On the GBR, this existed between about 8 and 5.5 ka
when outer reefs lagged behind those of the inner shelf
(including fringing reefs) and did not protect the inner
shelf reefs. Much of the carbonate productivity went
into building coral shingle ridges on the shores of adjacent high islands. Subsequently, there has been a decline
in both the rate of reef growth (including fringing reef
progradation) and shingle ridge accumulation (Smithers
et al., 2006).
Summary/conclusions
Broadly speaking, reef accretion in both the Indo-Pacific
and Caribbean regions is dominated by ice-sheet-meltdriven sea-level changes through the Holocene. Differences
in reef morphology between the two regions, including the
amount of framework coral and the extent of reef flats,
reflect relatively small-scale variations in regional RSL,
which occurred since the mid Holocene. These differences
are due to long-lived global-scale isostatic processes which
cause sea-floor subsidence (RSL rise) in some regions and
RSL fall in others since the mid Holocene.
Bibliography
Dullo, W. C., 2005. Coral growth and reef growth: a brief review.
Facies, 51(1–4), 37–52.
Gagan, M. K., Ayliffe, L. K., Beck, J. W., Cole, J. E., Druffel, E. R. M.,
Dunbar, R. B., Schrag, D. P., 2000. New views of tropical
palaeoenvironments from corals. Quaternary Science Reviews,
19, 45–64.
Gagan, M. K., Ayliffe, L. K., Hopley, D., Cali, J. A., Mortimer, G. E.,
Chappell, J., McCulloch, M. T., and Head, M. J., 1998. Temperature and surface-ocean water balance of the mid-Holocene tropical
western Pacific. Science, 279, 1014–1018.
Gischler, E., and Hudson, J. H., 2004. Holocene development
of the Belize Barrier Reef. Sedimentary Geology, 164(3–4),
223–236.
Hopley, D., 1985. Geomorphological development of modern coastlines. In Pitty, A. F., (ed.) Themes in Geomorphology. Beckenham:
Croon Helm, pp. 56–71.
Hopley, D., Smithers, S. G., and Parnell, K. E., 2007. The Geomorphology of the Great Barrier Reef, Development, Diversity and
Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 532 pp.
McLean, R. F., and Woodroffe, C. D., 1994. Coral atolls. In
Carter, R. W. G., and Woodroffe, C. D., (eds.), Coastal Evolution: Late Quaternary Shoreline Dynamics. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, pp. 267–302.
Milne, G. A., Long, A. J., and Bassett, S. E., 2005. Modelling
Holocene relative sea-level observations from the Caribbean
and South America. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24,
1183–1202.
Mitrovica, J. X., and Milne, G. A., 2002. On the origin of late Holocene sea-level highstands within equatorial ocean basins. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21(20–22), 2179–2190.
Mitrovica, J. X., and Peltier, W. R., 1991. On postglacial geoid subsidence over the equatorial oceans. Journal of Geophysical
Research-Solid Earth, 96(B12), 20053–20071.
Nakada, M., and Lambeck, K., 1989. Late Pleistocene and Holocene sea-level change in the Australian region and mantle rheology. Geophysical Journal, 96, 497–517.
Neumann, A. C., and Macintyre, I. G., 1985. Reef response to sealevel rise: keep up, catch up or give up. Proceedings of the 5th
International Coral Reef Congress, Tahiti, pp. 105–110.
Pirazzoli, P., 1991. World Atlas of Holocene Sea-Level Changes.
Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Schellmann, G., and Radtke, U., 2004. A revised morpho- and
chronostratigraphy of the Late and Middle Pleistocene coral reef
terraces on Southern Barbados (West Indies). Earth-Science
Reviews, 64(3–4), 157–187.
Sloss, C. R., Murray-Wallace, C. V., and Jones, B. G., 2007. Holocene sea-level change on the southeast coast of Australia:
a review. The Holocene, 17(7), 999–1014.
Smithers, S. G., Hopley, D., and Parnell, K. E., 2006. Fringing and
nearshore coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef: episodic Holocene development and future prospects. Journal of Coastal
Research, 22, 175–188.
Steneck, R. S., Miller, T. E., Reid, R. P., and Macintyre, I. G., 1998.
