Coastal uplift mechanisms at Pakarae River mouth: Constraints from a combined Holocene fluvial and marine terrace dataset

One of the major environmental controls on sedimentary systems is tectonics, and thus in order to make quantitative explanations and predictions of the behaviour of sedimentary systems, it is important to quantify tectonic rates and mechanisms. In this study we show how a combined Holocene fluvial and marine terrace dataset can be used to place constraints on coastal uplift mechanisms at Pakarae River mouth, to the east of the Waipaoa sedimentary system. Mapping and surveying of fluvial terraces shows that the terraces can be divided into three sets, (i) PgT, a fill terrace formed during post-glacial sea level rise (similar to 10000.7000 cal. yr BP), (ii) a sequence of post-7000 cal. yr BP degradation terraces, and (iii) historical (post similar to AD 1880) flood terraces. A conceptual model of terrace evolution proposes that coseismic uplift has resulted in the observed back-tilting, downstream divergence, and successive abandonment of tectonic terraces. Coastal uplift mechanisms are then examined by comparing the fluvial and marine terrace uplift distribution and the uplift-per-event from the marine terraces with those predicted by forward elastic dislocation models. The models agree with the interpretation that the terrace uplift can be explained by coseismic slip on a steeply west-dipping reverse fault located close to the shore, possibly in combination with rupture of the Hikurangi Margin subduction interface 10-24 km below. This study also provides insights into the tectonic drivers and impacts on the adjacent Waipaoa sedimentary system including: the possible role of subduction earthquakes, growth of structures on the shelf and upper slope, and the role that the interplay between sea level and tectonic controls has on sediment dispersal. (C) 2009 Elsevier By. All rights reserved.