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1.
This study addresses gaps in understanding the relative roles of sea‐level change, coastal geomorphology and sediment availability in driving beach erosion at the scale of individual beaches. Patterns of historical shoreline change are examined for spatial relationships to geomorphology and for temporal relationships to late‐Holocene and modern sea‐level change. The study area shoreline on the north‐east coast of Oahu, Hawaii, is characterized by a series of kilometre‐long beaches with repeated headland‐embayed morphology fronted by a carbonate fringing reef. The beaches are the seaward edge of a carbonate sand‐rich coastal strand plain, a common morphological setting in tectonically stable tropical island coasts. Multiple lines of geological evidence indicate that the strand plain prograded atop a fringing reef platform during a period of late‐Holocene sea‐level fall. Analysis of historical shoreline changes indicates an overall trend of erosion (shoreline recession) along headland sections of beach and an overall trend of stable to accreting beaches along adjoining embayed sections. Eighty‐eight per cent of headland beaches eroded over the past century at an average rate of ?0·12 ± 0·03 m yr?1. In contrast, 56% of embayed beaches accreted at an average rate of 0·04 ± 0·03 m yr?1. Given over a century of global (and local) sea‐level rise, the data indicate that embayed beaches are showing remarkable resiliency. The pattern of headland beach erosion and stable to accreting embayments suggests a shift from accretion to erosion particular to the headland beaches with the initiation of modern sea‐level rise. These results emphasize the need to account for localized variations in beach erosion related to geomorphology and alongshore sediment transport in attempting to forecast future shoreline change under increasing sea‐level rise.  相似文献   

2.
Linking surficial sediment patterns in reef environments to the processes that underlie their depositional dynamics enables predictions to be made of how environmental changes will influence reef‐associated sedimentary landforms, such as islands and beaches. Geomorphic linkages between sediment deposition patterns and the biophysical processes that drive them are often poorly resolved, particularly at broad landscape scales where tangible statements can be made about structural changes to landforms. The present study applies geospatial techniques to link patterns in reef sediment dynamics at Lady Musgrave Island to the underlying processes driving them. In situ calcification is characterized by developing a high resolution map of the surficial calcium carbonate producing communities inhabiting the reef platform, and associated sediments across the reef flat are analysed for grain size, kurtosis, sorting and threshold bed shear stress to explore transport pathways across the reef flat and lagoon. Wave energy is modelled across the entire reef platform as a potential driver of sediment dynamics, and morphometric linkages are empirically defined between wave energy and grain size. Findings indicate that carbonate sediments are primarily sourced from calcifying communities colonizing the outer periphery of the reef platform and that sediment grain size can be reliably linked to wave energy by virtue of a linear model.  相似文献   

3.
A rigorous test is presented of the application of sediment trend models to an intertidal beach environment characterized by bar morphology. Sediment samples were collected during low tide from a regular grid and their sediment fall velocity distributions, obtained using a settling tube, were analysed using moment analysis. The net sediment transport direction determined from beach surveys, hydrodynamic measurements, wave ripple observations and sediment transport modelling was compared with predictions by sediment trend models based on the spatial distribution of sediment parameters. It was found that the sediment transport pathways and patterns of sedimentation predicted using sediment trend models were at odds with field observations, and varied significantly depending on whether surface or sub‐surface sediment samples were used. The sediment trend models are thought to fail because, in energetic and morphologically variable beach environments, spatial patterns in sediment characteristics are mainly attributed to the presence of different hydrodynamic regions and associated morphology, rather than sediment pathways. The use of sediment trend models cannot replace the collection of morphological, hydrodynamic and sediment transport data in the field to define relationships between flows, forms and sedimentation patterns on a dynamic intertidal beach.  相似文献   

4.
Most techniques for estimating settling velocities of natural particles have been developed for siliciclastic sediments. Therefore, to understand how these techniques apply to bioclastic environments, measured settling velocities of bioclastic sedimentary deposits sampled from a nearshore fringing reef in Western Australia were compared with settling velocities calculated using results from several common grain‐size analysis techniques (sieve, laser diffraction and image analysis) and established models. The effects of sediment density and shape were also examined using a range of density values and three different models of settling velocity. Sediment density was found to have a significant effect on calculated settling velocity, causing a range in normalized root‐mean‐square error of up to 28%, depending upon settling velocity model and grain‐size method. Accounting for particle shape reduced errors in predicted settling velocity by 3% to 6% and removed any velocity‐dependent bias, which is particularly important for the fastest settling fractions. When shape was accounted for and measured density was used, normalized root‐mean‐square errors were 4%, 10% and 18% for laser diffraction, sieve and image analysis, respectively. The results of this study show that established models of settling velocity that account for particle shape can be used to estimate settling velocity of irregularly shaped, sand‐sized bioclastic sediments from sieve, laser diffraction, or image analysis‐derived measures of grain size with a limited amount of error. Collectively, these findings will allow for grain‐size data measured with different methods to be accurately converted to settling velocity for comparison. This will facilitate greater understanding of the hydraulic properties of bioclastic sediment which can help to increase our general knowledge of sediment dynamics in these environments.  相似文献   

