative sea-level changes. Coral Reefs 3, 29–42.Google Scholar
Nakiboglu, S.M., Lambeck, K., Aharon, P., (1983). Postglacial sealevels in the Pacific: Implications with respect to deglaciation regime and local tectonics. Tectonophysics 91, 335–358.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Nakada, M., Lambeck, K., (1989). Late Pleistocene and Holocene sea-level change in the Australian region and mantle rheology. Geophysical Journal 96, 497–517.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Newell, N.D., Bloom, A.R., (1970). The reef flat and ‘two-meter eustatic terrace’ of some Pacific atolls. Geological Society of America Bulletin 81, 1881–1894.Google Scholar
Nunn, P.D., (1994). Oceanic Islands. Blackwell, Oxford.Google Scholar
Nunn, P.D., (1995). Holocene sea-level changes in the south and west Pacific. Journal of Coastal Research Special Issue 17, 311–319.Google Scholar
Parsons, B., Sclater, J.G., (1977). An analysis of the variation of ocean floor bathymetry and heat flow with age. Journal of Geophysical Research 82, 803–827.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Pirazzoli, P.A., Montaggioni, L.F., (1988). Holocene sea-level changes in French Polynesia. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology 68, 153–175.Google Scholar
Rabie, A., Serizawa, M., Mimura, N., Sannami, T., Yamada, K., Furuike, K., (1997). Assessment of sea-level rise impacts on the coastal area of Funafuti, Tuvalu Pacific Coasts and Ports ‘97 (Proceedings of the 13th Australasian Coastal and Engineering Conference and the 6th Australasian Port and Harbour Conference). Center for Advanced Engineering, University of Canterbury, p. 687–692.Google Scholar
Richmond, B (1993). Reconnaissance Geology of the Gilbert Group. Western Kiribati .Google Scholar
Richmond, B. R, (1992). Holocene Geomorphology and Reef History of Islands in the South and Central Pacific.Google Scholar
Roy, P, Connell, J, (1989). Greenhouse: The Impact of Sea Level Rise on Low Coral Islands in the South Pacific.Google Scholar
Roy, P., Connell, J., (1991). Climatic change and the future of atoll states. Journal of Coastal Research 7, 1057–1075.Google Scholar
Schofield, J.C., (1977). Late Holocene sea level, Gilbert and Ellice Islands, west central Pacific Ocean. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 20, 503–529.Google Scholar
Schofield, J.C., (1977). Effect of late Holocene sea-level fall on atoll development. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 20, 531–536.Google Scholar
Scoffin, T.P., (1993). The geological effects of hurricanes on coral reefs and the interpretation of storm deposits. Coral Reefs 12, 203–221.Google Scholar
Scoffin, T.P., Stoddart, D.R., Tudhope, A.W., Woodroffe, C.D., (1985). Exposed limestones of Suwarrow atoll (northern Cook Islands, S. W. Pacific). Proceedings of the Fifth International Coral Reef Congress (Tahiti) 3, 137–140.Google Scholar
Shepard, F.P., Curray, J.R., Newman, W.A., Bloom, A.L., Newell, N.D., Tracey, J.I. Jr., Veeh, H.H., (1967). Holocene changes in sea level: Evidence in Micronesia. Science 157, 542–544.Google Scholar
Stoddart, D.R., Steers, J.A., (1977). The nature and origin of coral reef islands. Jones, O.A., Endean, R. Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs Academic Press, New York.59–105.Google Scholar
Summerhayes, C.P., (1971). Lagoonal sedimentation at Aitutaki and Manuae in the Cook Islands. New Zealand Journal of Geology and Geophysics 14, 351–363.Google Scholar
Szabo, B.J., Tracey, J.I. Jr., Goter, E.R., (1985). Ages of subsurface stratigraphic intervals in the Quaternary of Enewetak atoll, Marshall Islands. Quaternary Research 23, 54–61.Google Scholar
Tracey, J.I. Jr., Ladd, H.S., (1974). Quaternary history of Eniwetok and Bikini atolls, Marshall Islands. Proceedings of the Second International Symposium on Coral Reefs Great Barrier Reef Committee, Brisbane.p. 537–550.Google Scholar
Trichet, J., Repellin, P., Oustriere, P., (1984). Stratigraphy and subsidence of the Muroroa atoll (French Polynesia). Marine Geology 56, 241–257.Google Scholar
Walcott, R.I., (1972). Past sea levels, eustasy, and deformation of the Earth. Quaternary Research 2, 1–14.Google Scholar
Warrick, R.A., (1993). Climate and sea level change: A synthesis. Warrick, R.A., Barrow, E.M., Wigley, T.M.L. Climate and Sea Level Change: Observations, Projections and Implications Cambridge Univ. Press, Cambridge.3–21.Google Scholar
Warrick, R.A., Oerlemans, H., (1990). Sea level rise. Houghton, J.T., Jenkins, G.J., Ephraums, J.J. Climate Change: The IPCC Scientific Assessment Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.257–281.Google Scholar
Woodroffe, C.D., Stoddart, D.R., Spencer, T., Scoffin, T.P., Tudhope, A.W., (1990). Holocene emergence in the Cook Islands, South Pacific. Coral Reefs 9, 31–39.Google Scholar
Yamada, K., Nunn, P.D., Mimura, N., Machida, S., Yamamoto, M., (1995). Methodology for the assessment of vulnerability to sea level rise and climate change for South Pacific countries. Journal of Global Environmental Engineering 1, 101–125.Google Scholar