Sea Level, Ice, and Climatic Change (Proceedings of the Canberra
Symposium, December 1979). IAHS Publ. no. 131.
Relative and average sea level changes, and
endo-, epi-, and exogenic processes on the Earth
JOHN CHAPPELL
Biogeography
and Geomorphology,
Australian
National
University,
2601,
Australia
R. S. Pac.
S.,
Box 4, Canberra
ABSTRACT
Past sea levels at any given epoch, identified
geologically from positions of sea level-related
indicators, differ between sites around the world due to
vertical displacements of the Earth's surface. These are
caused by endogenic (e.g. tectonic) processes and by
epigenic (e.g. isostatic) responses. Geological records
of sea level changes thus are relative only to local
datum, and reduction to average changes requires
estimation of these displacement factors. Available
palaeo sea level data which are best as regards accuracy
of age and position measurements come from the present
interglacial episode (the last 6000 years), the last
interglacial (120 OOO to 135 000 years BP), and a few
points in between. Analysis of these data shows (a) that
endogenic movements on a 10 year scale can be established, and that there is a suggestion that movements may
have varied in rate within this time frame, in tectonic
areas, and (b) that post-glacial isostatic changes across
the globe are substantial and do not appear to be in
accordance with contemporary isostatic models, in certain
particulars. The positions of shorelines of 17 000 and
30 000 years BP need to be better established before
global epigenic movement models can satisfactorily be
tested. Paucity of good sea level data from late
Pleistocene glacial periods has led to acceptance of <5180
records in deep sea cores as good surrogates of actual
sea level/ice volume histories. Comparison with recent
data on late glacial sea levels and <5 8 0 values, from
coral reefs, shows that the deep sea core records do not
accurately resolve changes at the 101* year level.
Finally, effects of exogenic factors, especially the
Milankovitch effect of orbital perturbations on climate
and thence on sea level, are reviewed.
INTRODUCTION
The relationship between sea level and any landmass can change
because the land moves vertically relative to the mean ocean
floor, or because the quantity of water in the oceans changes, or
because the dimensions of the ocean basins are altered. Separation of these factors has been discussed since Darwin (1842)
indicated, through his global map of coral reefs, that some
regions are submerging while others are relatively stationary or
411
412 John Chappell
are even emerging from the sea. Geological evidence for changes
of the local or regional land/sea juxtaposition is manifest in
such features as raised or submerged beaches and reefs, stratigraphic sequences bearing the imprint of transgressions and
regressions of the sea, and in certain base-level-related
features in lowland river systems. In all such records,
dissection of the three factors which affect the land/sea level
relationship is necessary if such studies are to realize their
potential contribution to our knowledge of the physical
behaviour of the Earth.
In what follows, average sea level indicates the global mean
height of the sea surface on an hypothetical gauge attached to
the centre of the Earth. All actual indications of sea level
are related to a shoreline, either on a large landmass or on an
island attached to the ocean floor, and will be referred to as
relative
sea levels.
Average sea level ultimately is set, on a
constant radius Earth, by the quantity of land (Fig. 1(a)) which
results from crustal sial/sima differentiation (Fig. 1(b)),
modified by the extent to which isostatic disequilibrium is
induced by the upper mantle "heat engine" (Fig. 1(c)). Average
sea level also can be altered by transferring liquid water from
the oceans into ice sheets on land, although net change is
reduced by isostatic compensation (Fig. 1(d)).
Relative sea level changes, which, if measured globally, can
lead to estimates of average sea level changes (in principle),
are caused by different sorts of forces. Endogenic forces
originate within the Earth, occasioned by the internal heat
engine, and cause vertical movements which are manifest directly
(a)
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Fig. 1 With a constant volume solid Earth and a constant volume of ocean water, V 0 ,
the average sea level on a gauge related to the centre of the Earth is at H with no land
above sea surface, (a) Sea level is H' when land emerges. Quantity of land is
fundamentally set by V 0 and by sial-sima differentiation (b), modified (c) by
emergence through tectonic uplift U, shifting the average sea level down to H t on the
gauge. Ice cap formation lowers sea to H 0 (shown in (d)), but isostatic compensation
depresses the land to Zj and raises the sea bed to S\, thus giving the final sea level Hj.
Relative and average sea level changes
413
as surface displacements associated with seismic events. These
accumulate over time, producing average vertical rates as high as
several metres per 1000 years in orogenic areas, leading to net
displacements of any initial surface of up to tens of kilometres
over 10 to lO 8 years. Vertical expression of these movements
is modified by epigenic
forces principally caused by action of
the hydrological cycle on the land surface, in turn conditioned
by atmospheric circulation and meteorology. These forces
redistribute surface loads, both by transfer of eroded sediments
and by formation of ice sheets, and may interact with endogenic
forces through upper mantle mass transfer (Fig. 1(d)) and by
altering crustal stress fields.
