International Geological Correlation Program #464             

Continental Shelves during the Last Glacial Cycle: Knowledge and Applications

Third IGCP 464 Annual Conference

Wollongong  (Australia) 14 - 19 December 2003



Conference was organised by Prof. Allan Chivas and Adriana Garcia

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CONFERENCE PROGRAM

DAY ONE, Monday 15 December 2003

6:30 - Registration 

9.00 - Welcome to delegates Official opening of the Annual IGCP464 meeting 

9.10 – Opening business meeting - Setting of the Agenda for later meetings 

SESSION 1             Chair:   Allan Chivas

9.50 -The Danube deep-sea fan functioning in a freshwater environment during the LGM ®
        Gilles Lericolais, I. Popescu, N. Panin, E. Le Drezen, H. Nouzé, H. Gillet and T. R. Garfield  

10.10 - The southern Galician shelf and its rías since the LGM ®
        Alberto Ferrin, S. García-Gil, R. Durán, F. Vilas

10-30 - Morning tea


SESSION 2             Chair:    Gilles Lericolais

11.00 - Submarine instability in a shelf environment. Lessons from the Stromboli tsunami of 30 December 2002  ®
            Francesco L. Chiocci 

11.20 - The Black Sea as a record of the Younger Dryas climate change ®
            Gilles Lericolais, N. Panin, F. Guichard, I. Popescu and The BLASON Scientific Crew 

11.40 - Hydrodynamically-driven patterns of the post-LGM sedimentation in the shelf and upper slope off southeast Brazil ®
            Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques et al. 

12.00 - Anthropogenic impacts on the northern South China Sea continental shelf off Hong Kong ®
            Wyss W.-S. Yim

12.20 - Lunch

SESSION 3             Chair:   Reneè Hetherington

13.30- Carbonate sediments and reefs of Australia’s western margin ®
            Lindsay B. Collins, Y. Bone, N. James

13.50- Island shelf sedimentation during the Last Glacial Maximum in the Tasman Sea: Preliminary deep-water coring evidence from Lord Howe Island ®
            David M. Kennedy, C. D. Woodroffe and B. G. Jones 

14.10- Evolution of a barrier estuary following the last glacial maximum: Lake Illawarra, NSW, Australia ®
            Craig R. Sloss and Brian G. Jones 

14.30 - Fine grain sediment populations and heavy mineral assemblages from two laterally extensive coastal sand sheets, southeastern Australia: A depositional signature for large-scale washover deposits attributed to tsunami? ®
            Adam D. Switzer, Rabea A. Haredy, Kevin Pucillo, Brian G. Jones 

14.50 - Late Quaternary history of lime muds off northwestern India ®
            V. Purnachandra Rao, A. A. Kumar, S.W.A. Naqvi, A. R. Chivas and B. Sekar

15.10 - Sea/land interaction and shoreline evolution during the Last Glacial Cycle in the Laptev and East-Siberian seas ®
            Natalia G. Patyk-Kara 

15.30 - Afternoon tea 

16.00 - Second business meeting

18.00 -  Dinner

DAY TWO, Tuesday 16 December 2003


SESSION 3             Chair:   Francesco L. Chiocci

9.00 -Climate and human adaptation over the last glacial cycle (keynote talk) ®
            Renée Hetherington and A. J. Weaver 

9.50 - Early landscapes and archaeology in Haida Gwaii on the west coast of Canada ®
            Daryl Fedje 

10.10 - Palaeogeography of Atlantic Canada 13-0 ka ®
            John Shaw and C.L. Amos 


10.30 - Morning tea 

SESSION 4             Chair:   Wyss Yim


11.10-Coastal Neolithic Cultural Site and the Relative Stand of Middle Holocene Sea-Level along Eastern Coast of Korea ®
            Yong A. Park and S. J. Kim 

11.20-The Baltic Sea floor morphology as a result of glacial erosion and marine processes ®
            Szymon Uscinowicz, Regina Kramarska, Joanna Zachowicz 

11.40- Origin of sub-Quaternary relief in the Southern Baltic area ®
            Regina Kramarska 

12.00- Geological, pollen and diatom indicators of the Holocene transgression in the southern Baltic lagoonal system ®
            Joanna Zachowicz, S. Uscinowicz, G. Miotk-Szpiganowicz 

12.20-

SESSION 4            Chair:   Michel  Michaelovitch de Mahiques

13.30 -Introduction to the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia project
            Allan R. Chivas 

13.40 -Palaeoenvironments of the Gulf of Carpentaria through the last glacial cycle: Ostracods and isotopes ®
            Jessica M. Reeves, A. R. Chivas, A. Garcia, P. De Deckker 

13.50 -Late Quaternary foraminifers, palaeoenvironments and sea-level change in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia ®
            Sabine Holt, A. R. Chivas and A. García 

14.00 -Late Pleistocene palaeo-salinity history from the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia: charophytes (Charales, algae) and other organisms ®
             Adriana García, Allan R. Chivas, Jessica M. Reeves and Sabine Holt 

14.10 -The Gulf of Carpentaria through the Late Pleistocene: coccolith evidence and OSL dating  ®
            Martine Couapel, L. Beaufort, B. Roberts and A. R. Chivas 

14.20 -Vegetation and landscape development in the Gulf of Carpentaria area during the last Glacial Cycle ®
            Sander van der Kaars, A. R. Chivas and A. García 

14.40 -Chemistry of the rivers in the Gulf of Carpentaria drainage division and possible correlations with the sedimentary record during lake phases ®
            Dioni I. Cendón, A.R. Chivas and A. García 

15.00 - Submerged coral reefs discovered in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia ®
             Andrew D. Heap, P. T. Harris, T. Wassenberg and V. Passlow 

15.20 - Preliminary morphological map of the continental shelf of Australia
            Andrew D. Heap 


15.30 - Afternoon tea 


16.00 - Third business meeting

19.00 - Conference Dinner 

 

DAY THREE, Wensday 17 December 2003

SHORTCOURSES          


9.00 - Stable isotopes in marine environments
            Allan Chivas 

10.30 - Morning tea 

11.00 - Stable isotopes in marine environments and in geochronology
            Allan Chivas 

12.00 - Geochronology:
            Thermoluminescence (David Price)
            Optically Stimulated Luminescence (Bert Roberts) 

13.00 - Lunch 

14.00 - Geochronology:
            Amino acid racemisation (Simon Clarke)

14.30 - Laboratory tours- stable isotopes, TL, OSL, AAR by rotation of groups

15.50 - Afternoon tea 

16.10 - Seismic stratigraphy
            Francesco Chiocci


DAY FOUR, Thursday 18 December 2003

FIELD EXCURSION          

Field trip to visit coastal features south of Wollongong.
Field guides, lunch and refreshments are provided.
Coordinators: Adam Switzer, Rabea Haredy and Brian Jone


DAY FIVE, Friday 19 December 2003

FIELD EXCURSION         

Field trip to visit Permo-Triassic continental shelves features, south of Wollongong.
Field guides, lunch and refreshments are provided.
Coordinators: Brian Jones and Adam Switzer





LIST OF POSTER PAPERS



 CONFERENCE ABSTRACTS (click on read dot to read the abstract)

 

abstracts location in the world


Chemistry of the rivers in the Gulf of Carpentaria drainage division and possible correlations with the sedimentary record during lake phases
Dioni I. Cendón, Allan R. Chivas and Adriana García
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

The rivers surrounding the Gulf of Carpentaria represent one the most important drainage systems in Australia, accounting for up to 24.7% of all runoff waters in the continent (Australian Water Resources, 2000). All these rivers debouch in a particularly climatically sensitive area. There is a continuing discussion on the possible interruption or variations in the intensity of monsoonal activity in the area, linked to sea-level fluctuations. All these changes have been registered in the complete sedimentary record of the Gulf of Carpentaria spanning the Quaternary and much of the Neogene , and oscillating between marine and lacustrine conditions. In the present study we establish correlations between the chemistry of modern rivers and the chemistry recorded in the fossil record during the lacustrine phase prior to the 9.7 ka marine transgression (MIS 2/1).
We assume that the regional bedrock lithologies have not significantly changed over the last 70 ka and that rivers during the latest lacustrine “Lake Carpentaria” phase would have drained terrains of a similar chemical signature to modern outcropping materials. Therefore we should be able to establish links between the chemistry of the modern rivers and the chemistry preserved in the fossil record of Lake Carpentaria.
During a recent field trip (July 2003) we sampled water from all the major rivers entering the Gulf of Carpentaria from the Jardine River (Qld) to the Roper River (NT). The general chemistry of the waters has been determined for major and trace elements using ICP-MS, IC and AAS analytical techniques. In a preliminary interpretation, a clear correlation of the chemistry of the waters with the regional lithologies can be established with 4 main differentiated chemical signatures. A) Rivers draining the far north Cape York peninsula from the Jardine to the Dulhunty, cutting through Middle Jurassic to Early Cretaceous mainly marine quartzose sandstones. B) Rivers from the Wenlock south to the Gilbert, this group has a strong influence from all Palaeozoic igneous rocks in the Cape York Batholith. C) Rivers in the south-east corner of Gulf Carpentaria from the Norman to the Leichhardt draining mainly Cretaceous materials from Carpentaria Basin with some influence from Proterozoic metamorphics in the Mt Isa Inlier; and D) All the rivers from the Nicholson to the Roper draining areas with abundant Proterozoic metamorphic lithologies.

Submarine instability in a shelf environment. Lessons from the Stromboli tsunami of 30 December 2002
Francesco L. Chiocci
Dipartimento di Scienze della Terra, Università “La Sapienza”, Roma, Italy

Continental shelves, because of their low gradient are unlikely to host large-scale instability phenomena able to be a risk for coastal communities. However in shallow water, even small-scale mass wasting may produce a sudden liquefaction of sandy sediment, generating tsunami waves, as it was demonstrated by the 30/12/2002 submarine slide and tsunami which occurred in Stromboli Island (Southern Tyrrhenian Sea, Italy). It is likely that similar events occurred also in the past without being recognised as being related to shallow-water instability.
Stromboli Island, whose subaerial part accounts for “only” 900m, is the tip of a more than 3000m high active volcano continuously erupting shoshonitic lavas with a so called “strombolian” activity. The volcanoclastic material scatters on the NW flank of the island (Sciara del Fuoco), filling up a ˜1000m wide scar left by a sector collapse that occurred some 5000 years b.p.
On 30 Dec 2002, after a 5-day eruption, a tsunami occurred with a maximum run up of 10 m. The tsunami wave caused small damages on the shore of the neighbouring Panarea Island (as far as 12 miles from Stromboli) and was felt up to Milazzo (33 miles) where a ship in the harbour broke the mooring cables. In Stromboli, houses and infrastructures near the coast suffered very large damages; no casualities occurred due to the fact that the historical houses (where local people live) are located at a certain height from the sea. Hotels and tourist houses by the sea that were hit by tsunami waves were fortunately empty as the slide occurred in the winter period.
The first survey after the tsunami reported a subaerial scar on the Sciara del Fuoco and a coastal retreat of 50-70m; following surveys, funded by Civil Protection Agency, defined a loss of 8 million cubic meters in the subaerial portion of the island and a loss of more than 20 million in the submarine one.
The detailed analysis of the submarine features left by the mass failure suggests that the event was initiated by a submarine landslide, occurring at water depth between 50 and 300 m, that was followed (probably 7 minutes later) by the collapse of the subaerial and further submarine parts. Surprisingly the first slide, that is thought to be responsible for the tsunami wave that first hit the island, involved “only” some 6 million cubic meters of material, compared to nearly 30 million cubic meters finally mobilised.
Such data allows us to postulate some consideration, relevant for continental shelf studies:
1) The flank of volcanic islands are typically affected by mass failure, as it has been demonstrated that insular volcanoes grow-up by a recurrent alternation of stacking of volcanoclastic material and its redistribution trough mass-wasting processes. The behaviour of volcanoes strongly depends on their characters (ratio between pyroclastic and lava flows, type of activity, morphology of the volcano and of surrounding seafloor); probably in this respect Stromboli, as all the volcanoes with strombolian activity, may represent an “end-member”.
2) In submarine mass-wasting, unlike in the subaerial ones, an instantaneous liquefaction of sandy debris may occur due to sudden increase in interstitial overpressure in saturated sediment. Such behaviour is extremely “tsunamogenic” because it produces a sharp negative pulse on the seafloor, similar to a seismic one.
3) Mass wasting acts at different spatial and temporal scales, from huge but rare sector collapse/debris avalanches (thousands of years, billions of cubic meters) to small but frequent submarine landslide (decades, millions of cubic metres) as that which occurred on 30 Dec 2002.
4) Due to the concurrent effect of the fast infilling of the slide scar by post-slide debris flow and to the lack of detailed seafloor mapping tools until a decade ago, submarine mass wasting events are unlikely to have been recognised in the recent past, so that a number of historical tsunamis on the southern Tyrrhenian Sea that apparently have no causes can be related to such phenomena.
5) Continental shelf surveys to prevent and mitigate tsunami risk, usually only deal with refraction patterns of tsunami waves approaching to the coast, able to amplify or weaken wave energy. Actually in volcanic island also small-scale instability in shallow water is able to generate a tsunami wave that may be extremely dangerous for coastal communities.

