Journal article
Holocene emergence history of Tongatapu island, south Pacific
Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, Vol.39(1), pp.69-95
1995
Abstract
Underthrusting of the Pacific Plate beneath the Tonga Ridge, from which the limestone islands of Tonga (including Tongatapu) rise, has been responsible for their late Pleistocene uplift. Field survey on Tongatapu suggests that, contrary to earlier views, uplift continued during the Holocene. Most evidence is erosional (emerged notches, a shore platforms) and this is most plentiful along the island's high (windward) coasts. Nine emerged shorelines named Liku-1 to Liku-9 are identified. Analysis of the elevations of these shorelines and the intervals between them suggests that coseismic-uplift events with a recurrence time of around 869 years and associated with uplift magnitudes around 0.74 m are responsible for emergence here. Late Holocene uplift average 1.6 mm/yr. The effect of late Holocene sea-level fall can be detected in the emergence data. A higher-than-present sea level (not necesarily a maximum) of 1.77 m existed 3500 yrs BP. Evidence for Holocene uplift comparable to that found in southern Tongatapu is not found along the island's north coast. -from Authors
Details
- Title
- Holocene emergence history of Tongatapu island, south Pacific
- Authors
- Patrick Nunn (Author)F T Finau (Author)
- Publication details
- Zeitschrift fur Geomorphologie, Vol.39(1), pp.69-95
- Publisher
- Gebrueder Borntraeger Verlagsbuchhandlung
- Date published
- 1995
- DOI
- 10.1127/zfg/39/1995/69
- ISSN
- 0372-8854
- Organisation Unit
- Indigenous and Transcultural Research Centre; Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; School of Social Sciences - Legacy; University of the Sunshine Coast, Queensland; School of Law and Society; Sustainability Research Cluster
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 99451161602621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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