Ecological controls on stromatolite development in a modern
reef environment: A test of the ecological refuge paradigm.
Carbonates and Evaporites, 13(1), 48–65.
Toscano, M. A., and Macintyre, I. G., 2003. Corrected western
Atlantic sea-level curve for the last 11,000 years based on calibrated C-14 dates from Acropora palmata framework and intertidal mangrove peat. Coral Reefs, 22(3), 257–270.
Woodroffe, C. D., 2005. Late Quaternary sea-level highstands in the
central and eastern Indian Ocean: A review. Global and Planetary Change, 49(1–2), 121–138.
Woodroffe, S. A., 2009. Testing models of mid-late Holocene
sea-level change, North Queensland, Australia. Quaternary
Science Reviews, 28, 2474–2488. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.
2009.05.004.
Cross-references
Glacio-Hydro Isostasy
Holocene High Energy Window
Holocene Reefs: Thickness and Characteristics
Paleoclimate from Corals
Postglacial Trangression
Reef Classification, Response to Sea Level Rise
Reef Structure
Sea Level Change and Its Effect on Reef Growth
Volcanic Loading and Isostasy
MIDWAY ATOLL (HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO)
James E. Maragos
1 , Donald C. Potts
2
, Barbara Maxfield
1
,
Daria Siciliano
3 , Elizabeth Flint
1
1
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Honolulu, HI, USA
2
University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
3
Stanford University, Silver Spring, MD, USA
Introduction
Midway Atoll is a subtropical reef near the northwestern
end of the Hawaiian Archipelago at 28
12
0 N and 177
22
0 W, approximately 2,000 km from Honolulu and
259 km east of the International Date Line. Midway is
an unincorporated U.S. territory and the only island in
the archipelago not a part of the State of Hawai‘i. It is second only to neighboring Kure Atoll, 60 km to the northeast, as the Pacific’s most northerly atoll. Midway is
roughly 9 km in diameter; 40 km
2 in total area; contains
two main islands, Sand (1,200 ha) and Eastern (135 ha);
700
MIDWAY ATOLL (HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO)
when outer reefs lagged behind those of the inner shelf
(including fringing reefs) and did not protect the inner
shelf reefs. Much of the carbonate productivity went
into building coral shingle ridges on the shores of adjacent high islands. Subsequently, there has been a decline
in both the rate of reef growth (including fringing reef
progradation) and shingle ridge accumulation (Smithers
et al., 2006).
Summary/conclusions
Broadly speaking, reef accretion in both the Indo-Pacific
and Caribbean regions is dominated by ice-sheet-meltdriven sea-level changes through the Holocene. Differences
in reef morphology between the two regions, including the
amount of framework coral and the extent of reef flats,
reflect relatively small-scale variations in regional RSL,
which occurred since the mid Holocene. These differences
are due to long-lived global-scale isostatic processes which
cause sea-floor subsidence (RSL rise) in some regions and
RSL fall in others since the mid Holocene.
Bibliography
Dullo, W. C., 2005. Coral growth and reef growth: a brief review.
Facies, 51(1–4), 37–52.
Gagan, M. K., Ayliffe, L. K., Beck, J. W., Cole, J. E., Druffel, E. R. M.,
Dunbar, R. B., Schrag, D. P., 2000. New views of tropical
palaeoenvironments from corals. Quaternary Science Reviews,
19, 45–64.
Gagan, M. K., Ayliffe, L. K., Hopley, D., Cali, J. A., Mortimer, G. E.,
Chappell, J., McCulloch, M. T., and Head, M. J., 1998. Temperature and surface-ocean water balance of the mid-Holocene tropical
western Pacific. Science, 279, 1014–1018.
Gischler, E., and Hudson, J. H., 2004. Holocene development
of the Belize Barrier Reef. Sedimentary Geology, 164(3–4),
223–236.
Hopley, D., 1985. Geomorphological development of modern coastlines. In Pitty, A. F., (ed.) Themes in Geomorphology. Beckenham:
Croon Helm, pp. 56–71.
Hopley, D., Smithers, S. G., and Parnell, K. E., 2007. The Geomorphology of the Great Barrier Reef, Development, Diversity and
Change. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 532 pp.
