Table Of ContentLate Quaternary Sea-Level Correlation
and Applications
NATO ASI Series
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Series C: Mathematical and Physical Sciences - Vol. 256
Late Quaternary Sea-Level
Correlation and Applications
Walter S. Newman Memorial Volume
edited by
D. B. Scott
Centre for Marine Geology,
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
P.A. Pirazzoli
INTERGEO - CNRS, Paris, France
and
C.A. Honig
Centre for Marine Geology,
Dalhousie University, Halifax, Canada
Kluwer Academic Publishers
Dordrecht / Boston / London
Published in cooperation with NATO Scientific Affairs Division
Proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute on
Late Quaternary Sea-Level Correlation and Applications
Halifax, Canada
19-30 July 1987
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
NATO Advanced Study Institute (1987 : Halifax, N.S.>
Late Ouaternary sea-level correlation and applications
proceedings of the NATO Advanced Study Institute held in Halifax,
Canada, 19-30 July 1987 I edited by D.B. Scott, P.A. Pirazzoli, C.A.
Honig.
p. cm. -- (NATO ASI series. Series C, Mathematical and
physical sciences; vol. 256>
"Walter S. Newman me.ori~l volume."
Inc 1u des index.
1. Sea level--Congresses. 2. Geology. Stratigraphic--Ouaternary-
-Congresses. I. Scott, D. 6. II. Pirazzoli. P. A. (Paoio A.>
III. Honig, C. A. IV. Newman. Walter S., 1927- V. Title.
VI. Series: NATO ASI series. Series C. Mathematical and physical
sciences; no. 256.
GC89.N38 1987
551.7' 9--dc 19 88-29425
CIP
ISBN-13: 978-94-010-6880-2 e-ISBN-13: 978-94-009-0873-4
DOl: 10.1007/978-94-009-0873-4
Published by Kluwer Academic Publishers,
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TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preface vii
Walter S. Newman (1927-1987) An Appreciation ix
Holocene sea-level changes and crustal movements in
the North Sea region : an experiment with regional
eustasy (Ian Shennan)
Sea-level changes in the Iberian peninsula during
the last 200,000 years (C. Zazo & J.L. Goy) 27
Sea-level changes in the Netherlands during the
last 6500 years: basal peat vs. coastal barrier
data (Orson van de P1assche & Thomas B. Roep) 41
Response of sandy beaches to sea-level rise
(Stephen P. Leatherman) 57
A late Pleistocene low sea-level stand of the
southeast Canadian offshore (Gordon B.J. Fader) 71
Holocene relative sea-level changes and Quaternary
glacial events on a continental shelf edge: Sable
Island Bank (D.B. Scott, R. Boyd, M. Douma,
F.S. Medio1i, S. Yuill, E. Leavitt & C.F.M. Lewis) 105
Geodynamique des 1ignes de rivage Quaternaires du
continent Africain et applications (Pierre Giresse) 121
Recent sea-level changes in the North Atlantic
(P.A. Pirazzo1i) 153
Late Quaternary shorelines in India (Helmut Bruckner) 169
Archaeology and sea-level change in the southwestern
Pacific: no simple story (A.J. Smith) 195
Some considerations of the compilation of Late
Quaternary sea level curves: a North American
perspective (W.S. Newman, R.R. Pardi & R.W. Fairbridge) 207
List of Reviewers
229
PREFACE
A NATO Advanced Study Institute, "Late Quaternary Sea-level
Correlation and Applications", was held together with the Final
Meeting of IGCP Project 200 in Halifax, Canada, 19-30 July 1987. This
Volume is a collection of the NATO Keynote Papers presented at this
meeting. The authors of these papers are from seven of the NATO
countries - two each from France, the U. K., Canada, and the U. S . A. ,
and one each from Spain, Germany and the Netherlands. With these
authors, we are able to assemble work from virtually all of the
world's oceans with several different approaches. The Volume is
dedicated to Walter S. Newman, one of the best known and best liked
sea-level workers of our time who died shortly before this Conference.
This Volume contains one of his last contributions and all
contributors to this Volume are honoured to be in the company of
Walter's last work.