The shape of the global water surface, constrained by gravitation potential and the effects of the Earth's rotation, does
not bear a constant relation to the figure of the solid Earth
when the latter is in isostatic disequilibrium due to the vast
viscosity difference (about 20 orders of magnitude) between
water and upper mantle material. This means that an average sea
level change, due to ice sheet melting, say, will be perceived
as relative change which varies around the globe. This complicates the task of separating average and relative changes; a task
which must be performed when endogenic and epigenic factors are
to be distinguished.
In addition to variations of endo- and epigenic processes in
the geological past, and the matter of coupling between them, an
issue of continuing interest concerns the ways in which both are
affected by exogenic
factors (from outside the Earth). Epigenic
processes are affected directly by effects of radiation on
climate; endogenic processes are directly affected by tidal
forces, they may be indirectly affected by climate-induced
effects on the Earth's rotation, and, on time scales greater
than lO years, may be influenced by passage of the solar system
through its galactic orbit. Certain of these are discussed in
this review of sea level changes.
IDENTIFICATION AND CORRELATION OF RELATIVE SEA LEVEL CHANGES
Contemporary changes of relative sea level, directly measured
from tide gauge records, have been used to test solid Earth
models of isostatic adjustment for regions previously covered
by late Pleistocene ice sheets (Chappell, 1974a), and can
provide data on displacements associated with seismic events.
In general, however, relative and average changes, and crustal
movements of the broad categories introduced above, are
identified geologically. The basic technique is to correlate,
in an accurate chronological sense, deposits or erosion features
which can be related to sea level, which occur in two quite
different contexts - surficial,
and
stratigraphie.
Surficial indicators of sea level include ancient littoral and
near-shore deposits, coral reefs, and wave cut platforms which
have a physiographic expression today; few remnants of greater
than late Cenozoic age are preserved. Stratigraphie indicators
include the same sorts of features, as well as epineritic marine
414 John Chappell
deposits which can be related to an ancient sea level through
palaeo-ecologic reconstruction, which are preserved within
stratigraphie sequences. Cyclothemic sequences (Weller, 1958;
Wanless, 1972) illustrate the latter. Changes of average sea
level, which as noted above require global recognition,
naturally are more difficult to interpret from stratigraphie than
from surficial indicators, firstly because formations in which
they are preserved may be tilted or folded, and secondly because
correlation is difficult at the necessary level of chronological
accuracy. For example, sea level changes associated with major
Quaternary glacial cycles occur within 10 years, which is
substantially less than the time error for correlations in the
deeper geological past. This is not to say that long term
changes of relative vertical movements of different landmasses,
or of average sea level, cannot be identified by stratigraphie
means, but indicates that the problem of separating the different
factors of sea level change can best be addressed by examining
the record of surficial indicators of Quaternary age.
Correlation between sea level indicators from different places
can be done palaeontologically, through radiometric dating, or
from the relationships between indicator deposits and traces of
singular events such as widespread volcanic tepra falls or
geomagnetic reversals. Each has limitations. Temporal accuracy
of palaeontological correlation depends not only on speed of
dispersal of a newly emergent species (which may be rapid for a
pelagic micro-organism) but also on the relation between time of
its evolutionary arrival as a distinct new form and time of
deposition of the deposits in question (this long-standing issue,
discussed by Arkell in 1923, applies in many contexts). The
problem is greatly reduced when continuous sequences, which have
a fixed correlation horizon determined by other .means, bear
signatures in their fossil assemblages which can be attributed to
global events such as major climatic changes. This strategy has
been particularly successful with Quaternary deep sea cores,
where the core top provides one horizon and the Brunhes-Matuyama
magnetic reversal provides another. Limitations of radiometric
dating broadly stem from the standard error of determination
(ranging from about 0.2 to 10% of measured age, varying with
method), and temporal association of the dated material and the
sea level indicator. The latter constraint also applies to
traces of singular events. Clearly, whatever the means of
correlation, the materials on which it is based must be deposited
at the time the sea level indicator is formed. These matters are
not discussed further, but in what follows the uncertainties of
correlations are indicated where appropriate.
THE QUESTION OF QUATERNARY HIGH SEA LEVELS
Maclaren in 1842 theorized that growth and decay or northern
continental ice sheets, now known to have occurred repeatedly
throughout Quaternary times, would cause global glacio-eustatic
sea level fluctuations. In the following hundred years or so,
it became almost dogma that flights of wave cut terraces,
Relative and average sea level changes
415
veneered by littoral deposits, occurring around coastlines in
many parts of the world were representative of interglacial sea
levels, and that these could be correlated on a rank-order basis,
counting upwards from present sea level (Zeuner, 1959). A
"standard" series of Pleistocene interglacial sea level heights
was developed (average sea levels in the sense defined above)
and Fairbridge (1962) gave these a chronology by correlating
the sequence with interglacials recognized in deep sea cores by
Emiliani (1955) and others. Flaws in the argument were perceivd
by Cotton (1963) and Russell (1964), amongst others, who
recognized that the terrace flights occurred on coasts subject
at least to endogenic movements. It became increasingly clear
that the practice, of correlating surficial indicators of sea
level on a rank order basis, is specious, as is well shown by
the related problem of correlating major Pleistocene glaciations
across the Atlantic on a similar basis (Cooke, 1973). Thus, as
matters stand at present, the only widely distributed sea level
indicators which can be correlated with any degree of satisfaction come from the post-glacial (Holocene) period, the last
interglacial episode of about 120 000 to 135 000 years ago, and
a few interstadial points in between. As a further constraint,
age determination of these is possible only for Holocene
formations on a global basis using "*C as the dating method,
and the earlier indicators lie essentially in the tropical coral
reef areas, as corals are the only materials which so far have
yielded sufficiently reliable age data by the
Th/
U method,
which is the only dating method of wide usage in this context.
