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Back-Stepping

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Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

Synonyms

Transgressive reef

Definition

Shallow-reef systems back-step to keep up with rapid relative sea-level rise. Back-stepping involves the demise of shallow-reef development at one site, and its relocation to another site further inshore and up-shelf. It is common during the onlap or retrogradation of tropical carbonate systems in transgressive systems tracts, and typical of glacial terminations during the Quaternary Ice Age.

Introduction

Reef back-stepping has been widely recognized from the geological record where it is almost universally interpreted as a result of rapid rise in relative sea level (Smith and Stearn 1987; Kaufman and Meyers 1988; Ross 1992; Becker et al., 1993; Wendte and Uyeno 2005). Yet ironically, there has been considerable argument over its existence and significance in late Pleistocene and Holocene reefs. This largely stems from early assumptions that healthy reefs could accrete faster than the average rate of glacio-eustatic sea-level rise (Adey et al., 1978...

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Reef Systems Unit, Institute of Marine Sciences and Limnology National Autonomous University of Mexico, Cancun, Ap Postal 1152, 77500, Mexico

    Paul Blanchon

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  1. Paul Blanchon
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. James Cook University, Townsville, Australia

    David Hopley

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Blanchon, P. (2011). Back-Stepping. In: Hopley, D. (eds) Encyclopedia of Modern Coral Reefs. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-90-481-2639-2_41

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