Warta Geologi, Vol. 49, No. 1, April 2023, pp. 8–13
Franz-Luitpold Kessler
Goldbach Geoconsultants O&G and Lithium Exploration, Germany
Author email address: FranzLKessler32@gmail.com
Abstract: Since the end of the last glacial period, around 15550 years ago, melting ice caused the sea level to rise on average by about 110 m, or 7 mm/year. Data collected at the Tusan Cliff section indicate that during the same time span, the Borneo coastline south of Miri was elevated by 132 m. The average rate of uplift of the coastline was estimated to be in the order of 8.5 mm/year, which exceeded the average rate of sea level rise by 1.5 mm. As a result, a prominent cliff section is now exposed. The uplift may be continuing today but may be outpaced in the future by a much faster sea-level rise.
Keywords: Sea level rise, Borneo, uplift, Pleistocene, Holocene
REFERENCES
Bird, M.I., L.K. Fifield, L.K., T.S. The, T.S., C.H. Chang, C.H., Shirlaw, N., & Lambeck, K., 2006. An inflection in the rate of early mid-Holocene eustatic sea-level rise: A new sea-level curve from Singapore. Estuarine, Coastal and Shelf Science, 71(3-4), 523-536.
Bird, M.I., Tan, T.S., The, T.S., Chang, C.H., & Shirlaw, N., 2003. Age and origin of the Quaternary sediments of Singapore. Proceedings of the ‘Underground 2003’ Conference, Singapore, September 2003.
Blanchon, P., 2011. “Meltwater Pulses”. In: Hopley, D. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of modern coral reefs: Structure, form and process. Earth Science Series. Springer-Verlag, Netherland. 683–690.
Blanchon, P., 2011. Backstepping. In: Hopley, D. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of modern coral reefs: Structure, form and process. Earth Science Series. Springer-Verlag, Netherland. 77–84.
Cronin, T.M., 2012. Invited review: Rapid sea-level rise. Quaternary Science Reviews, 56, 11–30. DOI:10.1016/j. quascirev.2012.08.021.
Fleming, K., Tregoning, P., Kuhn, M., Purcell, A., & McQueen, H., 2012. The effect of melting land-based ice masses on sea-level around the Australian coastline. Australian Journal of Earth Sciences, 59, 4. DOI: 10.1080/08120099.2012.664828.
Harrison, S., Smith, D.E., & Glasser, N.F., 2018. Late Quaternary meltwater pulses and sea level change. Journal of Quarternary Science, 34(1), 1-15. DOI: 10.1002/jqs.3070.
Kessler, F.L., & Jong, J., 2011. Habitat and C-14 age dating of lignitic terrace sands – implications for uplift on the Borneo coastline during the Holocene. PGCE presentation abstracts, Warta Geologi , 37, 36.
Kessler, F.L., & Jong, J., 2014. Habitat and C-14 ages of lignitic terrace deposits along the northern Sarawak coastline. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, 60, 27-34.
Kessler, F.L., & Jong, J., 2014. The origin of the Canada Hill – A result of strike-slip deformation and hydraulically powered uplift at the Pleistocene/Holocene border? Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, 60, 35-44.
Kessler, F.L., & Jong, J., 2016. The South China Sea: Sub-basins, regional unconformities and uplift of the peripheral mountain ranges since the Eocene. Berita Sedimentologi, 35, 5-54.
Kessler, F.L., & Jong, J., 2020. The shaping and demise of the Tusan Beach “Drinking Horse”, southwest of Miri, Sarawak. Warta Geologi, 46(2), 33-44.
Milne, A., Long, A.J., & Basset, S.E., 2005. Modelling Holocene relative sea-level observations from the Caribbean and South America. Quaternary Science Reviews, 24(10–11), 1183- 1202.
Smith, D.E, Harrison, S., Firth, C.R., & Jordan, J.T., 2011. The early Holocene sea level rise. Quaternary Science Reviews, 30(16-16), 1846-1860.
Tjia, H.D., 1992. Holocene sea-level changes in the Malay-Thai Peninsula, a tectonically stable environment. Bulletin of the Geological Society of Malaysia, 31, 157-176.
0126-5539; 2682-7549 / Published by the Geological Society of Malaysia.
© 2023 by the Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution (CC-BY) License 4.0
DOI : https://doi.org/10.7186/wg491202302
