Punctuated eustatic sea-level rise in the early mid-Holocene
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Material Information

Title:
Punctuated eustatic sea-level rise in the early mid-Holocene
Series Title:
Geology Volume 38 Number 9
Creator:
Bird, Michael I.
Austin, William E.N.
Wurster, Christopher M.
Fifield, L. Keith
Mojtahid, Meryem
Sargeant, Chris
Publisher:
The Geological Society of America
Publication Date:
Language:
English

Subjects

Subjects / Keywords:
Sea level rise ( lcsh )
Singapore ( lcsh )
Ice sheets ( lcsh )

Notes

Abstract:
Whether eustatic sea-level rise through the Holocene has been punctuated or continuous has remained controversial for almost two decades. Resolving this debate has implications for predicting future responses of remaining ice sheets to climate change and also for understanding the drivers of human settlement and dispersal patterns through prehistory. Here we present a sea-level curve for the past 8900 yr from Singapore, a tectonically stable location remote from iceloading effects. We also present critical and unique sedimentation rate, organic 13C, and foraminiferal 13C proxy records of sea-level change derived from a shallow-marine sediment core from the same area over the same time interval. The sea-level curve, corroborated by the independent proxy records, suggests rapid rise at a rate of 1.8 m/100 yr until 8100 cal (calibrated) yr B.P., a near cessation in the rate of sealevel rise between 7800 and 7400 cal yr B.P., followed by a renewed rise of 4–5 m that was complete by 6500 cal yr B.P. We suggest that this period of relatively stable sea level during the early to mid-Holocene enabled modern deltas to advance, providing a highly productive environment for the establishment of coastal sedentary agriculture. Periods of rapid sea-level rise before and after may have catalyzed signifi - cant postglacial episodes of human dispersal in coastal regions. ( English )

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Source Institution:
Florida International University
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Sea Level Rise