Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Vermetid gastropods as sea-level indicators

  • Chapter
Sea-Level Research

Abstract

In tropical and subtropical waters, several genera of marine Gastropods belonging to the family vermetidae may, under certain circumstances, build conspicuous benches or corniches on the littoral zone of rocky coasts that are subject to moderate or heavy surf action. These formations always grow at a constant level in the biological zonation, which is the upper limit of the infralittoral zone (Peres & Picard, 1964) or the lower limit of the midlittoral zone (Stephenson & Stephenson, 1949). As this level, according to the distribution of intertidal organisms (and not by any tidal reference), is the height at which periodic emergence at low tide (or in the trough between two waves) is of minor significance as an ecological factor, it may be accepted as a biological zero level (even though it does not correspond exactly to the ‘mean sea level’ as defined by hydrographers).

The shape and size of vermetid formations is subject to variations, according to the nature of the substratum and the relative and absolute importance of tide and surf.

Vermetid formations fossilize easily when raised above their normal growth level, provided they are protected from rain and the humic acids of the soil. When submerged, their preservation is generally not so good due to biological erosion.

The measurement of the height of an elevated vermetid-zone remain must be made, whenever possible, in relation to the summit of the living Vermetids of the present shore in the same place. In tideless seas, and especially when Vermetid lines depend upon erosional features such as notches or marine platforms, they constitute almost ideal sea-level indicators with a range of error as small as ±0.1 m. In less favourable conditions (strong surf and tide, absence of erosion notch), their interpretation may be more difficult, requiring a thorough survey of present zonation and environmental conditions, but they are still quite useful even if the range of error reaches ±0.5 m or even ±1 m in some cases.

Vermetid shells are wholly aragonitic, and are therefore little prone to contamination and are easily dated by 14C techniques, which makes them all the more desirable as sea-level indicators.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution

Subscribe and save

Springer+ Basic
$34.99 /Month
  • Get 10 units per month
  • Download Article/Chapter or eBook
  • 1 Unit = 1 Article or 1 Chapter
  • Cancel anytime
Subscribe now

Buy Now

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Preview

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Unable to display preview. Download preview PDF.

Similar content being viewed by others

References

  • Andel, T. van and Laborel, J., 1964. Recent high relative sea level stand near Recife, Brazil. Science, 145 (3632), 580–581.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Agassiz, A., 1895. A visit to the Bermudas in March 1894. Bulletin of the Museum of Comparative Zoology, Cambridge, 26 (2), 209–281

    Google Scholar 

  • Battistini, R., Delibrias, G. and Laborel, J., 1976. Datations des niveaux holocènes à Madagascar. Comptes Rendus Sommaires de la Société Géologique de France, 6, 284–285

    Google Scholar 

  • Blanc, J.J. and Molinier, R., 1955. Les formations organogènes construites superficielles en Méditerranée occidentale Bulletin de l’Institut Océanographique, Monaco, 1067, 26 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Brattstrom, H., 1980. Rocky shore zonation in the Santa Mart area, Colombia. Sarsia, 65, 163–226

    Google Scholar 

  • Crossland, C., 1905. The ecology and deposits of the Cape Verde marine fauna. Proceedings of the Zoological Society, London, 1, 170–186

    Google Scholar 

  • DaLongeville, R., 1977. Formes littorales de corrosion dans les roches carbonatées du Liban, étude morphologique. Méditerranée, 3, 21–33

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Darwin, C., 1841. On a remarkable bar of sandstone off Pernambuco on the coast of Brazil. London, Edinburgh and Dublin Philosophical Magazine and Journal of Science, 3, 19, 124, 257–260

    Google Scholar 

  • Delibrias, G., 1973. Variations du niveau de la mer sur la côte ouest africaine depuis 20 000 ans. Colloque du CNRS n° 219, Gif-sur-Yvette, 5–8 juin 1973, 127–133

    Google Scholar 

  • Delibrias, G. and Laborel, J., 1971. Recent variations of the sea level along the Brazilian coast. Quaternaria, 14, 45–49

    Google Scholar 

  • Emery, K.O., 1962. Marine geology of Guam. United States Geological Survey Professional Papers, 403, B, 1–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Fevret, M. and Sanlaville, P., 1965. Contribution à lTétude du littoral libanais. Méditerranée, 2, 117–134