5.
The universally known subsidence theory of Darwin, based on Bora Bora as a model, was developed without information from the subsurface. To evaluate the influence of environmental factors on reef development, two traverses with three cores, each on the barrier and the fringing reefs of Bora Bora, were drilled and 34 uranium‐series dates obtained and subsequently analysed. Sea‐level rise and, to a lesser degree, subsidence were crucial for Holocene reef development in that they have created accommodation space and controlled reef architecture. Antecedent topography played a role as well, because the Holocene barrier reef is located on a Pleistocene barrier reef forming a topographic high. The pedestal of the fringing reef was Pleistocene soil and basalt. Barrier and fringing reefs developed contemporaneously during the Holocene. The occurrence of five coralgal assemblages indicates an upcore increase in wave energy. Age–depth plots suggest that barrier and fringing reefs have prograded during the Holocene. The Holocene fringing reef is up to 20 m thick and comprises coralgal and microbial reef sections and abundant unconsolidated sediment. Fringing reef growth started 8780 ± 50 yr bp ; accretion rates average 5·65 m kyr?1. The barrier reef consists of >30 m thick Holocene coralgal and microbial successions. Holocene barrier‐reef growth began 10 030 ± 50 yr bp and accretion rates average 6·15 m kyr?1. The underlying Pleistocene reef formed 116 900 ± 1100 yr bp , i.e. during marine isotope stage 5e. Based on Pleistocene age, depth and coralgal palaeobathymetry, the subsidence rate of Bora Bora was estimated to be 0·05 to 0·14 m kyr?1. In addition to subsidence, reef development on shorter timescales like in the late Pleistocene and Holocene has been driven by glacioeustatic sea‐level changes causing alternations of periods of flooding and subaerial exposure. Comparisons with other oceanic barrier‐reef systems in Tahiti and Mayotte exhibit more differences than similarities.  相似文献   

6.
以2000年及2007年黄河三角洲滨海区采集的123和155个表层沉积物样品为数据基础,经实验室分析取得各样品的粒度参数,结合地貌条件、动力条件和水深资料,探讨黄河三角洲滨海区沉积物的分布类型、粒度特征以及其动力分区等方面的规律。黄河三角洲滨海区表层沉积物类型主要为砂质粉砂;中值粒径由岸向海逐渐变细;分选系数整体偏高反映了的复杂性;偏态值均为正,其极高值大都分布于水深10m左右的区域;峰态的极大值分布于现行河口的南侧,极小值分布于湾湾沟口和飞雁滩以东的近岸。Flemming三角图反映出冲蚀区的动力条件整体较强;淤积区内清水沟老河口附近的动力条件比现行河口强;浅海平原区水动力较弱且单一。  相似文献   

7.
波浪的传播变形对珊瑚岛礁附近的营养物质输送以及近岸珊瑚沙运动都起着关键的作用,同时也是礁盘顶部建筑物在设计和施工过程中需要重点考虑的因素,因此,对波浪在礁坪上的传播变形进行研究具有重要意义。利用FUNWAVE 2.0数值模型模拟了不规则波浪在不同形状岸礁上的传播变形过程,讨论了礁前斜坡坡度以及珊瑚底面粗糙程度对波浪在礁坪上传播变形的影响。结果显示,随着礁坡斜率增大,不对称度参数绝对值的增长趋势逐渐变缓,波浪在光滑礁坪上的不对称度绝对值要略大于粗糙底面上的值,而不同地形下计算得到的波浪偏度参数则基本相同。说明礁坡坡度对波浪的不对称度特征具有显著影响,礁坪粗糙度的影响则相对较小,而上述因素对波浪偏度的影响则完全可以忽略。给出了考虑这两个影响因素的礁坪区域内波浪偏度和不对称度经验公式。  相似文献   

