Further evidence from relic shellcrust sequences for a late Holocene higher sea level for eastern Australia

New evidence from dating the fossil residue of intertidal organisms on the central New South Wales coast extends the findings of an earlier use of this method and supports the case for a regional highstand between 1 and 2 m above present relative sea level for much of the middle to late Holocene. Evidence demonstrating a vertical shift over time by in situ intertidal organisms provides a more precise record of Holocene sea level fluctuation than the more ambiguous evidence from estuarine and dunal depositional features. By extrapolating back from dated hard evidence of this kind, secondary evidence such as remnant rock platforms may be used to reconstruct the age and duration of coastal geomorphic features.