    Google Scholar 

  • Fevret, M. and Sanlaville, P., 1966. L’utilisation des Vermets dans la determination des anciens niveaux marins. Méditerranée, 4, 357–364

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Focke, J.W., 1977. The effect of a potentially reef-building coralline algal community on an eroding limestone coast, Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles). Proceedings of the Third International Coral Reef Symposiurn, ( Miami ), 1, 239–245

    Google Scholar 

  • Focke, J.W., 1978a. Subsea (0-40 m) terraces and benches windward of Curaçao (Netherlands Antilles). Leidse Geologische Mededelingen, 51 (1), 95–102

    Google Scholar 

  • Focke, J.W., 1978b. Limestone cliff morphology and organism distribution on Curaçao, Netherlands Antilles. Leidse Geologische Mededelingen, 51 (1), 131–150

    Google Scholar 

  • Focke, J.W., 1978c. Limestone cliff morphology on Curacao (Netherlands Antilles) with special attention to the origin of notches and Vermetid/coralline algal surf benches. Zeitschrift fur Géomorphologie, N.F., 22, 329–349

    Google Scholar 

  • Gessner, F., 1970. Lithothamnium Terrassen in Karibischen Meer. Internationale Revue der Gesamten Hydrobiologie, 55, 757–762

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gilet, R., Molinier, R. and Picard, J., 1954. Etudes bionomiques littorales sur les côtes de Corse, Recueil des Travaux de la Station Marine d’Endoume, 13, 25–53

    Google Scholar 

  • Ginsburg, R.N. and Schroeder, J.H., 1973. Growth and submarine fossilisation of algal cup reefs, Bermuda. Sedimentology, 20, 574–614

    Google Scholar 

  • Glynn, P.W., 1973. Aspects of the ecology of coral reefs in the Western Atlantic region. In: Biology and Geology of Coral Reefs, 2,eds. O.A.Jones and R. Endean, Biology, 1, 9, 574–614

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadfield, M.G., 1970. Observations on the anatomy and biology of two California Vermetid Gastropods. The Veliger, 12 (3), 301–309

    Google Scholar 

  • Hadfield, M.G., Kay, G.A., Gilette, M.V. and Lloyd, M.C., 1972. The Vermetid ( Mollusca Gastropoda) of the Hawaiian Islands. Marine Biology, 12, 81–98

    Google Scholar 

  • Hartt, C.F., 1870. Geology and physical geography of Brazil. (Boston).

    Google Scholar 

  • Hoffman, A., Pisera, A. and Studencki, W., 1978. Reconstruction of a Miocene kelp associated macrobenthic ecosystem. Acta Geologica Polonica, 28, 377–387

    Google Scholar 

  • Hughes, R.N., 1979. Coloniality in Vermetidae (Gastropoda). Biology and Systematics of colonial organisms. ( Academic Press, London ), 13, 243–253

    Google Scholar 

  • Huve, P., 1957. Contribution préliminaire à 1’étude des peuplements superficiels des cotes rocheuses de Méditerranée orientale. Recueil des Travaux de la Station Marine d’Endoume, 21 (12), 50–62

    Google Scholar 

  • Keen, M.A., 1960. Vermetid Gastropods and marine intertidal zonation. The Veliger, 3 (1), 1–2

    Google Scholar 

  • Keen, M.A., 1961. A proposed reclassification of the Gastropod family Vermetidae. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), 7 (3), 183–213

    Google Scholar 

  • Keen, M.A. and Morton, J.E., 1960. Some new African species of Dendropoma (Vermetidae Mesogastropoda). Proceedings of the Malacological Society, London, 34 (1), 36–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Kempf, M. and Laborel, J., 1968. Formations de Vermets et D’Algues calcaires sur les côtes du Brésil. Recueil des Travaux de la Station Marine d’Endoume, 59, 43, 325–435

    Google Scholar 

  • Kidson, C. and Heyworth, A., 1979. Sea ’level1. In: Proceedings of the 1978 International Symposium on Coastal Evolution in the Quaternary, (Sao Paolo), eds. K. Suguio, T.R. Fairchild, L. Martin and J.-M. Flexor, 1–28

