Ice Volume and Sea Level During the Last Interglacial

Permanent Link:: http://dpanther.fiu.edu/dpService/dpPurlService/purl/FI15061988/00001

Material Information

Subjects / Keywords:: Climate change ( lcsh )
Sea level rise ( lcsh )
Ice sheets ( lcsh )
Radiative forcing ( lcsh )

Abstract:: During the last interglacial period, ~125,000 years ago, sea level was at least several meters higher than at present, with substantial variability observed for peak sea level at geographically diverse sites. Speculation that the West Antarctic ice sheet collapsed during the last interglacial period has drawn particular interest to understanding climate and ice-sheet dynamics during this time interval. We provide an internally consistent database of coral U-Th ages to assess last interglacial sea-level observations in the context of isostatic modeling and stratigraphic evidence. These data indicate that global (eustatic) sea level peaked 5.5 to 9 meters above present sea level, requiring smaller ice sheets in both Greenland and Antarctica relative to today and indicating strong sea-level sensitivity to small changes in radiative forcing. ( English )

Source Institution:: Florida International University
Rights Management:: Please contact the owning institution for licensing and permissions. It is the user's responsibility to ensure use does not violate any third party rights.