Although true coral reefs have seldom been reported from the fossil record of the Cabo Verde Archipelago, many single fossil corals and coral colonies can be found reworked in tsunami deposits and in raised marine terraces onshore on these islands. This study provides the first detailed survey of fossil corals from 7 of the 10 islands of the archipelago, sampled from Pleistocene marine terraces and tsunami deposits. A total of 168 scleractinian corals were analyzed and identified to genus and/or species level. Thirteen taxa from the families Acroporidae, Dendrophylliidae, Faviidae, Pocilloporidae, Poritidae, and Rhizangiidae were identified. The zooxanthellate fossil corals found on the Cape Verde Archipelago likely migrated from the Caribbean to the West African coast, while azooxanthellate species likely originated from the Indo-Pacific. Differences between present-day coral assemblages and fossil assemblages are assumed to result from changing environmental factors. Although reef-building taxa occur (e.g., Porites), extensive reef frameworks are absent.

New 10Be exposure age dating and geomorphological mapping of emerged shoreline features in W Jura and NE Islay throw new light on the regional pattern of ice sheet deglaciation and late-glacial relative sea level change. We conclude that the oldest and highest emerged shorelines in this area were produced ~15.7–16.3 ka, shortly after ice sheet deglaciation ~16.5 ka. It is envisaged that the first incursion of marine waters into coastal areas took place close to a former ice sheet margin that oscillated in position across this part of the Scottish Inner Hebrides. The first evidence of late-glacial marine sedimentation following deglaciation consists of emerged marine terrace fragments and unvegetated gravel beach ridges, the former represented by a prominent glacio-isostatically tilted shoreline that declines in altitude NE to SW, from ~40 m above ordnance datum (OD) in NW Jura to ~19 m OD in central Islay. In W Jura, north of Loch Tarbert, spectacular staircases of up to 55 unvegetated gravel beach ridges were formed shortly after regional deglaciation, possibly within 1 ka. A preliminary estimate of the average rate of relative sea level lowering across W Jura between deglaciation and the Younger Dryas is in the order of ~7 mmyr−1. Geomorphological evidence from Shian Bay, W Jura, indicates a truncation of the late-glacial beach ridge staircases by a large 480-m-long beach ridge (the Colonsay Ridge) at ~14.9 ka, when former relative sea level was at ~18 m OD. This ridge may represent the product of either a stillstand in the progressive lowering of relative sea level during the late-glacial or a reversal. This raises the intriguing possibility of an association between ridge formation and the timing of the well-established global meltwater pulse 1A between ~14.65 and ~14.8 ka.

This work explores the uplift history of the best exposed marine terraces in the northeastern Arabian Peninsula (eastern Al Hajar Mountains). A multidisciplinary approach was employed, including a topographic survey, 14C dating, thin section studies, and scanning electron microscopy analyses. Six distinctive marine terraces with widths ranging from tenth of meters to kilometers and elevations from 5 to ~400 m were studied. These terraces record an along-strike heterogeneous uplift history, while they show temporally variable uplift rates ranging between 0.9 to 6.7 mm/yr, which correlates well with other published uplift rates of marine terraces of the eastern Arabian Peninsula. We attribute the variable uplift along strike of the terraces, to a combination of uplift mechanisms: (1) during early to mid-Miocene along deep-rooted reverse faults that bound large crustal-scale blocks, (2) Pliocene or post-Pliocene uplift on the outer wall of the forebulge of the lower Arabian Plate as it bends to enter the Zagros-Makran subduction zone, and (3) a possible slowdown of subduction for the past ~40 ka.