Hence, the task of separating average sea level changes, caused
glacio-eustatically, and endo- and epigenic movements, from the
pattern of relative sea level movements, will be addressed
through these data alone. Problems raised by comparison of these
results with other less direct indicators of global ice/ocean
volume changes, such as
O/ 0 ratio variations in deep sea
cores will be discussed, before proceeding finally to examine
aspects of the question of coupling between exo-, epi-, and
endogenic processes.
ENDOGENIC AND EPIGENIC VERTICAL MOVEMENTS
First order endogenic uplift, in tectonic belts, and first order
epigenic movements, at the centres of glacio-isostatically
rising areas, differ in magnitude in both rate and duration. As
far as these movements are known from the sorts of dating studies
of indicators which were outlined above, tectonic uplift rates
may range to 5 m per 1000 years but generally are less, and
persist for 106 to 107 years (Chappell, 1974b; Chappell & Veeh,
1978a), while glacio-isostatic rates can exceed 50 m per lOOO
years (e.g. Donner, 1968) but have relaxation times around 103
years and reverse in direction as ice caps wax and wane (i.e.
roughly every 3 x lo"* years for the northern Quaternary ice
sheets). Hence, epigenic movements are best examined with Holocene
sea level indicators, while the slower tectonic rates are better
estimated from displacements of the last interglacial (120 OOO-
416 John Chappell
year) indicators.
Endogenic
movements
Separation of endo- and epigenic components of Vertical displacement seems best approached, at present, by successively-reducing
approximations. Hence, the last interglacial is the best
interval to examine for endogenic movements on the grounds that
it was of roughly similar duration-as the present interglacial
and the ice/ocean distribution was similar to the present, i.e.
epigenic differences from the present Earth's figure are most
likely to have been small. Thus, the elevation of last interglacial shorelines, relative to the present, is the best basis
we have at present for estimating tectonic vertical rates.
Age determination of most last interglacial sea level
indicators is based on the 2 3 0 Th/ 2 3 l + U method (Thurber et
al.,
1965). Principally these are raised coral reefs, in which the
reef crest facies reliably indicates the low tide level palaeo
datum, although there are a few cases where non-coralline
shorelines have been reproducibly dated by the same means, using
molluscs (usually significantly less reliable than corals for
the purpose; Blanchard et al.,
1967). Elevations relative to
present fall into two geo-tectonic groups - one comprised on
locations remote from plate boundaries, and the other containing
sites near plate convergence lines. Elevations within the first
group fall in a rather narrow range in comparison with those in
the second group. Summarizing the review in Chappell & Veeh
(1978a), the first group contains Hawaii (4-7 m above present sea
level), Tuamotos (4 m ) , Cook Island (2 m ) , Mauritius (1.5 m) ,
Western Australia (4 m ) , Seychelles (up to 9 m ) , and Florida
(up to 10 m ) . In most cases, the exact elevation of the reef
crest (palaeo datum) facies relative to modern datum is not given
and it is possible that this range may contract with further
work. Details of this last interglacial episode will emerge in
a later section: at this stage we take the palaeo datum for the
interval 120 OOO to 135 000 years as 6 ± 4 m above present,
where the variance may be due to second order tectonic or other
factors, as is the 6 m mean difference from present datum.
Raised reefs in the second group are higher by up to 2 orders
of magnitude, making uncertainty in relative uplift rate arising
from the ±4 m error in the first group small in comparison.
