Generation and Preservation of Submarine Terraces: Insights From Records Imprinted on the Topography of Dokdo Volcano

Abstract Marine terraces archive sea‐level and tectonic history, yet their relationship to individual highstands remains contentious. While most studies focus on subaerial terraces in uplifting settings, submerged terraces in subsiding settings are less explored. We develop a 1‐D wave‐erosion model and apply it to Dokdo — a subsiding volcanic island in the East Sea (a semi‐enclosed marginal sea bordered by Russia, Korea, and Japan) — using high‐resolution bathymetry to evaluate terrace generation and preservation. Our model captures the primary depths of the observed terrace record, comprising only six features out of ∼35 sea‐level stillstands over the past 600 ky. In a subsiding setting, lowstand terraces show higher preservation potential, yet many are reorganized through reoccupation, merging, and splitting during transgressions, rendering formation age non‐monotonic with water depth. These findings underscore that terrace records on volcanic islands are not simple chronometers, but emergent products of complex morphodynamic interactions between subsidence and sea‐level.