8.
福建安海湾表层沉积物粒度特征及其现代沉积过程分析   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
通过对福建安海湾表层沉积物的粒度分析和对比,应用系统聚类分析、粒径趋势模型和切应力计算公式,探讨了研究区粒度的分布特征、沉积环境分区、表层沉积物输运趋势及其影响因素.研究结果表明,研究区包括6种表层沉积物类型,以黏土质粉砂和粉砂为主,沉积物大体呈现自海湾两侧潮滩向潮汐通道变粗的分布趋势.表层沉积物粒度的分布特征与水动力条件和物质来源密切相关,湾口附近及湾内深槽内,细颗粒的沉积物被再悬浮带走,粗颗粒的含量增大;在湾内潮滩上,悬浮物质因水动力作用逐渐减弱发生分选沉降,形成向岸变细的横向分异.海湾外泥沙随潮流不断地向海湾东侧岸滩运移,海湾周边陆源来沙由湾顶部往湾口方向下泄,两者是导致表层沉积物出现明显的顺时针方向汇聚趋势的原因之一;表层沉积物的输运趋势、悬浮泥沙的输运、潮滩植被与湾口沙嘴的遮蔽效应共同影响了研究区内浅滩地形的形成和变化.研究区可分为四类沉积环境区,以潮滩和潮汐通道环境为主,不同沉积区内的粒度参数、粒级频率和敏感粒级均有差异,动力条件差异和不同物源的影响程度是现代沉积环境格局的主要影响因素.  相似文献   

9.
Patterns of sediment composition of Jamaican fringing reef facies   总被引：1，自引：0，他引：1  
Recent carbonate sediments from Jamaican north coast fringing reefs were collected along three parallel traverses in the vicinity of Discovery Bay. Each traverse extended from near shore across the back reef, reef crest, and fore reef to a depth of 75 m. Relative abundances of the biotic constituents vary between sites, reflecting general patterns of reef community composition. The sediment is dominated by highly comminuted coral fragments (27·1% to 63·1%), plates of the calcareous green alga Halimeda (0·4% to 38·7%), coralline algae (4·7% to 16·2%) and the encrusting foraminiferan Homotrema rubrum (0·7% to 9·5%), with lesser amounts of other taxonomic groups (non-encrusting foraminifera 1·3–5·5%; molluscs 1·4–7·0%; echinoderms 0·9–5·0%). Coral fragments, coralline algae and particles of Homotrema rubrum dominate the sediments of the shallow portions of the fore reef (5–15 m), whereas plates of Halimeda are most abundant in sediments from the back reef and deeper portions of the fore reef ( 24 m). Q-mode cluster analysis, using sediment constituent data, resulted in the delineation of four reef biofacies over the depth range of this study (1–75 m).  相似文献   

10.
The Darwinian progressive subsidence model for the evolution of fringing reefs, barrier reefs and atolls has been generally accepted following the indisputable proof of subsidence provided by drilling results in the Pacific. Nonetheless, there are data that do not fit the expectations of the model, such as the similar lagoon depths of barrier reefs and atolls as opposed to the subsidence theory’s implicit prediction that atolls should have significantly greater depths. In contrast, a great deal of evidence supports the influence of meteoric solution on barrier reef morphology. For example, the maximum lagoon depth of 56 modern barrier reefs is statistically correlated with the lagoon catchment area for modern annual rainfall. These modern rainfall patterns would seem to be a reasonable proxy for relative geographic differences in glacial lowstand rainfall, even though the absolute amounts of such rainfall are unknown. The correlation therefore suggests the importance of Pleistocene subaerial solution in contributing to barrier reef morphology. Further support for antecedent influence occurs in the form of barrier reef passes in which the depth of the reef pass is correlated with onshore drainage volumes. On a larger scale, the Cook Island of Mangaia provides evidence that solution can produce barrier reef morphology independent of reef development. In contrast, there are no examples of the subsidence-predicted lagoon transition of fringing reefs to barrier reefs to atolls. Moreover, the common occurrence of fringing reefs within barrier reefs negates subsidence as a causal factor in their ‘presumed progressive evolutionary development. Consequently, the evidence to date suggests that a solution morphology template has been accentuated by reef construction to produce the diagnostic barrier reef morphology we see today. The importance of subsidence would seem to be in accounting for the overall thickness of the resulting carbonate caps of oceanic examples and in contributing to lagoon depth variation among the larger continental entities.
  相似文献   

11.