Carbonate sediments and reefs of Australia’s western margin
1Lindsay B. Collins, 2Yvonne Bone, 3Noel James
1Department of Applied Geology, Curtin University of Technology, Perth, WA, Australia;
2University of Adelaide, Adelaide, South Australia 5001, Australia;
3Queen’s University, Kingston, Ontario K7L 3N6, Canada

Australia’s western margin is narrow and wave-dominated in the south, and a wide ramp influenced by tides and cyclonic storms in the north. Coral reefs are present from latitudes 12 to 30S. A biotic transition zone, between the Northern Australian Tropical and Southern Australian Temperate zones, occurs at latitudes 26 to 30S (Figure 1).
The passive continental margin of southwest Australia, from Perth in the north to Cape Leeuwin in the south, has a narrow, cool-water carbonate shelf which is wave-dominated and predominantly open. The southwestern continental margin (19-22S) is transitional between cool- and warm-water carbonate realms. It comprises the incipiently rimmed, flat topped, steep-fronted Rottnest Shelf in the south, the uniform subtropical starved Carnarvon Ramp off Shark Bay, and the Ningaloo fringing reef in the north. The margin is strongly influenced by the poleward-flowing, warm nutrient-poor Leeuwin Current, which promotes overall downwelling and strong summer equatorward-blowing winds, which generate local seasonal upwelling.
The structurally quiescent Rottnest Shelf (Collins et al., 1997; James et al., 1999) is characterized by luxuriant stands of seagrass and macrophytes growing on coralline-encrusted hardgrounds and rooted in sediments rich in coralline algae and larger, symbiont-bearing foraminifers together with abundant cool-water elements such as bryozoans, molluscs, and small foraminifers. The incipient rim is a morphologically complex linear ridge system whose northern part is capped by the Houtman Abrolhos reefs (Collins et al., 1997). Subphotic sediments on the deep, outer shelf and upper slope, affected by seasonal upwelling, are bryozoan-dominated deposits rich in small foraminifers and sponge spicules.
The inner part of the more structurally active Carnarvon Ramp ranges from steep eolianite cliffs to hypersaline environments of Shark Bay to the Ningaloo fringing reef. Mid-ramp sediment, off Shark Bay, is relict or stranded and foraminifer-dominated sand with abundant Mg-calcite-cemented intraclasts. These sediments, accumulating on a relatively barren seafloor, represent attenuated carbonate production brought about by downwelling and episodic incursions of saline, Shark Bay-derived waters onto the ramp. The outer ramp is either planktic foraminiferal sand, sorted by strong bottom currents, or spiculitic mud.
The Northwest Shelf, a large carbonate ramp, has little coral growth except for isolated distal-ramp reefs (Collins, 2002). Cyclonic storms, long period swells and large internal tides result in mostly coarse-grained sediments. Circulation is dominated by the Leeuwin Current, upwelling associated with the Indian Ocean gyre, seaward-flowing saline bottom waters generated by seasonal evaporation, and flashy fluvial discharge. Sediments are palimpsest, a variable mixture of relict, stranded and Holocene grains (James et al., 2003). Relict intraclasts are localised to the middle ramp, while the most conspicuous stranded particles are ooids and peloids which 14C dating shows formed 15.4-12.7 ka, during initial stages of the post-LGM sea level rise. Initiation of Leeuwin Current flow and accompanying less saline waters arrested ooid formation such that subsequent benthic Holocene sediment is skeletal and focused on the inner ramp. Here sediments reflect an oligotrophic shallow water environment (coral reefs and large benthic forams) perturbed by influx of land-derived sediments and nutrients, resulting in mesotrophic periods (macroalgae and bryozoans). Holocene middle ramp sediment is sparse, and outer ramp sediment is mainly pelagic. Phosphatic accumulations at 200 mwd indicate upwelling.
Surface sediments, with large relict and stranded elements, are out of equilibrium with the present environment and are atypical for a ramp, probably due to failure of the carbonate factory to keep pace with rapid transgression. Fig.1: Isotherms, biotic zones and Leeuwin Current flow on the western margin of Australia.

Collins, L.B., France, R. E., Zhu, Z. R., and Wyrwoll, K-H, 1997. Warm-water platform and cool-water shelf carbonates of the Abrolhos Shelf, southwest Australia, in N. James and J. Clarke, eds, Cool Water Carbonates, SEPM Special Publication 56,p.23-36. SEPM (Society for Sedimentary Geology).
Collins, L. B., Zhu, Z. R., and Wyrwoll, K-H, 1998. Late Tertiary-Quaternary Geological Evolution of the Houtman Carbonate Platforms, Northern Perth Basin. In Purcell, P & R, eds. The Sedimentary Basins of Western Australia 2: Proceedings. PESA Symposium Perth, 1998: p647-663.
James, N.P., Collins, L.B., Hallock, P., Bone,Y., 1999. Sub-Tropical Carbonates in a Temperate Realm: Modern Sediments on the Southwest Australian Shelf. Journal of Sedimentary Research 69:1297-1321. Collins, L.B., 2002. Tertiary Foundations and Quaternary Evolution of Coral Reef Systems of Australia’s North West Shelf. In: Keep, M & Moss, S.J., (Eds) 2002. The Sedimentary Basis of Western Australia 3: Proceedings of the Petroleum Exploration Society of Australia Symposium, Perth, WA, 2002.
Collins, L.B., Zhu, Z.Z., Wyrwoll, K-H, & Eisenhauer, A., 2003. Late Quaternary Structure and development of the Northern Ningaloo Reef. Sedimentary Geology 159 (2003) 81-94.
James, N.P., Bone, Y., Kyser, T.K., Dix, G.R., and Collins, L.B., 2003. Carbonate Sedimentation on a tropical oceanic ramp: Northwestern Australia. Journal of Sedimentary Research.
The Gulf of Carpentaria through the Late Pleistocene: coccolith evidence and OSL dating
1Martine Couapel,2Luc Beaufort, 1Bert Roberts and 1Allan R. Chivas
1School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia;
2CEREGE, France

The Gulf of Carpentaria is a near-equatorial region, a domain in which past environmental changes are not well understood, but in which much of the world's weather has its origin. Indeed this region, located within a tectonically relatively stable portion of the Australian plate, could be a key area from which to monitor the palaeocirculation between the Pacific and the Indian oceans that records the switching on and off of the global thermohaline circulation during glacial/interglacial alternations. This circulation is driven by sea-level and climate changes and influences the regional palaeoceanographic conditions. Furthermore, this area is seasonally affected by the Australian monsoon and is located adjacent to the Western Pacific Warm Pool (WPWP), responsible for the largest transfer of heat and moisture between the surface and the atmosphere. The Gulf of Carpentaria is an epicontinental sea (maximum depth 70 m) bordered to the east by Torres Strait (12 m depth) and to the west by the deeper Arafura Sill (53 m depth).
Throughout the Late Quaternary, during times of sea-level low-stands, the gulf was separated from the open waters of the Indian and Pacific oceans, forming Lake Carpentaria with outlet channels to the Arafura Sea. In 1997, six sediment cores were collected from the Gulf of Carpentaria using a giant piston-corer deployed from the French vessel Marion Dufresne, as part of the International MArine Global changEs Study (IMAGES). These cores reached depths of 4 to ~15 m, encompassing the environmental history of this area for the last 130 ka. This study involves the two longest cores, MD972131 and MD972132, respectively collected from 59 and 64 m water depth, close to the modern centre of the basin.
Coccolithophores are planktonic marine algae distributed within the open ocean to nearshore littoral and lagoonal environments. The coccolithophores secrete minute calcified plates, called coccoliths, which are a major component of pelagic carbonates. Coccolith assemblages preserved in marine sediments are excellent proxies of palaeoceanographic conditions. The lack of coccoliths within sediment could be either due to poor preservation conditions or to a freshwater environment. Environmental stress is implicated by the degree of dissolution and the morphological variations of coccoliths. Coccolith assemblages in the Gulf of Carpentaria were assessed via two methods: a qualitative systematic observation under the microscope of smear slides every 5 cm in core MD972132, and a quantitative automated neural network count (Dolfus and Beaufort, 1999) using Syraco (semi-automatic coccolith recognition software on MD972131 with higher resolution (every cm where critical facies changes were recognised). Both analysis methods show a clear dominance of placolith-bearing coccoliths and confirm at least two non-marine/marine cycles in the Gulf of Carpentaria, during the past 130 ka, as well as some shorter marine intervals, representing minor incursions of seawater during an otherwise non-marine sequence (Chivas et al., 2001). The low assemblage diversity and the important morphology variation in coccoliths from the Gulf of Carpentaria observed in this study are similar to previous results in shallow basin environments (Okada and Honjo 1975; Okada 1983) and are likely to be due to the enclosed and therefore restricted nature of the gulf, and also low nutrient avaibility.
Optically Stimulated Luminescence (OSL) dating is a recent method used to obtain dates based on the physical property luminescence, which is exhibited by some minerals. Luminescence is the ability to store energy and to emit it when excited. The stored energy accumulates as a result of absorption of the dose from environmental radioactivity and cosmic rays. Cosmic ray impact is related to the burial depth whereas environmental radioactivity is mainly derived from the beta and gamma decay of lithogenic radionucleides (40K, 232Th and 238U decay chains). The disequilibrium in the 238U decay chain observed in some of the studied sediments has a min or impact on the dose rate value and affect only the error on the age calculation (Olley et al., 1996). The luminescence intensity is directly proportional to this energy and the excitatory agent is light. That means that a mineral exposed to daylight no longer retains an OSL signal, as it is either bleached or zeroed. The shallowness of the Gulf of Carpentaria (never deeper than 100 m), as well as its restricted basin size, for example, means that quartz grains were bleached just before the time of their deposition and this allows the use of OSL to date the accumulated sediment. Indeed, these parameters mean that the quartz grains were bleached soon before deposition and thus that the event date is the real time of deposition. The agreement among OSL dates and 14C, Amino Acid Racemisation and Thermoluminescence results prove the potential for OSL dating for shallow marine sediment studies.

Chivas A.R., Garcia A., van der Kaars S., Couapel M.J.J., Holt S., Reeves J.M., Wheeler D.J., Switzer A., Murray-Wallace C.V., Banerjee D., Price D.M., Wang, S.X., Pearson G., Edgar N.T., Beaufort L., De Deckker P., Lawson E. and Cecil C.B., 2001. Sea-level and environmental changes since the last interglacial in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia: an overview. Quaternary International, 83-85: p. 19-46.
Dolfus D. and Beaufort L., 1999. Fat neutral network for recognition of position-normalised objects. Neural Network, 12:p. 553-560.
Okada H., 1983. Modern nannofossil assemblages in sediments of coastal and marginal seas along the western Pacific Ocean. Utrecht Micropaleontology Bulletin, 30: p. 171-187.
Okada H. and Honjo S., 1975. Distribution of Coccolithophores in marginal seas along western Pacific Ocean and in the Red Sea. Marine Biology, 31: p. 271-285.
Olley J. M., Murray A. and Roberts R. G., 1996. The effects of disequilibria in the Uranium and Thorium decay chains on burial dose rates in fluvial sediments. Quaternary Science Reviews, 13: p. 751-760.
Early landscapes and archaeology in Haida Gwaii on the west coast of Canada
Daryl Fedje
Parks Canada, 711 Broughton Street, Victoria, B.C., Canada V8W 1E2

Investigations in Haida Gwaii (Queen Charlotte Islands) are providing strong evidence for very early occupation of the west coast of Canada. Archaeological sites dating from 9 ka (14C) to at least 10.5 ka are associated with an extremely dynamic early post-glacial landscape. During this time sea levels rose from more than 100m below modern levels to 15m above. At the same time there were major changes in the regional climate, vegetation and fauna. Haida Gwaii changed from a landscape dominated by broad open plains to one of mountains and dense forests. Here I briefly document 3 archaeological sites dating to this time, Richardson Island at 8.5 to 9.3 ka, Kilgii Gwaay at 9.5 ka and K1 Cave at ca. 10.5 ka.
The southern Galician shelf and its rías since the LGM
Alberto Ferrín, Soledad García-Gil, R. Durán, Federico Vilas
Dpto. Geociencias Marinas, Facultad de Ciencias del Mar, Universidad Vigo, 36200-Vigo, Spain

The present investigation shows new data from the continental shelf off the southwest of Galicia (NW Spain) (Figure 1). The west Galician Margin provides a model for passive continental margin evolution. It is a starved margin with only a thin sedimentary cover (0-4 km) above the acoustic basement (Boillot et al., 1988). Rift structures control the present day morphology, with a continental basement broken by normal faults into narrow-elongated tilted blocks trending north and dipping gently east, forming a series of half graben. The inner portion of the Galician Shelf is relatively steep, and is characterised by the presence of the so called Rías Baixas, which are long- narrow, sometimes wedge-shaped arms of the sea, created by drowning due to submergence of the lower part of a river. The shelf in this region is narrow. It ranges from 25 km off the Ría de Pontevedra up to 35 km off the Ría de Vigo.
The shelf break occurs at depths of 160-180 metres, and it is better defined off the Ría de Pontevedra than in the Ría de Vigo. Figure 1. Study area Metamorphic and plutonic rocks dominate along the coast, mainly in the river basins discharging into the region. These rocks also form outcrops along the coast on large portions of the shelf to water depths of 60-70 metres.
The analyses of side scan sonar as well as the sedimentological analysis of a total of 702 Shipeck samples have allowed us to accurately perform the grain size sediment distribution map as well as the outcrops at the present sea floor for the Galician Rías Baixas and adjacent continental shelf.
The Galician Mud Patch (Dias et al, 2002) is here presented as two sandy mud patches (Ms), separated by a muddy-gravelly sand patch (Smg). The northern mud patch, in front of the Ría de Pontevedra, covers an area of 2 to 6 km x 20 km, occurring at depths ranging from 100 to 130 metres. The southern one, in front of the Ría de Vigo, has a variable width ranging from 2 to 11 km and a total length of 50 km, with depths ranging from 90 up to 150 metres. These mud patches are controlled both by hydrodynamics and topography.
At the southernmost part of the inner shelf, a gravely sand belt (Sg) occurs all along the shelf parallel to plutonic and/or metamorphic outcrops lineation which separates the shelf from the Rías, at depths ranging from 80 to 100 metres. These sediments reach the shelf via river discharges, and tend to get moved southwards by littoral drift during periods of fair weather. At the middle shelf, and parallel to the Mud patches, an elongated field of muddy sand (Sm) is located at an average depth of 140 metres. It is interrupted by a coarser grain size patch (Gsm, Sgm) in front of the southern mouth of the Ría de Vigo. The outer shelf is characterized by the presence of a large field of sands, probably relicted. They are supposed to have laid down during the last glaciation, smoothing out the preexisting topographical features (Dias et al, 2002). More than 450 km of high-resolution seismic lines were acquired and interpreted covering an area of approximately 4250 km2 . High-resolution seismic stratigraphy analysis has allowed us to recognize the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) erosive surface in both, the continental shelf and within the Rías. The LGM (18 ky BP) appears as a smoother erosive surface in the continental shelf. This represents an important unconformity surface developed over the Pleistocene Sequence within the Rías and in most of the shelf.
There are places where the LGM palaeorelief is directly developed on the Tertiary and even Mesozoic sediments, representing the basal surface of a 4th order sequence.
In the Rías, taking into account the unconformity surfaces (hiatus and sequence boundaries), two 5th order sedimentary sequences (S1 and S2) were distinguished into the 4th order LGM sequence (García-Gil et al, 2000). The boundary between S1 and S2 sequences is a stratigraphic unconformity which correlates with the Younger Dryas cold event (10,500 ka BP) representing the beginning of the Holocene sedimentation.
Depth of the LGM erosive surface beneath the seafloor was measured for all the profiles. In order to perform isopach and palaeobathymetric maps for the whole studied area.
Figure 2. LGM Isopach map LGM isopach map (Figure 2) shows sediment thickness over this erosive surface up to the present seafloor. It presents the greatest values at the mouth of the rías, where it reaches up to 35 ms (TWT) in the Ría de Vigo and 30 ms (TWT) in the Ría de Pontevedra. Depth of LGM surface progresively decreases seawards, up to 5 ms (TWT) beneath the present seafloor in the middle shelf. From this point, the decrease of the LGM surface´s depth is very gradual only deepening considerably close to the shelf break in front of the Ría de Pontevedra and in the southernmost part of the study area.
Analysis of the LGM palaeobathymetric map allows the recognition of three different zones.
1) The rías, where the paleorelief is quite irregular, showing the presence of abundant erosive features such as paleochannels.
2) The inner and middle shelf, where, at a depth of approximately 120 metres, a lobe body is mapped in front of the mouth of the Ría de Pontevedra.
3) The outer shelf, where the relief is smoother and probably indicative of submarine erosion. It is noticeable that paleochannels have been recognised in the Rías, but not in the adjacent shelf. Woolfe et al, (1998), state that rivers may not necessarily incise during glacio-eustatic lowstands when the flow out onto a coastal plane flanked by a low angle shelf. This may be the case for the Galician shelf, where subaerial accommodation is created and infilled as contemporary rivers graded to the LGM bay line (shelf wide aggradation). On the other hand, the gradient for the rías is greater, so incision occurs.

