Foraminiferal record of the postglacial (Holocene) marine transgression and subsequent regression, northern Spencer Gulf, South Australia

Abstract

Core SG120 recovered 3.65 m of Quaternary sediment from a northern, shallow-water environment of Spencer Gulf, a marine embayment into the southern continental margin of Australia. Previous investigations had revealed that the upper interval 0 – 148 cm is Holocene marine bioclastic sediment, and that the lower Late Pleistocene interval 250 – 365 cm, with its carbonate palaeosol, had a similar marine origin. However, the age and origin of the interval 148 – 250 cm remained subject to ambiguous interpretation. Re-examination of core SG120, employing detailed foraminiferal analysis, has revealed that this middle unit records the earliest sedimentation associated with the postglacial marine transgression into the northern gulf. These basal Holocene sediments, which incorporated broken, corroded and carbonate-encrusted tests from the underlying palaeosol, together with tests of more pristine appearance, were deposited in a shallow-water, seagrass sandflat environment similar to those in coastal settings of the modern gulf. The lithological change at 148 cm has therefore been reinterpreted as a facies change related to increasing water depth. Radiocarbon analyses of fossil molluscs support this interpretation and reveal that marine transgression, at the site of SG120, was initiated prior to 8600 y cal BP. Selected species of foraminifers (Nubecularia lucifuga, Massilina milletti, Peneroplis planatus, Discorbis dimidiatus, Elphidium crispum and E. macelliforme) together reveal a consistent record of the final stages of the transgression with maximum water depth indicated at a core depth of 90 cm. Subsequent regression, which has been attributed to the combined effects of hydroisostatic uplift and sediment aggradation, is equally recorded by the foraminiferal assemblages.