Elizabeth and Middleton Reefs are atoll-like structures that have developed on top of volcanic edifices and are close to the southern environmental limit of reef development in the southwest Pacific. Reef morphology and vertical accretion rates during the Holocene appear similar to those on other more tropical reefs. Sediment samples were collected from the lagoon of both reefs and around the flanks of Middleton Reef. A distinctly chlorozoan assemblage was observed with coral, molluscs, Halimeda, coralline algae and foraminifers being the dominant sediment constituents. Lagoon sediment samples show little variation within or between reefs, lacking the concentric zonation characteristic of larger atolls. Samples collected from the flanks of Middleton Reef, and subsurface material from vibrocores, differ compositionally from the surficial lagoon sand and were typically more tropical in character. A comparison of the sediment constituents from these reefs with those of samples from within a fringing reef and from the shelf around Lord Howe Island, further south, indicated regional patterns in sediment composition. Halimeda rapidly decreased in abundance with increased latitude, and appeared confined to deeper water, whereas coralline red algae increased significantly. The rapid change in these major sediment contributors is coincident with the general decrease in coral growth rates with latitude. This reinforces the notion that the latitudinal limit of reef development is constrained by factors other than coral growth alone.  相似文献   

12.
Measurements of 18 closely spaced beach profiles spanning Warilla Beach, N.S.W., over a 5‐year period have been examined for alongshore exchanges in beachface configuration. Horizontal slices of beach corresponding with berm, upper swash, upper and lower intertidal zones were examined by empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. The first four EOF's for each of the four slices contain over 90% of the total variance for each slice. In each instance the first eigen‐function mode represents the onshore‐offshore component of beach response, and accounts for 50 to 60% of the variance. Subsequent modes describe alongshore exchange of sediment associated with large, standing, cellular water circulations of the embayment. Sediment shunts along each horizontal slice are determined by identification of nodal points in the eigen‐functions. These represent pivotal points through which sediment is transferred. The patterns of exchange vary considerably from slice to slice, reflecting change in the dominant beach processes from swash processes in the top of the beach to wave, tidal and current processes on the lower beach slope. Despite their disparity, similar periodicities are determined for the sediment exchanges in each slice. The amplitude spectra of the time series associated with each eigen‐function indicate that the exchanges take place at 24, 12 and 6 monthly periods.  相似文献   

13.
沉积物粒径趋势分析:原理与应用条件   总被引：16，自引：1，他引：15  
高抒 《沉积学报》2009,27(5):826-836
长期以来,沉积学家尝试用粒度数据来识别沉积环境的类型或判定物质运动的方式,但只取得了部分成功。粒度参数还有一项可能的用途,即用其平面差异来获取物质输运信息。沉积学家将粒度参数的平面差异定义为“粒径趋势”,并建立了以“粒径趋势分析”为基础的定性物质输运模型。粒径趋势分析的基本科学问题包括:如何提取粒径趋势信息;如何确定含有物质输运信息的粒径趋势类型;粒径趋势分析的应用条件是什么。粒径趋势信息可通过粒径趋势矢量的定义及其各向异性显著性的检验而获得,而经验证据也显示,含有物质输运信息的粒径趋势类型是存在的。初步研究表明,粒径趋势分析应满足以下条件:粒径趋势矢量具有显著性;底质采样深度应代表同一时间尺度;平面采样间距应符合地统计法的规则;避免使用位于采样网格边缘上的采样点的粒径趋势矢量;沉积物样品应属于同一个输运体系或研究区处于堆积状态。但是,由于不同来源的物质混合、源区沉积物特征及变化、不同水动力条件下的物质输运、悬沙沉降、溶解态—颗粒态物质转换、物质输运动力的侧向分布等因素与粒径趋势形成之间的关系还不够明确,因此这些条件还不是完备的,这个问题的解决依赖于粒径趋势形成的过程和机制的进一步研究。  相似文献   

14.
对海南岛昌化江入海口110个底表沉积物样品进行了粒度分析,并利用二维沉积物粒径趋势分析模型对沉积物粒度参数开展趋势分析.研究结果表明,按照Folk沉积物分类三角图解法,昌化江入海口外底表沉积物可划分为含砾砂、砂、砾质泥质砂、砂质砾、粉砂、泥、砂质泥、砾质砂、砂质粉砂和粉砂质砂共10种沉积物类型,其中砂和砾组分的分布范围...  相似文献   