Boillot, G. and Malod, J., 1988. The North and Northwest Spanish Continental Margin: a review. Rev. Soc. Geol. España, 1, 295-316.
Dias, J.M.A., Gonzalez, R., García, C.and Díaz del Río, V., 2002. Sediment distribution patterns on the Galicia-Minho Continental Shelf. Progress in Oceanography 52, 215-231
Garcia-Gil, S., García-García, A., Durán, R., and Vilas, F., 2000. High resolution seismic stratigraphy of the Rías Baixas: Pontevedra and Vigo (NW Spain). Journal of Iberian Geology, 26, 217-231.
 Woolfe, K.J., Larcombe, P., Naish, T. and Purdon, R.G., 1998. Lowstand Rivers need not incise the shelf: An example from the Great Barrier Reef, Australia, with implications for sequence stratigraphic models. Geology, 26 (1), 75-78.

*Contribution nº 302 of the XM2 Research Group (Dept. Geociencias Marinas) and to the Spanish Projects MCyT REN2000-1102/MAR, MCyT REN2003-02822/MAR, MCyT REN2003-01608/MAR, and Xunta Galicia PGIDT00PXI30105PR and PGIDITT3RMA30101PR.
Late Pleistocene palaeo-salinity history from the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia: charophytes (Charales, algae) and other organisms
Adriana García, Allan R. Chivas, Jessica M. Reeves and Sabine Holt
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

  Charophytes are non-marine Algae living in a range from fresh to hypersaline water. Some species are restricted to fresh water (0-3 ‰), others can tolerate a small increase in salinity (3-15 ‰) while others can survive under hypersaline conditions, up to 70 ‰. The gyrogonite is the structure of the charophyte that commonly fossilises and represents the calcified cover of the oospore. The study of modern charophytes, and their collection in Australia, allows their use as modern analogues for palaeo-ecological reconstruction. The finding of these taxa in the Quaternary allows also identification of routes of colonisation, i.e. Lychnothamnus barbatus from SE Asia.
The Gulf of Carpentaria, located in the northern part of Australia is an epicontinental sea with maximum water depth of 70 m. Australia's separation from Papua New Guinea by the Torres Strait to the East is only 12 m deep, and the Arafura Sill connecting with the Indian Ocean to the West is 53 m deep. During glacial times when the sea level dropped about 130 m, connection with the ocean was severed and a palaeo-lake called "Lake Carpentaria" developed in the basin. Six sediment cores ranging from 6 to 15 m long where obtained, spanning the last 125 ka (Last Interglacial), and two non-marine/marine transitions have been identified.
The results obtained for the upper six metres of the two longest cores (MD-31 and MD-32) are discussed. The results include the systematic analyses of the assemblages of calcareous microfossils (foraminifers, ostracods and charophytes), and the palaeo-environmental reconstruction based on those taxa. The analyses spans between the time of the last regression (~ 75 ka) up to the last transgression (~ 9.7 ka), including the Last Glacial Maximum time (~ 20 ka). Core MD-31 located in the west of the basin, has a higher topographic position and has been therefore subjected to major fluctuations in lake level, changing from saline lake to freshwater lake to saline lake to a time of highly saline events within dry periods. Core MD-32, collected towards the east of the basin, is located in the deeper part of the basin, and therefore appears to be consistently submerged, so we have a nice sequence of facies from estuarine environment to a saline lake disconnected from the ocean to a freshwater lake. These changes are evident in the palaeo-biota.
Euryhaline taxa such as Ammonia sp., Helenina sp., Leptocythere sp., Cyprideis sp. and Pistocythereis sp., were replaced by an association of Ammonia sp., Helenina sp., Cyprideis sp, and Ilyocypris sp., indicating that salinity diminished. Charophytes are absent in these levels showing that an open connection with the sea is still present. The disconnection of the lake from the ocean increased the freshwater input, and the biota changed to an assemblage of taxa of fresher-water affiliation represented by Ammonia tepida, Ilyocypris sp., Cyprinotus sp., Cypretta, Darwinula sp., together with charophytes.
The species of charophytes present are Chara vulgaris, C. zeylanica, Lamprothamnium sp. and Lychnothamnus barbatus. The main points explored in relation with these species are:
The role of charophytes in the environment: interaction with other organisms Charophytes interact with the environment giving habitat, food and protection to invertebrates. They sustain a clear water state versus turbid water state thereby maintaining the health of water-bodies. Salinity as a main factor for modern species distribution: palaeo-ecological approach C. vulgaris and C. zeylanica are indicative of a water-body with fresh to mesosaline conditions (less than 15 ‰). L. barbatus is restricted to freshwater, and related in Australia to flood-drought events. It is present at ~40ka and the uppermost levels of the lacustrine facies indicating the periods of fresher water conditions.
Geographical distribution: patterns of colonisation in Australia C. vulgaris and C. zeylanica are both cosmopolitan species but the later is restricted to the tropical belt. The finding of fossil Lychnothamnus allows the confirmation of the SE Asian route for colonisation by this species with a Euro-Asiatic distribution, instead of anthropogenic introduction during the past 200 years, as has been postulated.
Climate and human adaptation over the last glacial cycle
Renée Hetherington and Andrew J. Weaver
University of Victoria, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Climate Modelling Group, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada

One of the greatest challenges facing the climate modelling community is to understand the variability of the climate system over the last glacial cycle. An even greater challenge is to understand how climate change affected humans in the past, thereby providing insights into how we might be affected by future climate change. According to the IPCC Climate Change 2001 Synthesis Report, future climate change will affect tens of millions of people living in deltas, low-lying coastal areas, and on small islands where they are at particular risk of “severe social and economic effects from sea-level rise”, storm surges, and increased heavy precipitation (IPCC 2001: 12, 224). Possible, but potentially irreversible large-scale impacts resulting from future climate change include: significant slowing of the ocean circulation that transports warm water to the North Atlantic; reductions in the West Antarctic and Greenland Ice Sheets – potentially raising global sea level up to 3 m each over the next 1000 years; accelerated global warming induced by carbon cycle feedbacks in the terrestrial biosphere; and the release of terrestrial carbon from permafrost and methane from hydrates in coastal systems – further increasing greenhouse gas concentrations and amplifying climate change (IPCC 2001: 224-225).
Large-scale impacts of climate change on coastal zones and marine ecosystems include “increases in sea surface temperature and mean global sea level, decreases in sea-ice cover, and changes in salinity, wave conditions, and ocean circulation” (IPCC 2001:230). Multiyear climate-ocean regimes and switches from one regime to another strongly affect coastal zone productivity, particularly fish populations, significantly impacting coastal communities. The consequences of major climate change are dependent on the vulnerability of human societies and natural systems, and their ability to adapt.
Throughout human history, weather and its climate have influenced the rise, development, persistence, and fall of civilizations. In the past, humans did not have the modern economic or technological wherewithal to rapidly adjust to sudden challenges imposed by climate. Yet humans have persisted. One of the greatest challenges to human adaptability occurred at the transition between Pleistocene and Holocene when populations on all continents faced a changing environment and resource-base coincident with the glacial-interglacial transition. In some regions, advancement in human environmental adaptability was slow to come; in others it resulted in the rapid termination of the foraging way of life, and the advent of agriculture (Straus, 1999). Unfortunately, our understanding of climate and its influence on human adaptive capacity is limited, both during the more stable Holocene, and during periods of rapid transition between fundamentally different climate regimes that commonly occurred over the last 400 000 years (see Clarke et al. 2002).
Although climate change is often used as a key determinant in theories of human evolution, migration, and cultural evolution, critical supporting evidence is lacking. For instance, human migration theory intrinsically implies that limited resources are the impetus behind human migration, forcing people to seek new resources or to follow migrating resources. Although recent palaeoenvironmental research such as that by Hetherington and Reid (2003) and Hetherington and others (2003a,b) assessing the northeastern Pacific continental shelf’s viability as a home for early migrating peoples during the late Pleistocene – early Holocene, and Faure and others (2002) research which implies that emerged continental shelves possessed a changed ecology, climate, pedology, and geology that potentially resulted in “coastal oases”, provide new insights into the viability of continental shelves during the last glacial cycle, detailed estimates of the biome response to a changing climate is lacking. Global biome response estimates are critically important in determining the productivity of regions from which, along which, and to which, early humans migrated. Further they may provide insights into why population explosions occurred when and where they did, why certain physiological or behavioral characteristics changed when and where they did, and in so doing, provide a much needed understanding of the influence of climate change on humans and human response to that change.
Coupled atmosphere-ocean circulation models (GCMs) are frequently used to understand both past, present, and future climate and climate variability. However, the computational expense associated with these models precludes their use for undertaking extensive parameter sensitivity studies. Simple and intermediate complexity climate models such as the UVic Earth System Climate Model (ESCM; Weaver et al., 2001) are designed with a particular class of scientific questions in mind, relying on parametrisations from coupled atmosphere-ocean GCMs, in order to generate first-order sensitivity analyses. By using earth system models to examine past climates and through careful comparison of results with the paleoproxy records, improved confidence is obtained in the use of these same models for future climate change projection.
Modern-day human adaptive capacity has improved through the use of large scale irrigation, fertilization, land and water management techniques, and social support systems. However, neither adaptive capacity nor the consequences of major climate change are spread evenly. It is expected that the impacts of future climate change will fall disproportionately upon non-industrialized countries and poor persons, resulting in increased disparity in well-being between developed (industrialized) and developing (non-industrialized) countries. It is hoped that by combining climate science, geology and archaeology, we will better adapt to what may be Homo sapiens greatest challenge ever.
Clarke, P.U., Pisias, N.G., Stocker, T.F. and Weaver, A.J., 2002. The role of the thermohaline circulation in abrupt climate change. Nature 415: 863-869.
Diamond, J., 1999. Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies. W.W. Norton & Company Inc., New York.
Faure, H., Walter, R.C. and Grant, D.R., 2002. The coastal oasis: ice age springs on emerged continental shelves. Global and Planetary Change 33: 47-56.
Hetherington, R. and Reid, R.G.B., 2003. Malacological insights into the marine ecology and changing climate of the late Pleistocene – early Holocene Queen Charlotte Islands archipelago, western Canada, and implications for early peoples. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81: 626-661.
Hetherington, R. Barrie, J.V., Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R. and Smith, DJ., 2003a. Paleogeography, glacially-induced crustal displacement, and late Quaternary coastlines on the continental shelf of British Columbia, Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews Special Journal Publication, in press, November 2003.
Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V., Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R., Smith, D.J., James, T.S., and Kung, R., 2003b. Late Pleistocene coastal paleogeography of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada, and its implications for terrestrial biogeography and early postglacial human occupation. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, in press, December 2003.
IPCC 2001. Climate Change 2001: Synthesis Report. A Contribution of Working Groups I, II, and III to the Third Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change. Edited by R.T. Watson and the Core Writing Team. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, United Kingdom, and New York, NY, USA, 398 p.
Straus, L.G., 1999. Zooarchaeology of the Pleistocene/Holocene Boundary. Edited by J.C. Driver. British Archaeological Reports S-800, Oxford, UK.
Weaver, A.J., Eby, M., Wiebe, E.C., Bitz, C.M., Duffy, P.B., Ewen, T.L., Fanning, A.F., Holland, M.M., MacFadyen, A., Matthews, H.D., Meissner, K.J., Saenko, O., Schmittner, A., Wang, H. and Yoshimori, M., 2001. The UVic Earth System Climate Model: Model description, climatology, and application to past, present and future climates. Atmosphere-Ocean 39: 361-428.
The environment of late Pleistocene – early Holocene Queen Charlotte Islands archipelago, western Canada and implications for early peoples
1Renée Hetherington, 2J. Vaughn Barrie, 3Robert G.B. Reid, and 2Roger MacLeod,
1University of Victoria, School of Earth and Ocean Sciences, Climate Modelling Group, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada; 2Geological Survey of Canada, Sidney, British Columbia, Canada; 3University of Victoria, Department of Biology, Victoria, British Columbia, Canada;

Despite rapid and sudden changes in sea level during the late Pleistocene – early Holocene, highly productive intertidal zones were available to support an early human coastal culture both in the outer coast environment and in protected bays and estuaries along Canada’s northwest Pacific continental margin. After ~14 000 radiocarbon years before present (YBP) and prior to 12 640 YBP (Archer 1998; Hetherington and Reid 2003; Hetherington et al. 2003a), glacial ice, which had prevented humans from navigating north of the Queen Charlotte Islands (QCI) prior to 14 000 YBP, retreated from Dixon Entrance north of the QCI. Ice-free terrain present by at least 13 790 YBP and edible molluscs dating to 13 200 YBP, demonstrate that open-water conditions and subaerially exposed land was available to provide habitat for plants and animals, and also to coastally migrating early North American peoples (Barrie et al. 1993; Hetherington and Reid 2003; Hetherington et al. 2003a; Hetherington et al. 2003b).
By 11 250 YBP a land bridge connected the QCI with the Canadian mainland, facilitating faunal, floral, and potentially human migration. The emergent land bridge would have required early migrants to travel along the uplifted west coast of the QCI or travel overland, resulting in a similar migration route to that when ice filled Dixon Entrance. The development of subaerially exposed coastal plains and an intermittent land bridge may explain the survival, and may have facilitated the migration of, a large number of QCI endemic and widely disjunct species found on Brooks Peninsula, Vancouver Island.
Reduced coastal zone productivity during a cooler “Younger Dryas” interval between ~10.9 and 10.2 ka BP and the presence of a land bridge likely altered migration and habitat conditions (Hetherington and Reid 2003; Hetherington et al. 2003b) forcing people to migrate greater distances to collect coastal resources and/or expand their reliance on land-based resources. By at least 9.0 ka BP the currently turbulent outer coast region was highly productive and by ~8.9 ka BP edible molluscan biomass densities were within viable commercial harvest levels in southern Moresby Island. Numerous resource-rich coastal zones in Hecate Strait and Queen Charlotte Sound have been cored and dated, and although these would make excellent potential habitation sites for early peoples, many are now drowned and difficult to access. Paleocoastline reconstructions estimate the location of potential and accessible early (pre 10 000 YBP) coastlines where people may have lived, and which are currently located above water.
Archer, D.J.W. 1998. Early Holocene landscapes on the north coast of British Columbia. Paper presented at the 31st annual meeting Canadian Archaeological Association, Victoria, B.C., 14 p
Barrie, J.V., Conway, K.W., Mathewes, R.W., Josenhans, J.W. and Johns, M.J. 1993. Submerged Late Quaternary terrestrial deposits and paleoenvironment of northern Hecate Strait, British Columbia continental shelf, Canada. Quaternary International 20: 123-129. Hetherington, R., and Reid, R.G.B. 2003. Malacological insights into the marine ecology and changing climate of the late Pleistocene – early Holocene Queen Charlotte Islands archipelago, western Canada, and implications for early peoples. Canadian Journal of Zoology 81: 626-661. Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V., Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R. and Smith, D.J. 2003a. Interaction between local tectonics and glacial unloading on the Pacific margin of Canada. Quaternary Science Reviews, in press, November, 2003. Hetherington, R., Barrie, J.V., Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R., Smith, D.J., James, T.S. and Kung, R. 2003b. Late Pleistocene coastal paleogeography of the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia, Canada, and its implications for terrestrial biogeography and early postglacial human occupation. Canadian Journal of Earth Sciences, in press, December 2003.

