U
UPLIFTED COASTS
Nils-Axel Mörner
Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics, Saltsjöbaden,
Sweden
Synonyms
Coseismic uplift; Crustal uplift; Emergence; Postglacial
uplift; Raised beaches
Definition
An uplifted coast is one that undergoes continual or stepwise uplift (Mörner, 1980).
Emergence implies that the shoreline is displaced seaward and that land emerges from the sea. Postglacial uplift
denotes the process of glacial isostasy (Jamieson, 1882;
De Geer, 1888/90); in former glaciated areas (e.g.,
Fennoscandia, Scotland, northern North America, Patagonia), land rose when the load of ice disappeared after the
last ice age peaking at about 20,000 BP. This gives rise
to sequences of raised beaches expressed in time/elevation uplift curves (e.g., Hillair-Marcell and Fairbridge,
1978; Mörner, 1979). Active plate margins of subduction
(e.g., eastern South America, southern Italy, Japan, New
Guinea) generally experience crustal uplift, classifying
these areas as uplifted coasts. Coseismic uplift refers to
the state when uplift occurs in steps triggered by earthquakes. This is the case in many places in Japan (Ota,
1986) as well as in New Zealand (e.g., the classical
Turakirae shorelines described by Wellman, 1967).
Bibliography
De Geer, G., 1888–90. Om Skandinaviens nivåförändringar under
Qartärperioden. Geologiska Föreningens i Stockholm
Förhandlingar, 10, 366–379 (1888) & ibid, 12, 61–110 (1890).
Hillaire-Marcell, C., and Fairbridge, R. W., 1978. Isostasy and
eustasy in Hudson Bay. Geology, 6, 117–122.
Jamieson, T. F., 1882. On the cause of the depression and
re-elevation of the land during the Glacial Period. Geological
Magazin Nova Scotia, 9, 400–407.
Mörner, N.-A., 1979. The Fennoscandian uplift and Late
Cenozoic geodynamics: geological evidence. GeoJournal,
3(3), 287–318.
Mörner, N.-A. (ed.), 1980. Earth Rheology, Isostasy and Eustasy.
New York: Wiley. A collective work of 47 individual papers
from the Interdisciplinary symposium in Stockholm 1977 on
“Earth Rheology and Late Cenozoic Isostatic Movements”.
Geodynamics Project, Scientific Report No. 49, 599 pp.
Ota, Y., 1986. Marine terraces as reference surfaces in late Quaternary tectonics studies: examples from the Pacific Rim. Royal
Society of New Zealand, 24, 357–375.
Wellman, H. W., 1967. Tilted marine beach ridges at Cape
Turakirae, N.Z. In Ikebe, N. (ed.). Sea Level Changes and
Crustal Movements of the Pacific during the Pliocene and
Post-Pliocene Time. Journal of Geosciences, 10, 123–129.
M.J. Kennish (ed.), Encyclopedia of Estuaries, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8801-4,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016
UPLIFTED COASTS
Nils-Axel Mörner
Paleogeophysics and Geodynamics, Saltsjöbaden,
Sweden
Synonyms
Coseismic uplift; Crustal uplift; Emergence; Postglacial
uplift; Raised beaches
Definition
An uplifted coast is one that undergoes continual or stepwise uplift (Mörner, 1980).
Emergence implies that the shoreline is displaced seaward and that land emerges from the sea. Postglacial uplift
denotes the process of glacial isostasy (Jamieson, 1882;
De Geer, 1888/90); in former glaciated areas (e.g.,
Fennoscandia, Scotland, northern North America, Patagonia), land rose when the load of ice disappeared after the
last ice age peaking at about 20,000 BP. This gives rise
to sequences of raised beaches expressed in time/elevation uplift curves (e.g., Hillair-Marcell and Fairbridge,
1978; Mörner, 1979). Active plate margins of subduction
(e.g., eastern South America, southern Italy, Japan, New
Guinea) generally experience crustal uplift, classifying
these areas as uplifted coasts. Coseismic uplift refers to
the state when uplift occurs in steps triggered by earthquakes. This is the case in many places in Japan (Ota,
1986) as well as in New Zealand (e.g., the classical
Turakirae shorelines described by Wellman, 1967).
Bibliography
De Geer, G., 1888–90. Om Skandinaviens nivåförändringar under
Qartärperioden. Geologiska Föreningens i Stockholm
Förhandlingar, 10, 366–379 (1888) & ibid, 12, 61–110 (1890).
Hillaire-Marcell, C., and Fairbridge, R. W., 1978. Isostasy and
eustasy in Hudson Bay. Geology, 6, 117–122.
Jamieson, T. F., 1882. On the cause of the depression and
re-elevation of the land during the Glacial Period. Geological
Magazin Nova Scotia, 9, 400–407.
Mörner, N.-A., 1979. The Fennoscandian uplift and Late
Cenozoic geodynamics: geological evidence. GeoJournal,
3(3), 287–318.
Mörner, N.-A. (ed.), 1980. Earth Rheology, Isostasy and Eustasy.
New York: Wiley. A collective work of 47 individual papers
from the Interdisciplinary symposium in Stockholm 1977 on
“Earth Rheology and Late Cenozoic Isostatic Movements”.
Geodynamics Project, Scientific Report No. 49, 599 pp.
Ota, Y., 1986. Marine terraces as reference surfaces in late Quaternary tectonics studies: examples from the Pacific Rim. Royal
Society of New Zealand, 24, 357–375.
Wellman, H. W., 1967. Tilted marine beach ridges at Cape
Turakirae, N.Z. In Ikebe, N. (ed.). Sea Level Changes and
Crustal Movements of the Pacific during the Pliocene and
Post-Pliocene Time. Journal of Geosciences, 10, 123–129.
M.J. Kennish (ed.), Encyclopedia of Estuaries, DOI 10.1007/978-94-017-8801-4,
© Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016