Sea Surface Studies: A Global View PDF
Preview Sea Surface Studies: A Global View
SEA SURFACE STUDIES Climatologists and earth scientists agree that a major rise in global sea level of between 0.2-1.4 m is to be expected during the next century should the predicted rise in global temperature of lS-4SC take place. This view reinforces earlier reports of the American National Academy of Sciences and the World Meteorological Organisation. Such statements may engender panic or disbelief. The question is, how much do we know about the causes, patterns and problems of sea-level change that underpin such statements? This book attempts an interdisciplinary exploration and major review of our state of knowledge in this field through the views of researchers studying the nature and applications of sea-level change and its consequences for the coastline. Apart from its linkage with climate the study of sea-level-coastal change is relevant to a wide range' of issues, from geological problems to oceanographic, environmental and biological concerns. This book is therefore likely to be of particular interest to workers and students in geology, geography, marine sciences/engineering and technology, biology and related environmental sciences. Reproduced from the collection of the National Air Photo Library with the permission of Department of Energy, Mines and Resources, Canada © 1946 Her Majesty the Queen in Right of Canada SEA SURFACE STUDIES A GLOBAL VIEW Edited by R.J.N. DEVOY CROOM HELM London • New York • Sydney © 1987 RJ.N. Devoy Softcover reprint of the hardcover 1st edition 1987 Croom Helm Ltd, Provident House, Burrell Row, Beckenham, Kent BR3 1AT Croom Helm Australia, 44-50 Waterloo Road, North Ryde, 2113, New South Wales Published in the USA by Croom Helm in association with Methuen, Inc. 29 West 35th Street New York, NY 10001 British Library Cataloguing in Publiqltion Data Sea surface studies: a global view 1. Sea level I. Devoy, RJ.N. 551.46 GC89 ISBN 978-94-015-1148-3 ISBN 978-94-015-1146-9 (eBook) DOI 10.1007/978-94-015-1146-9 Library of Congress Cataloging-in-PubUcation Data Sea surface studies. Includes index. 1. Sea level. 2. Coast changes. 3. Geodynamics. I. Devoy, R.l.N. GC89.S44 1987 551.46 87-5401 ISBN 978-94-015-1148-3 Typeset in Times Roman by Leaper & Gard Ltd, Bristol, England Contents List of Contributors Preface Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: First Principles and the Scope of Sea-sudace Studies R.J.N. Devoy 1 Part One: Sea-Surface (Sea-level) Changes: What Are They? 2. Ocean Volume Change and the History of Sea Water John Chappell 33 3. Mechanisms of Relative Sea-level Change and the Geophysical Responses to Ice-Water Loading W.R. Peltier 57 4. Glaciation and Sea Level: A Case Study John T. Andrews 95 5. Tectonic Processes and their Impact on the Recording of Relative Sea-level Changes Kelvin Berryman 127 Part Two: The Evidence and Interpretation of Sea-Surface (Sea-level) Movements 6. Dating and Associated Methodological Problems in the Study of Quaternary Sea-level Changes Donald G. Sutherland 165 7. Global Analysis and Correlation of Sea-level Data Ian Shennan 198 Part Three: The State of Current Knowledge: Regional and Global Views 8a. Pre-Quaternary Long-Term Changes in Sea Level Nils-Axel Morner 233 8b. Quaternary Sea-level Changes: Northern Hemisphere Data Nils-Axel Morner 242 9. Quaternary Sea-level Changes: Southern Hemisphere Data B. Pillans 264 10. Sea-level Changes During the Holocene: The North Atlantic and Arctic Oceans R.J.N. Devoy 294 11. Sea-level Changes During the Holocene: The Northwest Pacific Yoko Ota 348 12. Holocene Sea-level Changes in Australasia and the Southern Pacific David Hopley 375 The Impact and Application of Sea-sudace Changes: An Introduction to Parts Four and Five R.J.N. Devoy 409 CONTENTS Part Four: The Coastline: Processes, Planning and Management 13. Coastal Processes: The Coastal Response to Sea-level Variation 1. Orford 415 14. Man's Response to Sea-level Change R. W.G. Carter 464 15. The Greenhouse Effect, Rising Sea Level and Society's Response 1. G. Titus 499 Part Five: Sea-surface (Sea-level) Changes: Some Wider Implications 16. Hydrocarbon Exploration and Biostratigraphy: The Application of Sea-level Studies R.l.N. Devoy 531 17. Placer Deposits of the Nearshore and Coastal Zones: The Role of Littoral Processes and Sea-level Changes in their Formation Donald G. Sutherland 569 18. Sea-surface Variations and Energy: Tidal and Wave Power A. W. Lewis 589 Part Six: Conclusions 19. Sea-surface Changes: Where Do We Go From Here? R.l.N. Devoy 629 Appendix I 638 Appendix II 639 Index 640 Contributors Andrews, John T., Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, University of Colorado, Campus Box 250, Boulder, Colorado 80309, USA Berryman, Kelvin, Dr, New Zealand Geological Survey, Department of Scientific and Industrial Research, P.O. Box 30 368, Lower Hutt, New Zealand. Carter, R.W.G., Dr, Department of Environmental Studies, University of Ulster, Cromore Road, Coleraine, Northern Ireland, BT52 1SA Chappell, John, Professor, Research School of Pacific Studies (Biogeo graphy and Geomorphology Section), The Australian National Univer sity, P.O. Box 4, Canberra, AC.T. 2601, Australia. Devoy, RJ.N., Dr, Department of Geography, University College Cork, College Road, Cork, Ireland. Hopley, David, Professor, Sir George Fisher Centre for Tropical Marine Studies, James Cook University of North Queensland, Townsville, Post Office Q4811, Australia. Lewis, A.W., Dr, Department of Civil Engineering, University College Cork, College Road, Cork, Ireland. Momer, Nils-Axel, Department of Geology, University of Stockholm, S-106 