Pandolfi, J. M., Jackson, J. B. C., Baron, N., Bradbury, R. H.,
Guzman, H. M., Hughes, T. P., Kappel, C. V., Micheli, F.,
Ogden, J. C., Possingham, H. P., and Sala, E., 2005. Are U.S.
coral reefs on the slippery slope to slime? Science, 307,
1725–1726.
Pandolfi, J. M., Roff, G., Clark, T. R., McCook, L., Done, T. J.,
and Zhao, J. X., 2009. The history of mortality in Great Barrier
Reef coral communities since European settlement. In Proceedings of Marine and Tropical Scientific Research Facility,
Townsville.
Pauly, D., 1995. Anecdotes and the shifting baseline syndrome of
fisheries. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 10, 430.
Perry, C. T., Smithers, S. G., Palmer, S. E., Larcombe, P., and Johnson, K. G., 2008. 1200 Year paleoecological record of coral community development from the terrigenous inner shelf of the
Great Barrier Reef. Geology, 36, 691–694.
Pinnegar, J. K., and Engelhard, G. H., 2008. The ‘shifting baseline’
phenomenon: a global perspective. Reviews in Fish Biology and
Fisheries, 18, 1–16.
Ramade, F., and Roche, H., 2006. Pollutant effects on coral reefs
ecosystems. Revue d Ecologie-la Terre et la Vie, 61, 3–33.
Roberts, C., 2007. The Unnatural History of the Sea. Washington,
DC: Island Press.
Robinson, L. A., and Frid, C. L. J., 2008. Historical marine ecology:
examining the role of fisheries in changes in North Sea benthos.
Ambio, 37, 362–371.
Roman, J., and Palumbi, S. R., 2003. Whales before whaling in the
North Atlantic. Science, 301, 508–510.
Starkey, D. J., Reid, C., and Ashcroft, N., 2000. England’s Sea Fisheries: the Commercial Sea Fisheries of England and Wales Since
1300. London: Chatham Publishing.
Swetnam, T. W., Allen, C. D., and Betancourt, J. L., 1999. Applied
historical ecology: using the past to manage for the future. In
Albuquerque, Nm, pp. 1189–1206.
Tomascik, T., and Sander, F., 1987. Effects of eutrophication on reef
building corals. Part II. Structure of scleractinian coral communities on inshore fringing reefs, Barbados, WI. Marine Biology, 94,
53–75.
Wapnick, C. M., Precht, W. F., and Aronson, R. B., 2004.
Millennial-scale dynamics of staghorn coral in Discovery Bay,
Jamaica. Ecology Letters, 7, 354–361.
Wilkinson, C., 2008. Status of Coral Reefs of the World. Townsville,
Australia: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and Reef and
Rainforest Research Centre.
Cross-references
Conservation and Marine Protection Areas
Heavy Metal Accumulation in Scleractinian Corals
Paleoclimate from Corals
Reef Restoration
Sediment Durability
HOLOCENE HIGH ENERGY WINDOW
Chris Perry
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
Definition
Holocene high energy window: A period of higher wave
energy conditions across submerged reef or continental
shelf environments that was caused by reef growth lagging
behind rising sea levels during the Holocene transgression.
Introduction
The concept of a Holocene “high energy interval” or “window” was first introduced by Neumann (1972) as
a mechanism to explain the emplacement of relict sedimentary deposits that appeared to have formed under
higher energy conditions than those prevalent in the present. Specifically, it was suggested that these deposits
might have formed during periods when coastlines were
less protected than at present. This concept was subsequently developed by Hopley (1984) as a potential control
on the nature and character of shelf sedimentary environments, using Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) shelf
as an example. Such temporal changes in energy conditions are believed to have occurred in settings where the
outer shelf or barrier reefs failed to keep pace with rising
sea levels during the Holocene transgression. Rather they
adopted “catch-up” (sensu Neumann and Macintyre,
1985) growth trajectories, with the lag interval providing
a depth window through which waves could propagate
across both developing reef surfaces and wider shelf sedimentary systems. The legacy of this is seen today as the
occurrence of high energy sedimentary deposits that could
not have formed under present energy regimes. As reef
growth reached present sea-levels the “window” was progressively shut resulting in reduced wave energy conditions to leeward of reef crests or across open shelf
environments and a consequent transition in styles of reef
growth and sediment accumulation.
Global and regional scale perspectives
The potential for the occurrence of a high energy window
during the Holocene transgression was entirely controlled
by the interactions that occurred between the rate of coral
reef growth and the rate of sea-level rise. These interactions must, inevitably, have differed between reef sites
and on a regional basis, and thus the potential for the
occurrence, and longevity of any higher energy periods
must have been spatially very variable. For example, in
the Caribbean region, reconstructed Holocene sea-level
curves show that rates of sea-level rise have steadily fallen
since $10,000 years BP (when sea level was at $–24 m
below present) through to the present day. Rates of rise
averaged $5.2 mm year
À1 up until $8,000 years BP,
$1.5 mm year
À1 from about 8,000 to 4,000 years BP,
and 0.93 mm year
À1 from 4,000 years BP to present
(Toscano and Macintyre, 2003). Taking a modal long-term
rate of reef accretion of $6–7 mm year
À1 (e.g.,
Montaggioni, 2005) most reefs would have had the potential to track rising sea-levels (“keep-up” growth mode:
sensu Neumann and Macintyre, 1985), thus minimizing
the potential for the development of a high energy window
(Figure 1a). In contrast, rates of sea-level rise during the
early phases of the Holocene transgression were much faster
in much of the Indo-Pacific basin (Camoin et al., 2004).
