New constraints on the origin of the Australian Great Barrier Reef: Results from an international project of deep coring

Research Article| June 01, 2001 New constraints on the origin of the Australian Great Barrier Reef: Results from an international project of deep coring International Consortium for Great Barrier Reef Drilling International Consortium for Great Barrier Reef Drilling 1No affiliation available Search for other works by this author on: GSW Google Scholar Author and Article Information International Consortium for Great Barrier Reef Drilling 1No affiliation available Publisher: Geological Society of America Received: 28 Aug 2000 Revision Received: 31 Jan 2001 Accepted: 19 Feb 2001 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Online ISSN: 1943-2682 Print ISSN: 0091-7613 Geological Society of America Geology (2001) 29 (6): 483–486. https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0483:NCOTOO>2.0.CO;2 Article history Received: 28 Aug 2000 Revision Received: 31 Jan 2001 Accepted: 19 Feb 2001 First Online: 02 Jun 2017 Cite View This Citation Add to Citation Manager Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn Email Permissions Search Site Citation International Consortium for Great Barrier Reef Drilling; New constraints on the origin of the Australian Great Barrier Reef: Results from an international project of deep coring. Geology 2001;; 29 (6): 483–486. doi: https://doi.org/10.1130/0091-7613(2001)029<0483:NCOTOO>2.0.CO;2 Download citation file: Ris (Zotero) Refmanager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search All ContentBy SocietyGeology Search Advanced Search Abstract Two new boreholes provide the first direct evidence of the age of the Australian Great Barrier Reef. An inner shelf sequence (total depth, 86 m; basal age = 210 ± 40 ka) comprises a dominantly siliciclastic unit (thickness ∼52–86 m), overlain by four carbonate units (total thickness 0–34 m). A shelf-edge and slope sequence (total depth 210 m) reveals three major sections: (1) a lower section of resedimented flows deposited on a lower slope, (2) a mid-section including intervals of corals, rhodoliths, and calcarenites with low- angle graded laminae, and (3) an upper section of four shelf- margin coral-reef units separated by karst surfaces bearing paleosols. Sr isotope and magnetostratigraphic data indicate that the central Great Barrier Reef is relatively young (post Brühnes-Matuyama boundary time), and our best estimate for the onset of reef growth on the outer barrier system is ca. 600 ± 280 ka. This date suggests that reef initiation may have been related to the onset of full eccentricity-dominated glacio-eustatic sea-level oscillation as inferred from large-amplitude "saw-tooth" 100 k.y. δ18O cycles (after marine isotope stage 17), rather than to some regional environmental parameter. A major question raised by our study is whether reef margins globally display a similar growth history. The possibility of a global reef initiation event has important implications for basin to shelf partitioning of CaCO3, atmospheric carbon dioxide levels, and global temperature change during Quaternary time. You do not have access to this content, please speak to your institutional administrator if you feel you should have access.