There are several papers from North Atlantic countries dealing
with Holocene sea level in a variety of ways. Shennan summarizes data
from the U.K. and makes a preliminary effort to place the data in the
context of a model. Zazo & Goy present new data from the coast of
Spain and place it in a stratigraphical context. Van de P1assche re-
assesses previous data and adds new data to the very sea-level
sensitive Dutch coast. Leatherman uses sea-level information in the
Chesapeake Region to assess coastal management problems. Both Fader
and Scott et a1. present data from the Scotian Shelf of Eastern Canada
- Fader uses regional seismic correlations to suggest a 115 m lowering
of sea-level; Scott et a1. use new data from Sable Island to suggest
sea level was no more than 80 m below present at 15 kybp. Giresse
presents Holocene and Pleistocene data on the entire African coast and
suggests mechanisms to explain differences. Pirazzo1i presents world-
wide tidal gauge data suggesting that there is no global sea-level
trend in the last 50-100 years. Bruckner presents Holocene sea-level
data from the Indian coastline, an area seldom reported on in the
English literature. Smith presents a paper showing how archaeologists
can use sea-level data in the Pacific to speculate movements of early
man. Finally, in a paper typical of Walter S. Newman, Newman et a1.
discuss their huge data bank of C-14 points and how it might be used.
We would like to thank all the financial contributors to this
Volume, most notably NATO Scientific Affairs Division who made this
combined Symposium and Field Trip and, ultimately this Volume,
possible. The Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of
Canada provided a special conference grant and financial support also
came from IGCP Project 200 and the Canadian National Committee for
IGCP. Dalhousie University and the Centre for Marine Geology provided
accommodations and personnel. Reviewers for the papers are listed at
the end of the Volume.
D.B. Scott, C.A. Honig, P.A. Pirazzo1i.
June 1988.
vii
WALTER S. NEWMAN (1927-1987) ftN APPRECIATION
This VO'lume is very apprO'priately dedicated to' the memO'ry O'f
O'ne of O'ur mO'st devO'ted cO'astal wO'rkers and a belO'ved teacher ~t
Queens CO'llege in the City University O'f New YO'rk. He travelled
widely, often to' cO'ngresses O'f the InternatiO'nal UniO'n fO'r Quaternary
Research O'r to' field meetings O'f the INQUA ShO'relines CO'mmissiO'n, O'r
in cO'nnectiO'n with the IGCP sea-level prO'jects (61 and 200), O'r with
the Friends O'f the PleistO'cene. He had, indeed, dear friends
everywhere: frO'm hO'me in New YO'rk City to' Japan, the USSR, Israel, O'r
Australia.
Walter was a real New YO'rker, bO'rn and bred. His B.A. was frO'm
BrO'O'klyn CO'llege (1950), his M.A. frO'm Syracuse (1959), his Ph.D. frO'm
N.Y.U. (1960). AlO'ng the way, he gained experience with the U.S.
CO'ast Guard & GeO'detic Survey in their Lake Mead seismic wO'rk; with
the U.S. Army CO'rps O'f Engineers in several rO'les (1951-56) that
included drilling in Bermuda that gO't him started O'n sea-level
studies; and with several engineering geO'lO'gical cO'mpanies. In 1959-
60, he was a research assistant to' the late Maurice Ewing at the
LamO'nt-DO'herty ObservatO'ry O'f CO'lumbia University. Subsequently, he
O'ften spent his summers in Quaternary mapping in New England fO'r the
U.S. GeO'lO'gical Survey.
ix
x
Walter was a natural, born teacher. He loved arguments with
heated discussions and was not in the least worried about changing his
mind if the evidence tilted that way. He began in 1960 as a lecturer
at Queens College, moving up in steps to become chairman and full
professor (1978-87). In the last few years he had also become a
senior research associate at the Goddard Institute for Space Studies
(NASA), where he learned about some of the mysteries of computers.
Jointly, with the writer, Walter had collected a data bank of
all the dated samples of coastal significance from the published
volumes of Radiocarbon. These he collated on the IBM-PC and learned
how to plot them geographically and how to arrange the data in various
ways that helped us ~ppreciate some of the problems involved, notably
the tide range and neotectonic variables. Many years earlier we had
also collaborated in plotting the geodetic relevelling data on a
profile from New York City up to the Canadian border and in
constructing glacioisostatic recovery maps of the northeastern U. S.
As a result we both became convinced about the important role of
neotectonics in modulating the picture of mean sea level as perceived
from both tide-gauge data and Holocene stratigraphy. His computer-
modelling of postulated geoid deformation will stand as the first
pioneer experiments in this field that were based on real (as oppossed
to hypothetical) evidence: "paleogeodesy" is now among his well-
deserved claims to fame.