Localities include Barbados (up to 50 m; Broecker et al.,
1968),
Ryukyu Group (up to 200 m; Konishi et al.,
1974), northeast New
Guinea (up to 400 m; Chappell, 1974b; Bloom et al.,
1974), Timor
(up to 60 m; Chappell & Veeh, 1978a). An interesting feature in
all these sets of results is that the elevation of the 120 000135 OOO year BP reef changes along the coast or island chain,
indicating progressive increases of rate towards a maximum uplift
zone. Similar deformation patterns are known from coastal terrace
flights around other tectonic coasts which have not been as well
dated as the raised coral reefs (e.g. California (Wahrhaftig &
Birman, 1965); New Zealand (Wellman, 1971a, 1971b; Singh, 1971;
Lewis, 1971)). Figure 2 illustrates uplift deformation at Huon
Peninsula, New Guinea and the sort of raised coral reef evidence
under discussion (we return to Fig. 2 when changes of average sea
Relative and average sea level changes
417
Deformation parallel to coast shown
by terrace crests (reefs Il-SUb)
Fig. 2
Evidence for tectonic movements and relative sea level changes at Huon
Peninsula, New Guinea (based on Chappell, 1974b). Top: Huon Peninsula coast
showing localities X, Y, Z referred to in text, and margins of largest terraces. Roman
numerals follow terrace identifications in Chappell (1974b). Middle: section from
Holocene reef I to last interglacial terrace V l l a / V l l b . Growth of barriers represents
major sea level rise relative to the land; growth of fringing reef represents minor sea
level rise or stationary relative sea level. Bottom: Longshore variation of terrace
heights. Reefs II to V l l b . Note: asterisk in base of reef Ilia indicates site of samples
dated by 2 3 0 Th/ 2 3 4 U at 50 000 years.
level are examined). Finally, although these patterns of
vertical deformation have been related to tectonic processes
(e.g. Dubois et al.,
1974), more complete integration with
numerical models of convergence and subduction tectonics (such
as developed by Sleep (1975) and Smith & Toksoz (1972)) remains
to be done.
418
John Chappell
Epigenic
movements
The global consequence of global ice/ocean mass redistribution,
following the last déglaciation, was demonstrated by O'Connell
(1971) showing that the historical non-tidal acceleration of the
Earth's rotation is due to continuing slow compensation of the
equatorial bulge to the redistributed surface load. Resulting
changes in the figure of the Earth as a whole are analysed
successively by Walcott (1972), and by Clark et al.
(1978). The
latter proceed from a calculation based on a visco-elastic Earth
to estimate the pattern of relative sea level changes which
should be observable from Holocene sea level indicators around
the globe. Chappell (1974a) used a layered visco-elastic model
to examine the deformation which should occur near continental
margins over the last 6000 years as a consequence of marine
transgressions of the continental shelves.
The important calculations by Clark et al.
(1978) show a fair
degree of general agreement with Holocene sea level indicators
although, as they note, certain divergences (particularly for
eastern US data) suggest that lithosphère thickness and elasticity should be included as factors in the Earth model. The
'flat Earth' model of Chappell (1974a), which includes this
factor, gives a better prediction of the 6000-year shoreline
data in this region, although it is otherwise limited in not
being applicable on a global scale, as it stands. The global
predictions for the Holocene by Clark et al.,
are further
examined by Newman et al.
(1981) and are not discussed further.
It is clear, however, that such sea level data provide a powerful means for evaluating the response of the Earth to epigenic
load redistribution, and hence the rheology of the solid globe.
It is not the place in this review to offer recalculations of
rhéologie behaviour, but discrepancies between predictions and
observed sea level indicators will be mentioned as we proceed.
Separation
of endogenic
and epigenic
movements
An issue of significance for theories of endogenic (tectonic)
processes concerns the variation of vertical rates through time.
Although variations over time scales of 10 7 to 10 8 years are
well known from the geological record, it is unclear whether the
rates vary over 10 to 10 years and, if so, whether this is due
to modulation of the endogenic process by the epigenic effects
of Quaternary glaciation. The best evidence available lies with
the Holocene and last interglacial sea level indicators.
Differences between uplift rates estimated from elevations of
the last interglacial and Holocene indicators clearly are best
made for places where the rates are highest, to minimize
uncertainties stemming from correction for the last interglacial
palaeo datum (discussed above), and from the error which arises
when relating a particular type of indicator to modern sea level
datum. Uplift rate u = (h - p - d ± e)/t where h is elevation
above modern datum, t is its age, p is estimated height of palaeo
datum where this is suspected to have been different from present
(i.e. 6 ± 4 m for the last interglacial), d is the epigenic
correction (as estimated by Clark et al.
(1978), or by similar
means), and e is the error estimate associated with all of these.
Relative and average sea level changes
419
The Huon Peninsula, New Guinea, with highest uplift rates so far
determined, provides an example. Substituting values given by
Chappell & Polach (1976) from the section marked at position X
in Fig. 2, and estimating d = 1 ± 1 m, gives u (last interglacial)
= 1.85 ± 0.15 m per 1000 years, and u (6000 year reef crest) =
1.2 ± 0.2 m per lOOO years. The palaeo datum estimated for 6000
years BP is 0 m, on the grounds that déglaciation was complete
and that average sea level should have been as at present. The
rate discrepancy implies either that the 6000 BP palaeo datum
estimate is wrong, or that the estimated epigenic correction, d,
is wrong, or that a post-6000 seismic event depressed the coast
by about 3 m. As the first two factors should be constant along
the Huon coast, and the last may be constant or may vary
irregularly across faults (cf. Pig. 2 ) , their effects can be
assessed by repeating the calculation at points with very different uplift rates. Results for point Y on Fig. 2 (highest uplift
rate) give a rate discrepancy of 1.0 m per 1000 years, and for
point Z (lower uplift rate) give a discrepancy of 0.3 m per
lOOO years. Hence, it appears that rate discrepancy increases
with mean uplift rate, which may be interpreted as indicating
rate variation on a 10 to 10 -year time scale. Further work of
this type is needed before such variations are well established,
and before the guestion of whether epigenic forces affect the
endogenic processes can be answered.
