Drowned carbonate platforms in the Bismarck Sea,Papua New Guinea |
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Authors: | Gary Hoffmann Eli Silver Simon Day Neal Driscoll Bruce Appelgate |
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Institution: | (1) University of California at Santa Cruz, 1156 High St., Santa Cruz, CA 95064, USA;(2) Aon Benfield Hazard Research Centre, Department of Earth Sciences, University College London, Gower Street, London, WC1E 6BT, UK;(3) Scripps Institute of Oceanography, 9500 Gilman Dr., La Jolla, CA 92093, USA |
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Abstract: | Extinct volcanic islands in the Bismarck volcanic arc are fringed by well-developed coral reefs. Drowned platforms offshore
from these islands provide evidence for subsidence in the central section of the arc, north of the Finisterre Terrane–Australia
collision. Bathymetric and backscatter data collected onboard the R/V Kilo Moana in 2004 reveal regularly spaced (~200 m interval)
drowned platforms at depths as much as 1,100 m below sea level. However, the adjacent mainland coast has well documented raised
terraces indicating long-term uplift. Local subsidence may be due to cessation of magmatic activity and cooling, flexural
loading by the uplifting Finisterre Range, loading by nearby active volcanic islands, and/or sediment loading on the seafloor
north of the Finisterre Range. We present some simple models in order to test whether flexural loading can account for local
subsidence. We find that volcanic and sedimentary loading can explain the inferred relative subsidence. |
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