One of Walter's last projects was to help organize the
"birthday symposium" and edit the resultant book, "Climate: History,
Peridocity, and Predictability" (edited by Rampino, Sanders, Newman
and Konigsson, 1987). Through his life he was wonderfully supported
by his wife, Marian, and was understandably proud of his two fine
daughters. We all miss him very much.
Rhodes W. Fairbridge
July 1988.
HOLOCENE SEA-LEVEL CHANGES AND CRUSTAL MOVEMENTS IN THE
NORTH SEA REGION : AN EXPERIMENT WITH REGIONAL EUSTASY
Ian Shennan
Department of Geography
University of Durham
Durham DH1 3LE
United Kingdom
ABSTRACT. Eighteen relative sea-level curves from the North
Sea region are used to test the concept of regional eustasy.
Net uplift/subsidence curves for each location are derived
but no single baseline, regional eustatic. curve will
account for all the residuals identified. The simplest
conclusion is that dynamic sea-level factors have not
remained constant on the scale of the North Sea during the
Holocene.
1. INTRODUCTION
The coastal areas bordering the North Sea have been
systematically studied for over 100 years to identify the
factors of local and regional significance controlling
shoreline processes during the Holocene. The sea-level
indicators range from uplifted shoreline sequences and lake
basin sediments in Scandinavia and Scotland to thick
intercalated sequences of marine, brackish, freshwater and
semi-terrestrial sediments in the estuaries bordering the
southern North Sea. The collection of empirical data has
been undertaken by a wide range of individuals and groups
from numerous universities, state and federal survey and
research institutions. providing the potential of a large
database, perhaps unequalled for any other area of the world
of comparable size. Synthesis of the data at the regional
scale has hitherto been largely precluded by the volume and
quality of the data. This paper attempts to remidy the
situation and adopts a regional approach. It is a modified
update of a longer contribution published elsewhere (Shennan
1987a) .
Extensive data gathering is typical of a scientific
discipline during its early stages of development with
explanation via model building and hypothesis testing coming
later. Many sea-level studies in Europe have remained
D. B. Scott et ai. (eds.),Late Quaternary Sea-Level Correlation and Applications, 1-25.
© 1989 by Kiuwer Academic Publishers.
2
essentially inductive in their approach with little attempt
to put together knowledge of the separately known events,
ultimately to lead to theory construction and thence to
explanation (Tooley 1987). However the increase.
particularly during the period of the two IGCP sea-level
projects. 61 and 200. in the number of reliable radiocarbon
dates on Holocene marine episodes. together with more
standardised methods of data collection. analysis and
classification enable alternative routes to explanation in
sea-level studies to be attempted (Shennan 1983).
The aim in this paper is not to provide a summary of
research papers but to investigate some of the methods that
can be applied in synthesising the available data. Similar
methods have been discussed elsewhere (Shennan 1987a). To
summarise published data. judgements must be made using a
database poorer than that available to the original research
worker. for example full stratigraphic details. sampling
problems and laboratory analyses are rarely accessible.
Even if the required details were published it would be very
difficult to synthesise all the data on a regional scale
given the resources currently available to individual
research workers. either in isolation or within the sphere
of cooperation of international projects such as IGCP 61 and
200. The explosion of detailed data as a result of
interdisciplinary research. whilst making the data more
reliable, particularly in helping to describe local scale
changes. makes the task of synthesis increasingly difficult.
The problem to be addressed is how best to utilise data
which hass been collected at one temporal and spatial scale.
e.g. for local archaeological investigations or geological
surveys. to answer questions related to processes effective
at a different resolution or regional scale.
Marner (e.g. 1976a. 1987) has introduced the concept of
regional eustasy following observations and arguments about
the temporal and spatial variability of the oceanic geoid.
A new definition of the term eustasy has been proposed
(Marner 1987 p.338). which now covers tectono-eustasy.
glacial-eustasy. geoidal eustasy and dynamic sea-level
changes. Each of these will be of greater or lesser
significance over different temporal and spatial scales.
Peltier (e.g. 1982. 1985) employs a different approach.
using a spherical earth model reconstructions of ice sheet
retreat to provide numerical predictions of relative
sea-level change for any location. This approach is not
considered in detail in this paper since work is only now
underway to compare the numerical predictions for sites in
the United Kingdom with the empir~cal relative sea-level
data.
Marner (1980) has suggested that the North Sea region
can be viewed as an immense sea level laboratory in which
various approaches to isolating the different eustatic and