Submerged coral reefs discovered in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia
1Andrew D. Heap, 1Peter T. Harris, 2Theodore Wassenberg, & 1Vicki Passlow
1 Geoscience Australia, GPO Box 378, Canberra ACT 2601, Australia; 2CSIRO Division of Marine Research, PO Box 120, Cleveland QLD 4163, Australia

We report the discovery of three submerged, living patch coral reefs covering 80 km2 in the southern Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia, an area previously thought not to contain coral bioherms. The patch reefs have their upper surfaces at a mean water depth of 28.6 ± 0.5 m, and were consequently not detected by satellites or aerial photographs. The reefs were only recognised in our survey using multibeam swath sonar supplemented with seabed sampling and video. Their existence points to an earlier, late Quaternary phase of framework reef growth, probably under cooler-climate and lower sea level conditions than today. Submerged reefs with surfaces between 20 to 30 m water depth occur in other regions of the Earth and existing bathymetry indicates they could be widespread in the Gulf. Many tropical regions that today do not support patch or barrier reefs for reasons similar to the modern Gulf, may have done so in the past, when environmental conditions were more suitable. Submerged reefs may provide an important refuge for corals during the next few decades when near-surface reefs are threatened by widespread coral bleaching due to warmer global sea surface temperatures.

Late Quaternary foraminifers, palaeoenvironments and sea-level change in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia
Sabine Holt, Allan R. Chivas and Adriana García
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

Situated on the Australian continental plate, between northern Australia and New Guinea, the Gulf of Carpentaria is a shallow epicontinental sea, with a maximum depth of 70m. It is bordered to the west by the Arafura Sill, 53m below present sea level, and to the east by the 12m deep Torres Strait. During the last glacial cycle at times when sea level was lower than the Arafura Sill, the Gulf of Carpentaria was separated from the Indian and Pacific Oceans, forming Lake Carpentaria.
Six sediment cores were collected from the Gulf of Carpentaria, in water depths ranging from 59m to 68m, effectively spanning the maximum possible extent of the palaeolake. The foraminiferal and sedimentological study of all cores from around the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM) to the present will be presented here.
Benthic foraminifers dominate all assemblages in the Lake and Gulf of Carpentaria. Ammonia spp., Elphidium spp., Asterorotalia spp., Pararotalia spp., Quinqueloculina spp., and Textularia spp., are common in the marine and transitional assemblages, while Helenina anderseni and Ammonia beccarii dominate the lacustrine phase. Rare planktonic species are found in marine-influenced assemblages, mainly Tenuitella spp. and Gallitellia vivans.
Foraminiferal assemblage and sedimentological data are used to construct facies which are constrained by radiocarbon dating. The shallow gradient of the basin ensures a small fluctuation in lake level is accompanied by a large spatial movement of the lake-edge shoreline. It is shown that between around 30ka and 20ka the non-marine Lake Carpentaria decreased from a higher level (with water level as deep as 11m) to around 8m deep, with a resulting decrease in the width of the palaeo-lake of up to 100km, indicating increasing aridity in the area. An increase in salinity is notes with the decreasing water levels. Around 19ka the saline lake began to expand. Around 17ka, increased fluvial and marine input expanded Lake Carpentaria to around 11m deep, and the lake was dominated by the bivalve Corbulidae, the foraminifers Helenina anderseni and Ammonia beccarii and ostracods Cyprideis and Illyocypris. At this time, the areas closer to the coast (the eastern area and depocentre) were fresher and there was some evidence of flooding, while the western margins experienced a marine influence. The fresher Lake Carpentaria persisted with around 11m water depth until the transition to marine conditions, which began around 12ka as sea-level rose over the 53m deep Arafura Sill.

Island shelf sedimentation during the Last Glacial Maximum in the Tasman Sea: Preliminary deep-water coring evidence from Lord Howe Island

1David M. Kennedy, 2Colin D. Woodroffe and 2Brian G. Jones
1School of Earth Sciences, Victoria University of Wellington, PO Box 600, New Zealand; 2School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

Surface water circulation in the Tasman Sea is characterised by the interaction of a range of water bodies originating from the Coral Sea in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south. The Tasman Front, which marks the southern limit of warmer tropical waters, is probably one of the most distinct oceanic boundaries in the sea at present. The front represents the limit of the poleward flowing East Australian Current which traverses the Australian continental margin to approximately 33° south before making a sharp easterly turn. The warmer waters of this current maintain coral reef growth as far as 33°S at Lord Howe Island, the southernmost coral reef in the world. During the LGM the front is thought to have moved north allowing cooler water to permanently encircle Lord Howe. Lord Howe Island has a rhomboidal shaped shelf 24 km wide and 36 km long with an average depth of 50 m deep, and represents the only significant subaerial landmass in the centre of the Tasman Sea. Reef growth has occurred cyclically on the shelf throughout the Late Quaternary, however for the majority of the time it has been subaerially exposed. A shelf of slightly smaller dimensions also surrounds Balls Pyramid 20 km to the south. A piston core was collected from a water depth of 760 m in the trough which separates the two shelves. This core recovered 2.8 m of carbonate sediment composed of fine grained sandy-mud. Preliminary isotope analysis of this core suggests that it extends back through Oxygen Isotope Stages 2 and 3. During this period the shelves would have been periodically inundated during interstadials. Changes within the aragonite/calcite composition suggest a variation in the volume and composition of sediment sourced off the shelves. There is the potential to reconstruct, using the core, a high-resolution record of both oceanic circulation, as it lies at a major oceanographic boundary, as well as carbonate production across a periodically flooded shelf.

Origin of sub-Quaternary relief in the Southern Baltic area
Regina Kramarska
Polish Geological Institute, Branch of Marine Geology, Gdansk, Poland

Relief of sub-Quaternary surface is characterised by many features typical for glacial erosion relief controlled by older geological structures, fault zones, and variable rock resistance. Directions of Pleistocene ice-sheets advance and activity of waters circulating within them was a main morphogenetic factors that influenced on development of the sub-Quaternary surface.
Interpretation of high-resolution seismic data from the Southern Baltic Sea provided new information both on geological structure as well as on relief of sub-Quaternary surface (Kramarska et al., 1999, 2002).
Development of ice-sheets was preceded by vertical tectonic movements and long-lasting erosion in terrestrial environment. Southern Baltic evolved in direct vicinity of Fennoscandian Shield that was subjected to uplifting movements at the end of Tertiary. During the same period Peribaltic Syneclise subsided. Weak deformations resulted in regression and disappearance of Eocene–Oligocene sea. Increased erosion formed wide, slightly inclined towards south planation surfaces. Within these surfaces structural steps, so-called glints, developed, related to outcrops of Devonian, Silurian, Ordovician and Cambrian.
During Neogene terrestrial conditions favoured development of thick weathered covers, especially in uplifted areas. Eroded material was being transported and removed by rivers directed – according to surface inclination – towards the south and south-west. During Pleistocene this removal within present-day Baltic Sea and its surroundings still continued. Eroded weathered covers had maximum thickness (in order of 200 metres) in northern Baltic. Their initial thickness in southern Baltic is estimated in order of 25 metres (Mojski, et al., 1995). Strongest glacial erosion took place in areas of ice lobes. Lowered sub-Quaternary surface in present-day Gdansk Basin and Bornholm Basin is a result of lobes development. These extensive basins built of erosion-prone Tertiary and Cretaceous deposits were formed as a result of lobe development in present-day lower Wisła and lower Odra valleys. Original inclination of pre-Quaternary surface was changed due to glacial erosion.
Tertiary cover and topmost part of Cretaceous were completely removed in Gdansk Basin. Sub-Quaternary surface is located at depth of 140 metres b.s.l. in this area, and is lowered by more then 40 metres in contrast to its western surrounding area. In Gotland Basin sub-Quaternary surface built of Silurian and Devonian reaches depth in order of 110–120 metres b.s.l. and is inclined towards north-east. In Bornholm Basin sub-Quaternary surface reaches depth in order of 100–200 metres b.s.l. Its maximum depth is related to northern, tectonically lowered side of Christiansø Block built of Cretaceous deposits. Tectonics and type of bedrock enabled formation of thick Quaternary cover.
In transitional area between Bornholm Basin in the west, and Gotland and Gdansk Basins to the east, as well as in the coastal zone, sub-Quaternary surface is at depth from 40 to 100 metres b.s.l. Its shallowest part (40–70 metres b.s.l.) is located within Slupsk and Southern Middle Banks, and the deepest (90–100 metres b.s.l.) one – beneath Slupsk Furrow located between these two banks. Activity of glacial erosion in this area was relatively less pronounced and Tertiary deposits were not removed in many places.
Deep incised valleys are another forms of relief superimposed on surface that was formed by glacial erosion. They were formed as a result of strong melt water erosion. Their origin and development was also facilitate by location of fault zones present within the Quaternary substratum. Development of these valleys was also influenced by glacioisostasy.
Incised subglacial valleys are present on entire study area. They are developed best in areas where Quaternary substratum is built of Tertiary, Cretaceous or Silurian. These valleys are oriented mainly NW–SE, sometimes N–S. The latter direction is related to location of major tectonic zones. Average depth of these valleys is dozens metres.
Incised valleys are most prominent in vicinity of shoreline. They cut Tertiary, Cretaceous and Jurassic deposits, and sometimes reach Triassic. They extend towards onshore area. The deepest known valley reach to 341 metres b.s.l.
The subglacial valleys are filled by glacial and fluvioglacial deposits. Present-day bathymetry of Baltic Sea is generally related to glacially eroded sub-Quaternary surface.
Sub-Quaternary relief and main glacial valleys are shown below. Kramarska R., Krzywiec P., Dadlez R., 1999. Geological map of the Baltic Sea bottom without Quaternary deposits. Polish Geological Institute, Gdansk – Warszawa. Kramarska R., Uscinowicz Sz., Zachowicz J., 2002. Cenozoic of the Southern Baltic – selected problems. (Summary in English). Prz. Geol., 50: 709–716. Mojski J.E., et al. (eds.). Geological Atlas of the Southern Baltic. Polish Geological Institute, Sopot-Warszawa.

The Danube deep-sea fan functioning in a freshwater environment during the LGM
1Gilles Lericolais, 1,2Irina Popescu, 3Nicolas Panin, 1Eliane Le Drezen, 1Hervé Nouzé, 1Hervé Gillet and 4Timothy R. Garfield
1IFREMER Brest, DRO/GM, BP 70, 29280 Plouzané, France; 2Geo-Eco-Mar Constanta, 304 Mamaia Blv., 8700 Constanta, Romania; 3Geo-Eco-Mar Bucharest, 23-25 D. Onciu Str., 70318 Bucharest, Romania; 4EXXONMOBIL- 233 Benmar, Houston, Texas, 77060 USA

The Blason2 survey completed the results obtained in 1998 on the Danube deep sea fan in the Black Sea. Principal channels were mapped using multibeam echosounder system together with high-resolution seismic reflection profiles and piston cores. The mosaic realized provided an insight of the complete channel-levee system of the Danube fan. This fan developed probably in a semi-freshwater basin with a water level about 100 m lower than today. Sediments supplied by the Danube were transported to the basin through the Viteaz canyon. Channel avulsion was common in the middle fan. Each phase developed in breaching the thinner left levee, building of a unit of HARP, followed by initiation of a new meandering leveed channel.
This system presents northward migration phases with successive bifurcations influenced by the asymmetry between levees. Locations of HARPs and channels after bifurcation are controlled by the pre-existing bathymetry, confined between the high of the youngest channel-levee system to the south, and the steep relief of the Dniepr fan to the north. The HARP deposits consist of fine-to-very-fine sand with mud clasts. Sparse occurrences of reworked benthic foraminifers indicate a much shallower sediment source while the rare ostracod specimens characterize a semi-freshwater-to-brackish basin.
It seems clear that sea level fluctuation is at the origin of the control of the Danube fan activity but the evolution of the last channel-levee system suggests that the primary control of channel avulsion and sand delivery is probably autocyclic and in that case (freshwater giant lake) only hyperpicnality acts.

The Black Sea as a record of the Younger Dryas climate change
1Gilles Lericolais, 2Nicolae Panin, 3François Guichard, 2Irina Popescu and The BLASON Scientific Crew
1IFREMER, Centre de Brest, BP 70, F29200 Plouzané cedex, France; 2GeoEcoMar, 23-25 Dimitrie Onciul Str , BP 34-51, Bucuresti, Romania; 3LSCE, CNRS-CEA, Avenue de la Terrasse, BP 1, 91198- Gif-sur-Yvette cedex, France

The north-western Black-Sea continental shelf was revisited from April 23rd to May 23rd 1998 within the French-Romanian BlaSON (Black-Sea Over Neoeuxinian) survey on Board the French RV "Le SUROIT". More than 4500 km of multichannel (24) High Resolution (HR) seismic reflection data were acquired in parallel with multibeam echo-sounding (EM1000), monochannel Very High Resolution seismic and Chirp Xstar data. Several hundred of kilometres of seismic have been shot also over the Danube deep sea fan, in strike and dip direction in order to have a general understanding of the sediment supplies from the delta over the Quaternary periods.
The transition of the Black Sea system from a fresh-water lake to a marine environment was perhaps one of the most dramatic Late Quaternary environmental events in the World. It has been proposed that 20,000 years ago the Black Sea was a giant freshwater lake. Till recent studies, the generally accepted picture was that the postglacial warming and melting of ice caps which started 15,000 yr ago, generated a general rise of the sea level. As the Black Sea was in a very close vicinity to the Scandinavian-Russian ice cap, the supply of the melting water from the glaciers into the Black Sea was supposed to be sufficiently important that at approximately 12,000 yr B.P., the level rose up to the Bosphorus sill and even higher (much quickly than in Mediterranean basin). Thus, a large flux of fresh water flowed through the Bosphorus-Dardanelles towards the Aegean Sea and the two-way water exchange was established, starting so the process of transformation of the Black Sea in anoxic brackish sea. Based on results collected on the Ukrainian shelf in 1997, American scientists proposed another theory to comment the re-connection between the Mediterranean Sea and the Black Sea. For these authors, the sill of the Bosphorus was breached by about 7,150 yr B.P. and a catastrophic flooding of the continental shelf of the Black Sea was inferred in the course of global sea-level rise. Saltwater poured through this spillway to refill the lake and submerged more than 100,000 km2 of its previously subaerially exposed continental shelf.
In August 2002, the French research vessel “Le Suroit” equipped with a EM 300 multibeam echosounder and a TritonElics Chirp Sonar mapped the Bosphorus outlet at the shelf edge.
The results show the existence of an important retrogressive canyon incised on the platform and two more recent canyon heads, the incision of which can be followed landward on the shelf in front of the Bosphorus outlet. The direction of these canyon heads being West-East is puzzling. One suggestion is that they may follow a tectonical direction. Coring realized on the platform and then in the canyon itself revealed some megaripples made of shell debris and witnessing a very recent activity.
The results presented here confirm that the Holocene climate modifications in the intercontinental setting of Eastern Europe had a significant implications on the behaviour of the Black Sea sea-level fluctuation. Rare preservation of an intact regressional surface, two-way exchange of water through the Bosphorus and Dardanelles Straits, and impact on the Neolithic population are the major consequences related to reconnection between the Marmara Sea and the Black Sea.

