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Early Holocene paleoseismic history at the Pakarae locality, eastern North Island, New Zealand, inferred from transgressive marine sequence architecture
Author(s) -
Wilson Kate,
Berryman Kelvin,
Cochran Ursula,
Little Tim
Publication year - 2007
Publication title -
tectonics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 2.465
H-Index - 134
eISSN - 1944-9194
pISSN - 0278-7407
DOI - 10.1029/2006tc002021
Subject(s) - transgressive , geology , sedimentology , holocene , paleontology , estuary , marine transgression , sea level , sediment , structural basin , oceanography , facies
Early Holocene transgressive marine deposits infilling the Pakarae River paleovalley are used to extend the paleoseismic history of the Pakarae River locality, East Coast, North Island, New Zealand, back in time prior to eustatic sea level stabilization at ∼7 calibrated (cal) ka B.P. Paleoenvironmental evolution of the Pakarae River paleovalley from 7 to 10 cal ka B.P is reconstructed using sedimentology and biostratigraphy. Two estuarine units display sudden vertical transitions to floodplain sediments implying significant marine regressions and estuary abandonment. These regressions are attributed to coseismic coastal uplift events at ∼9000 and ∼8500 cal years B.P. A third uplift between 8500 and ∼7350 cal years B.P. is inferred from a significant difference between the amount of sediment preserved and the predicted sediment thickness according to the eustatic sea level curve. This study demonstrates the utility of the analysis of transgressive deposits and their paleoenvironmental characteristics for neotectonic investigations on active coasts.