91, Stockholm, Sweden. Orford, J., Dr, Department of Geography, The Queen's University of Belfast, Belfast, Northern Ireland BT7 INN. Ota, Yoko, Professor, Department of Geography, Yokohama National University, 156 Tokiwadai, Hodogaya-ku, Yokohama 240, Japan. Peltier, W.R., Professor, Department of Physics, University of Toronto, 60 St George Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5S 1A7 , Canada. Pillans, B., Dr, Department of Geology, Research School of Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, Private Bag, Wellington, New Zealand. Shennan, Ian, Dr, Department of Geography, University of Durham, Science Laboratories, South Road, Durham, DH13LE, England. Sutherland, Donald G., Dr, Placer Analysis Ltd, 2 London Street, Edinburgh, EH3 6NA, Scotland. Titus, J.G., (P.M.220) Strategic Studies Staff, US Environmental Protec tion Agency, Washington, DC 20460, USA Preface The oceans are vast with t,¥o-thirds of our planet being covered by a thick layer of water, the depth of which can be likened to flying above the earth's surface at an altitude of 30,000 feet (9,800 m). Good to play in, essential for life but deadly to breathe, water is important to all organisms on the planet, and the oceans form its major reservoir containing approximately 97 per cent of all freely available surface water. In spite of this obvious importance mankind has still much to learn about this ocean environment. Study of the oceans has grown enormously since the eighteenth- and nineteenth-century voyages of scientific discovery, expanding greatly in the period post 1945. One of the subjects that has blossomed in this period has been the study of the ocean's surface, and in particular the study of sea level and related sea-surface changes. Indeed this topic may even be termed 'popular', as reflected in the growing number of general geo morphology, physical geology and oceanography texts which now give space to the subject. Stimuli to this growth have been varied. Concern since the 1960s over mankind's influence and interaction with the earth's environment has been important. Today a heightened awareness of the possible continued warming of the earth's atmosphere reSUlting from human induced variations in carbon dioxide (C0 and other 'greenhouse' gases, with its 2) consequent linkage to ice melt and global sea-level rise, has gained especial prominence. The spectre of a 'massive' 5 to 7 m rise in global sea level has been raised, although the probability of a smaller 0.2 to 1.4 m rise during the next century is more likely. What we can do about this and how we manage our coastlines in response are matters which are only just begin ning to be examined seriously. In this, as in other fields of earth science, the study of sea-level data has been recognised as being of great practical value: for geology and geophysics in understanding the structure and func tioning of the earth, for geomorphology in coastal management and plan ning, for biogeography within the biologi~al sciences in examining organ ism development and in commercial fields in hydrocarbon and mineral exploration. As discussed in the book, these stimuli have prompted the setting-up of many national and international research projects to study sea-surface changes. This volume is in part a response to the activities of one of these programmes, the International Geological Correlation Programme's Project 200, 'Sea-level Correlations and Applications', to which the book forms a contribution. In other respects the book has grown from the editor's own long-term interest in this field, and from the need now to pull together the extensive knowledge about the subject that has been acquired PREFACE say· over the last forty years. This is not to that excellent texts dealing with various aspects of sea-level studies have not been produced in this time; they have, and reference to many of these has been made here in this volume. Rarely, however, have they considered the subject in a global context, as here, integrating the subject in the same text with treatment of relevant aspects of coastal process studies and the applications and value of such work. Preparation for this book began in 1983, with the different chapters being contributed at various stages since that time, as follows: Chapters 7, 12 in 1984; 2, 3, 4, 6, 8, 9, 10, 11, 13, 14, 16, 17 in 1985 and 1, 5, 15, 18, 19 in 1986. Where necessary these have undergone update and re vision of detail prior to publication. As such, the volume forms a multi authored text representing an interdisciplinary approach, often by acknowledged authorities within the different fields covered, to areas of complex study within the subject. The book is not intended, however, to take the reader step by step through the detail of sea levels, but to provide a comprehensive coverage of the important concepts and principles, global spatial - temporal patterns of sea-level change and discussion of their current applications. Whilst many may feel a multi-authored text has its drawbacks treatment of this rapidly evolving subject at this scale demands, almost by definition, that such an approach be taken. Further, the book is far from being intended for the expert alone, although it is hoped that those involved in sea-level research will find it of value. Through its structure and organisation, extensive referencing within chapters and presentation of material themes, the book is designed as a 'way in' for non-specialists in all disciplines to learn about this complex, often confusing, but most important aspect of our changing environment. RJ.N. Devoy Cork
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