A unified framework for modelling sediment fate from source to sink and its interactions with reef systems over geological times

Understanding the effects of climatic variability on sediment dynamics is hindered by limited ability of current models to simulate long-term evolution of sediment transfer from source to sink and associated morphological changes. We present a new approach based on a reduced-complexity model which computes over geological time: sediment transport from landmasses to coasts, reworking of marine sediments by longshore currents, and development of coral reef systems. Our framework links together the main sedimentary processes driving mixed siliciclastic-carbonate system dynamics. It offers a methodology for objective and quantitative sediment fate estimations over regional and millennial time-scales. A simulation of the Holocene evolution of the Great Barrier Reef shows: (1) how high sediment loads from catchments erosion prevented coral growth during the early transgression phase and favoured sediment gravity-flows in the deepest parts of the northern region basin floor (prior to 8 ka before present (BP)); (2) how the fine balance between climate, sea-level, and margin physiography enabled coral reefs to thrive under limited shelf sedimentation rates after ~6 ka BP; and, (3) how since 3 ka BP, with the decrease of accommodation space, reduced of vertical growth led to the lateral extension of reefs consistent with available observational data.