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First Evidence for Onshore Marine Isotope Stage 3 Aeolianite Formation on the Southern Cape Coastline of South Africa

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First Evidence for Onshore Marine Isotope Stage 3 Aeolianite Formation on the Southern Cape Coastline of South Africa This is a repository copy of First evidence for onshore marine isotope stage 3 aeolianite formation on the southern Cape coastline of South Africa. White Rose Research Online URL for this paper: http://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/141248/ Version: Accepted Version Article: Carr, A.S., Bateman, M.D. orcid.org/0000-0003-1756-6046, Cawthra, H.C. et al. (1 more author) (2019) First evidence for onshore marine isotope stage 3 aeolianite formation on the southern Cape coastline of South Africa. Marine Geology, 407. pp. 1-15. ISSN 0025-3227 https://doi.org/10.1016/j.margeo.2018.10.003 Article available under the terms of the CC-BY-NC-ND licence (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Reuse This article is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs (CC BY-NC-ND) licence. This licence only allows you to download this work and share it with others as long as you credit the authors, but you can’t change the article in any way or use it commercially. More information and the full terms of the licence here: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/ Takedown If you consider content in White Rose Research Online to be in breach of UK law, please notify us by emailing [email protected] including the URL of the record and the reason for the withdrawal request. [email protected] https://eprints.whiterose.ac.uk/ Final version at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322718302834?via%3Dihub 1 First evidence for onshore Marine Isotope Stage 3 aeolianite 2 formation on the southern Cape coastline of South Africa. 3 Andrew S Carr1*, Mark D. Bateman2, Hayley C Cawthra3,4, Judith Sealy5 4 5 1: School of Geography, Geology and the Environment, University of Leicester, University Road, 6 Leicester LE1, 7RH 7 2: Department of Geography, University of Sheffield, Winter Street, Sheffield S10 2TN, UK 8 3: Council of Geoscience, PO Box 572, Bellville 7535, South Africa 9 4: African Centre for Coastal Palaeoscience, Nelson Mandela University 10 5: Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town, Private Bag X3, Rondebosch, 7701, Cape Town, 11 South Africa 12 *corresponding author: [email protected] tel +44 (0)116 2523851 1 Final version at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322718302834?via%3Dihub 13 Abstract 14 The southern Cape coast of South Africa boasts an impressive suite of Plio-Pleistocene aeolian dune 15 deposits (aeolianite). Previous research has shown that in this region onshore dune accumulation was 16 generally focused around interglacial sea level highstands, with the locus of coastal dune accumulation 17 shifting onto the adjacent continental shelf during glacial sea level lowstands. Here, using new 18 luminescence dating results, we present the first evidence for preserved onshore glacial age dunes. 19 Specifically, on the Robberg Peninsula, a rocky headland 28 km east of Knysna, two phases of aeolianite 20 formation are identified, corresponding to early (45-60 ka) and late (35-30 ka) marine isotope stage (MIS) 21 3. Subsequently, during the Holocene, all substantive dune accumulation occurred between 10.2 and 7.0 22 ka, forming cliff-fronting dunes and filling the limited accommodation space on the headland, including 23 an archaeological rock-shelter. Combining these ages with bathymetric data, we infer that this distinct 24 onshore glacial age aeolianite record reflects: 1) restricted accommodation space during sea level 25 highstands; 2) a regional narrowing of the continental shelf, and 3) liberation of sediments lying on a 26 prominent -45 to -60 m offshore terrace, which would have been exposed during MIS 3. This demonstrates 27 that despite broad regional-scale trends in the timing of coastal aeolian activity - driven by commonalities 28 in relative sea level trends and climate - distinct local variations in late Quaternary coastal evolution can 29 be identified. This is ascribed to local controls on preservation (accommodation space) and sediment 30 supply (shoreline position and antecedent offshore sediment supplies). Such findings may have wider 31 implications for interpretations of site context/resource availability at several notable coastal 32 archaeological sites, and more broadly suggest that local offshore or onshore geologic contexts can at 33 times assume greater influence on a preserved coastal aeolianite record than the regional-scale trends in 34 sea level and climate. 