AVERAGE SEA LEVEL CHANGES AND WATER VOLUME CHANGES
Following the introductory definitions, average sea level changes
are changes of global mean distance of the ocean surface above
the centre of the Earth. This concept is difficult to investigate, even allowing that epigenic readjustment to changing ice/
ocean distributions can be estimated, and we turn first to the
matter of changes of oceanic water volume associated with
Pleistocene glaciation.
Submerged shorelines dated at around 17 000-18.OOO years old,
i.e. coeval with the last glacial maximum, have been recognized
near the outer margins of continental shelves in many parts of
the world. The depths of these should provide the basis for
estimating the total oceanic water volume changes due to
glaciation, particularly if the data are corrected for estimated
isostatic displacements. The result should agree with estimates
of northern continental ice volumes at the glacial maximum with
a correction for any Antarctic ice volume change. Unfortunately,
uncertainties at present are about as large as the estimated
changes. Estimates of ice volume (reviewed briefly in Chappell,
1974a) range from 130 m of sea level equivalent (Flint, 1971)
through 100-115 m (Paterson, 1972) down to 75 m (Clark et
al.,
1978). The gap between estimates based directly on ice sheet
reconstructions, such as Flint's and Paterson's, can be narrowed
by including lesser contributions to ice volume, such as
extension of the Fennoscandian sheet into the Barents Sea
(Schytte et al.,
1968) and possible increase in Antarctica where
the margins extended at the time of glacial low sea level,
420
John Chappell
leading to an estimate of 115-125 m of sea level equivalent (cf.
Chappell, 1974a) . Greater problems remain with data from 17 OOOyear old submerged shorelines. Amongst the better dated cases
are examples from northern Australia, where coral and intertidal
algal rock samples, occurring on or closely below the edges of
submerged terraces, have been dated between 14 000 and 18 700
years BP by lkC and 230 Th/ 231 *U methods (Veeh & Veevers, 1970;
Jongsma, 1970). These lie 150-160 m below present sea level.
According to the calculations of Clark et al.
(1978), these
should occur at the same depth as similar-aged shorelines on the
southeastern US shelf; actual observations from the latter show
depths of -75 m (reviewed by Clark et al.)
to -90 m (Curray,
1960). Hence, it appears that present estimates of global isostatic (eplgenic) readjustment, following the last glaciation,
are in error. Further careful exploration of 17 000-year shorelines clearly is needed.
The problem of reconstructing oceanic water volume changes
becomes more acute before the last glacial maximum. Ice volume
reconstructions are very much less certain,as glacial margins
before the maximum are imperfectly known. Indicators of relative
sea level changes become controversial as to age and interpretation. The question of whether or not an interstadial high
sea level occurred around 30 000-40 OOO years ago illustrates the
point. Since the advent of radiocarbon dating very many authors
have documented apparent indicators of relative sea level occurring in this time range, according to "*C determinations, and
lying at anything between 10 m above and 60 m below present sea
level. By the late 1960s it was widely accepted that sea level
was within 15 m of present around 30 OOO years ago (e.g. Emery
& Milliman, 1970; Faure & Elouard, 1967) , despite that Broecker
(1965) had cautioned against acceptance of "*C determinations
from marine carbonates in this age range, and that such a sea
level was difficult to reconcile with evidence on land for
considerable ice volumes. Reviewing the problem, Thorn (1973)
examined 188 such studies and found that none could be rated as
unequivocally superior, in terms of dating reliability or otherwise in terms of undisputable evidence for a valid sea level
indicator. In fact, the only extensive evidence which appears
to pass on both counts comes from the flights of raised coral
reefs dated by 23,, Th/ 2 **U (and also 1>tC in the case of New
Guinea) which, as discussed above, occur in regions of rapid
endogenic uplift. Thus it is, that there has been a growing
tendency to estimate oceanic water volume changes by indirect
means, most notably from variations of ô O/ô O ratio in
foraminifera in deep sea cores. There are difficulties in
reconciling these results with such details of late Pleistocene
sea levels as we have, however.