558
HOLOCENE HIGH ENERGY WINDOW
Guzman, H. M., Hughes, T. P., Kappel, C. V., Micheli, F.,
Ogden, J. C., Possingham, H. P., and Sala, E., 2005. Are U.S.
coral reefs on the slippery slope to slime? Science, 307,
1725–1726.
Pandolfi, J. M., Roff, G., Clark, T. R., McCook, L., Done, T. J.,
and Zhao, J. X., 2009. The history of mortality in Great Barrier
Reef coral communities since European settlement. In Proceedings of Marine and Tropical Scientific Research Facility,
Townsville.
Pauly, D., 1995. Anecdotes and the shifting baseline syndrome of
fisheries. Trends in Ecology & Evolution, 10, 430.
Perry, C. T., Smithers, S. G., Palmer, S. E., Larcombe, P., and Johnson, K. G., 2008. 1200 Year paleoecological record of coral community development from the terrigenous inner shelf of the
Great Barrier Reef. Geology, 36, 691–694.
Pinnegar, J. K., and Engelhard, G. H., 2008. The ‘shifting baseline’
phenomenon: a global perspective. Reviews in Fish Biology and
Fisheries, 18, 1–16.
Ramade, F., and Roche, H., 2006. Pollutant effects on coral reefs
ecosystems. Revue d Ecologie-la Terre et la Vie, 61, 3–33.
Roberts, C., 2007. The Unnatural History of the Sea. Washington,
DC: Island Press.
Robinson, L. A., and Frid, C. L. J., 2008. Historical marine ecology:
examining the role of fisheries in changes in North Sea benthos.
Ambio, 37, 362–371.
Roman, J., and Palumbi, S. R., 2003. Whales before whaling in the
North Atlantic. Science, 301, 508–510.
Starkey, D. J., Reid, C., and Ashcroft, N., 2000. England’s Sea Fisheries: the Commercial Sea Fisheries of England and Wales Since
1300. London: Chatham Publishing.
Swetnam, T. W., Allen, C. D., and Betancourt, J. L., 1999. Applied
historical ecology: using the past to manage for the future. In
Albuquerque, Nm, pp. 1189–1206.
Tomascik, T., and Sander, F., 1987. Effects of eutrophication on reef
building corals. Part II. Structure of scleractinian coral communities on inshore fringing reefs, Barbados, WI. Marine Biology, 94,
53–75.
Wapnick, C. M., Precht, W. F., and Aronson, R. B., 2004.
Millennial-scale dynamics of staghorn coral in Discovery Bay,
Jamaica. Ecology Letters, 7, 354–361.
Wilkinson, C., 2008. Status of Coral Reefs of the World. Townsville,
Australia: Global Coral Reef Monitoring Network and Reef and
Rainforest Research Centre.
Cross-references
Conservation and Marine Protection Areas
Heavy Metal Accumulation in Scleractinian Corals
Paleoclimate from Corals
Reef Restoration
Sediment Durability
HOLOCENE HIGH ENERGY WINDOW
Chris Perry
Manchester Metropolitan University, Manchester, UK
Definition
Holocene high energy window: A period of higher wave
energy conditions across submerged reef or continental
shelf environments that was caused by reef growth lagging
behind rising sea levels during the Holocene transgression.
Introduction
The concept of a Holocene “high energy interval” or “window” was first introduced by Neumann (1972) as
a mechanism to explain the emplacement of relict sedimentary deposits that appeared to have formed under
higher energy conditions than those prevalent in the present. Specifically, it was suggested that these deposits
might have formed during periods when coastlines were
less protected than at present. This concept was subsequently developed by Hopley (1984) as a potential control
on the nature and character of shelf sedimentary environments, using Australia’s Great Barrier Reef (GBR) shelf
as an example. Such temporal changes in energy conditions are believed to have occurred in settings where the
outer shelf or barrier reefs failed to keep pace with rising
sea levels during the Holocene transgression. Rather they
adopted “catch-up” (sensu Neumann and Macintyre,
1985) growth trajectories, with the lag interval providing
a depth window through which waves could propagate
across both developing reef surfaces and wider shelf sedimentary systems. The legacy of this is seen today as the
occurrence of high energy sedimentary deposits that could
not have formed under present energy regimes. As reef
growth reached present sea-levels the “window” was progressively shut resulting in reduced wave energy conditions to leeward of reef crests or across open shelf
environments and a consequent transition in styles of reef
growth and sediment accumulation.
Global and regional scale perspectives
The potential for the occurrence of a high energy window
during the Holocene transgression was entirely controlled
by the interactions that occurred between the rate of coral
reef growth and the rate of sea-level rise. These interactions must, inevitably, have differed between reef sites
and on a regional basis, and thus the potential for the
occurrence, and longevity of any higher energy periods
must have been spatially very variable. For example, in
the Caribbean region, reconstructed Holocene sea-level
curves show that rates of sea-level rise have steadily fallen
since $10,000 years BP (when sea level was at $–24 m
below present) through to the present day. Rates of rise
averaged $5.2 mm year
À1 up until $8,000 years BP,
$1.5 mm year
À1 from about 8,000 to 4,000 years BP,
and 0.93 mm year
À1 from 4,000 years BP to present
(Toscano and Macintyre, 2003). Taking a modal long-term
rate of reef accretion of $6–7 mm year
À1 (e.g.,
Montaggioni, 2005) most reefs would have had the potential to track rising sea-levels (“keep-up” growth mode:
sensu Neumann and Macintyre, 1985), thus minimizing
the potential for the development of a high energy window
(Figure 1a). In contrast, rates of sea-level rise during the
early phases of the Holocene transgression were much faster
in much of the Indo-Pacific basin (Camoin et al., 2004).
558
HOLOCENE HIGH ENERGY WINDOW