Geomorphological evolution of the foreland of southwestern New Caledonia during the last glacial-interglacial episodes.

Geomorphological evolution of the foreland of southwestern New Caledonia during the last glacial-interglacial episodes. We present the morphological analysis of a combined digital elevation model (DEM) obtained by merging data from terrestrial and coastal regions of southern New-Caledonia. Our aim is to describe the Quaternary morphotectonic evolution of the southwestern lagoon of New Caledonia, a region with a shallow average bathymetry (20 m), recently submerged in response to both tectonic and eustatic fluctuations. The marine DEM was obtained by interpolating 131000 depth soundings from MOP-SHOM ('Mission oceanographique du Pacifique'-'Service hydrographique et oceanographique de la Marine', France). We confirm that morphologies such as meandering channels and deeply incised canyons are the result of a sub-aerial fluviatile evolution during periods of low sea levels. The marine sedimentation in this region is very recent, probably corresponding to no more than two glacial-interglacial cycles. Geometrical relationships between submerged paleo-rivers and streams, including captures and incisions, strongly suggest that Quaternary active tectonics affected river development. We identify two hydro-graphic palaeo-networks suggesting outflow changes, from parallel to the present-day island axis to perpendicular. (c) 2005 Publie par Elsevier SAS pour l'Academie des sciences.