DEEP SEA CORE o180/<5160 RECORDS AND .WATER VOLUME CHANGES
Since the pioneering work of Emiliani (1955, 1966) it has been
clear that oxygen isotope ratio variations in cores from
continuously accumulating deep sea sediment constitute one of the
Relative and average sea level changes
421
most important records of Quaternary glacial history. The ratio,
recorded in foraminiferal CaCOn, increases as ocean temperatures
decrease and also as ice volume increases. The latter effect is
due to preferential precipitation, in snow, of ô 0 relative to
ô 1 8 0 - a depletion which can be over 40°/oo relative to the value
in mean ocean water. Relative magnitudes of the two effects on
the isotope ratio was debated until Shackleton showed that
variations of about 1.2°/0o occur throughout cores from equatorial Pacific areas, which on the basis of foraminiferal
palaeontology appear to have experienced only small temperature
changes in Quaternary times (Shackleton & Opdyke, 1973, 1975).
On the grounds that the last glaciation withdrew about 120 m of
sea level equivalent from the oceans (see above), a general
calibration has been adopted that oceanic <5180 increases by about
0.1°/oo for 10 m of glacio-eustatic lowering of sea level. Deep
sea core records now have their sedimentary time scales calibrated to the 700 000-year Brunhes-Matuyama geomagnetic reversal
(Shackleton & Opdyke, 1973, 1975), and glacial-interglacial
cycles show satisfactory agreement with the same broad 10 -year
cycle seen in the relative sea level curves recognized in flights
of raised coral reefs (Chappell, 1974c).
Glacial water volume changes indicated by deep sea core 6 8 0
records appear to conflict with apparent sea level changes,
however, when comparisons are made within a lo"*-year time frame.
Figure 3 {top) shows relative sea level changes at Huon Peninsula
over the last 40 000 years as interpreted from the raised reef
sequence in Fig. 2. Subtraction of endogenic uplift from this
figure gives a relative sea level curve for the northern
Australian region, which should differ from the glacio-eustatic
water volume curve only to the extent of epigenic movements.
Mean uplift rate for the section in Fig. 2 is 1.6 ± O.l m per
1000 years, based on the last interglacial reefs, and may be as
low as 1.2 m per 1000 years on the basis of the Holocene reef.
Figure 3 (middle)
shows the relative sea level curve with uplift
subtracted, as a shaded band to cover the range of uplift rate
estimates. The low sea level shown between 15 OOO and 20 OOO
years is based on the deeply submerged terrace in Fig. 2, which
was mapped by echo-sounder and dredge (Chappell, 1974b) but is
not dated; it agrees well in position with the dated submerged
terraces in northern Australia, mentioned earlier.
Superimposed on the reduced sea level curve in Fig. 3 are
ô 1 8 0 records from three important deep sea cores, V28-238
(Shackleton & Opdyke, 1973) from the equatorial Pacific,
Caribbean core P6304-9 (Emiliani, 1966), and Panama basin core
V19-28 (Ninkovitch & Shackleton, 1975). The 6 1 8 0 range in the
latter two cores exceeds that in V28-238 owing to glacialinterglacial temperature changes (cf. Shackleton & Opdyke, 1973).
Also shown are ô 0 data from Tridacna
clams from the Huon reefs
(P. Aharon, personal communication, and in prep.), which are
known to be in isotopic equilibrium with the surrounding sea
water (Aharon et al., 1980). There are clear discrepancies of
two types. Firstly, the deep sea core 6180 curves do not show
the interstadial high sea levels at 30 000 and 40 000 years.
Secondly, the ô O difference between the modern reef at Huon
422
John Chappell
0 Years BPxIOOO
-140m
10
P6304
0 Years BPxIOOO
-5.0
<
Fig. 3 Top: detail of reefs I to Ilia at Sialum (cf. Fig. 2). Middle: relative sea level
changes for section at top, deduced from internal structures of the reefs (cf. Chappell,
1974; Bloom et al., 1974). Bottom: glacio-eustatic sea level changes relative to New
Guinea-northern Australia, deduced by subtracting endogenic uplift from curve at
centre, compared with S I 8 0 curves from deep sea cores (P6304-9, Caribbean,
Emiliani, 1966; V28-238, equatorial Pacific, Shackleton & Opdyke, 1973; V19-26,
Panama basin, Ninkovitch & Shackleton, 1975), and 5 1 8 0 data from Huon Peninsula
terraces, reef Ilia crest, reef II crest, and modern reef (solid vertical bars).
Peninsula and the 30 OOO BP reef is 0.8°/oo, similar to that in
core V28-238 but significantly less than in most other cores
across the same time interval. Alternative interpretations are
as follows:
(a) The deep sea core 6 1 8 0 correctly indicates ocean water
volume changes and either
(i) the dated evidence for sea level at
-150 m relative to the northern Australian region is wrong, and
the 17 OOO year relative sea level stood above -lOO m, or (ii)
Relative and average sea level changes
423
the -150 m low sea level is correct and the relative sea level at
30 OOO years was about -120 to -130 m, implying that uplift rates
at Huon Peninsula were higher than the mean rate for the last
120 000 years by a factor of 3, and furthermore must have reduced
to the mean rate before the Holocene, or (iii) that the -150 m
low sea level is correct and uplift rate varied only within the
limits set by the shaded curve in Fig. 3, if at all, and that
epigenic movements caused the region to rise by at least 70 m
between 30 000 and 17 OOO years BP and then to subside by the
same amount before about 8000 years ago.
