Holocene record of Tuggerah Lake estuary development on the Australian east coast: sedimentary responses to sea-level fluctuations and climate variability

Macreadie, Peter I.; Rolph, Timothy C.; Schröder-Adams, Claudia; Boyd, Ron; Skilbeck, Charles G.

Title: Holocene record of Tuggerah Lake estuary development on the Australian east coast: sedimentary responses to sea-level fluctuations and climate variability
Creator: Macreadie, Peter I.; Rolph, Timothy C.; Schröder-Adams, Claudia; Boyd, Ron; Skilbeck, Charles G.
Relation: ARC.DP0209388
Relation: GeoResJ Vol. 5, p. 57-73
Publisher Link: http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.grj.2015.01.002
Publisher: Elsevier
Resource Type: journal article
Date: 2015
Description: We investigated the Holocene palaeo-environmental record of the Tuggerah Lake barrier estuary on the south-east coast of Australia to determine the influence of local, regional and global environmental changes on estuary development. Using multi-proxy approaches, we identified significant down-core variation in sediment cores relating to sea-level rise and regional climate change. Following erosion of the antecedent land surface during the post-glacial marine transgression, sediment began to accumulate at the more seaward location at ~8500. years before present, some 1500. years prior to barrier emplacement and ~4000. years earlier than at the landward site. The delay in sediment accumulation at the landward site was a consequence of exposure to wave action prior to barrier emplacement, and due to high river flows of the mid-Holocene post-barrier emplacement. As a consequence of the mid-Holocene reduction in river flows, coupled with a moderate decline in sea-level, the lake experienced major changes in conditions at ~4000. years before present. The entrance channel connecting the lake with the ocean became periodically constricted, producing cyclic alternation between intervals of fluvial- and marine-dominated conditions. Overall, this study provides a detailed, multi-proxy investigation of the physical evolution of Tuggerah Lake with causative environmental processes that have influenced development of the estuary.
Subject: palaeo-environment; geomorphology; trace elements; sediment core; holocene; estuary; sea-level rise; Australia; multi-proxy; sea-level fluctuation; magnetisation
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/1959.13/1320256
Identifier: uon:24116
Identifier: ISSN:2214-2428
Language: eng
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