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Stratigraphic and Tectonic Implications of Uranium-Series-Dated Coral Reefs from Uplifted Red Sea Islands

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Chi Trach Hoang  and
Marco Taviani
Chi Trach Hoang
Affiliation:
Centre des Faibles Radioactivités, Laboratoire mixte CNRS-CEA, Domaine du CNRS, 91198 Gif sur Yvette Cedex, France
Marco Taviani
Affiliation:
Istituto per la Geologia Marina del CNR, via Zamboni 65, 40127 Bologna, Italy
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Abstract

Corals from raised reef terraces on two islands (Zabargad and Northern Brother), considered to have been tectonically uplifted in connection with the Red Sea rifting, were dated with the U-series method. At Zabargad, there are at least three systems of raised coral reefs. The oldest terrace (>290,000–300,000 yr B.P.) is found at +10 to +15 m. A 200,000 yr B.P. high-sea stand is recorded by a terrace relict at +17 m on peridotite bedrock; the youngest system (125,000–138,000 yr B.P.) is very well represented around the island, with terraces at about +6 to +8 m. Corals from Northern Brother yield ages of 132,000–135,000 and 204,000 yr B.P. suggesting the existence of two systems of interglacial raised reefs. Both islands appear to have been tectonically quite stable since at least 125,000 yr B.P.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 35 , Issue 2 , March 1991 , pp. 264 - 273
Copyright
University of Washington

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