15.
To achieve a more robust interpretation of sediment conditions and transport based on grain size, this study combines the perspectives of two different interpretation techniques that have been developed separately and applied in the literature: (i) ‘grain size trend analysis’ interprets changes between interrelated sampling sites assuming that sediment in the direction of transport should become either coarser, better sorted and more positively skewed, or finer, better sorted and more negatively skewed; and (ii) the ‘population anomalies’ method, which estimates the balance between erosion and accumulation processes at each sampling site based on individual site deviations compared with average values for grain‐size parameters in the area of interest. The simultaneous use of both approaches enables sedimentological conditions and transport alternatives to be distinguished. This improvement is necessary because site‐specific changes and general textural trends provide information that complements the strengths and weaknesses of each perspective. The methods are implemented here using two‐dimensional Geographic Information System tools and illustrated for the Lithuanian coast. Grain‐size characteristics of 712 surface samples of sandy sediments are used to interpret sediment transport pathways and predominant sedimentological conditions in the Lithuanian coastal zone. In general, coast‐parallel sediment transport dominates the entire investigation area, although wave‐induced movement perpendicular to the coastline is inferred in the shallow nearshore zone. The deepest areas offshore are characterized by sea floor erosion in the north, whereas an accumulation zone occurs in the relatively deep central part of the study area.  相似文献   

16.
基于海南西部四更沙及其邻近海域185个底质的粒度数据,并结合研究区动力状况和水深地形特征,研究表层沉积物的组分和类型分布、粒度参数及其沉积环境分区。结果表明:①研究区沉积物类型多样,包括12种沉积类型,以砂质粉砂、粉砂、粉砂质砂和含砾砂为主,沉积物平均粒径变化范围较大(-0.70~7.13 φ),且大体呈现由北向南逐渐变细的分布趋势;②运用Fleming的三角图式,结合物源状况及地形地貌条件,对沉积环境进行划分,将研究区划分为四更沙岸外海滨沉积区、北黎湾中部沉积区和八所港近岸沉积区等3个沉积区;③研究区沉积物分布特征受沉积物来源和水动力及地形条件共同影响。横向分布上,西部主要受强潮流输沙影响,东部近岸则主要受波浪掀沙和搬运作用影响,表现为两侧粗,中间相对较细的特征。纵向上,四更沙岸外海滨沉积区,沉积物主要受昌化江影响,粒径粗,表现为河口沉积特征;北黎湾中部沉积区,沉积物粒径分布范围广,表现为较强的过渡区特性;八所港近岸沉积区,沉积物粒径最细,泥沙来源主要为外海带来的泥沙。  相似文献   

17.
江苏王港潮间带表层沉积物特征及输运趋势   总被引：20，自引：1，他引：19  
王爱军  汪亚平  杨旸 《沉积学报》2004,22(1):124-129
潮滩沉积物粒度参数可以用来反映沉积物沉积的水动力条件和沉积环境。根据对江苏王港潮间带采集的15 4个表层样品的粒度资料进行分析,结果表明,沉积物类型以粉砂为主;随着水动力环境由海向陆的减弱,沉积物粒度参数表现出有规律的变化趋势,即由岸向海粒径具有粗化趋势,分选变好,逐渐正偏并达到近对称。研究区与世界其他地区的潮滩在沉积特征上有较大差异,主要是由于沉积物来源、水动力环境及受生物作用的强弱程度不同所致。沉积物输运趋势分析显示,该地区沉积物输运主要受当地潮波特征、大型人工建筑物、地貌形态及生物作用的影响;在低潮线附近主要向西北方向输运,随着向陆地方向的延伸,沉积物由向西输运逐渐转变为向南输运。  相似文献   

