High rates of sea-level rise during the last interglacial period
The last interglacial period, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, was characterized by global mean surface temperatures that were at least 2 8C warmer than present. Mean sea level stood 4-6m higher than modern sea level, with an important contribution from a reduction of the Greenland ice sheet. Although...
| Published in: | Nature Geoscience |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , , , |
| Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Nature Publishing Group
2016
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1038/ngeo.2007.28 https://ora.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid:4c221554-4ba9-4696-8531-76f6017ce22f |
| Summary: | The last interglacial period, Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, was characterized by global mean surface temperatures that were at least 2 8C warmer than present. Mean sea level stood 4-6m higher than modern sea level, with an important contribution from a reduction of the Greenland ice sheet. Although some fossil reef data indicate sea-level fluctuations of up to 10m around the mean, so far it has not been possible to constrain the duration and rates of change of these shorter-term variations. Here, we use a combination of a continuous high-resolution sea-level record, based on the stable oxygen isotopes of planktonic foraminifera from the central Red Sea, and age constraints from coral data to estimate rates of sea-level change during MIS-5e. We find average rates of sea-level rise of 1.6m per century. As global mean temperatures during MIS-5e were comparable to projections for future climate change under the influence of anthropogenic greenhouse-gas emissions, these observed rates of sea-level change inform the ongoing debate about high versus low rates of sea-level rise in the coming century. © 2008 Nature Publishing Group. |
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