35 Keywords: coastal dune, sea level, luminescence dating, Holocene, Pleistocene, archaeology 2 Final version at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322718302834?via%3Dihub 36 1. Introduction 37 The passive margin southern Cape coast of South Africa (Figure 1) preserves an impressive record of Plio- 38 Pleistocene sea-level change and associated coastal dune formation. The latter comprises extensive suites 39 of carbonate-cemented aeolian dunes (“aeolianite”) (Roberts et al., 2011; 2013). Coastal aeolianites are 40 typically associated with temperate carbonate shelves (Brooke, 2001) and, considered globally, the 41 southern Cape aeolianites are particularly extensive and well-studied, with some of the largest examples 42 preserved as the ~200 m high barriers of the Wilderness Embayment (Martin, 1962; Tinley, 1985; 43 Illenberger, 1996; Bateman et al., 2011; Figure 1). Aeolianites are widespread from Cape Town (Roberts 44 et al., 2009) to Port Elizabeth and are formally mapped as the Cenozoic Bredasdorp Group (Malan, 1989). 45 They tend to young in a seaward direction (Roberts et al., 2008), with deposits near the contemporary 46 coastline largely dating from the middle Pleistocene to the Holocene (Roberts et al., 2008; 2013). The 47 widespread application of optically stimulated luminescence (OSL) dating has created a relatively detailed 48 picture of the links between the sea-level change and past episodes of onshore coastal dune/aeolianite 49 accretion (Bateman et al., 2004; Carr et al., 2007; Roberts et al., 2008; Bateman et al., 2011; Roberts et 50 al., 2012; 2013; Cawthra et al., 2012; 2014; 2018). There are now more than 100 published OSL ages for 51 southern Cape aeolianites. The resulting emplacement timings and dune types are inferred to broadly 52 reflect the interplay between sediment supply (mediated by relative sea-level change), underlying 53 geological/topographic controls, which determine shoreline positions through time (Bateman et al., 54 2011), and climatic controls (via vegetation cover) on the propensity for dunes to migrate inland or be 55 stacked vertically (Roberts et al., 2009). The coastline is considered to have experienced limited tectonic 56 activity (and associated vertical motion) during the middle-late Pleistocene (Roberts et al., 2012). 57 Most phases of dune/aeolianite formation preserved onshore are associated with relatively high 58 sea levels prior to, during and immediately after interglacial sea level highstands, particularly marine 3 Final version at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322718302834?via%3Dihub 59 oxygen isotope stages (MIS) 11, 7, 5e, 5c and 5a (Bateman et al., 2004; Roberts et al., 2008; 2012; Carr et 60 al., 2010; Bateman et al., 2011). The need for a proximal shoreline sediment source is implied and indeed 61 amino acid racemisation analyses have further demonstrated the importance of nearshore sediment 62 reworking during highstands for the construction of barrier dune systems (Roberts et al., 2008). On the 63 southern Cape, sea levels repeatedly attained similar elevations which, combined with a relatively humid 64 climate, promoted the vertical accretion of coastal dune systems, as opposed to extensive inland 65 migration (Illenberger, 1996; Roberts et al., 2009). This limited landward migration of dunes is thought to 66 account for an absence of onshore dune ages from glacial periods (i.e. MIS 4-2), when the sediment 67 source, and thus locus of net dune accumulation, tracked southwards onto the continental shelf (Birch et 68 al., 1978; Martin and Flemming, 1986; Cawthra et al., 2012; 2014; 2018). 69 70 Somewhat different coastal dune/aeolianite records are seen elsewhere. On the KwaZulu-Natal 71 coastline (South Africa), for example, last interglacial coastal dune systems were both weathered (de- 72 calcified) and in places reworked during MIS 2 (Botha et al., 2003; Porat and Botha, 2008). Further afield, 73 and in contrast to South Africa, aeolian reworking of exposed continental shelf sediments has been 74 invoked to account for MIS 3 aeolianite formation in Western Australia (Brooke et al., 2014; 2017). 75 Similarly, drier glacial climates and exposed continental shelf sediments during lowstands are inferred to 76 account for MIS 5c/b, 4 and 3 aeolianite formation in the Mediterranean basin (Fornos et al., 2009; 77 Andreucci et al., 2012). On the southern Cape of South Africa offshore dunes have been mapped 78 (Bateman et al., 2011, Cawthra et al., 2012; 2014) and have recently been shown to date to ~110 ka and 79 80 ka (Cawthra et al., 2018), but thus far no onshore MIS 3 or MIS 2 aeolianite has been identified. 4 Final version at https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0025322718302834?via%3Dihub 80 In this study, we present new bathymetry and lithological data, and a suite of new OSL ages for 81 aeolianites and dunes located in an unusual southern Cape context: the prominent headland of the 82 Robberg Peninsula, south of Plettenberg Bay (Figures 1 and 2). 83 In rocky coast contexts, cliff-fronting and climbing-dune aeolianites have been described in detail 84 in the Mediterranean Basin (Clemmensen et al., 1997; Fornos et al., 2009; Andreucci et al., 2010a; de Valle 85 et al., 2016). In such situations, where there is much more restricted onshore accommodation space, it 86 has been shown that there is a strong dependency on relative sea-level change to promote periods of 87 dune accumulation, via liberation of a sediment source and provision of new accommodation space for 88 dunes to form within.
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