Extensive marine terraces along the North Canterbury coast of the South Island of New Zealand record uplift in this tectonically active area. Although the terraces have been studied previously, applications of Quaternary geochronological techniques to the region have been limited. We use infrared-stimulated luminescence (IRSL), amino acid racemization (AAR), and radiocarbon to determine ages of terraces at three locations—Glenafric, Motunau Beach, and Haumuri Bluff. We develop an AAR calibration curve for the mollusk species Tawera spissa from sites of known age, including the sedimentary sequence of the Whanganui Basin. Bayesian model averaging of the results is used to estimate ages of marine shells from the North Canterbury terraces. By using both IRSL and AAR, we are able to confirm ages using two independent dating methods and to identify one IRSL result that is likely in error. We develop new age estimates for the marine terraces of North Canterbury and propose correlations between sites. This terrace chronology differs significantly from most previous studies, highlighting the importance of numerical dating. The most extensive terraces are from marine isotope stages (MISs) 5a and 5c, with partial reoccupation of one terrace during MIS 3, whereas MIS 5e terraces are notably lacking among those dated.

Fossils of Columbian mammoths (Mammuthus columbi) and pygmy mammoths (Mammuthus exilis) have been reported from Channel Islands National Park, California. Most date to the last glacial period (Marine Isotope Stage [MIS] 2), but a tusk of M. exilis (or immature M. columbi) was found in the lowest marine terrace of Santa Rosa Island. Uranium-series dating of corals yielded ages from 83.8 ± 0.6 ka to 78.6 ± 0.5 ka, correlating the terrace with MIS 5.1, a time of relatively high sea level. Mammoths likely immigrated to the islands by swimming during the glacial periods MIS 6 (~ 150 ka) or MIS 8 (~ 250 ka), when sea level was low and the island–mainland distance was minimal, as during MIS 2. Earliest mammoth immigration to the islands likely occurred late enough in the Quaternary that uplift of the islands and the mainland decreased the swimming distance to a range that could be accomplished by mammoths. Results challenge the hypothesis that climate change, vegetation change, and decreased land area from sea-level rise were the causes of mammoth extinction at the Pleistocene/Holocene boundary on the Channel Islands. Pre-MIS 2 mammoth populations would have experienced similar or even more dramatic changes at the MIS 6/5.5 transition.

The architecture of coastal sequences in tectonically-active regions results mostly from a combination of sea-level and land-level changes. The objective of this study is to unravel these signals by combining sequence stratigraphy and sedimentology of near-shore sedimentary sequences in wave-built terraces. We focus on Santa María Island at the south-central Chile margin, which hosts excellent exposures of coastal sediments from Marine Isotope Stage 3. A novel method based on statistical analysis of grain-size distributions coupled with facies descriptions provided a detailed account of transgressive–regressive cycles. Radiocarbon ages from paleosols constrain the chronology between > 53 and ~ 31 cal ka BP. Because the influence of glaciations can be neglected, we calculated relative sea-level curves by tying the onset of deposition on a bedrock abrasion platform to a global sea-level curve. The observed depositional cycles match those predicted for uplift rates between 1.2 and 1.8 m/ka. The studied sedimentary units represent depositional cycles that resulted in reoccupation events of an existing marine terrace. Our study demonstrates wave-built marine terrace deposits along clastic shorelines in temperate regions can be used to distinguish between tectonic uplift and climate-induced sea-level changes.

Well-preserved Quaternary staircased marine terraces appear on Ras Leona limestone relief. This is a peculiar sector of the Betic-Rif Cordillera, lying in the four-way junction between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean, and Europe and Africa. The age and altitude correlation of the Ras Leona terraces with travertine-covered lateral equivalent terraces fashioned in the neighbouring Beni Younech area, and comparison with those along the Moroccan Atlantic coasts, would suggest that the Ras Leona terraces were mainly formed by eustatic factors. The importance of the eustasy is supported by further comparisons with Spanish and Moroccan Mediterranean terraces and with different marine terraces developed on passive-margin coasts around the world. A tectonic event occurred mainly during the period between the formation of the Maarifian and the Ouljian terraces (i.e., between 370 and 150 ka). The moderate Quaternary tectonic uplift deduced from the marine terraces and its comparison with uplifted marine terraces developed in active subduction setting disagrees with the model of an active eastwards subduction below the Gibraltar tectonic arc.