Friday, August 8, 2025
Science
No Result
View All Result
  • Login
  • HOME
  • SCIENCE NEWS
  • CONTACT US
  • HOME
  • SCIENCE NEWS
  • CONTACT US
No Result
View All Result
Scienmag
No Result
View All Result
Home Science News Earth Science

How did the early Great Barrier Reef manage rapid environmental change?

April 29, 2024
in Earth Science
Reading Time: 4 mins read
0
One Tree Island Research Station
65
SHARES
594
VIEWS
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter
ADVERTISEMENT
ADVERTISEMENT

As the modern Great Barrier Reef emerged after the last ice age, it had to cope with multiple environmental stresses – rising sea levels, increased sediment from a flooding coastline, ocean turbulence and likely warming oceans.

One Tree Island Research Station

Credit: The University of Sydney

As the modern Great Barrier Reef emerged after the last ice age, it had to cope with multiple environmental stresses – rising sea levels, increased sediment from a flooding coastline, ocean turbulence and likely warming oceans.

It has been speculated that these factors inhibited the emergence of the modern Great Barrier Reef, but with little direct data. Now, for the first time, geoscientists have managed to determine how these factors, particularly water quality, contributed to the reef’s development between about eight and six thousand years ago.

Their findings, published in Quaternary Science Reviews, confirm a long-standing idea that elevated nutrient levels impacted reef growth. In modern coral reefs, nutrient-rich waters have been observed to favour macro algae, which can outcompete corals, as well as cause increases in bio-eroders that can weaken coral skeletons.

As the modern reef emerged thousands of years ago, scientists have found that these factors led to the establishment of slower-growing and more sediment-tolerant coral communities in deeper water, rather than the more familiar shallow and clear-water species that emerged later.

Senior author Professor Jody Webster from the School of Geosciences at the University of Sydney said: “This study has given us an historical picture of how the emerging modern reef responded to huge environmental stress.

“We get the picture of a dynamic ecosystem dealing with adverse environmental conditions during the early Holocene as sea levels rose and inundated the previously exposed shelf.”

Lead author Dr Kelsey Sanborn from the Geocoastal Research Group in the School of Geosciences said: “This work demonstrates that reef communities were able to grow despite higher sediment and nutrient input to the reef. However, the types of corals that grew were more like today’s inshore, turbid reefs, as opposed to the shallow and clear-water communities common on One Tree Reef today.

“This provides evidence to understand early Holocene water quality on the southern Great Barrier Reef and demonstrates the capacity of the reef to grow under conditions that would typically be considered unsuitable.”

The research was conducted at the University of Sydney research station at One Tree Island, in collaboration with the University of Queensland, Southern Cross University and the University of Tokyo. Using a jack-up drill rig, geoscientists drilled into the reef, extracting cores from 12 sites. The extracted cores provided fossilised records of corals for examination.

Professor Webster said: “Our research establishes the first geochemical record of skeletal-bound organic nitrogen from precisely dated cores from this time. We also measured the ratio of barium to calcium in the corals.

“The elevated nitrogen and barium-to-calcium values point to increased sediment and nutrient levels on the reef.”

The team compared their results with established records of rare earth elements and yttrium as proxies for land-based sediment and nutrient concentrations on the reef.

Dr Sanborn said: “Our study provides important evidence of how the modern Great Barrier Reef emerged and withstood environmental stresses.

“Over this period of a thousand years, sea levels rose about 10 metres. Had sea levels continued to rise at this rate, we can’t be sure if the reef would have survived.

“What we do see is that only some of the more tolerant reef communities were able to continue growing slowly during this time until ocean levels and other factors stabilised.”

Professor Webster said: “The Great Barrier Reef now faces a new set of environmental stressors, many of them due to human, industrial and agricultural activity. Our work looking at the history of the reef can assist in understanding how coral communities might respond to some of that stress today.”

RESEARCH

Sanborn, K. et al (2024) ‘The impact of elevated nutrients on the Holocene evolution of the Great Barrier Reef’ (Quaternary Science Reviews) DOI: 10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108636

DOWNLOAD images of the researchers, One Tree Island and the drill rig at this link.

