Figure 2: Illustration of the effect of vertical motions during an earthquake cycle on the coral record.
From: Variable Holocene deformation above a shallow subduction zone extremely close to the trench
(a) Stage 1: Living coral (dark grey) grows up until its highest level of survival (HLS) during a time period when the sea level is stable. (b) Stage II: In the years to decades preceding an earthquake, gradual interseismic subsidence submerges the live corals and allows them to grow vertically, as their HLS is raised. (c) Stage III: Significant, abrupt coseismic uplift raises the live reef above the HLS and kills the shallow-living corals. The corals lifted well above the new zone of intense bioerosion are preserved with intact morphology, whereas those just above the HLS undergo post-uplift erosion through bioerosion and eventually are not preserved.
