Midden sites in relation to sea level and paleoecology

Conference · Tue Jan 01 04:00:00 EST 1985 · Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States)

OSTI ID:6652990

Fairbridge, R W

Midden shell mounds consisting mainly of shallow marine, estuarine and lagoonal molluscan species are known from the coasts of every continent (except for Antarctica). While principally mid- to late Holocene in age, they date back to late Pleistocene in some glacioisostatic uplift areas (Scandinavia) and even the last interglacial at about 125,000 BP (Southern Africa). Inasmuch as the camp sites would normally be located immediately adjacent to the best shellfish collecting areas, they constitute useful shoreline indicators. Large, complex mounds disclose horizons showing temporary inundation and short-term abandonment. Occupation dates match independent chronologies of sea-level change. Analysis of shell species permits estimation of paleosalinity and paleotemperature, as well as assisting appraisal of general paleoecological setting. It is speculated that an abrupt change in trend of the Flandrian sea-level rise at about 6000 BP (C-14) stabilized the development of large lagoons and estuaries, particularly favorable sites for safe shellfish gathering. Prior to that the frequent and very rapid transgressions created repeatedly displaced (drowned) habitats. Since then man has been able to occupy semi-stable coastal sites, thus contributing to the world-wide post-Neolithic shift away from nomadic economy and towards village way of life.

• Research Organization: Columbia Univ., New York, NY (USA)
• OSTI ID: 6652990
• Report Number(s): CONF-8510489-
• Conference Information: Journal Name: Geol. Soc. Am., Abstr. Programs; (United States) Journal Volume: 17
• Country of Publication: United States
• Language: English

Related Subjects

58 GEOSCIENCES
580100* -- Geology & Hydrology-- (-1989)
580500 -- Oceanography-- (1980-1989)
ANIMALS
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
CENOZOIC ERA
COASTAL REGIONS
EARTH PLANET
ECOLOGY
ECOSYSTEMS
GEOLOGIC AGES
GEOLOGIC HISTORY
GLOBAL ASPECTS
HABITAT
INVERTEBRATES
LEVELS
MAMMALS
MAN
MOLLUSCS
OCEANOGRAPHY
PALEOCLIMATOLOGY
PALEONTOLOGY
PLANETS
PRIMATES
QUATERNARY PERIOD
SEA LEVEL
TERRESTRIAL ECOSYSTEMS
VARIATIONS
VERTEBRATES