    Google Scholar 

  • Laborel, J., 1969. Les peuplements de Madréporaires des côtes tropicales du Brésil. Annales de l’Université d’Abidjan, E, 2, 260 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Laborel, J., 1977. Are reef building Vermetids disappearing in the South Atlantic? Proceedings of the Third International Coral Reef Symposium, (Miami), 1, 233–237

    Google Scholar 

  • Laborel, J., 1979a. Fixed marine organisms as biological indicators for the study of recent sea level and climatic variations along the Brazilian tropical coast. Proceedings of the 1978 International Symposium on coastal evolution in the Quaternary, (Sao Paolo), eds. K. Suguio, T.R. Fairchild, L. Martin and J.-M. Flexor, 193–211

    Google Scholar 

  • Laborel, J., 1979b. Les Gastéropodes Vermetidés: leur utilisation comme marqueurs biologiques de rivages fossiles. Oceanis, fasc. hors série, 5, 221–238

    Google Scholar 

  • Laborel, J. and Delibrias, G., 1976. Niveaux marins récents à Vermetidae du littoral ouest africain. Bulletin Liaison ASEQUA, 47, 97–110

    Google Scholar 

  • Laborel, J., Pirazzoli, P., Thommeret, J. and Thommeret, Y., 1979. Holocene raised shorelines in Western Crete. Proceedings of the 1978 International Symposium on coastal evolution in the Quaternary, (Sao Paolo) eds. K. Suguiro, T.R. Fairchild, L. Martin and J.-M. Flexor, 475–501

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J.R., 1960. The fauna of rocky shores of Barbados, West Indies. Canadian Journal of Zoology, 38, 391–435

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewis, J.R., 1961. The littoral zone on rocky shores, a biological or physical entity. Oikos, 12 (2), 280–301

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Loenhoud, P.J. van and Sande, J.C.P.M. van de, 1977. Rocky shore zonation on Aruba and Curaçao ( Netherlands Antilles) with the introduction of a new general scheme of zonation. Proceedings of the Koninklyke Nederlandse Akademie van Wetenschappen, C, 80, 437–474

    Google Scholar 

  • Martin, L. and Suguio, K., 1976. Etude préliminaire du Quaternaire marin. Comparaison du littoral de Sao Paulo et de Salvador de Bahia ( Brésil ). Cahiers ORSTOM, serie Geologie, 8, 33–47

    Google Scholar 

  • Mikhalski, A.K., 1895. Voprocu o geologischeskoi prirode podolskikh ‘toltr’ (Sur la nature géologique de la chaîne de collines de Podolie, nommées ‘toltry’). Russia, Izvestiya Geologischeskago Komiteta, 14, 115–193

    Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, R., 1954. Première contribution à l’étude des peuplements marins des Iles Pithyuses. vie et Milieu, 5 (2), 226–242

    Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, R., 1955. Les plateformes et corniches récifales de Vermets (vermetus cristatus Biondi) en Méditerranée occidentale. Comptes rendus des seances de l’Académie des Sciences, Paris, 240, 361–363

    Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, R., 1960. Etude des biocénoses marines du Cap Corse. Vegetatio, 9, 121–312

    Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, R. and Picard, J., 1953a. Recherches analytiques sur les peuplements littoraux se développant sur substrat solide. Recueil des Travaux de la Station Marine d’Endoume, 9 (4), 1–19

    Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, R. and Picard, J., 1953b. Notes biologiques à propos dfun voyage dfétudes sur les côtes de Sicile. Annales de l’Institut Océanographique, Paris, 28 (4), 164–187

    Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, R. and Picard, J., 1954. Eléments de biologie marine sur les côtes de Tunisie. Bulletin de la Station Océanographique de Salambo, 48, 47 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Molinier, R. and Picard, J., 1956. Aperçu bionomique sur les peuplements marins littoraux des côtes rocheuses méditerranéennes de l’Espagne, Bulletin des Travaux de la Station d’Aquiculture et de Peche de Castiglione, nouvelle series, 8, 17 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton, J.E., 1951. The structure and adaptations of the New Zealand Vermetidae. Proceedings of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 79, 1–51

    Google Scholar 

  • Morton, J.E., 1965. Form and function in the evolution of Vermetidae. Bulletin of the British Museum (Natural History), 11, 585–630

