Gulf of Carpentaria where their reef crests occurred at
a depth of $20 m (Blanchon et al., 2002; Harris et al.,
2008). So, between 8 and 7.6 ka reef-crest sequences
throughout the Caribbean, and perhaps other areas, backstepped upslope between 4 and 8 m (Figure 1 and 3). Yet
despite all this activity in the Caribbean and other seas,
reef sequences in Tahiti apparently show no evidence of
back-stepping at 8 ka, and don’t even register a response
in the facies sequence (Figure 2).
The key question then is why should Tahitian reefs, and
possibly Indo-Pacific reefs in general, be more resilient to
rapid sea-level jumps than those in the Caribbean? An
obvious possibility is that the greater diversity and depth
range of Indo-Pacific reef-crest assemblages provides
a broader insurance coverage against the environmental
changes wrought by rapid sea-level jumps. In Caribbean
reefs, with their shallow and almost monoculture-like
crest assemblages, such rapid changes must be difficult
to insure against and they therefore have a much greater
impact. A clear example of this vulnerability is illustrated
by the back-stepping event during the last interglacial
from the northeast Yucatan (Blanchon et al., 2009). In this
case, even a small 3 m jump led to an unfavorable sedimentation regime that resulted in the severe restriction of
reef development along the northeast coast of the Peninsula and apparently to extirpation of reefs in the Bahamas
and other low gradient coasts (perhaps even as far a-field
as western Australia).
The ongoing widespread decline of Caribbean reefs,
however, is perhaps the strongest evidence of this vulnerability. While Indo-Pacific reefs show increasing signs of
being resilient to rapid environmental changes (Adjeroud
et al., 2009; Diaz-Pulido et al., 2009), coral cover in the
Caribbean continues its steep decline (Gardner et al.,
2005). The cause of this dramatic degeneration is widely
debated, but recent analyses indicate that chronic human
disturbance via overfishing and nutrient input, coupled
with disease outbreaks, has synergistically impaired the
regenerative potential of reefs following major disturbance events, such as hurricanes or thermal mass
bleaching induced by global warming (Gardner et al.,
2005; Mora 2008; Mumby and Steneck 2008; Raymundo
et al., 2009). Add to this the increasingly dire predictions
of future rapid sea-level rise, and what we could be
witnessing in the Caribbean is the initial stages of the next
episode of reef demise and back-stepping.
Bibliography
Abers, G. A., and McCaffrey, R., 1994. Active arc-continent collision – earthquakes, gravity-anomalies, and fault kinematics in
the Huon-Finisterre collision zone, Papua-New-Guinea. Tectonics, 13, 227–245.
Adey, W. H., 1978. Coral reef morphogenesis: a multi-dimensional
model. Science, 202, 831–837.
Adey, W. H., Macintyre, I. G., Stuckenrath, R., and Dill, R. F., 1978.
Relic barrier reef system off St. Croix: its implications with
respect to late Cenozoic coral reef development in the western
Atlantic. In Taylor, D. L. (ed.), Proceedings, Third International
Coral Reef Symposium (Miami). Rosenstiel School of Marine
and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Florida,
Vol. 2, pp. 15–21.
Adjeroud, M., Michonneau, F., Edmunds, P. J., Chancerelle, Y., de
Loma, T. L., Penin, L., Thibaut, L., Vidal-Dupiol, J., Salvat,
B., and Galzin, R., 2009. Recurrent disturbances, recovery trajectories, and resilience of coral assemblages on a South Central
Pacific reef. Coral Reefs, 28, 775–780.
Banks, K. W., Riegl, B. M., Shinn, E. A., Piller, W. E., and Dodge,
R. E., 2007. Geomorphology of the Southeast Florida continental reef tract (Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties,
USA). Coral Reefs, 26, 617–633.
Bard, E. et al., 1996. Deglacial sea-level record from Tahiti corals
and the timing of global meltwater discharge. Nature, 382,
241–244.
Becker, R. T., House, M. R., and Kirchgasser, W. T., 1993. Devonian goniatite biostratigraphy and timing of facies movements
in the Frasnian of the Canning Basin. In Hailwood, E. A., and
Kidd, R. B. (eds.), High Resolution Stratigraphy, Geological
Society of London, Special Publications 70, pp. 293–321.
Blanchon, P., 2010. Reef demise and back-stepping during the
last Interglacial northeast Yucatan. Coral Reefs, doi:10.1007/
s00338-010-0599-0.
Blanchon, P., 1998. Comment: continuous record of reef growth
over the past 14 ky on the mid-Pacific island of Tahiti. Geology,
26, 479.
Blanchon, P., and Shaw, J., 1995. Reef drowning during the last
deglaciation: evidence for catastrophic sea-level rise and icesheet collapse. Geology, 23, 4–8.
Blanchon, P., Jones, B., and Ford, D. C., 2002. Discovery of
a submerged relic reef and shoreline off Grand Cayman: further
support for an early Holocene jump in sea level. Sedimentary
Geology, 147, 253–270.