18.
The evolution and architecture of a set of retreating Lower Frasnian patch reef outcrops in the Canning Basin of Western Australia were evaluated, and their depositional and stratigraphic contacts spatially recorded using digital surveying tools. The geological data, together with high‐resolution digital elevation models, were assembled in three‐dimensional visualization and modelling software and subsequently used for building two‐dimensional surface models and three‐dimensional volumetric models. Numerical data on geometry and shape were extracted from these models and used to quantitatively assess the retrogradation motif of patch reef development. The development of the patch reefs comprises three stages. During stages 1 and 2, the patch reefs exhibited an overall retrogradational escarpment‐type configuration displayed by, on average, 60° steep reef‐margin walls that lacked the support of coeval slope deposits. The subdivision between stages 1 and 2 is based on minor backstepping reducing less than 10% of the platform‐top area. The onset of stage 3 is recognized by stromatolite development fringing reef‐margin walls. During stage 3 an aggrading accretionary reef‐margin developed, comprising allochthonous and autochthonous slope deposits. Both types of slope deposit onlap the previous stages and are distributed unevenly with allochthonous slope deposits being noticeably absent around the smaller and more elongate patch reefs. The variation in distribution of slope sediment type can be explained by the amount, linked to platform size, of platform‐top shedding. Small patch reefs were unable to fill the available accommodation adjacent to escarpments with allochthonous slope sediments and were thus encroached by autochthonous slope sediments. The variation, which cannot be explained by the size difference in the platform‐top factory, has been related to the difference in perimeter length. For patch reefs with similar platform‐top production areas, a more elongate patch reef inherits a longer perimeter and a proportionally smaller volume of allochthonous slope sediment per margin length will be transported to the flanks. Thus, the more elongate patch reef intrinsically contained more sites within which autochthonous slope sediments developed. Digital outcrop modelling and numerical evaluation of the evolution of the patch reefs revealed the major differences in retrogradation motif. The quantified variations in progressive decline of platform‐top area with height were confirmed by hypothetical decline curves for ellipse‐shaped carbonate systems for which aspect ratio (ratio between length and width) varied. This mathematical model demonstrates that the progressive decline of the production area is highly sensitive to shape and can be used to numerically assess and predict the relative timing of drowning, i.e. when the platform‐top production area becomes nil, of retrogradational isolated carbonate platforms that are controlled by high accommodation. Wider implications can be surmised for highstand systems tracts and prograding carbonate systems. For example, for equally sized platforms with hypothetically similar carbonate factories and identical external forces, the potential to prograde by platform‐top shedding is higher with a smaller aspect ratio because the shorter perimeter implies less accommodation space needing to be filled up to commence slope progradation. Clearly, there are intrinsic effects of shape on the development of carbonate platform systems.  相似文献   

19.
The Cariatiz section lies at the toe of the palaeoslope of the Messinian Cariatiz fringing reef, at the northern margin of the Neogene Sorbas Basin in SE Spain. Distal-slope reef deposits in the upper part of the section can be traced laterally to the reef core of the last episodes of reef progradation. The underlying deposits are alternating diatomitic marl, marl and silty marl that intercalate with sandstone beds. Combined lithological changes, variations in proportions of warm-water planktic foraminifera and δ 18O values suggest that at least seven, probably precessional, cycles are recorded throughout the Cariatiz section. The correlation of seven cycles in the pelagic deposits to seven reef progradation cycles, and associated vertical shifts in reef facies, indicates relative sea-level oscillations of several tens of metres. Biostratigraphic and palaeomagnetic data suggest that both the Cariatiz section and the fringing reef formed during the reverse polarity Chron C3r. Surface-water temperatures seem to be the major factor controlling carbonate production in the reef system. Deposition of bioclastic calcirudite and calcarenite, with no active coral growth, took place at the lowest sea-level within each reef cycle during temperature minima within each precessional cycle. Porites framework and reef-slope deposits with Halimeda gravel, in contrast, formed during temperature rises and thermal maxima within precessional cycles.  相似文献   

20.
The leeward fringing reef at Fantome Island (central Great Barrier Reef province) is a carbonate body which has developed under the influence of terrigenous sedimentation. The reef flat is up to 1000 m wide and is surfaced by mobile sand and gravel, with almost all live corals restricted to the seaward rim. The reef slope has coral columns and heads on the upper part, but below 5 m water depth it is a muddy substrate with scattered mounds of branching corals. Three high recovery cores show the reef is up to 10 m thick and developed over a gently sloping terrace of weathered Pleistocene alluvium. Three post-glacial stratigraphic units are recognised: (1) carbonate reef top unit of coral rudstone and framestone including Sinularia spiculite; (2) lower slope unit of coral floatstone in a terrigenous muddy matrix; and (3) transgressive basal unit of skeletal arkosic sand. The acid insoluble content of matrix and of individual corals increases downwards. Coral growth rates decrease downwards, reflecting slower growth in muddier environments. Radiocarbon dating shows that the reef prograded seaward at almost stable sea level. An average vertical accumulation rate of 6.7 mm yr-1 is indicated. Two age reversals are interpreted as material transported by storms or by erosion in response to a late Holocene sea-level fall. The carbonate reef top unit has developed adjacent to, and is environmentally compatible with a muddy terrigenous, lower slope unit. Terrigenous influx has not changed during the Holocene, and terrigenous content of sediments is controlled by deposition on the reef slope of fine sediment winnowed from the reef flat and concentration of coarse sediment in the transgressive basal sheet.  相似文献   

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