Holocene sea levels in southeast Asia, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka : the SEAMIS database

We assembled a database of Holocene relative sea-level index points (n = 213) and marine (n = 211) and terrestrial (n = 122) limiting points for the broader South and Southeast Asian region including the Maldives, India and Sri Lanka. The standardized review of published age-elevation information fr...

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Main Authors: Mann, Thomas, Bender, Maren, Lorscheid, Thomas, Stocchi, Paolo, Vacchi, Matteo, Rovere, Alessio, Switzer, Adam Douglas
Other Authors: Asian School of the Environment
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: 2019
Subjects:
Online Access:https://hdl.handle.net/10356/83069
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49737
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author Mann, Thomas
Bender, Maren
Lorscheid, Thomas
Stocchi, Paolo
Vacchi, Matteo
Rovere, Alessio
Switzer, Adam Douglas
author2 Asian School of the Environment
author_facet Asian School of the Environment
Mann, Thomas
Bender, Maren
Lorscheid, Thomas
Stocchi, Paolo
Vacchi, Matteo
Rovere, Alessio
Switzer, Adam Douglas
author_sort Mann, Thomas
collection NTU
description We assembled a database of Holocene relative sea-level index points (n = 213) and marine (n = 211) and terrestrial (n = 122) limiting points for the broader South and Southeast Asian region including the Maldives, India and Sri Lanka. The standardized review of published age-elevation information from corals, deltaic, estuarine and mangrove deposits, beachrocks and tidal notches, yielded a new suite of relative sea-level index and limiting points produced according to a standardized protocol. Expected spatial variability in Holocene relative sea-level change due to glacial isostatic adjustment was accounted for, by first subdividing the study area into ten geographic sub-regions from the Central Indian Ocean to the Western Tropical Pacific, and second by comparing sub-regional relative sea-level data to model predictions of glacial isostatic adjustment. Results show that some of the regionally constrained relative sea-level data are characterized by significant inconsistencies that cannot be explained by glacial isostatic adjustment. Such inconsistencies of standardized relative sea-level data become particularly obvious in areas around the Red River Delta in Vietnam, the Gulf of Thailand, the northwest coast of Malaysia and the Spermonde Archipelago in Indonesia. Based on a critical evaluation of the reviewed relative sea-level indicators, we discuss possible sources of local divergence and identify regions where data are currently insufficient to constrain glacial isostatic adjustment predictions. The remaining quality-controlled and consistent relative sea-level data show that glacial isostatic adjustment and syn-/post-formational influences such as tectonic uplift, subsidence and compaction were the dominant local drivers of Holocene relative sea-level change. Collectively, the results of this review suggest that Holocene sea levels in South and Southeast Asia and surrounding regions have been controlled by a variety of global and local drivers and imply that additional index points from the Java Sea in Indonesia would be valuable to better assess the spatial variability, and to calibrate geophysical models of glacial isostatic adjustment.
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spelling ntu-10356/830692020-09-26T21:30:22Z Holocene sea levels in southeast Asia, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka : the SEAMIS database Mann, Thomas Bender, Maren Lorscheid, Thomas Stocchi, Paolo Vacchi, Matteo Rovere, Alessio Switzer, Adam Douglas Asian School of the Environment Earth Observatory of Singapore Sea-level Highstand Science::Geology Glacial Isostatic Adjustment We assembled a database of Holocene relative sea-level index points (n = 213) and marine (n = 211) and terrestrial (n = 122) limiting points for the broader South and Southeast Asian region including the Maldives, India and Sri Lanka. The standardized review of published age-elevation information from corals, deltaic, estuarine and mangrove deposits, beachrocks and tidal notches, yielded a new suite of relative sea-level index and limiting points produced according to a standardized protocol. Expected spatial variability in Holocene relative sea-level change due to glacial isostatic adjustment was accounted for, by first subdividing the study area into ten geographic sub-regions from the Central Indian Ocean to the Western Tropical Pacific, and second by comparing sub-regional relative sea-level data to model predictions of glacial isostatic adjustment. Results show that some of the regionally constrained relative sea-level data are characterized by significant inconsistencies that cannot be explained by glacial isostatic adjustment. Such inconsistencies of standardized relative sea-level data become particularly obvious in areas around the Red River Delta in Vietnam, the Gulf of Thailand, the northwest coast of Malaysia and the Spermonde Archipelago in Indonesia. Based on a critical evaluation of the reviewed relative sea-level indicators, we discuss possible sources of local divergence and identify regions where data are currently insufficient to constrain glacial isostatic adjustment predictions. The remaining quality-controlled and consistent relative sea-level data show that glacial isostatic adjustment and syn-/post-formational influences such as tectonic uplift, subsidence and compaction were the dominant local drivers of Holocene relative sea-level change. Collectively, the results of this review suggest that Holocene sea levels in South and Southeast Asia and surrounding regions have been controlled by a variety of global and local drivers and imply that additional index points from the Java Sea in Indonesia would be valuable to better assess the spatial variability, and to calibrate geophysical models of glacial isostatic adjustment. Published version 2019-08-21T09:04:44Z 2019-12-06T15:11:11Z 2019-08-21T09:04:44Z 2019-12-06T15:11:11Z 2019 Journal Article Mann, T., Bender, M., Lorscheid, T., Stocchi, P., Vacchi, M., Switzer, A. D., & Rovere, A. (2019). Holocene sea levels in southeast Asia, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka : the SEAMIS database. Quaternary Science Reviews, 219, 112-125. doi:10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.07.007 0277-3791 https://hdl.handle.net/10356/83069 http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49737 10.1016/j.quascirev.2019.07.007 en Quaternary Science Reviews © 2019 The Author(s). Published by Elsevier Ltd. This is an open access article under the CC BY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/). 14 p. application/pdf
spellingShingle Sea-level Highstand
Science::Geology
Glacial Isostatic Adjustment
Mann, Thomas
Bender, Maren
Lorscheid, Thomas
Stocchi, Paolo
Vacchi, Matteo
Rovere, Alessio
Switzer, Adam Douglas
Holocene sea levels in southeast Asia, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka : the SEAMIS database
title Holocene sea levels in southeast Asia, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka : the SEAMIS database
title_full Holocene sea levels in southeast Asia, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka : the SEAMIS database
title_fullStr Holocene sea levels in southeast Asia, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka : the SEAMIS database
title_full_unstemmed Holocene sea levels in southeast Asia, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka : the SEAMIS database
title_short Holocene sea levels in southeast Asia, Maldives, India and Sri Lanka : the SEAMIS database
title_sort holocene sea levels in southeast asia maldives india and sri lanka the seamis database
topic Sea-level Highstand
Science::Geology
Glacial Isostatic Adjustment
url https://hdl.handle.net/10356/83069
http://hdl.handle.net/10220/49737
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