Reconstructing last interglacial sea level to understand how ice sheets behave in a warmer world

• Main Author: Austermann, Jacqueline
• Format: Text
• Language: unknown
• Published: Montclair State University Digital Commons 2020
• Subjects: Environmental Sciences; Sustainability; Ice Sheet
• Online Access: https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/sustainability-seminar/2020/spring2020/13; https://digitalcommons.montclair.edu/context/sustainability-seminar/article/1081/viewcontent/20200211_austermann.pdf

The last interglacial (125 ka) marks a time during which global mean temperatures were 1-2º warmer than pre-industrial values. This time period has therefore been used as a natural laboratory for studying ice sheet stability and sea level rise in a warmer world. Local sea level during the last interglacial can be reconstructed using sea level indicators such as fossil corals. In order to infer global mean sea level, or equivalent ice volume, one needs to correct local sea level estimates for post-depositional deformation. In this presentation I will explain what solid Earth deformation needs to be accounted for in these reconstructions and how we can model these processes. I will further show newly obtained last interglacial sea level data from the Bahamas, use them to infer last interglacial global mean sea level and provide an outlook of how these findings can affect predictions of future sea level change.