Sedimentary Environmental Changes from Late Pleistocene in Daya Bay, Northern South China Sea
Li Xuejie, Chen Fang and Wang Qun
Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey, Guangzhou510760, Guangdong, China

Daya Bay, adjacent to the eastern Hong Kong in the northern part of the South China Sea, is a big developing bay zoned as the most important nuclear power base in China and scenic spot for tourism industry. It is now on the way to be the most important petrochemical city in the southern China.
The regional mapping for this area started in mid-1980s. Under the auspices of UNDP, a study for engineering development purpose was conducted on the Pearl River Mouth Basin, northern South China Sea and the project produced 9 serial maps covering the most important production area of offshore oil and gas at the scale of 1:200,000. Recently, an integrated coastal EIA (Environmental Impact Assessment) study was initiated in China and Daya Bay became a pilot area.
The analysis of micropaleontology indicates that this area fallen into the catalogue of continental faces before mid-Pleistocene. The environment was variable in late Pleistocene which included 3 periods of brackish environment, while the diatom was dominant by brackish-salt water species, such as Cyclotella striata and Melosira sulcata. The research of sporopollen also evidences that the climate was getting warmer and wetter. It was equal to warm time of deep sea oxygen isotope MIS 5. Only a little sediment of continental face was found in the period from late Pleistocene to earliest Holocene, the most was omitted.
It is worthy to mention that the normal sea environment appeared only from early Holocene because the normal marine fauna, such as foraminifers, nannofossils and ostracoda, the indicator of this environment were found. Analysis of diatom also supports the hypothesis that the water depth was increasing at that time.

Hydrodynamically-driven patterns of the post-LGM sedimentation in the shelf and upper slope off southeast Brazil
1Michel Michaelovitch de Mahiques, 1 Moysés Gonsalez Tessler, 1Ilson Carlos Almeida da Silveira, 1Silvia Helena de Mello e Sousa, 3 Rubens Lopes Figueira, 2Colombo Celso Gaeta Tassinari, 1Aurea Maria Ciotti, 1Valdenir Veronese Furtado, 4Raquel Fernanda Passos
1Institute of Oceanography – University of São Paulo, Brazil; 2Institute of Geosciences – University of São Paulo ,Brazil; 3University Cruzeiro do Sul ,Brazil; 4PhD Student – Institute of Oceanography , Support by Fapesp ,Brazil

Radiocarbon datings and other sedimentological parameters on box-cores were used so as to understand the regional variability of the post-LGM sedimentation rates in the shelf and upper slope of Southeastern Brazilian margin as well as to recognize the main hydrodynamic parameters which are responsible for the depositional patterns found in the area. The whole area exhibits very low sedimentation rates, varying from 5 to 690 mm.kyr-1.
The southern sector of the study area is more influenced by cold waters coming from the southern portion of the South American shelf. These waters occupy the inner portions of the shelf and include La Plata river contribution. The low-salinity content imposes a plume-like character to the flow. The organic fraction revealed an important role played by the primary productivity in the sedimentation. Also, _Nd values indicate that part of the inorganic fraction of the southern sector sediments are allochtonous, probably coming from younger rocks of the Andean chain; reaching the shelf through the La Plata river runoff.
In the northern part, the sedimentation is controlled almost exclusively by the meandering of the Brazil Current. Compositional and isotope bulk organic parameters showed a more complex mixing of terrigenous and pelagic fractions. Also, _Nd values are associated to the precambrian rocks of the Brazilian shield. In its alternation of generation of clockwise and counter-clockwise eddies, the meandering of the Brazil Current can act either as a “floor-polisher”, keeping the outcrop of a relict carbonate facies in the outer shelf , or as a contributor to an area of intense upwelling around 23oS which has a corresponding higher sedimentation rate. In the latter case, it seems that the Cape Frio surroundings, a site associated to an abrupt change in shelf-break orientation, enhance and cause cyclonic meander growth. The circulation associated with this structure, probably intensifies the remobilization of sediments in the middle and outer shelf portions.
This work was financed by the Fundação de Amparo à Pesquisa do Estado de São Paulo (FAPESP) via grant no. 01/01098-7, and by the Conselho Nacional de Desenvolvimento Científico e Tecnológico (CNPq) via grant no. 300650-9.

Coastal Neolithic Cultural Site and the Relative Stand of Middle Holocene Sea-Level along Eastern Coast of Korea
Yong Ahn Park and Soo Jeong Kim
Research Institute of Oceanography, Seoul National University, Seoul 151-742, Korea

The coastal dune deposits containing Neolithic relics have been found in the Moonamni coastal zone of the East Sea, Korea.
The purpose of this research is to establish the late Quaternary stratigraphy of the coastal dune deposit and to elucidate its depositional environment in relation to the relative stand of the middle Holocene sea-level. As a result, the vertical sections of the sediments from three trenches are characterized by three major stratigraphic depositional units of Unit 3, Unit 2 and Unit 1 in ascending order. Unit 3 and 2 can be further divided into tow sub-units . Unit 3 is composed of massive sands in the lower part and muddy sand in the upper part. It is considered that the Unit 3 is a typical dune deposit showing well-sorted sands. Unit 2 is characterized by the cross-bedding, and include archaeological remains such as pottery shards. This unit can be further divided into two sub-units of muddy sand in the lower part and sand in the upper part. Unit 1 occupies the top section and consists of modern dune sediment.
The Neolithic cultural remains would be accumulated in the coastal dune area in relation to dynamic condition of beach system under the high stand of Holocene sea-level at about 7,800~6,500 yr B.P. or so.

Sea/land interaction and shoreline evolution during the Last Glacial Cycle in the Laptev and east-siberian seas
Natalia G. Patyk-Kara
 Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Petrography, Mineralogy and Geochemistry (IGEM RAS) Moscow, Russia

Because of the Eastern-Arctic shelf is extraordinarily flat, palaeo-forms and sediments generated during the Last Glacial Cycle (LGC) are expressed in its relief very distinctly. They are presented by submerged palaeochannels of different length and by series of submerged shorelines of different integrity. These relic subaerial forms and sediments are the most distinct in the offshore and near-shore zone of the Laptev and East-Siberian Seas. In spite of alternative points of views on the LGC history of the Arctic shelf, the viewpoint established the absence of ice cups and existence here of a wide lowland clear of glacial cover is the most proved. This wide lowland was incorporated into. One of the most distinguished features of the palaeo-land was formation of specific subaerial (alluvial-eolian in origin) ice-loamy sediments of the ‘Edoma Suite’ (‘muck’ in Northern Canada) containing thick ice wedges, the volume of which can add up to 50-70 % of sediment volume. In the submerged part of this palaeo-land, the Edoma Suite sediments, when melted and deprived of ice, were re-deposited and formed post-glacial silty and fine-sandy marine sediments.
The current concept is that the shoreline at the LGM (18 ka) was positioned as far as 200-400 km to the north of the recent land limit. In particular, it has been found that, at the LGM (18 ka), the Kolyma valley was elongated by more than 800 m. It ran along the recent coast in a nearly E-W direction to longitude 168o East, then it turned to the north-east along Ay’on Island and can be traced on the floor of the East Siberian Sea shelf to latitude 73o North. In this segment its width reached 50 km. Right-bank tributaries of this palaeo-drainage system were the rivers of the Western and Central Chukotka – the Rauchua River, the Palyavaam River and the Kuvet River, the last two forming a single drainage system. On the recent coastal land, this stage of evolution was marked by overdeepening of valleys which are traced below sea level, and in the offshore – by submerged valleys with terrace complex (up to 2 in the Chaun Bay, after I.G.Vainsberg’s data). At the same time, it should be emphasized that, because of the extraordinary flat and shallow shelf, valley elongation was accompanied by general flattening of their gradients and sediment aggradation which was at a maximum in the middle courses of rivers.
Besides intercontinental Beringia Bridge, there were also some local land-bridges connecting the mainland with island land.
A complex of relic marine forms and sediments is presented by transgressive series of submerged shorelines, of which shorelines at the depth -15, -11-12, -8 m fixing phases of sea level stabilization are the most distinct. They are traced by long-shore accumulative forms, estuarine bars blocking submerged palaeochannels, lagoons, and, more rare, relic wave-cut cliffs. These forms and sediments are the most studied in the eastern part of the East-Siberian Sea, in the Chaun Bay and along the Chukotka coast. The maximum of the post-glacial transgression is marked by the low marine terrace +4-5 m in high, width of which varies from the first metres up to 2-5 km (in river mouths).

Late Quaternary history of lime muds off northwestern India
1V. Purnachandra Rao, 1A. Anil Kumar, 1S.W.A. Naqvi, 2Allan R. Chivas and 3B. Sekar
1National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula - 403 004, Goa, India,2School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; 3Birbal Sahni Institute of Paleobotany, Lucknow - 226 007, India

Lime muds occur abundantly in the stratigraphic record. Identifying the sources of lime muds is important to quantify sediment carbonate budgets and in estimating carbon cycles. As lime muds are produced by several mechanisms their origin has been long debated, it is not always easy to resolve the skeletal or non-skeletal origin of aragonite muds. Lime muds from sediment cores off the northwestern India were investigated to resolve their origin.
Two distinct sediment types occur in five gravity cores collected at water depths between 56 m and 121 m from the northwestern margin of India: lime mud-dominated sediments in the lower section and siliciclastic-dominated sediments in the upper section. In the shelf cores lime muds contain 60% to 75% carbonate and are admixed with terrigenous minerals. Lime muds in the cores at the shelf break contain >95% carbonate. In both settings the median grain size of the lime muds is 5 to 22 m. Aragonite needles are abundant in the lime muds and largely occur as silt-sized aggregates in the form of spheroid and/or ovoid-type particles. Aragonite needles show both blunt edges and pointed ends. Jointed needles and needles wrapped in a smooth aragonite envelope are common. Sr contents of the lime muds (0.6 - 0.8%) are less than that of oolites (0.85 to 0.94%) from the adjacent platform. Stable (O and C) isotope values of the lime muds are, however, closer to, or within the range of that of sedimentary aragonite needles of organic origin. Lime muds dated 17.6 ka to 12.8 ka occur in a core at 56 m water depth off the Gulf of Kachchh, and in other cores their ages at different intervals vary between 16.1 ka and 11.9 ka. We suggest that the lime muds at the shallow shelf are detrital, and most probably reworked from the Gulf and/or tidal flats. The lime muds at the shelf break are most probably an admixture of higher proportions of aragonite derived from the breakdown of codiacean algae and minor aragonite of inorganic origin, transported and deposited at the core sites.

Palaeoenvironments of the Gulf of Carpentaria through the last glacial cycle: Ostracods and isotopes
1Jessica M. Reeves, 1Allan R. Chivas, 1Adriana Garcia, Patrick De 2Deckker 1School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia; 2 Department of Geology, The Australian National University, Canberra, Australia

The modern Gulf of Carpentaria fills a broad, shallow basin, spanning almost ten degrees of latitude from the tropical climate of the north, to the arid Australian interior, covering a surface area of approximately 500 000 km2. It is a warm, shallow sea (maximum depth 70m) fringed by mangroves. Through the last glacial cycle, the Carpentaria region experienced a myriad of environments, ranging from open ocean to a confined lake and was at times completely subaerially exposed. The maximum potential extent of the lake represented a surface area approaching 600 km x 300 km and a depth of about 15m, skewed to the central eastern part of the depression. Evidence of these environments is preserved in the sedimentological, microfaunal and geochemical data obtained from the longest of six cores, MD-32 (14.84 m in length, water depth -64 m), collected from the Gulf in 1997.
This study presents the results of analyses of ostracod species assemblages and shell chemistry from the sediment s of core MD-32. Interpretation of palaeoenvironments is determined by species identification, facies delineation and stable isotope (δ18O, δ13C) analyses. Special attention is given to morphological variation, shell dissolution and other diagenetic effects.
The core is shown to intersect the basin of the past Lake Carpentaria and includes sediments expressing evidence of subaerial exposure. The sequence provides a record of sea-level, hydrologic and climatic change through the last glacial cycle within the Gulf of Carpentaria. The implications of an enclosed lake basin in the area include a land bridge from Australia to Papua New Guinea, both providing a corridor for migrations of people and animals, closure of the throughflow of Pacific and Indian waters across Torres Strait and an increased continental effect on climatic conditions in the region.
Ostracoda are ubiquitous organisms, found in marine, estuarine, continental and hyper-saline waters. Identification of ostracodal assemblages, indicative of ecological facies, allows the palaeoenvironmental reconstruction of areas that have experienced changing aquatic conditions. As with other arthropods, ostracods moult their shells with growth. This occurs up to nine times before reaching maturity, new carapaces being formed within a matter of days. Geochemical analyses of fossil ostracod valves provide data on the ambient water composition, temperature and precipitation/evaporation regimes at the time of shell formation, enabling palaeoclimatic reconstruction. An understanding of ostracod ecology is essential for correct interpretation of the shell chemistry.
Prior to the establishment of Recent marine conditions, core MD-32 may be broadly divided into two sections; a lower marine and an upper non-marine phase. The base of the core has returned dates of around 125 ka by both thermal- and optically stimulated luminescence techniques (Chivas et al., 2001). These dates were obtained from a barren quartzose unit, with evidence of subaerial exposure, overlain by a shallow-marine facies. The sequence suggests sea-level rise associated with the Last Interglacial. The marine phase consists of assemblages varying from restricted estuarine to open shallow marine indicating oscillations of sea-level about the Arafura Sill. The δ18O signature of the marine phase varies around -2‰ (vs. V-PDB), reflecting the vital offset of Neocytheretta spp. from authigenic calcite. The δ13C ratios show wider variation, from -1--5‰ (vs. V-PDB), corresponding to fluctuations in water depth and primary productivity.
The non-marine phase, first evidenced by a concentration deposit, characteristic of a shoreline facies at a core depth of 9.2 m is predominantly composed of euryhaline taxa. The unit, rich in Cyprideis australiensis, shows a very wide spread in both δ18O and δ13C ratios, indicative of wide seasonal variation in a shallow brackish lagoon. Ephemeral conditions, followed by a drying of the basin is apparent, with gypseous laminae and rare fauna from 8.9-6.9 m and iron-mottled quartz, calcareous nodules and ostracods showing dissolution between 6.8-5.6 m.
Water returns to the basin (5.6-4.8 m) before another drying episode and minor incursion of marine waters (4.8-3.8 m), followed by the establishment of lacustrine conditions by 40 ka. Although initially saline and predominantly Na-Cl composition, the lake extends to at least 7 m in depth and perhaps covers as much as 40 000 km2. Both the range of particularly δ 18O values and the occurrence of adult freshwater taxa through this unit (3.7-2.5 m) indicate periodic influence of freshwater.
Dated around the timing of the Last Glacial Maximum, valves from a shell-rich layer at 1.7-1.5 m return δ 18O ratios as high as +5‰ (vs. V-PDB), indicating saline conditions. Following this, the onset of the Australian monsoon is implicated by the appearance of freshwater taxa and lower δ 18O values for Cyprideis within the core before 13 ka. A change in solute composition is also implicated. The sedimentology suggests lake waters reached a maximum just prior to the most recent marine transgression, dated at around 9.7 ka (Chivas et al., 2001).
Chivas, A.R., Garcia, A., van der Kaars, S., Couapel, M.J.J., Holt, S., Reeves, J.M., Wheeler, D.J., Switzer, A.D., Murray-Wallace, C.V., Banerjee, D., Wang, S.X., Pearson, G., Edgar, N.T., Beaufort, L., De Deckker, P., Lawson, E. and Cecil, C.B., (2001). Sea-level and environmental changes since the Last Interglacial in the Gulf of Carpentaria, Australia: An Introduction. Quaternary International 83-85: 19-46.