Possibility (i) should be eliminated, as the evidence of Veeh
& Veevers (1970) and Jongsma (1970) for the -150 m relative sea
level is at least as good as any of this type. Case (ii) ,
entailing radical variations of uplift rate, is eliminated
because the assumption of locally uniform uplift since the last
interglacial has yielded estimates of earlier interstadial sea
levels (viz. at 62 OOO, 84 000, and 105 OOO years) which are in
good agreement both within regions (Barbados, New Guinea,
Ryukyus, and Timor) and between these regions (Bloom et
al.,
1974; Chappell & Veeh, 1978b). Case (iii) is discussed below.
(b) The deep sea core record at the lo'*-year level is smoothed
by bioturbation or other factors, during sedimentation, to such
an extent that shorter interstadial oscillations are lost.
Supporting this is the fact that the 6 8 0 shift, between 30 OOO
BP and present, is smaller at Huon Peninsula than in the deep
sea cores. This is contrary to expectation, because other
evidence shows that temperatures in New G u i n e a , around the last
glacial maximum, were at least 6°C lower than present (Bowler
et a l . , 1976; Webster & Streten, 1 9 7 8 ) .
H e n c e , if the New
Guinea 30 000-year reef did not represent a substantial interstadial event it would show a ô 8 0 shift exceeding that of core
V 2 8 - 2 3 8 , at least, and probably exceeding the shifts seen in the
other two cores.
It is concluded that ice/water volume and/or
climatic oscillations shorter than 10 years in duration are
much supressed, or even lost from v i e w , in deep sea cores with
normal sedimentation rates (i.e. rates of 2 to 4 cm per 1000
years).
(c) The 6* 0 differences can be reconciled with minimum
distortion by admitting partial smoothing in the deep sea core
records, allowing no temperature effects on ô 8 0 at Huon
£ 1 8
Peninsula, and explaining the remaining discrepancy between o 0
and relative sea level curves in terms of global epigenic
movements. This sort of juggling leads to very different
patterns of epigenic movement from those calculated by Clark
et al.
(1978), who predict that the northern Australian region
should register sea level changes rather closely accordant with
actual oceanic water volume changes. In an interesting
discussion, Morner (1976) conjectures that the figure of the
geoid may have changed more radically than predicted by Walcott
(1972) or by the subsequent results of Clark et al.,
due to
quite hypothetical effects of changes of rotation rate on the
Earth. Morner presents no calculations, however, and it seems
likely that some of his notions, involving changes of geoidal
shape originating at the core-mantle boundary, can be ruled out
424 John Chappell
on the grounds that lower mantle relaxation times exceed 10
years (cf. McKenzie, 1967). Nonetheless, the possibilities
should be explored by careful assemblage of data on relative
positions around the globe, of the 17 OOO and 30 000 years BP
sea level indicators. The 30 000-year shorelines probably are
the more accessible, and certainly many of the 188 examples
reviewed by Thorn (1973) should be investigated further.
To conclude this section, the author's estimations are as
follows. The analysis of glacial-interglacial global eplgenic
movements by Clark et al.
(1978) is not the last word on the
matter. Addition of an elastic lithosphère to their model
probably will not resolve the problem, although the gap between
northern Australian and southeast US data on the c. 17 OOO year
shorelines may be narrowed, particularly if it is allowed that
the glacial-interglacial water volume change is around 120-130 m
of sea level equivalent. Numerical calculations should be made
of some of the effects discussed by Morner (1976) . Turning to
the ô 1 8 0 results, the discrepancy between the cores and Huon
Peninsula at 30 000 cannot be resolved by juggling with epigenic
movements. As stated, the magnitude of the discrepancy increases
if ocean temperatures at Huon Peninsula were colder than present,
30 OOO years ago. In addition to the terrestrial evidence for
lower temperatures (cited by Webster & Streten, 1978), 6 1 8 0
measurements from other terraces in the flight shown in Fig. 2
indicate strong temperature effects (Aharon et al.,
1980; Aharon,
in prep. ) . I conclude that the deep sea core records are
seriously smoothed, for events shorter than 101* years and that
relative sea level curves derived from well dated flights of
raised coral reefs constitute the best available records of ice/
ocean water volume changes, in the 101* to 10 year time frame,
while the cores provide the best records in the lo to 10 year
frame.
EXOGENIC EFFECTS ON OCEANIC WATER VOLUMES
In addition to effects of gravitation on endogenic processes,
exogenic factors can be coupled to endo- and epigenic forces
through effects on the climate. Anderson (1974) and Lambeck &
Cazenave (1976) have shown that there is probably a causal chain
whereby the zonal circulation affects rotation of the Earth,
which in turn affects seismicity through acceleration stresses,this seems substantiated by historical data. Whether such a
chain effect is operative at the level of the much slower and
larger Quaternary climatic fluctuations is unknown, although the
question raises the interesting matter of lagged feedbacks
between endogenic vulcanism and climate (Chappell, 1973).
