Late Quaternary cycles of mangrove development and decline on the north Australian continental shelf

Mangrove communities in the Australian tropics presently occur as narrow belts of vegetation in estuaries and on sheltered, muddy coasts. Palynological data from continental‐shelf and deep‐sea cores indicate a long‐term cyclical component of mangrove development and decline at a regional scale, whic...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of quaternary science 1999-08, Vol.14 (5), p.465-470
Main Authors: Grindrod, John, Moss, Patrick, Kaars, Sander Van Der
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
mangroves
palynology
Quaternary cycles
Citations: Items that this one cites
Online Access:Get full text
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
Description
Summary:Mangrove communities in the Australian tropics presently occur as narrow belts of vegetation in estuaries and on sheltered, muddy coasts. Palynological data from continental‐shelf and deep‐sea cores indicate a long‐term cyclical component of mangrove development and decline at a regional scale, which can be linked to specific phases of late Quaternary sea‐level change. Extensive mangrove development, relative to today, occurs during periods of marine transgression, whereas very diminished mangrove occurs during marine regressions and during rarer periods of relative sea‐level stability. Episodes of flourishing mangrove cannot be linked to phases of humid climate, as has been suggested in studies elsewhere. Rather, the cycle of expansion and decline of mangrove communities on a grand scale is explained in terms of contrasting physiographic settings characteristic of continental‐shelf coasts during transgressive and regressive phases, in particular by the existence, or lack, of well‐developed tidal estuaries. Copyright © 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
ISSN:0267-8179
1099-1417
DOI:10.1002/(SICI)1099-1417(199908)14:5<465::AID-JQS473>3.0.CO;2-E