Palaeogeography of Atlantic Canada 13-0 ka
1J. Shaw and 2C.L. Amos
1Geological Survey of Canada (Atlantic), Bedford Institute of Oceanography, Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, B2Y 4A2, Canada; 2Southampton Oceanography Centre, Empress Dock, Southampton, Hampshire, UK, SO14 3ZH

At 13 14C ka BP there are ridges of high relative sea level (rsl) values over Newfoundland and the Maritime Provinces, and a re-entrant of low values in the Gulf of St. Lawrence. This pattern persists well into the Holocene, and reflects crustal response to the slow wasting of ice caps that persisted in Newfoundland and the Maritime Provinces for up to five millennia after the removal Since the retreat and disappearance of late Quaternary glacial ice cover, Atlantic Canada and adjacent continental shelves have been subject to complex eustatic and glacial isostatic effects. The spatial variation in relative sea level have made it difficult to derive the palaeogeography of large regions. By combining isobase maps with a digital terrain model of Atlantic Canada, the geography of the region from 13 14C ka BP is reconstructed. The palaeogeographic reconstructions reveal the existence of an archipelago on the outer shelf, from Grand Bank to the continent, that persisted from >13 14C ka BP until c. 8 14C ka BP. Much of the Magdalen Shelf was exposed, but the Magdalen Islands were never connected to the mainland. Prince Edward Island was initially separated from the mainland, became connected after 11 14C ka BP, and was separated again just before 6 14C ka BP, when Northumberland Strait formed. We believe that tidal range varied as a result of palaeogeographgic changes, and cite the example of the Bay of Fundy, location of the worlds largest tides (range 16 m). A compilation of data reveals that the large tides developed within the past 4000 years; however, the precise cause of tidal expansion remains unclear.

Stable isotopic compositions of boron in corals as a proxy for monsoon variability.
1P.V.Shirodkar, 2S.A.S.Naqvi, 3Xiao Yingkai and 1R. Nigam
1National Institute of Oceanography, Dona Paula, Goa-403 004, India; 2Centre for Ocean Development, DOD, Port Blair-744 103, Andaman & Nicobar Islands, India; 3Institute of Salt Lakes, Academia Sinica, Xining, Qinghai - 810 008, China

Large variations in boron isotopic compositions (-30 to + 60%o) in nature helped in extensive use of the stable isotopes of boron as tracers of various geochemical processes of the earth and ocean. Here, an attempt has been made to establish a relation between boron isotopes in reef building corals and variations in monsoonal rainfall.
Boron concentrations and isotopic compositions (11B values) have been measured by TIMS from the high density (HD) and low- density (LD) seasonal bands of coral samples from the lagoon of Kiltan atoll. The high-density bands pertained to monsoon seasons and low density bands to non-monsoon seasons during the period 1985 to 1987. The measured 11B values vary from 21.6 to 24.0 %o and indicate a positive, linear variation with respect to boron concentrations showing a variation from 27- 43 ppm.
The HD band of each monsoon season shows higher 11B values as compared to LD bands of the non-monsoon season. The variation in 11B values of monsoon and non-monsoon seasons have been attributed to changes in pH of lagoon water which affect the speciation of boron. The 11B values of both, HD and LD seasonal bands, indicate higher values with a minor difference in 1985, low values with marginal or no difference in 1986 and high to low values with a significant difference in 1987. The relationship of 11B values with monsoonal rainfall indicated low rainfall in 1985, moderate in 1987 and high in 1986 and is consistent with IMD's daily weather record of rainfall for these years in Lakshadweep. This suggest that 11B values can be used as a proxy for monsoonal variability.
Evolution of a barrier estuary following the last glacial maximum: Lake Illawarra, NSW, Australia
Craig R. Sloss and Brian G. Jones
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia
Valley-fill sequences, preserved in topographic lows associated with incised valley systems, potentially preserve a record of Holocene sea level fluctuations. A detailed litho- and chrono-stratigraphy of the Holocene barrier estuary, Lake Illawarra, New South Wales has been constructed. Forty kilometres of seismic surveys, forty-one vibracores, supplemented by auger drill holes and trenches, and faunal analysis provides the data for this investigation. A detailed chronology of the infilling of the barrier estuary has been established using 130 aspartic acid derived ages and six radiocarbon ages. The results provide a detailed chronology for the deposition of marine transgressive deposits, barrier growth, and the subsequent development of the estuarine back-barrier environment. The results from Lake Illawarra indicate that the generalised evolution of the barrier estuary occurred in five geomorphologically distinct phases associated with rising sea levels following the last glacial maximum (LGM).
Stage One: During the LGM sea levels on the NSW south coast were estimated to be ca. 120 m below present mean sea level. During the lowstand in sea level, fluvial activity extended across the continental shelf and resulted in fluvial incision on the subaerially exposed continental shelf during the Late Pleistocene. Fluvial incision resulted in the development of a dendritic drainage network, within the incised valley system, that cut through the Pleistocene barrier at the present location of Korrongulla Swamp, Lake Illawarra (Fig. 1a).
Stage Two: The second stage of the evolution of the Lake Illawarra barrier estuary is represented by the deposition of a transgressive sand sheet over the Late Pleistocene erosional surface. Inundation of the antecedent incised valley system by rising sea levels during the post-glacial marine transgression (PMT), and the subsequent Holocene sea level highstand, resulted in the deposition of a medium- to coarse-grained transgressive sand sheet between ca. 7.9 ka and ca. 5 ka (Fig. 1b). This represents a youthful stage in the development of the estuarine succession prior to barrier development, with the system operating as a drowned river estuary.
Stage Three: The third stage of the evolution of Lake Illawarra is represented by the growth of the sand barrier during the Holocene sea level highstand and the deposition of cohesive estuarine mud in a low-energy back-barrier lagoon (ca. 5 ka to ca. 3.2 ka). During this stage of evolution, the northern inlet became less efficient at moving marine sediment into the lagoon, and tidal sand flats were spatially restricted proximal to the present barrier system. The restriction of open oceanic influence and the growth of the barrier facilitated the deposition of fine-grained silty estuarine mud in the back-barrier lagoon. Deflation of the southern barrier and closure of the northern inlet occurred during this stage of evolution. With the further development of Windang Barrier to the north and restriction of the northern inlet near Korrongulla Swamp, the inlet channel migrated south to its present location ca. 3.2 ka. The locus of the fluvial bay-head deltas would still have been farther inland than the present western lagoon margin, as indicated by the presence of older estuarine mud facies underlying fluvial deposits farther up the palaeovalleys (Fig. 1c).
Stage Four (3.2-2.0 ka): The migration of the inlet channel to its present location at Windang and the further restriction of oceanic water circulation caused by a 1-2 m drop in sea level resulted in the extension of the central lagoonal facies from the deeper portions of the incised valley system to a more extensive basin wide depositional environment. It was also during this stage that the main fluvial deltas started prograding over the older estuarine sequence into the present lagoonal basin as sea level fell and the upper reaches of the valleys filled rapidly because of decreasing accommodation space (Fig. 1d).
Stage Five (2 ka to present, Fig. 1e): Stage five represents the infilling of the barrier estuary from ca. 2.0 ka to present and is represented by prograding fluvial bay-head deltas along the western lake margin, and the restriction of the Windang tidal inlet. This stage also represents relatively modern morphological changes and accelerated sedimentation associated with recent fluvial progradation induced by land clearing and urbanisation. In contrast to the fluvial-influenced depositional environment, the marine-influenced depositional environment has been relatively inactive over the last 200 years.

Fine grain sediment populations and heavy mineral assemblages from two laterally extensive coastal sand sheets, southeastern Australia: A depositional signature for large-scale washover deposits attributed to tsunami?
Adam D. Switzer, Rabea A. Haredy, Kevin Pucillo, Brian G. Jones
School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong

Quaternary deposits at Dunmore rest in the sheltered northern arm of the larger Minnamurra coastal basin that is cut into an underlying porphrytic mafic volcanic unit. An extended period of marine dominated back-barrier sedimentation was truncated by the deposition of two laterally extensive sandsheets that drape the entire back-barrier succession. It is unlikely that these deposits are the purely the result of higher Holocene sea levels as they are geographically unique and sedimentologically distinct from transgressive sands associated with early Holocene sea level change.
The lower sandsheet contains significant amounts of Spinifex sp., broken shell material and mudclasts suggesting that the seaward barrier was subject to significant overwash, mixing barrier material with estuarine sediments. A second sandsheet overlies the first and shows considerable chaotic lateral and vertical textural and compositional variation. Both sandsheets incorporate a number of erosional structures, such as ripped-up soil clasts, cobbles and organic-rich sand and share similar grain size variation throughout a number of graded, massive and muddy sand sub-facies. The upper sandsheet is distinctly younger because it is separated from the lower sandsheet by a poorly developed soil. Although both sand sheets are dominated by fine- to medium-grained quartz sand a small consistent modal peak of silt is present throughout 95% of samples analysed. It is hypothesized that this secondary mode is the product of shelf sediments incorporated into the unit during deposition.
Provenance and spatial distribution of heavy minerals were investigated in the Minnamurra estuary, sandsheets of the northern embayment and the adjacent shelf. Heavy mineral assemblages in the sand fractions (63-250µm) of 124 sediment samples were assessed using microscopic and microprobe analyses. In addition to the dominant opaque minerals, twelve translucent heavy minerals species were identified. The translucent assemblage is dominated by pyroxene, zircon, tourmaline and hornblende and identifies multiple sources that are not restricted to the local geology. Cluster analysis of the mineralogical and sedimentological data show similarities in facies between the mid-estuary and the outer part of the inner-shelf. In addition, heavy minerals content of the sand sheets were clustered with samples from these two facies. Samples from this group are characterised by high zircon-tourmaline-rutile (ZTR) index, especially zircon and tourmaline, the highest abundance of (epidote+andalusite+garnet) and low augite, hornblende, carbonate, and the coarsest mean grain size.
Both sandsheets in the upper part of the embayment-fill succession appear characteristic of those emplaced by large-scale washover deposition as they contain predominantly marine sediments, unconformably drape the estuarine fill sequence and up to 3 km inland of present oceanic influences. A possible scenario that explains the marine nature of the sediments and both the second mode of silt and heavy mineral assemblages is two late-Holocene tsunami that were capable of transporting fine- medium-grained sediments from the shelf and incorporating them into the sand sheets. Subsequent erosion of the sand sheet has incorporated the heavy mineral assemblage into the local creek system where they accumulate in the mid-estuarine sediments.

The Baltic Sea floor morphology as a result of glacial erosion and marine processes
Szymon Uscinowicz, Regina Kramarska, Joanna Zachowicz
Polish Geological Institute, Branch of Marine Geology, 5 Koscierska St., 80-328 Gdansk, Poland

In the bathymetric picture of the Southern Baltic, two morphometrically distinct areas may be distinguished: a deepwater area and a shallow water area. They are separated by a gentle slope, the width and angle of which depends on its local geological structure and genesis.
Long lasting denudation processes at the end of Tertiary and beginning of Pleistocene as well as glacial erosion during the Pleistocene are responsible for origin of Baltic depression and strongly reduced profile of Tertiary and Pleistocene deposits. The main features of present day relief of the sea floor is a result of glacial erosion and marine erosion during the Holocene transgressions.
Tertiary deposits in the area of the Southern Baltic occur on a large areas, but represents only some parts of total stratigraphic column (Kramarska et al., 1999).
Quaternary is represented by deposits of younger Pleistocene — mainly by tills of Wartanian and Vistulian glaciations and all sequence of Holocene (Kramarska et al., 1995; Uscinowicz, 1999). Pleistocene. Wartanian tills are the oldest known deposits of this age occur at the edges of basins and in shallow water zone. In the deepwater zone (basins) Wartanian till were mainly eroded during the last glaciation and are preserved only subglacial channels. Older Vistulian till occur only very locally, similar like interpleniglacial sediments known from northern part of the Odra Bank area. The youngest till occur in the deep basins and are not known in the shallow water areas where were eroded during the Middle Holocene transgression. Fluvioglacial deltas related to the last deglaciation occur on the Slupsk Bank and Southern Middle Bank. To the end of Pleistocene are related sandy clayey sediments of ice dammed lakes as well as varved clays and microlaminated clay – sediments of Baltic Ice Lake – the first stage of the Baltic Sea occurred in the deep water basins.
Holocene is separate for deepwater basins, where continuous sedimentation occurred and for shallow water areas affected by Holocene transgressions. In deepwater basins lower member of Holocene is represented by clays of early stages of the Baltic Sea development (Yoldia Sea and Ancylus Lake). Upper member forms Middle and Late Holocene muds of Litorina and Post Litorina Seas. In shallow water zone lower member of Holocene consist limnic, deltaic and swampy sands, muds and peats. Those sediments were eroded on large areas during transgressions. Upper member of Holocene in shallow water areas is represented by marine sand, often with a gravely layer at the base. Total thickness of the Holocene clay and mud in deepwater basins reach 7-15 m. Thickness of sands is smaller and only locally exceed 3 m. Bigger thickness of marine sand is related only to remains of submerged barriers or to the recent barriers.
As a result of overlapping marine erosion and accumulation processes on glacial relief different morphologic areas occur on present day sea floor: accumulation plains in deep water basins, erosional and erosional-aggradational plains in shallow water areas. Glacial relief in deep water basins is covered by marine sediments. In shallow water areas occur only remains of glacial relief generally destroyed by marine erosion.
Kramarska R., Krzywiec P. & Dadlez R., 1999 – Geological map of the Baltic Sea bottom without Quaternary deposits 1:500 000. Polish Geological Institute, Gdansk–Warszawa. Kramarska R., Uscinowicz Sz. & Zachowicz J., 1995 – Quaternary. in: J., E., Mojski et al. (eds.). Geological Atlas of the Southern Baltic. Polish Geological Institute, Sopot-Warszawa: 22-30. Uscinowicz Sz. 1999 – Southern Baltic area during the last deglaciation. Geological Quarterly 43 (2): 137-148.