INTERVIEWS

Professor Jody Webster | jody.webster@sydney.edu.au

Dr Kelsey Sanborn | kelsey.sanborn@sydney.edu.au

MEDIA ENQUIRIES

Marcus Strom | marcus.strom@sydney.edu.au | +61 474 269 459

DECLARATION

The researchers declare no competing interests. Research funding was received from the Australian Research Council; Australian and New Zealand International Ocean Discovery Program Consortium; Japan Society for the Promotion of Science.



Journal

Quaternary Science Reviews

DOI

10.1016/j.quascirev.2024.108636

Method of Research

Observational study

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

The impact of elevated nutrients on the Holocene evolution of the Great Barrier Reef

Article Publication Date

25-Apr-2024

COI Statement

The researchers declare no competing interests.

Share26Tweet16
Previous Post

Gemini south reveals origin of unexpected differences in giant binary stars

Next Post

Accelerating AI-driven molecular modeling with COSMIC

Related Posts

blank
Earth Science

Mapping Soil Carbon Changes Across the U.S. Since 1955

August 8, 2025
blank
Earth Science

Low Genetic Diversity Threatens Mozambique’s Iconic Corals

August 8, 2025
blank
Earth Science

Carbon, Nitrogen Genes Shift in Enhanced Rock Weathering

August 8, 2025
blank
Earth Science

Satellite Reveals Unverified Coral Bleaching on Great Barrier Reef

August 8, 2025
blank
Earth Science

Metabolic Constraints Shape Fish Habitat Predictions

August 8, 2025
blank
Earth Science

Nassau Grouper Faces Extinction at Glover’s Atoll

August 8, 2025
Next Post
COSMIC for Molecular Modeling

Accelerating AI-driven molecular modeling with COSMIC

  • Mothers who receive childcare support from maternal grandparents show more parental warmth, finds NTU Singapore study

    Mothers who receive childcare support from maternal grandparents show more parental warmth, finds NTU Singapore study

    27531 shares
    Share 11009 Tweet 6881
  • University of Seville Breaks 120-Year-Old Mystery, Revises a Key Einstein Concept

    942 shares
    Share 377 Tweet 236
  • Bee body mass, pathogens and local climate influence heat tolerance

    641 shares
    Share 256 Tweet 160
  • Researchers record first-ever images and data of a shark experiencing a boat strike

    507 shares
    Share 203 Tweet 127
  • Warm seawater speeding up melting of ‘Doomsday Glacier,’ scientists warn

    310 shares
    Share 124 Tweet 78
Science

Embark on a thrilling journey of discovery with Scienmag.com—your ultimate source for cutting-edge breakthroughs. Immerse yourself in a world where curiosity knows no limits and tomorrow’s possibilities become today’s reality!

RECENT NEWS

  • Special Journal Issue Highlights Disability in the Black Community and Urges Culturally Tailored Counseling Approaches
  • Metastatic Gastric Cancer: Survival Varies by Site
  • Remote Work’s Impact on Employee Well-Being: Balanced Benefits
  • Bendamustine Triggers ER Stress Apoptosis in Breast Cancer

Categories

  • Agriculture
  • Anthropology
  • Archaeology
  • Athmospheric
  • Biology
  • Bussines
  • Cancer
  • Chemistry
  • Climate
  • Earth Science
  • Marine
  • Mathematics
  • Medicine
  • Pediatry
  • Policy
  • Psychology & Psychiatry
  • Science Education
  • Social Science
  • Space
  • Technology and Engineering

Subscribe to Blog via Email

Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email.

Join 4,858 other subscribers

© 2025 Scienmag - Science Magazine

Welcome Back!

Login to your account below

Forgotten Password?

Retrieve your password

Please enter your username or email address to reset your password.

Log In
No Result
View All Result
  • HOME
  • SCIENCE NEWS
  • CONTACT US

© 2025 Scienmag - Science Magazine

Discover more from Science

Subscribe now to keep reading and get access to the full archive.

Continue reading