McLean, R. F., and Woodroffe, C. D., 1994. Coral atolls. In
Carter, R. W. G., and Woodroffe, C. D., (eds.), Coastal Evolution: Late Quaternary Shoreline Dynamics. Cambridge:
Cambridge University Press, pp. 267–302.
Milne, G. A., Long, A. J., and Bassett, S. E., 2005. Modelling
Holocene relative sea-level observations from the Caribbean
and South America. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24,
1183–1202.
Mitrovica, J. X., and Milne, G. A., 2002. On the origin of late Holocene sea-level highstands within equatorial ocean basins. Quaternary Science Reviews, 21(20–22), 2179–2190.
Mitrovica, J. X., and Peltier, W. R., 1991. On postglacial geoid subsidence over the equatorial oceans. Journal of Geophysical
Research-Solid Earth, 96(B12), 20053–20071.
Nakada, M., and Lambeck, K., 1989. Late Pleistocene and Holocene sea-level change in the Australian region and mantle rheology. Geophysical Journal, 96, 497–517.
Neumann, A. C., and Macintyre, I. G., 1985. Reef response to sealevel rise: keep up, catch up or give up. Proceedings of the 5th
International Coral Reef Congress, Tahiti, pp. 105–110.
Pirazzoli, P., 1991. World Atlas of Holocene Sea-Level Changes.
Amsterdam: Elsevier.
Schellmann, G., and Radtke, U., 2004. A revised morpho- and
chronostratigraphy of the Late and Middle Pleistocene coral reef
terraces on Southern Barbados (West Indies). Earth-Science
Reviews, 64(3–4), 157–187.
Sloss, C. R., Murray-Wallace, C. V., and Jones, B. G., 2007. Holocene sea-level change on the southeast coast of Australia:
a review. The Holocene, 17(7), 999–1014.
Smithers, S. G., Hopley, D., and Parnell, K. E., 2006. Fringing and
nearshore coral reefs on the Great Barrier Reef: episodic Holocene development and future prospects. Journal of Coastal
Research, 22, 175–188.
Steneck, R. S., Miller, T. E., Reid, R. P., and Macintyre, I. G., 1998.
Ecological controls on stromatolite development in a modern
reef environment: A test of the ecological refuge paradigm.
Carbonates and Evaporites, 13(1), 48–65.
Toscano, M. A., and Macintyre, I. G., 2003. Corrected western
Atlantic sea-level curve for the last 11,000 years based on calibrated C-14 dates from Acropora palmata framework and intertidal mangrove peat. Coral Reefs, 22(3), 257–270.
Woodroffe, C. D., 2005. Late Quaternary sea-level highstands in the
central and eastern Indian Ocean: A review. Global and Planetary Change, 49(1–2), 121–138.
Woodroffe, S. A., 2009. Testing models of mid-late Holocene
sea-level change, North Queensland, Australia. Quaternary
Science Reviews, 28, 2474–2488. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.
2009.05.004.
Cross-references
Glacio-Hydro Isostasy
Holocene High Energy Window
Holocene Reefs: Thickness and Characteristics
Paleoclimate from Corals
Postglacial Trangression
Reef Classification, Response to Sea Level Rise
Reef Structure
Sea Level Change and Its Effect on Reef Growth
Volcanic Loading and Isostasy
MIDWAY ATOLL (HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO)
James E. Maragos
1 , Donald C. Potts
2
, Barbara Maxfield
1
,
Daria Siciliano
3 , Elizabeth Flint
1
1
U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, Honolulu, HI, USA
2
University of California at Santa Cruz, Santa Cruz, CA
3
Stanford University, Silver Spring, MD, USA
Introduction
Midway Atoll is a subtropical reef near the northwestern
end of the Hawaiian Archipelago at 28
12
0 N and 177
22
0 W, approximately 2,000 km from Honolulu and
259 km east of the International Date Line. Midway is
an unincorporated U.S. territory and the only island in
the archipelago not a part of the State of Hawai‘i. It is second only to neighboring Kure Atoll, 60 km to the northeast, as the Pacific’s most northerly atoll. Midway is
roughly 9 km in diameter; 40 km
2 in total area; contains
two main islands, Sand (1,200 ha) and Eastern (135 ha);
700
MIDWAY ATOLL (HAWAIIAN ARCHIPELAGO)