Vegetation and landscape development in the Gulf of Carpentaria area during the last Glacial Cycle
1Sander van der Kaars, 2Allan R. Chivas and 2Adriana García
1Centre for Palynology and Palaeoecology, School of Geography and Environmental Science, Monash University, VIC 3800, Australia; 2School of Earth and Environmental Sciences, University of Wollongong, NSW 2522, Australia

Palynological analyses of marine core MD-32 from the Gulf of Carpentaria provide a detailed record of vegetation and landscape change during the last Glacial Cycle. Four distinct phases are present.
A lake, most likely restricted, ephemeral and brackish, and surrounded by open vegetation dominated by grasses was present during the final part of the penultimate glacial. The transition to full marine conditions coincides with variability in vegetation cover and lake salinity. The onset of the lower marine interval is characterised by the establishment of extensive mangroves and freshwater swamps rich in sedges and grasses, while woodland, open forest and rainforest cover was significant. Subsequently mangrove and swamp cover declined, rainforest cover increased substantially. Warm and humid conditions prevailed during this period.
Following this marine phase, is a long and complex terrestrial phase that comprises periods of swamp and lake development. After an initial reduction in forest cover and the presence of extensive Typha swamp vegetation, the early part of this phase sees the establishment of substantial freshwater swamps rich in grasses and sedges, considerable presence of woodland, open forest and rainforest vegetation. This is followed by a reduction in forest cover and the subsequent establishment of an extensive Typha swamp and the formation of a permanent lake surrounded by open swamp vegetation dominated by grasses and sedges. The lake may have been brackish initially, but eventually becomes fresh. Forest cover is relatively low and shows high variability, and appears to have been dominated by woodlands and open forests. Although variable, generally drier or more seasonal climatic conditions are suggested for this phase.
The upper marine phase is characterised by a limited expansion of mangrove cover, the presence of open freshwater swamps and significantly increased wood and open forest cover.
The Holocene is only partly represented in the MD-32 record. A better coverage of the Holocene was obtained in the adjacent core MD-28 and this record was used for comparison of Eemian and Holocene conditions. The most conspicuous difference in vegetation composition between these two periods is a much lower representation of rainforest taxa and especially rainforest gymnosperms in the Holocene, with the virtual extinction of Araucariaceae. At present it is unclear if this vegetation change was caused by people, climate, a combination of both or other environmental factors, but it is anticipated that improved chronological control for the MD-32 record may help to resolve this question.
Anthropogenic impacts on the northern South China Sea continental shelf off Hong Kong Wyss
W.-S. Yim
Department of Earth Sciences, The University of Hong Kong, Pokfulam Road, Hong Kong SAR, China

Anthropogenic impacts on the continental shelves of the world are increasing at an alarmingly fast rate mainly through sustainable economic development and population growth. In this paper, selected anthropogenic impacts in the northern South China Sea continental shelf off Hong Kong are examined.
These include:
(1) Destruction of the natural coastline Over 10% of the present total land area of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region or an area of ca. 150 km2 has been created through coastal land reclamation over the past three centuries. As reclamation move progressively into the deeper parts of the continental shelf, more layers of marine deposits are encountered. In the recently completed new Hong Kong International Airport, marine deposits of Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 9 have been identified.
(2) Exploitation for non-living resources Non-living resources exploited include fill and energy resources. During the peak construction stage of the new Hong Kong International Airport in 1995, 75 % of the world’s dredging fleet operated in Hong Kong. The sand and gravel deposits recovered from the seabed were of MIS 6 and older glacial periods. Since the mid-1980s, the outer continental shelf southeast of Hong Kong has been developed into a productive oil and gas field.
(3) Exploitation for living resources The continental shelf is heavily exploited for living resources. Based on trawl marks identified by side-scan sonar, trawling is carried out to a depth of about 100 m below present sea level. The coastal zone is also used for mariculture on a large scale.
(4) Shipping related disturbances and contamination Because of heavy shipping activity in Hong Kong, shipping related disturbance and contamination is particularly evident on the inner shelf. Magnetic susceptibility studies of cores have revealed that the seafloor sediments down to 5 m below surface are contaminated by rust fragments originating mainly from ships.
(5) Offshore waste disposal The continental shelf is used for the disposal of both contaminated and uncontaminated constructional wastes. In 1999, the marine disposal of sewage sludge was discontinued. Currently, if constructional wastes are found to exceed the limit set for a number of metals, they are disposed of in designated borrow areas where they are isolated through burial by non-contaminated materials.
(6) Submarine pipelines and telecommunication cables The construction of submarine pipelines and telecommunication cables in the northern South China Sea has skyrocketed over the past twenty years mainly because of rapid economic growth in the region. A dense network of pipelines and cables now exists on the seafloor.
The future of continental shelves is gloomy because the majority of the anthropogenic impacts are irreversible. A regressive-transgressive sea-level cycle is needed to redress the situation based on what is learnt from sea-level changes in the past.

Geological, pollen and diatom indicators of the Holocene transgression in the southern Baltic lagoonal system
Joanna Zachowicz, Szymon Uscinowicz, Grazyna Miotk-Szpiganowicz
Polish Geological Institute, Branch of Marine Geology, Gdansk, Poland

The Polish Baltic Sea coastline is 500 km long, of which 72 km is the Hel Peninsula coastline. Several shallow lagoons have been formed in the coastal zone during Middle Holocene transgression. The biggest are Szczecin Lagoon on the western Polish coast and Vistula Lagoon on the east.
The Szczecin Lagoon is separated from the Pomeranian Bay by sandy Swina Barier, the back-delta of the Swina river and two morainic uplands on Wolin and Uznam islands.
The Szczecin Lagoon is connected with Pomeranian Bay by three narrow straits: Dziwna, Swina and Piana. The total area of the Szczecin Lagoon is 687 km2. A total discharge of the river water to the lagoon is ca. 478 m3/s. The Szczecin Lagoon is a shallow water body whose average depth is ca 3.5 m and natural depth does not exceed 8.5 m. Almost half (48.3%) of its surface area encompasses bottom within the depth range 4–6 m (Wypych 1980).
The Gulf of Gdansk is located in the south-eastern part of the Baltic Sea. An area of the Gulf is ca. 5,000 km2, and the maximum water depth is 108m. The north-western and eastern parts of the Gulf coast are fringed by spits and lagoons. Since 1895 the Vistula River is directly discharged into the Gulf on average ca. 1000m3/s. During the historical times also part of Vistula river waters was discharged to the Vistula Lagoon. Other smaller rivers flow into the Gulf via lagoons.
The Puck Lagoon lies in the north-western part of the Gulf of Gdansk. On the north-east, the Puck Lagoon is separated from the Gulf by the narrow (100-200m) Hel Peninsula with low dunes and on the east, by a partly submerged sandy barrier (Seagull Barrier). An area of the Puck Lagoon is 104 km2. A total discharge of the river water to the Lagoon is ca. 10 m3/s (30 times smaller than to the Vistula Lagoon). The water exchange between the Puck Lagoon and the Gulf of Gdansk occurs mainly in artificially dredged channels. The bottom of the Puck Lagoon, whose average depth is ca. 3 m shows several morphological patterns like depressions with max. depth 5.5 m, 5.7 m and 9.2 m. and elevations with depth around 1-2 m (Nowacki 1993).
The Vistula Lagoon is situated on the eastern coast and it is separated from the Gulf of Gdansk by a sandy barrier of the Vistula Spit with high dunes up to 30 m height. An area of the Vistula Lagoon is 838 km2. A total discharge of the river water to the Lagoon is ca. 300 m3/s. Till 1914, a part of the Vistula River waters also flowed to the Lagoon. The Pilava Strait connects the Vistula Lagoon with Gulf of Gdansk. The bottom of the Vistula Lagoon is flat with an average depth ca. 3 m. and it is mainly covered by muddy sediments. Sands occur only in a narrow belt along the coast (Uscinowicz, Zachowicz 1986)
The Szczecin Lagoon
Szczecin Lagoon area was dominated during the Late Glacial, Preboreal, Boreal Periods mainly by fluvial and also by marshy, swampy and limnic environments. The beginning of marine transgression into the Szczecin Lagoon is marked by well developed sandy layer with Cardium glaucum, Hydrobia ventrosa, H. ulvae and H. baltica shells. The beginning of sandy layer deposition started c. 6.2 ka BP. There are no pollen grains and diatoms in this layer. Till to the beginning of Subboreal Period Szczecin Lagoon had a wide connection with the Baltic Sea and was a part of the Pomeranian Bay. During the Subboreal Period the Świna Barrier developed and separates the Szczecin Lagoon from Pomeranian Bay. The beginning of lagoonal mud deposition is related to this event. Lagoonal mud contain pollen grains typical for Subboreal and Subatlantc Periods and freshwater or brackhis diatoms. Malacofauna of lagoonal mud is dominated by freshwater taxa including Bithynia tentaculata, Valvata piscinalis and Viviparus sp. (Borówka et al. 2001).
The Vistula Lagoon
Deltaic and lagoonal deposits because of an intensive accumulation in the Vistula River Delta Plain filled up the westernmost and southernmost parts of the lagoon. A thickness of the lagoonal muddy deposits varies from 2 to 10 m. On the lagoonal shore of the Vistula Spit overflow cones of large thickness was formed during heavy storms. The main source of the suspended matter accumulated in the Vistula Lagoon and of the sand built-up in the Vistula Spit was the Vistula River. The Vistula Barrier is older then Świna Barrier. The beginning of Vistula Barrier as well as beginning of lagoonal mud deposition is pallynologically and radiocarbon dated to the Middle Atlantic period (Zachowicz 1985, Bogaczewicz-Adamczak, Miotk 1985). Below the lagoonal mud occur fluvial, limnic and swampy deposits of Atlantic and older age. In opposite to Szczecin Lagoon there is no marine sand bellow the lagoonal mud. It’s means that Vistula Lagoon had never been the bay of the Baltic Sea.
The Puck Lagoon
The Puck Lagoon is a transitional form between Szczecin and Vistula Lagoons. The deepest part of the lagoon (Kuznica Hollow) was influenced by marine transgression in the Middle Atlantic Period. Sandy marine layer is present in that part of the lagoon below the lagoonal mud. Other, shallower parts of the lagoon, from the Late Glacial to the end of Atlantic Period, was dominated by marshy, swampy and limnic environments. Sandy and muddy sediments with organic mud and peat inserts originated. At the beginning of the Subboreal Period, the sea entered into the almost all Puck Lagoon area, and freshwater lakes were transformed into a brackish lagoon. On the northern east shores of the Puck Lagoon, numerous overflow cones, which were formed when the Hel Peninsula has been broken during heavy storms, occur. A very thin layer of the recent sands mainly covers the Lagoon bottom because a supply of the suspended mater by rivers and streams is small. In many places, there are outcrops of peat, and limnic gytja. The occurrence of muddy and sandy-muddy sediments is restricted only to the deepest parts of the lagoon. According to pollen and diatoms spectra the beginning oh lagoonal mud deposition started at the end of Atlantic Period (Witak, Witkowski 1993, Kramarska et al. 1995).
Differences in the age and sedimentary process between the Szczecin Lagoon, Puck Lagoon and Vistula Lagoon are related to a different relief of a palaeodepositional surface and an amount of the supplied sediments. The Lagoons were dominated during the Late Glacial, Preboreal, Boreal Periods by the marshy, swampy and limnic environments. The beginning of mud deposition is a little different in discussed lagoons and depends for the age of barrier development. The large thickens of muds in the Szczecin and Vistula Lagoons depends from inflow of big rivers Odra and Vistula. A small amount of mud in Puck Lagoon is related to lack of big rivers in that area.
The geological data and core profiles (14C datings of a peat and lagoonal mud, micro- and macrofauna and pollen and diatom analyses) indicate that the southern Baltic Lagoons development occurred under the conditions of the slightly ceasing transgression.

Bogaczewicz-Adamczak B., Miotk G., 1985: From biostratigraphical studies of the Vistula Lagoon. Peribalticum III. 113-127
Borowka K.R.; Osadczuk A.; Witkowski A. 2001: Late Glacial and Holocene stages of the Szczecin Lagoon development. In: A.Witkowski & W.Kowalski (ed) 15. Treffen Deutschsprachiger Diatomologen: pp. 6–12.
Borowka K.R.; Osadczuk A.; Witkowski A.;Wawrzyniak-Wydrowska B.; 2001: The deposit sequences of the Szczecin Lagoon. In: A.Witkowski & W.Kowalski (ed.) 15. Treffen Deutschsprachiger Diatomologen: pp. 13–33.
Kramarska R., Uscinowicz Sz., Zachowicz J. 1995: Origin and evolution of the Puck Lagoon. Journal of Coastal Research, Special Issue 22: 187–191.
Nowacki J. 1993: Morfometria Zatoki. In: K. Korzeniewski (ed.) Zatoka Pucka. Instytut Oceanografii Uniwersytetu Gdanskiego, Gdansk: 71-78.
Uscinowicz Sz., Zachowicz J., 1996: Geochemical Atlas of the Vistula Lagoon. Panstwowy Instytut Geologiczny, Warszawa
Witkowski A., Witak M. 1993. Budowa geologiczna dna Zatoki. In: K. Korzeniewski (ed.) Zatoka Pucka. Inst. Oceanografii Uniwersytetu Gdanskiego, Gdansk: 309-315.
Wypych K., 1980: Osady denne Zalewu Szczecinskiego. W: A. Majewski (ed.) Zalew Szczecinski. Instytut Meteorologii i Gospodarki Wodnej. Wydawnictwa Komunikacji i Lacznosci. Warszawa: 54–72.
Zachowicz J., 1985: From biostratigraphical studies of sediments from Vistula Lagoon. Peribalticum. 97-111.

  POSTERS

Human activity in relation to Late Holocene coastal changes of the Puck Lagoon.
            Szymon Uscinowicz, Joanna Zachowicz, Grazyna Miotk-Szpiganowicz  
Paleoenvironment of the Late Quaternary Pacific margin of Canada: influence on americas’ first humans.
            Hetherington, Renée, Barrie, J. Vaughn, Reid, R.G.B., MacLeod, R.

