Hostname: page-component-848d4c4894-hfldf Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-06-02T06:42:56.563Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Holocene Sea-Level Changes Along the Strait of Magellan and Beagle Channel, Southernmost South America

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

Stephen C. Porter ,
Minze Stuiver  and
Calvin J. Heusser
Stephen C. Porter
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
Minze Stuiver
Affiliation:
Quaternary Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington 98195
Calvin J. Heusser
Affiliation:
Department of Biology, Box 608, New York University, Tuxedo, New York 10987
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Radiocarbon-dated marine sediments from five coastal sites along the Strait of Magellan and Beagle Channel in southernmost Chile permit construction of a curve of relative sea-level fluctuations during the Holocene. Morphologic and stratigraphic data point to coastal submergence during the early Holocene as the sea rose to a maximum level at least 3.5 m higher than present about 5000 yr ago. Progressive emergence then followed during the late Holocene. Data from widely separated localities define a smooth curve, the form of which is explainable in terms of isostatic and hydroisostatic deformation of the crust resulting from changing ice and water loads. Apparently anomalous data from one site located more than 100 km behind the outer limit of the last glaciation may reflect isostatic response to deglaciation. The sea-level curve resembles one derived by Clark and Bloom (1979, In “Proceedings of the 1978 International Symposium on Coastal Evolution in the Quaternary, Sao Paulo, Brasil,” pp. 41–60. Sao Paulo) using a spherical Earth model, both in amplitude and in the timing of the maximum submergence.

Type
Research Article
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 22 , Issue 1 , July 1984 , pp. 59 - 67
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Auer, V. (1950). Las capas volcanicas como base de la cronologia postglacial de Fuegopatagonia Revista de Investigaciones Agriculturas 3 49 208 Google Scholar
Auer, V. (1951). Preliminary results of studies on the Quaternary geology of Argentine Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae Series A 3 No. (25) Google Scholar
Auer, V. (1956). The Pleistocene of Fuego-Patagonia. Part I: The ice and interglacial ages Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae Series A 3 45 Google Scholar
Auer, V. (1959). The Pleistocene of Fuego-Patagonia. Part III: Shoreline displacements Annales Academiae Scientarium Fennicae Series A 3 60 Google Scholar
Auer, V. (1965). The Pleistocene of Fuego-Patagonia. Part IV: Bog profiles Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae Series A 3 80 Google Scholar
Auer, V. (1970). The Pleistocene of Fuego-Patagonia. Part V: Quaternary problems of southern South America Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae Series A 3 100 Google Scholar
Auer, V. (1974). The isorhythmicity subsequent to the Fuego-Patagonian and Fennoscandian ocean level transgressions and regressions of the latest glaciation Annales Academiae Scientiarum Fennicae Series 3 115 Google Scholar
Clark, J.A. Bloom, A.L. (1979). Hydro-isostasy and Holocene emergence of South America Proceedings of the 1978 International Symposium on Coastal Evolution in the Quaternary Sao Paulo, Brasil 41 60 Sao PauloGoogle Scholar
Clark, J.A. Farrell, W.E. Peltier, W.R. (1978). Global changes in postglacial sea level: A numerical calculation Quaternary Research 9 265 287 Google Scholar
Deevey, E.S. Jr. (1959). Yale natural radiocarbon measurements IV American Journal of Sciences Radiocarbon Supplement 1 144 172 Google Scholar
Holdgate, M.W. (1961). Man and environment in the South Chilean islands Geographical Journal 127 401 414 Google Scholar
Klein, J. Lerman, J.C. Damon, P.E. Ralph, E.K. (1982). Calibration of radiocarbon dates: Tables based on the consensus of the Workshop on Calibrating the Radiocarbon Time Scale Radiocarbon 24 103 150 Google Scholar
Markgraf, V. (1980). New data on the late and postglacial vegetational history of “La Misión”, Tierra del Fuego, Argentina Proceedings of the IV International Palynological Congress, Lucknow, India (1976–1977) Vol. 3 68 74 Google Scholar
Pearson, G.W. Pilcher, J.R. Baillie, M.G.L. (1983). High precision 14C measurements of Irish Oaks to show the natural 14C variations over the period 200 B.C.-4000 B.C. Radiocarbon 25 179 186 Google Scholar
Stuiver, M. (1982). A high-precision calibration of the A.D. radiocarbon timescale Radiocarbon 24 1 26 Google Scholar