    Google Scholar 

  • Oertel, G. F., 1970. Preliminary investigations of bioconstructional features along the South shore of Bermuda. In: Seminar on Organism-sediment Inter-relationships, eds. R.N. Ginsburg and S. Stanley, Bermuda Biological Station Research Special Publication, 6, 99–108

    Google Scholar 

  • Peres, J. M. and Picard, J., 1952. Les corniches calcaires d’origine biologique en Mediterranée. Recueil des Travaux de la Station Marine d’Endoume, 4, 1

    Google Scholar 

  • Peres, J. M. and Picard., 1964. Nouveau manuel de bionomie benthique en Mer Mediterranée. Recueil des Travaux de la Station Marine d’Endoume, 31, 47, 137 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Picard, J., 1954. Les formations organogènes benthiques méditerranéennes et leur importance géomorphologique. Recueil des Travaux de la Station Marine d’Endoume, 13, 55–76

    Google Scholar 

  • Pinot, J.P., 1979. Méthodes et techniques permettant de déterminer l’altitude relative des niveaux marins anciens en fonction de l’altitude absolue actuelle des divers indicateurs. Oceanis, fasc. hors serie, 335–353

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirazzoli, P., 1976. Les variations du niveau marin depuis 2000 ans. Mémoires du Laboratoire de Géomorphologie de l’Ecole Pratique des Hautes Etudes, 30, 421 pp

    Google Scholar 

  • Pirazzoli, P. and Thommeret, J., 1977. Datation radiométrique d’une ligne de rivage à + 2.5 m près de Aghia Roumeli, Crète, Grece. Comptes Rendus des séances de l’Academie des Sciences, Paris, D, 284, 1255–1258

    Google Scholar 

  • Ponder, W., 1967. A new species of Dendropoma from New Zealand. Transactions of the Royal Society of New Zealand, 10 (2), 17–20

    Google Scholar 

  • Safriel, U., 1966. Recent Vermetid formations on the Mediterranean shore of Israel. Proceedings of the Malacological Society, London, 37 (1), 27–38

    Google Scholar 

  • Safriel, U., 1974. Vermetid Gastropods and intertidal reefs in Israel and Bermuda. Science, 186, 1113–1115

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  • Safriel, U., 1975. The role of Vermetid Gastropods in the formation of Mediterranean and Atlantic reefs. Oecologia, 20, 85–101

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sanlaville, P., 1972. Vermetus dating of changes in sea level. In: Underwater Archaeology, a Nascent Discipline, ( UNESCO, Paris ), 185–191

    Google Scholar 

  • Shier, D.E., 1969. Vermetid reefs and coastal development in the Ten Thousand Islands, Southwest Florida. Geological Society of America Bulletin, 80, 485–508

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson, T.A. and Stephenson, A., 1949. The universal features of zonation between tide marks on rocky coasts. Journal of Ecology, 37 (2), 289–305

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson, T.A. and Stephenson, A., 1954. The Bermuda Islands. Endeavour, 13, 50, 72–80

    Google Scholar 

  • Stephenson, T.A. and Stephenson, A., 1972. Life between tide- marks on rocky shores. ( Freeman, San Francisco )

    Google Scholar 

  • Suguio, K., Marin, L. and Flexor, J.-M., 1977. Sea-level fluctuations during the past 6000 years along the coast of the State of Sao Paulo (Brazil). Proceedings of the 10th INQUA Congress, (Birmingham)

    Google Scholar 

  • Thommeret, J., Thommeret, Y., Laborel, J., Montaggioni, L.F. and Pirazzoli, P.A., 1981. Late Holocene shoreline changes and seismo-tectonic displacements in western Crete. Zeitschrift fur Géomorphologie, Supplement Band, 40, 127–149

    Google Scholar 

  • Verrill, A.E., 1906. The Bermuda Islands. Transactions of the Connecticut Academy of Arts and Sciences, 12, 348 pp

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Authors
  1. J. Laborel
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Free University, Amsterdam, Netherlands

    Orson van de Plassche

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 1986 Orson van de plassche

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Laborel, J. (1986). Vermetid gastropods as sea-level indicators. In: van de Plassche, O. (eds) Sea-Level Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4215-8_10

Download citation

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-009-4215-8_10

  • Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht

  • Print ISBN: 978-94-010-8370-6

  • Online ISBN: 978-94-009-4215-8

  • eBook Packages: Springer Book Archive

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation