LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM SEA-LEVEL OBTAINED FROM BONAPARTE GULF OF AUSTRALIA USING MICROPALAEONTOLOGICAL EVIDENCE

The region north of Australia, far away from former ice sheets and in a tectonically-stable margin, is ideally suited for sea-level reconstructions as glacio-hydro-isostatic effects are minimal. Thus, examination of ostracod and foraminifer remains, recovered from gravity core RS176/GC5 from Bonaparte Gulf, and which is located at 118m water depth, has permitted to reconstruct in detail the sea-level regression and transgression that coincided respectively with the on start and end of the Last Glacial Maximum (LGM). Our data further confirms that the lowest sea-level was locally at about 120m below present days sea-level. We provide further evidence of sea-level rise after 19,000 cal years BP of the order of 10 meters. Glacio-hydro-isostatic modeling was also conducted using these observations to draw palaeo-shore line maps. These maps are clearly demonstrated the drastic environmental transitions after the LGM through the Holocene.