Subtropical sea-level history from coral microatolls in the Southern Cook Islands, since 300 AD

Abstract

Relative sea-level (RSL) history is reconstructed for the Southern Cook Islands since 300 AD using Porites sp. coral microatolls. The upper surface or height of living coral of the modern microatolls on Rarotonga was rigorously determined by 400 laser survey measurements to be constrained by the sea-level - 0.36 m (below Mean Sea Level) with a standard deviation of ± 0.008 m, that is equivalent to midway between Mean Low Water Neaps and Mean Low Water Springs tidal datums. Fossil microatoll history on the fringing reefs is fragmentary due to multi-decadal to centennial windows of microatoll growth, cyclone destruction, and preservation through coastal progradation. The mid-late Holocene high..