| Summary: | ABSTRACT We obtained global sea-level (eustatic) estimates with a peak of ~22 m higher than present for the Pliocene interval 2.7-3.2 Ma from backstripping in Virginia (United States), New Zealand, and Enewetak Atoll (north Pacifi c Ocean), benthic foraminiferal δ 18 O values, and Mg/Ca-δ 18 O estimates. Statistical analysis indicates that it is likely (68% confi dence interval) that peak sea level was 22 ± 5 m higher than modern, and extremely likely (95%) that it was 22 ± 10 m higher than modern. Benthic foraminiferal δ 18 O values appear to require that the peak was <20-21 m. Our estimates imply loss of the equivalent of the Greenland and West Antarctic ice sheets, and some volume loss from the East Antarctic Ice Sheet, and address the longstanding controversy concerning the Pliocene stability of the East Antarctic Ice Sheet. INTRODUCTION Pliocene studies allow evaluation of relationships among global climate, atmospheric CO 2 , and sea-level changes under conditions significantly warmer than today, but with a similar paleogeographic confi guration Published estimates of the peak Pliocene sea level have a wide range, though a ~25 m peak is widely cited (e.g., Pliocene global sea-level changes have been reconstructed using records from atolls
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