Cabioch et al., 2008), Belize (Gischler et al., 2000, 2010;
Purdy et al., 2003; Mazzullo, 2006), and the Australian
Great Barrier Reef (Alexander et al., 2001; Webster and
Davies, 2003; Braithwaite et al., 2004; Hopley et al., 2007).
Coring analyses of the barrier reef tract around New
Caledonia revealed the interplay between margin subsidence and eustatic sea-level variations. Combination of
lithological and paleoecological descriptions, Uranium
dating methods, magnetostratigraphy, and nannofossilbased biostratigraphy document the role of both global climate and regional tectonic history on the reef initiation
and growth of the barrier reef. Several successive lithological units were evidenced formed during the high sea
stands of the interglacial periods. It appears that the period
ranging over the last 400 ka (1 ka = 1,000 years) was probably the period of optimal conditions to explain the luxuriant reef expansion in New Caledonia over this epoch
(Flamand et al., 2008; Cabioch et al., 2008).
In French Polynesia, the Tahiti barrier reef was cored to
analyze the history of its development during the last
deglacial sea-level rise (i.e., the last 20 ka, 1 ka = 1,000
years). The first cores made in the 1990s revealed
a continuous reef growth from 14 to 6 ka from 90 m to the
reef surface (Bard et al., 1996; Montaggioni et al., 1997).
More recently, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
(IODP) drilled the Tahiti barrier reef in three sites to investigate reef development during the last deglacial sea-level
rise, and the evolution of the sea surface temperature during
the last deglaciation (Camoin et al., 2007).
The Belize barrier reef is another well-studied reef, but
only with short cores that document the Holocene and late
interglacial period of growth. Additional seismic and lithological data provide information on the tectonic and
eustatic controls on the Belize barrier reef development
(Mazzullo, 2006).
The Great Barrier Reef internal Pleistocene structure
remains poorly known. Davies and Peederman (1998),
Alexander et al. (2001), Webster and Davies (2003),
Braithwaite et al. (2004), and Braithwaite and Montaggioni
(2009) report limited deep coring data given the extent of
the system (see Great Barrier Reef: Origin, Evolution,
and Modern Development). The most recent studies suggest that the Ribbon Reef No 5 was initiated 770 ka ago,
followed by Pleistocene repetitive period of reef development and erosion with ten identified depositional units,
despite major fluctuations on sea level and perhaps climate.
IODP ongoing drilling (February–March 2010) should
provide new information in the near future on the development of the Ribbon Reefs in particular, and for several
other inner shelf locations as well.
Bibliography
Alexander, I., Andres, M. S., Braithwaite, C. J. R., Braga, J. C.,
Cooper, M. J., Davies, P. J., Elderfield, P. J., Gilmour, H., Kay,
M. A., Kroon, R. L. F., McKenzie, D., Montaggioni, J. A., Skinner, L. F., Thompson, A., Vasconcelos, R., Webster, C. J., and
Wilson, P. A., 2001. New constraints on the origin of the
Australian Great Barrier Reef: results from an international project of deep coring. Geology, 29, 483–486.
Andréfouët, S., Muller-Karger, F. E., Robinson, J. A., Kranenburg,
C. J., Torres-Pulliza, D., Spraggins, S. A., and Murch, B., 2006a.
Global assessment of modern coral reef extent and diversity for
regional science and management applications: a view from
space. In Proceedings of the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium, pp. 1732–1745.
Andréfouët, S., Chauvin, C., Kranenburg, C., Muller-Karger, F., and
Noordeloos, M., 2006b. Atlas of Southeast Papua New Guinea
Coral Reefs. IRD/CRISP/IMaRS/NASA/Worldfish, Nouméa
(30 p. þ 10 maps) (http://crisponline.net/Portals/1/PDF/
Atlas_PNG_Eng.pdf accessed 25/03/2010).
Andréfouët, S., Cabioch, G., Flamand, B., and Pelletier, B., 2009a.
A reappraisal of the diversity of geomorphological and genetic
processes of New Caledonian coral reefs: a synthesis from optical remote sensing, coring and acoustic multibeam observations.
Coral Reefs, 28, 691–707.
Andréfouët, S., Chagnaud, N., and Kranenburg, C., 2009b. Atlas
des récifs coralliens de l’Océan Indien Ouest/Atlas of Western
Indian Ocean Coral Reefs. Centre IRD de Nouméa, Nouméa,
Nouvelle-Calédonie, CD-ROM, 102 p.
Bard, E., Hamelin, B., Arnold, M., Montaggioni, L., Cabioch, G.,
Faure, G., and Rougerie, F., 1996. Deglacial sea-level record
from Tahiti corals and the timing of global meltwater discharge.
Nature, 382, 241–244.
Battistini, R., et al. (24 authors), 1975. Eléments de Terminologie
Récifale Indopacifique. Téthys, 7, 1–111.
Braithwaite, C. J., Dalmasso, H., Gilmour, M. A., Harkness, D. D.,
Henderson, G. M., Kay, R. L. F., Kroon, D., Montaggioni, L. F.,
and Wilson, P. A., 2004. The Great Barrier Reef: the chronological record from a new borehole. Journal of Sedimentary
Research, 74, 298–310.
Braithwaite, C. J. R., and Montaggioni, L. F., 2009. The Great Barrier Reef: a 700 000 year diagenetic history. Sedimentology, 56,
1591–1622.
Cabioch, G., Montaggioni, L. F., Thouveny, N., Frank, N., Sato, T.,
Chazottes, V., Damamasso, H., Payri, C., Pichon, M., and
Semah, A., 2008. The chronology and structure of the western
New Caledonian barrier reef tracts. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 268, 91–105.
Camoin, G. F., Iryu, Y., McInroy, D. B., and the Expedition 310 Scientists, 2007. Proceedings of the Intergrated Ocean Drilling
Program, IODP, 310. Washington, DC (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International, Inc.), doi:10.2204/
iodp.proc.310.2007.
Coudray, J., 1976. Recherches sur le Néogène et le Quaternaire
marins de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Contribution de l’étude
sédimentologique à la connaissance de l’histoire géologique
post-Eocène de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Expédition Francais.
sur les récifs coralliens de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Paris, Fond.
Singer -Polignac éd., 8, pp. 1–276.
Darwin, C. R., 1842. The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Davies, P. J., and Peederman, F. M., 1998. The Origin of
the Great Barrier Reef - the impact of Leg 133 drilling. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication, 25,
23–38.
Flamand, B., Cabioch, G., Payri, C. E., and Pelletier, B., 2008.
Nature and biological composition of the New Caledonian outer
barrier reef slopes. Marine Geology, 250, 157–179.
Gischler, E., Lomando, A. J., Hudson, J. H, and Holmes, C. W.,
2000. Last interglacial reef growth beneath Belize barrier and
isolated platform reefs. Geology, 28, 387–390.
Gischler, E., Ginsburg, R. N., Herrle, J. O., and Sachindra P., 2010.
Mixed carbonates and siliciclastics in the Quaternary of
southern Belize: Pleistocene turning points in reef development
106
BARRIER REEF (RIBBON REEF)
Purdy et al., 2003; Mazzullo, 2006), and the Australian
Great Barrier Reef (Alexander et al., 2001; Webster and
Davies, 2003; Braithwaite et al., 2004; Hopley et al., 2007).
Coring analyses of the barrier reef tract around New
Caledonia revealed the interplay between margin subsidence and eustatic sea-level variations. Combination of
lithological and paleoecological descriptions, Uranium
dating methods, magnetostratigraphy, and nannofossilbased biostratigraphy document the role of both global climate and regional tectonic history on the reef initiation
and growth of the barrier reef. Several successive lithological units were evidenced formed during the high sea
stands of the interglacial periods. It appears that the period
ranging over the last 400 ka (1 ka = 1,000 years) was probably the period of optimal conditions to explain the luxuriant reef expansion in New Caledonia over this epoch
(Flamand et al., 2008; Cabioch et al., 2008).
In French Polynesia, the Tahiti barrier reef was cored to
analyze the history of its development during the last
deglacial sea-level rise (i.e., the last 20 ka, 1 ka = 1,000
years). The first cores made in the 1990s revealed
a continuous reef growth from 14 to 6 ka from 90 m to the
reef surface (Bard et al., 1996; Montaggioni et al., 1997).
More recently, the Integrated Ocean Drilling Program
(IODP) drilled the Tahiti barrier reef in three sites to investigate reef development during the last deglacial sea-level
rise, and the evolution of the sea surface temperature during
the last deglaciation (Camoin et al., 2007).
The Belize barrier reef is another well-studied reef, but
only with short cores that document the Holocene and late
interglacial period of growth. Additional seismic and lithological data provide information on the tectonic and
eustatic controls on the Belize barrier reef development
(Mazzullo, 2006).
The Great Barrier Reef internal Pleistocene structure
remains poorly known. Davies and Peederman (1998),
Alexander et al. (2001), Webster and Davies (2003),
Braithwaite et al. (2004), and Braithwaite and Montaggioni
(2009) report limited deep coring data given the extent of
the system (see Great Barrier Reef: Origin, Evolution,
and Modern Development). The most recent studies suggest that the Ribbon Reef No 5 was initiated 770 ka ago,
followed by Pleistocene repetitive period of reef development and erosion with ten identified depositional units,
despite major fluctuations on sea level and perhaps climate.
IODP ongoing drilling (February–March 2010) should
provide new information in the near future on the development of the Ribbon Reefs in particular, and for several
other inner shelf locations as well.
