Summary: | The Last Interglacial (LIG, Marine Isotope Stage 5e, ~125 ka) is a process analogue for a future warmer climate. Thousands of coastal relic landforms and deposits dating back to this period are studied today to obtain insights on pressing questions such as: What was the peak LIG sea level? Was the highstand characterised by single or multiple peaks? Were rapid sea-level changes triggered by sudden ice sheet collapses? The WARMCOASTS project has already compiled a large database of LIG sea-level proxies in the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS), and investigation is also continuing using a number of methods including coral reef stratigraphic forward modelling, storm event and wave modelling, and field surveys for sea-level indicators in South and North America and the Caribbean. The results of this ongoing research may help refine our understanding of ice sheets and sea levels under warmer climate conditions
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