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Uranium-Series Ages of Marine Terrace Corals from the Pacific Coast of North America and Implications for Last-Interglacial Sea Level History

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Daniel R. Muhs ,
George L. Kennedy  and
Thomas K. Rockwell
Daniel R. Muhs
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, MS 974, Box 25046, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225
George L. Kennedy
Affiliation:
U.S. Geological Survey, MS 974, Box 25046, Federal Center, Denver, Colorado 80225 Department of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182-0337
Thomas K. Rockwell
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, San Diego State University, San Diego, California 92182-0337
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Abstract

Few of the marine terraces along the Pacific coast of North America have been dated using uranium-series techniques. Ten terrace sequences from southern Oregon to southern Baja California Sur have yielded fossil corals in quantities suitable for U-series dating by alpha spectrometry. U-series-dated terraces representing the ∼80,000 yr sea-level high stand are identified in five areas (Bandon, Oregon; Point Arena, San Nicolas Island, and Point Loma, California; and Punta Banda, Baja California); terraces representing the ∼125,000 yr sea-level high stand are identified in eight areas (Cayucos, San Luis Obispo Bay, San Nicolas Island, San Clemente Island, and Point Loma, California; Punta Bands and Isla Guadalupe, Baja California; and Cabo Pulmo, Baja California Sur). On San Nicolas Island, Point Loma, and Punta Bands, both the ∼80,000 and the ∼125,000 yr terraces are dated. Terraces that may represent the ∼105,000 sea-level high stand are rarely preserved and none has yielded corals for U-series dating. Similarity of coral ages from midlatitude, erosional marine terraces with coral ages from emergent, constructional reefs on tropical coastlines suggests a common forcing mechanism, namely glacioeustatically controlled fluctuations in sea level superimposed on steady tectonic uplift. The low marine terrace dated at ∼125,000 yr on Isla Guadalupe, Baja California, presumed to be tectonically stable, supports evidence from other localities for a +6-m sea level at that time. Data from the Pacific Coast and a compilation of data from other coasts indicate that sea levels at ∼80,000 and ∼105,000 yr may have been closer to present sea level (within a few meters) than previous studies have suggested.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 42 , Issue 1 , July 1994 , pp. 72 - 87
Copyright
University of Washington

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