Blanchon, P., Eisenhauer, A., Fietzke, J., and Liebetrau, V., 2009.
Rapid sea-level rise and reef back-stepping at the close of the last
interglacial highstand. Nature, 458, 881–884.
Bouchon, C., 1985. Quantitative study of scleractinian coral communities of Tiahura reef (Moorea island, French Polynesia). In
Proceedings, Fifth International Coral Reef Congress (Tahiti),
Vol. 6, pp. 279–284.
Bruggemann, J. H., Buffler, R. T., Guillaume, M. M. M., Walter,
R. C., von Cosel, R., Ghebretensae, B. N., and Berhe, S. M.,
2004. Stratigraphy, palaeoenvironments and model for the
deposition of the Abdur Reef Limestone: context for an important archaeological site from the last interglacial on the Red
Sea coast of Eritrea. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeoecology, 203, 179–206.
Cabioch, G., Camoin, G. F., and Montaggioni, L. F., 1999.
Postglacial growth history of a French Polynesian barrier reef
tract, central Pacific. Sedimentology, 46, 985–1000.
Camoin, G. F., Iryu, Y., and McInroy, D. B., and the Expedition 310
Scientists, 2007. Proc. IODP, 310: Washington, DC (Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program Management International, Inc.).
doi:10.2204/iodp.proc.310.2007.
Diaz-Pulido, G., McCook, L. J., Dove, S., Berkelmans, R., Roff, G.,
et al., 2009. Doom and boom on a resilient reef: climate change,
algal overgrowth and coral recovery. PLoS ONE, 4, e5239,
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005239.
Fairbanks, R. G., 1989. A 17,000-year long glacio-eustatic sea level
record: influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas
event and deep-ocean circulation. Nature, 342, 637–642.
Galewsky, J., Silver, E., Gallup, C. D., Edwards, R. L., and Potts,
D. C., 1996. Foredeep tectonics and carbonate platform dynamics in the Huon Gulf. Papua New Guinea, Geology, 24, 819–822.
Gardner, T. A., Cote, I. M., Gill, J. A., Grant, A., and Watkinson,
A. R., 2005. Hurricanes and Caribbean coral reefs: impacts,
recovery patterns, and role in long-term decline. Ecology, 86,
174–184.
BACK-STEPPING
83
a depth of $20 m (Blanchon et al., 2002; Harris et al.,
2008). So, between 8 and 7.6 ka reef-crest sequences
throughout the Caribbean, and perhaps other areas, backstepped upslope between 4 and 8 m (Figure 1 and 3). Yet
despite all this activity in the Caribbean and other seas,
reef sequences in Tahiti apparently show no evidence of
back-stepping at 8 ka, and don’t even register a response
in the facies sequence (Figure 2).
The key question then is why should Tahitian reefs, and
possibly Indo-Pacific reefs in general, be more resilient to
rapid sea-level jumps than those in the Caribbean? An
obvious possibility is that the greater diversity and depth
range of Indo-Pacific reef-crest assemblages provides
a broader insurance coverage against the environmental
changes wrought by rapid sea-level jumps. In Caribbean
reefs, with their shallow and almost monoculture-like
crest assemblages, such rapid changes must be difficult
to insure against and they therefore have a much greater
impact. A clear example of this vulnerability is illustrated
by the back-stepping event during the last interglacial
from the northeast Yucatan (Blanchon et al., 2009). In this
case, even a small 3 m jump led to an unfavorable sedimentation regime that resulted in the severe restriction of
reef development along the northeast coast of the Peninsula and apparently to extirpation of reefs in the Bahamas
and other low gradient coasts (perhaps even as far a-field
as western Australia).
The ongoing widespread decline of Caribbean reefs,
however, is perhaps the strongest evidence of this vulnerability. While Indo-Pacific reefs show increasing signs of
being resilient to rapid environmental changes (Adjeroud
et al., 2009; Diaz-Pulido et al., 2009), coral cover in the
Caribbean continues its steep decline (Gardner et al.,
2005). The cause of this dramatic degeneration is widely
debated, but recent analyses indicate that chronic human
disturbance via overfishing and nutrient input, coupled
with disease outbreaks, has synergistically impaired the
regenerative potential of reefs following major disturbance events, such as hurricanes or thermal mass
bleaching induced by global warming (Gardner et al.,
2005; Mora 2008; Mumby and Steneck 2008; Raymundo
et al., 2009). Add to this the increasingly dire predictions
of future rapid sea-level rise, and what we could be
witnessing in the Caribbean is the initial stages of the next
episode of reef demise and back-stepping.
Bibliography
Abers, G. A., and McCaffrey, R., 1994. Active arc-continent collision – earthquakes, gravity-anomalies, and fault kinematics in
the Huon-Finisterre collision zone, Papua-New-Guinea. Tectonics, 13, 227–245.