Bibliography
Alexander, I., Andres, M. S., Braithwaite, C. J. R., Braga, J. C.,
Cooper, M. J., Davies, P. J., Elderfield, P. J., Gilmour, H., Kay,
M. A., Kroon, R. L. F., McKenzie, D., Montaggioni, J. A., Skinner, L. F., Thompson, A., Vasconcelos, R., Webster, C. J., and
Wilson, P. A., 2001. New constraints on the origin of the
Australian Great Barrier Reef: results from an international project of deep coring. Geology, 29, 483–486.
Andréfouët, S., Muller-Karger, F. E., Robinson, J. A., Kranenburg,
C. J., Torres-Pulliza, D., Spraggins, S. A., and Murch, B., 2006a.
Global assessment of modern coral reef extent and diversity for
regional science and management applications: a view from
space. In Proceedings of the 10th International Coral Reef Symposium, pp. 1732–1745.
Andréfouët, S., Chauvin, C., Kranenburg, C., Muller-Karger, F., and
Noordeloos, M., 2006b. Atlas of Southeast Papua New Guinea
Coral Reefs. IRD/CRISP/IMaRS/NASA/Worldfish, Nouméa
(30 p. þ 10 maps) (http://crisponline.net/Portals/1/PDF/
Atlas_PNG_Eng.pdf accessed 25/03/2010).
Andréfouët, S., Cabioch, G., Flamand, B., and Pelletier, B., 2009a.
A reappraisal of the diversity of geomorphological and genetic
processes of New Caledonian coral reefs: a synthesis from optical remote sensing, coring and acoustic multibeam observations.
Coral Reefs, 28, 691–707.
Andréfouët, S., Chagnaud, N., and Kranenburg, C., 2009b. Atlas
des récifs coralliens de l’Océan Indien Ouest/Atlas of Western
Indian Ocean Coral Reefs. Centre IRD de Nouméa, Nouméa,
Nouvelle-Calédonie, CD-ROM, 102 p.
Bard, E., Hamelin, B., Arnold, M., Montaggioni, L., Cabioch, G.,
Faure, G., and Rougerie, F., 1996. Deglacial sea-level record
from Tahiti corals and the timing of global meltwater discharge.
Nature, 382, 241–244.
Battistini, R., et al. (24 authors), 1975. Eléments de Terminologie
Récifale Indopacifique. Téthys, 7, 1–111.
Braithwaite, C. J., Dalmasso, H., Gilmour, M. A., Harkness, D. D.,
Henderson, G. M., Kay, R. L. F., Kroon, D., Montaggioni, L. F.,
and Wilson, P. A., 2004. The Great Barrier Reef: the chronological record from a new borehole. Journal of Sedimentary
Research, 74, 298–310.
Braithwaite, C. J. R., and Montaggioni, L. F., 2009. The Great Barrier Reef: a 700 000 year diagenetic history. Sedimentology, 56,
1591–1622.
Cabioch, G., Montaggioni, L. F., Thouveny, N., Frank, N., Sato, T.,
Chazottes, V., Damamasso, H., Payri, C., Pichon, M., and
Semah, A., 2008. The chronology and structure of the western
New Caledonian barrier reef tracts. Palaeogeography Palaeoclimatology Palaeoecology, 268, 91–105.
Camoin, G. F., Iryu, Y., McInroy, D. B., and the Expedition 310 Scientists, 2007. Proceedings of the Intergrated Ocean Drilling
Program, IODP, 310. Washington, DC (Integrated Ocean Drilling Program Management International, Inc.), doi:10.2204/
iodp.proc.310.2007.
Coudray, J., 1976. Recherches sur le Néogène et le Quaternaire
marins de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Contribution de l’étude
sédimentologique à la connaissance de l’histoire géologique
post-Eocène de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Expédition Francais.
sur les récifs coralliens de la Nouvelle-Calédonie. Paris, Fond.
Singer -Polignac éd., 8, pp. 1–276.
Darwin, C. R., 1842. The Structure and Distribution of Coral Reefs.
Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.
Davies, P. J., and Peederman, F. M., 1998. The Origin of
the Great Barrier Reef - the impact of Leg 133 drilling. International Association of Sedimentologists, Special Publication, 25,
23–38.
Flamand, B., Cabioch, G., Payri, C. E., and Pelletier, B., 2008.
Nature and biological composition of the New Caledonian outer
barrier reef slopes. Marine Geology, 250, 157–179.
Gischler, E., Lomando, A. J., Hudson, J. H, and Holmes, C. W.,
2000. Last interglacial reef growth beneath Belize barrier and
isolated platform reefs. Geology, 28, 387–390.
Gischler, E., Ginsburg, R. N., Herrle, J. O., and Sachindra P., 2010.
Mixed carbonates and siliciclastics in the Quaternary of
southern Belize: Pleistocene turning points in reef development
106
BARRIER REEF (RIBBON REEF)