Holocene lagoonal sedimentation at the latitudinal limits of reef growth, Lord Howe Island, Tasman Sea

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Abstract

The southernmost limit to coral reef growth occurs on Lord Howe Island (33°30'S, 159°05'E) where a discontinuous fringing reef flanks the western side of the island. Coring and radiocarbon dating indicate that carbonate sediments were first deposited within the lagoon around 6500 radiocarbon years BP coincident with sea level reaching close to its modern level. High-energy conditions dominated the reef with robust branching corals dominating the developing reef. Growth of the reef crest between 6000 and 5000 yr BP is inferred to have caused a reduction in the energy conditions within the lagoon resulting in mud deposition. During this period, sedimentation occurred at average rates of around 5 mm/yr, though locally up to 10 mm/yr, which infilled almost all the available accommodation space in the lagoon. By 4000 yr BP most of the lagoon had accreted to a level very close to the modem lagoon floor having accumulated over 11 m of sediment in the northern part of the lagoon and possibly up to 30 m in the south. Sediments younger than 3000 yr BP form a thin veneer over these older units with the main deposition being confined to embayments, the coastal plain and the infilling of blue-hole depressions. The reef and lagoon fringing Lord Howe Island appear to have developed their present form primarily during a phase of luxuriant growth in the mid-Holocene. (C) 2000 Elsevier Science B.V.

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Kennedy, D. M., & Woodroffe, C. D. (2000). Holocene lagoonal sedimentation at the latitudinal limits of reef growth, Lord Howe Island, Tasman Sea. Marine Geology, 169(3–4), 287–304. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0025-3227(00)00093-1

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