Similarly, epigenic forces induced by ice sheet growth and decay
may influence endogenic vulcanism (Matthews, 1969), although
present data from Quaternary records do not prove a relationship.
These questions are laid aside, and to conclude this review the
question of exogenic influence on climate is addressed on the
Quaternary time scale, with relative sea levels and deep sea
core results as the primary data.
Relative and average sea level changes
425
The principal argument relating external factors to climate,
on a Quaternary time scale, has come to be known as the
Milankovitch theory after the Czech mathematician who first made
comprehensive calculations of the way in which the solar
radiation pattern, received by the Earth, is slowly modulated by
three perturbation factors in the Earth's orbit - precession,
obliquity changes, and eccentricity changes. The theory was
adopted by Zeuner (1959) to provide a chronology for Pleistocene
glaciations, but was frequently discredited by meteorologists.
Interest was revived when Broecker et al.
(1968) showed that the
30
Th/ 23l *U ages of Barbados coral terraces I, II, III corresponded with Milankovitch peaks for maximum contrast of warm
northern summer-cool northern winter differences. Similar
correlations from New Guinea reef terraces were shown by Veeh &
Chappell (1970), and Broecker & van Donk (1970) showed a close
correspondence between glacial terminations registered by 6~80
patterns in deep sea cores and the cyclic variation of orbital
eccentricity (with a period of about 100 000 years). Subsequent
recomputation of the Milankovitch curves to successively higher
levels of accuracy (Vernekar, 1972; Berger, 1978) and refinement
of the deep sea core time scale, through use of the BrunhesMatuyama geomagnetic reversal, has led to widespread acceptance
of the theory, at the 10 -year scale (Hays, 1978; Imbrie,unpub.).
It also is accepted that the precessional component, with a
period of about 20 000 years, has strongly modulated late
Quaternary climates and glaciation, through the evidence for
high relative sea levels (representing interstadials) which are
now known to occur simultaneously in Barbados, New Guinea, and
Timor at the times when northern summer-winter radiation
differences are maximal (Chappell, 1976). Evidence supporting
the Milankovitch theory for the last 700 OOO years is summarized
in Fig. 4. Relative sea level changes for the three principal
sets of coral reef terraces are reduced to a single curve by
removing endo- and epigenic factors, as far as this is possible.
Major peaks correlate well with Shackleton & Opdyke'1 s (1973)
deep sea core ô 0 curve, as shown. The record of climatic
change on land, interpreted by Kukla (1970) from Czechoslovakian
loess sequences, also is shown. The time scale applied here is
based on
C dates and the position of the Brunhes-Matuyama
reversal in the sequence (Kukla, 1970) and on the position of
the 108 OOO years BP geomagnetic 'Blake event' (Kukla & Koci,
1972). Between the two geomagnetic markers the loess time scale
is interpolated, and hence the correlations shown may be
fictitious. However, the pattern of correlations between the
three geologic records is very good, especially for the last
2oo 000 years where the dating is most secure. Also shown in
Fig. 4 are the times when northern summer-winter radiation
contrast was maximum (potential termination events) and when
the contrast was minimum (glacial initiation or growth
conditions). Again, correspondence with the geological records
is striking, although it must be pointed out that the geological
age-errors increase with age value, and beyond about 150 OOO years
come to equal or even exceed the 10 OOO year period of the
precessional hémicycle.
426
John Chappell
!
n a
Terminer t
r
0.7
P
!
i
+
t
•
t
i
0.6
;
!
t
t
'
t
i
0.5
!
t
1
!
t
1
0.4
1
! !
t t
1
0.3
t
i i
'
i
+ t t t +
1
i
1
0.2
i i
t
1
0.1
!
t
1
1 _
0
Fig. 4 Comparison of three different sea level and climate records for last 700 000
years. Top: sea levels from Huon Peninsula and Atauro Island, Timor. Centre: equatorial
Pacific core V28-238. Bottom: Loess and palaeosoils from Czechoslovakia, after Kukla
(1970). The tall vertical bars represent times of forest soil or brown earth soil
development, the low intervening strips represent times of loess accumulation. The time
scale is given by the Brunhes-Matuyama magnetic reversal at unit 11, the Blake magnetic
event between B1a and B1b, and C dates in the youngest soils. Times of solar
radiation "glacial initiation" and "glacial termination" conditions are shown below.
Proof of the Milankovitch theory in detail, and exploration of
theoretical models of orbital effects on climate and glaciation
(e.g. Budd, 1981), requires further refinement of the relative
sea level records', and their successful reduction to a reliable
curve of oceanic water volume. Beyond this, it now has been
shown that joint sea level and
0 studies of indicators such as
raised coral reefs offers a tantalizing prospect of testing
theories for rapid climatic and other changes (Mercer, 1981;
Aharon et al.,
1980). This appears to be a major thrust for the
future, following resolution of the question of global epigenic
changes.
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