Carbonate sedimentation on Australia's Western Margin Lindsay B. Collins
Marine isotope stage 5 terraces and coral biohermes at Las Animas, Baja California Syr, Mexico
Teresa De Diego-Forbis, Robert G. Douglas, Enrique Nava Sanchez, Jay Banner, Lawrence Mack, Donn S. Gorsline


BUSINESS MEETINGS

1st   2nd   3rd


  1st Business Meeting – held on 14 December at 9:30am.


Allan Chivas, the local organiser formally opened the annual conference of IGCP-464 and welcomed delegates to Wollongong. 44 researchers from 12 countries were attending the meeting.. He resumed the state of the project that was funded up to 8,900US$ for the thirs year. In 2004 the project held two regional meetings (Europe and N.America), and a short course was given in India by A.Chivas.

Francesco L. Chiocci reported that the total  number of participants arose to 335 from 37 countries. All these personally espressed their interest in participating in/beeing informed of the activities of the IGCP464. He expressed the view that the wealthy state of the  project is demonstrated not only by the regional meetings held in 2004 but also by the fact taht after the cancellation of the venue in New Zealand, decided by the local organisers, the Project was able to re-organise a conferenze in a very short time (thanks were given to Allan Chivas and Adriana Garcia), just before Christmas holidays, in a quite remote and expensive location. The fact that it was attended by a large number of rersearchers that evidentely have a very thight liason with this initatiave.

Szymon Uscinowicz reported the European Regional meeting hels in May in Jastarnia (Gdansk, Poland).
The meeting has been a very successful, bringing together nearly 50 researchers from 13 countries, mainly from Scandinavia, Eastern and Central Europe, but also from Italy, France, Portugal, Australia and Argentina. The topic of the conference was “rapid transgression on semi-enclosed basins” and cases from the Baltic (mainly), Black Sea, Gulf of Carpenteria, and other smaller basins were presented and discussed in 21 talks and 15 posters. A second aspect was the interaction between humans and environmental changes on the coast. A field trip concluded the five-day long conference organized by the Polish Geological Institute, Branch of Marine Geology.

Renèe Hetherington reported on the North-American regional Meeting, that was held in May as a special session within the annual 2003 GAC-SEG-MEG conference in Vancouver. The session, organized by Reneè Hetherington (University of Victoria) and Vaughn Barrie (Geological Survey of Canada) was aimed to highlight paleoenvironmental and paleogeographical evolution of the northeastern Pacific margin. Eight talks were given by North American researchers, and the session was succesfull with people standing in the room..

Allan Chivas spoke about the short course he gave  in Goa on stable isotopes in marine envirnment at the Conference of the Indian Society for Mass Spectrometry.

The Agenda of the further busines meeting was set-up, and Francesco L. Chiocci presented the possible 4rth annual conference, to be held in 2004 in Italy, just aftr the IGC Congress in Florence. There will be the possibility to have an oceanographic ship to be used for the field-trip, so that the conference may begin Rome and then move to a volcanic island on the Tyrrhenian Sea. Goods and inconveniences of this possibility were highlighted. A full discussion was postponed to the second business meeting.

The meeting closed at 10:45

2nd Business Meeting – held o at 16:00

1. Fourth Annual Meeting in Italy

According with a general concern that the attendence to IGCP464 plus to the International Geological Congress will result in a quite long period, it was decided, a) to have the conference in Rome and then move to Ponza Island only for the filed trip. This possibility is subject to the approval of the request of funding issued by F.L.Chiocci to University of Rome. Thus it will be possible for delegates not able to attend for a long period only participate to scientific sessions. b) to explore the possibility to rent a house for the IGCP 464 participants both in Florence and in Rome, to reduce the costs of the accomodation that are likely to very high.
A possible calendar was set-up, with scientific session from Aug 29 to 31 and field trip (and short couses) in the following days.

2. CHANGES/INQUA

Wyss Yim spoke about the CHANGES program (www.shef.ac.uk/changes) whose first official presentation was at the INQUA Congress held in Reno (Nevada, US) in July 2003. CHANGESurges IGCP 464 participants to provide data to buil-up the database.
In Reno INQUA underwent a re-organistaion, A commission in marine processes was established. It is subdivided in three sub-commisions on coast, shelf and deep sea. Wyss Yim was elected as president of the shelf sub-comminsion. In this respect he proposed joint activities with IGCP464, and the proposal was warmly welcomed by the participants, even if not specific plans were made so far.

3. Short Courses

Following the discussion held ay the second annual Conference, a request of expression of interest was advanced to IGCP participants; a dozen of countries expressed their intterest in having IGCP464 couses, offering logistic help, advertising of the short courses among their national cscientific communities, and possibly the meightbouring countries as well.
The countries that expressed their interest in the short courses were Argentina, China, Nigeria, Tanzania, Brazil, Poland, Korea, India, ............
A detailed request to UNESCO to fund such an initatiative will be prepared by Project's leaders

4. National representatives

A formal comunication was recived by the indian National representative, indicating in Faruque (Calcuta) the national representative for IGCP 464. He leads a national group that alrteady held two meetings. The Project welcomed this fact, noting however that these researchers did not had the occasion to participate to the annual conferences of the IGCP464; despite this fact, researchers from National Oceaonographic Institure in Goa, particiapted to conferences, as well organised a short course in 2004.

As far as Canada is concerned, due to the fact that Heiner Johansons was not able to attend the last meetingas and the great initaitave shown by Hetherington in the project's activities (leading a working group, organiser of a regional meetinhg in 2004), a proposal was advanced of having two national represenattives for Canada, for the western and eastern coast. Such proposal will be submitted to Heiner, whose participation is warmly waited by the IGCP464 particpants.


5. Future IGCP-464 Meetings

A decison was taken for the IGCP464 session at the International Geological Congress in Florence, allowing only five oral presentation. To illustrate the project's activities, the working group leaders (Gilles Lericolais, Allan Chivas, Wyss Yim, Renèe Heteherington) were requested to present the result of  their researches in the subjects of (respectively) Physical Stratigraphy, Chemical strratigraphy, applied aspects (Carbon cycle in particular) and Impacts on humans of the environmental changes on the shelf. The project's leaders will also give a speech on the state of the project and of the activities occurred so far. It was also decided that the researches that will be presented in the Following IGCP-464 annual conference, could be presented also as posters at the IGC in Florence. A email message was therefore immediately sent to all the participants, urging them to accomplis the IGC deadline (that was delayed to Jan.18), for abstract submission to session T05.03.

As the annual conference was held very late in 2003 and the joint IGC-IGCP464 conferences will adsorbe a large of time and econimic effort, it was decided tnot to haverfegional meetings in 2004.
Rather for 2005, there is a proposal for a south-american regional meeting in La Plata, Argentina(organised by R.Violante and L. Cavallotto) and an other in Russia, possibly in St. Petersbourg, organised by Natassia Patik-Cara. Thise latter meeting could be focused in placers and other  economic aspects of the continental shelf deposits.
No decisions were taken for the last-year annual conference, tought to be held in Africa, to complete the range of continents that held the annual meetings.




3rd Business Meeting – held on 15 December at 16:00

Project’s outcome

The third meetimg was essentailly devoted to the preparation of the two books that were envisaged at the second annualconference as the main outcome of the Project. A very large and detailed discussion  occurred, with the main concern relying on the actual feasibility of the prepareation of two books.
The author's name were discussed and some change was mad on book's outline, as follow


CONTINENTAL SHELVES DURING LAST GLACIOEUSTATIC CYCLE (BOOK 1)
Data acquisition methods, interpretation and applications


INTRODUCTION
  • Relevance of the shelves
  • Geology of the shelves
  • Mechanisms of sea-level change

DATA ACQUISTION METHODS
  • High-resolution seismics + other geophysical methods
    (lericolais, chiocci, shaw)
  • Sediment sampling and non-destructive core analysis
    (Prins, Michjel contact)
  • Geochemical studies (Chivas)
  • Sedimentary petrography, including microfabric analysis (Tovey)
  • Palaeontological studies (Garcia and Sanders)
  • Geotechnical studies 
  • Dating techniques (Chivas)
  • Applications of GIS to shelves and modelling (Hetherington and Shaw)
  • Sea-floor imaging
  • Modelling
  • Sediment sampling and non-destructive core analysis
    (Prins, Michjel contact)
INTERPRETATION


APPLICATION
GLOSSARY




CONTINENTAL SHELVES DURING LAST GLACIOEUSTATIC CYCLE (BOOK 2)
Shelfes of the world

Western Pacific
1 Pacific Canada (+Alaska) Hetherington
2 Pacific US Gorsline
3 Pacific central America
4 Pacific South America

Eastern Pacific
5 Eastern Australia Chivas
6 New Zealand Naish??
7 Indonesia
8 Korea/Thailand/Vietnam Park
9 China Yim / Li
10 Japan Saito
11 Pacific Russia Patik-Cara
12 Pacific Islands Lindsay

Indian ocean
13 Thayland/Indonesia/..
14 Eastern India Faugre
15 Western India Goa
16 Arabic Gulf/ Persian Gulf
17 Eastern Africa
18 South Africa

Western Atlantic

19 Western Africa
20 Atlantic Iberia Vigo
21 Atlantic France Gilles
22 Ireland, UK, Norway Tovey

Eastern Atlantic
Western Canada Shaw, Heiner
Western US
Caribbean Venezuela
Brazil Michel, Figuereido, Testa
Argentina Violante

Enclosed atlantic basins
North-Western Mediterranean Chiocci Lericolais
North-Eastern Mediterranean
South Mediterranean
Baltic Sea Szimon
Caribbean Sea

Arctic
Eurasia Patik-Cara, Polnyak
America

Antarctica
Western
Eastern



PARTICIPANTS


Paolo A. Abballe
 Universita di Roma (currently at Univ. of Wollongong)
 Italy
 PAOLO@uow.edu.au
Chiara Altobelli
 Universita di Roma (currently at Curtin University, Perth)
 Italy
 chiara.altobelli@uniroma1.it
Brendan Brooke
 Geoscience Australia, Canberra
 Australia
 Brendan.Brooke@ga.gov.au
Laura Cassata
 Universita di Roma (currently at Curtin University, Perth) Italy

Dioni Cendon
 University of Wollongong
 Australia
 dcendon@uow.edu.au
Francesco L. Chiocci
 Universita di Roma
 Italy
 francesco.chiocci@uniroma1.it
Allan R. Chivas University of Wollongong
 Australia
 toschi@uow.edu.au
Simon Clarke
University of Wollongong
 Australia
 sjc03@uow.edu.au
Lindsay Collins
 Curtin University, Perth
 Australia
 L.Collins@curtin.edu.au
Martine Couapel
 University of Wollongong
 Australia
 mjjc01@uow.edu.au
Chen Fang
 Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey
China
Daryl Fedje
 Parks Canada
 Canada
 Daryl.Fedje@pc.gc.ca
Alberto Ferrin
 Universidad de Vigo
 Spain
aferrin@uvigo.es
Adriana Garcia
 University of Wollongong
 Australia
 adriana@uow.edu.au
Chris Gouramanis
 Australian National University
 Australia
 Christos@geology.anu.edu.au
Rabea A. Haredy
University of Wollongong
 Australia
 rah99@uow.edu.au
Andrew Heap
 Geoscience Australia, Canberra
 Australia
 Andrew.Heap@ga.gov.au
Renee Hetherington
 University of Victoria
 Canada
 reneehet@ocean.seos.uvic.ca
Sabine Holt
 University of Wollongong
 Australia
 sh06@uow.edu.au
Brian Jones
 University of Wollongong
 Australia
 bjones@uow.edu.au
Dianne Jolley
 University of Wollongong
djolley@uow.edu.au
David Kennedy
 Victoria University, Wellington
 New Zealand
 David.Kennedy@vuw.ac.nz
Regina Kramarska
 Polish Geological Institute, Gdansk
 Poland
 rkramarska@pgi.gda.pl
Gilles Lericolais
 IFREMER, Brest
 France
 Gilles.Lericolais@ifremer.fr
Xuejie Li
 Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey
 China
  xuejli@21cn.com
Michel de Mahiques
 Instituto Oceanografico de Sao Paulo
 Brasil
mahiques@io.usp.br
Yong A. Park
 Seoul National University
 South Korea
 yap@plaza.snu.ac.kr
Natasha Patyk-Kara
 Institute of Geology of Ore Deposits, Moscow
 Russia
 Pkara@igem.ru
Shirodkar Prabhaker
 National Institute of Oceanography, Goa
 India
shirod@csnio.ren.nic.in
Jessica Reeves
 University of Wollongong
 Australia
 jmr07@uow.edu.au
R.V.Purnachandra Rao
National Institute of Oceanography, Goa
India
vprao@darya.nio.org
John Shaw
 Canada Geological Survey
 Canada
 john.shaw@nrcan.gc.ca
Natalie Sinclair
 GA/The Australian National University, Canberra
 Australia
 Natalie.Sinclair@ga.gov.au
Craig Sloss
 University of Wollongong
 Australia
 crs03@uow.edu.au
Adam Switzer
 University of Wollongong
 Australia
 ads05@uow.edu.au
Szymon Uscinowicz
 Polish Geological Institute, Gdansk
 Poland
 suscinowicz@pgi.gda.pl
Sander van der Kaars
 Monash University, Melbourne
 Australia
 Sander.vanderKaars@arts.monash.edu.au
Qun Wang
 Guangzhou Marine Geological Survey
 China
 wangqun168@21cn.com
David Wheeler
 University of Wollongong
 Australia
 dwheeler@uow.edu.au
Daniel Wilkins
 The Australian National University
 Australia
 Daniel.Wilkins@csiro.au
Wyss Yim
 The University of Hong Kong
 China
 wwsyim@hkucc.hku.hk
Martin Young
 The Australian National University
 Australia
 marty@geology.anu.edu.au
Joanna Zachowicz
 Polish Geological Institute, Gdansk
 Poland
 jzachowicz@pgi.gda.pl
 




PHOTOS

GROUP PHOTO
first day fieldtrip1 second day fieldtrip1
 Other
fi rst day fieldtrip2 secon day fieldtrip2
 Other
first day fieldtrip 3 s econd day fieldtrip3
 Other




























































UNAUTHORIZED PICTURES

Chopstik show/1
 Chopstik show/2
 Underground
 Others
They are making him up   (Chiocci)
Polish sea horse (Uscinowicz)
 		Monster Lericolais***
Monster honorary advisor
Italian sea horse*** (Tropeano)
Polish sea horsess *** (Zachowicz)
 Sleeping Torra
Tired people return home
Argentina sea horsess (Garcia)
Brazilian sea horse (de Maquies)
 		Courious Heterington
Who is the true chinese waiter?
Australian sea horse (Chivas)
 		Italian sea horse (Chiocci)
 		Strange couple
Sticky Rice (le riz coulè)