Sea-level oscillations in the East China Sea and their implications for global seawater redistribution during 14.0-10.0 kyr BP

• Published in: Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology
• Main Authors: Dong, Jiang, Li, Anchun, Liu, Xiting, Wan, Shiming, Feng, Xuguang, Lu, Jian, Pei, Wenqiang, Wang, Hongli
• Format: Report
• Language: English
• Published: ELSEVIER SCIENCE BV 2018
• Subjects: Younger Dryas; Meltwater pulse 1B; Sedimentary environment; Isostatic adjustment; Continental shelf; Physical Geography; Geology; Paleontology; Geography; Physical; Geosciences; Multidisciplinary; LAST GLACIAL MAXIMUM; ICE-SHEET; SHELF; AGES; SEDIMENTATION; VARIABILITY; BARBADOS; SYSTEMS; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: http://ir.qdio.ac.cn/handle/337002/155792; https://doi.org/10.1016/j.palaeo.2018.08.015

The sea-level curve during the last deglaciation is characterized by two episodes of rapid sea-level rise, termed Meltwater Pulses (MWPs) 1A (14.6-14.3 kyr BP) and 1B (11.45-11.1 kyr BP), as well as an episode of relatively slow sea-level rise during the Younger Dryas stadial (YD; 12.85-11.65 kyr BP). However, the relative sea-level changes during the YD and MWP-1B periods are still not well defined. Here, we use precisely dated intertidal sediments derived from 6 sediment cores on the tectonically stable continental shelf of the East China Sea (ECS) to reconstruct a high-resolution sea-level curve between 14.0 kyr BP and 10.0 kyr BP. Although linear regression analysis suggests that the sea level rose continuously, with an average rate of 10.6 +/- 0.6 mm/yr (r = -0.87, p (a) < 0.01, n = 95), the mode of sea-level rise differs before, during, and after the YD stadial. A rapid sea-level rise of 30.5 +/- 4.9 mm/yr (r = 0.79, p(a) < 0.05, n = 25) occurred during 14.0-12.85 kyr BP. Subsequently, the rate of sea-level rise decreased significantly in response to the YD stadial, and it increased smoothly to 12.0 +/- 1.4 mm/yr (r = -0.86, p(a) < 0.01, n = 29) from 11.65-10.0 kyr BP, indicating that MWP-1B was absent on the ECS shelf. Furthermore, based on comparisons of these data with other high-resolution curves of sea level or elevation at different latitudes, we suggest that the poleward seawater migration from intertropical broad oceans occurred because glacial isostatic adjustment could have generated a relatively consistent global sea-level height during the last deglaciation, especially during the YD, when the rate of sea-level rise was slowed.