Adey, W. H., 1978. Coral reef morphogenesis: a multi-dimensional
model. Science, 202, 831–837.
Adey, W. H., Macintyre, I. G., Stuckenrath, R., and Dill, R. F., 1978.
Relic barrier reef system off St. Croix: its implications with
respect to late Cenozoic coral reef development in the western
Atlantic. In Taylor, D. L. (ed.), Proceedings, Third International
Coral Reef Symposium (Miami). Rosenstiel School of Marine
and Atmospheric Science, University of Miami, Florida,
Vol. 2, pp. 15–21.
Adjeroud, M., Michonneau, F., Edmunds, P. J., Chancerelle, Y., de
Loma, T. L., Penin, L., Thibaut, L., Vidal-Dupiol, J., Salvat,
B., and Galzin, R., 2009. Recurrent disturbances, recovery trajectories, and resilience of coral assemblages on a South Central
Pacific reef. Coral Reefs, 28, 775–780.
Banks, K. W., Riegl, B. M., Shinn, E. A., Piller, W. E., and Dodge,
R. E., 2007. Geomorphology of the Southeast Florida continental reef tract (Miami-Dade, Broward, and Palm Beach Counties,
USA). Coral Reefs, 26, 617–633.
Bard, E. et al., 1996. Deglacial sea-level record from Tahiti corals
and the timing of global meltwater discharge. Nature, 382,
241–244.
Becker, R. T., House, M. R., and Kirchgasser, W. T., 1993. Devonian goniatite biostratigraphy and timing of facies movements
in the Frasnian of the Canning Basin. In Hailwood, E. A., and
Kidd, R. B. (eds.), High Resolution Stratigraphy, Geological
Society of London, Special Publications 70, pp. 293–321.
Blanchon, P., 2010. Reef demise and back-stepping during the
last Interglacial northeast Yucatan. Coral Reefs, doi:10.1007/
s00338-010-0599-0.
Blanchon, P., 1998. Comment: continuous record of reef growth
over the past 14 ky on the mid-Pacific island of Tahiti. Geology,
26, 479.
Blanchon, P., and Shaw, J., 1995. Reef drowning during the last
deglaciation: evidence for catastrophic sea-level rise and icesheet collapse. Geology, 23, 4–8.
Blanchon, P., Jones, B., and Ford, D. C., 2002. Discovery of
a submerged relic reef and shoreline off Grand Cayman: further
support for an early Holocene jump in sea level. Sedimentary
Geology, 147, 253–270.
Blanchon, P., Eisenhauer, A., Fietzke, J., and Liebetrau, V., 2009.
Rapid sea-level rise and reef back-stepping at the close of the last
interglacial highstand. Nature, 458, 881–884.
Bouchon, C., 1985. Quantitative study of scleractinian coral communities of Tiahura reef (Moorea island, French Polynesia). In
Proceedings, Fifth International Coral Reef Congress (Tahiti),
Vol. 6, pp. 279–284.
Bruggemann, J. H., Buffler, R. T., Guillaume, M. M. M., Walter,
R. C., von Cosel, R., Ghebretensae, B. N., and Berhe, S. M.,
2004. Stratigraphy, palaeoenvironments and model for the
deposition of the Abdur Reef Limestone: context for an important archaeological site from the last interglacial on the Red
Sea coast of Eritrea. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology,
Palaeoecology, 203, 179–206.
Cabioch, G., Camoin, G. F., and Montaggioni, L. F., 1999.
Postglacial growth history of a French Polynesian barrier reef
tract, central Pacific. Sedimentology, 46, 985–1000.
Camoin, G. F., Iryu, Y., and McInroy, D. B., and the Expedition 310
Scientists, 2007. Proc. IODP, 310: Washington, DC (Integrated
Ocean Drilling Program Management International, Inc.).
doi:10.2204/iodp.proc.310.2007.
Diaz-Pulido, G., McCook, L. J., Dove, S., Berkelmans, R., Roff, G.,
et al., 2009. Doom and boom on a resilient reef: climate change,
algal overgrowth and coral recovery. PLoS ONE, 4, e5239,
doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0005239.
Fairbanks, R. G., 1989. A 17,000-year long glacio-eustatic sea level
record: influence of glacial melting rates on the Younger Dryas
event and deep-ocean circulation. Nature, 342, 637–642.
Galewsky, J., Silver, E., Gallup, C. D., Edwards, R. L., and Potts,
D. C., 1996. Foredeep tectonics and carbonate platform dynamics in the Huon Gulf. Papua New Guinea, Geology, 24, 819–822.
Gardner, T. A., Cote, I. M., Gill, J. A., Grant, A., and Watkinson,
A. R., 2005. Hurricanes and Caribbean coral reefs: impacts,
recovery patterns, and role in long-term decline. Ecology, 86,
174–184.
BACK-STEPPING
83