Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle

M. Siddall; E. J. Rohling; A. Almogi-Labin; Ch Hemleben; D. Meischner; I. Schmelzer; D. A. Smeed

doi:10.1038/nature01690

Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle

M. Siddall, E. J. Rohling, A. Almogi-Labin, Ch Hemleben, D. Meischner, I. Schmelzer, D. A. Smeed

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1377 Scopus citations

Abstract

The last glacial cycle was characterized by substantial millennial-scale climate fluctuations, but the extent of any associated changes in global sea level (or, equivalently, ice volume) remains elusive. Highstands of sea level can be reconstructed from dated fossil coral reef terraces, and these data are complemented by a compilation of global sea-level estimates based on deep-sea oxygen isotope ratios at millennial-scale resolutions or higher. Records based on oxygen isotopes, however, contain uncertainties in the range of ±30 m, or ±1 °G in deep sea temperature. Here we analyse oxygen isotope records from Red Sea sediment cores to reconstruct the history of water residence times in the Red Sea. We then use a hydraulic model of the water exchange between the Red Sea and the world ocean to derive the sill depth - and hence global sea level-over the past 470,000 years (470 kyr). Our reconstruction is accurate to within ±12 m, and gives a centennial-scale resolution from 70 to 25 kyr before present. We find that sea-level changes of up to 35 m, at rates of up to 2 cm yr^-1, occurred coincident with abrupt changes in climate.

Original language	English
Pages (from-to)	853-858
Number of pages	6
Journal	Nature
Volume	423
Issue number	6942
DOIs	https://doi.org/10.1038/nature01690
State	Published - 19 Jun 2003
Externally published	Yes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements We thank N. Shackleton for advice and permission to use the deep-sea d18O record of MD952042b, E. Bard for Tahiti sea-level estimates, and A. Hogg, J. F. McManus, P. M. Grootes and H. Erlenkeuser for help during the preparation of this Letter. M.S. has been funded by a NERC studentship.

Funding Information:
Acknowledgements We thank N. Dempsey for critical reading of the manuscript, and D. Weller for discussions. This work was partly supported by the US National Science Foundation, Seagate Technology, the Catalan Direcció General de Recerca, and the Spanish Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología.

Funding

Acknowledgements We thank N. Shackleton for advice and permission to use the deep-sea d18O record of MD952042b, E. Bard for Tahiti sea-level estimates, and A. Hogg, J. F. McManus, P. M. Grootes and H. Erlenkeuser for help during the preparation of this Letter. M.S. has been funded by a NERC studentship. Acknowledgements We thank N. Dempsey for critical reading of the manuscript, and D. Weller for discussions. This work was partly supported by the US National Science Foundation, Seagate Technology, the Catalan Direcció General de Recerca, and the Spanish Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología.

Funders	Funder number
Catalan Direcció General de Recerca
US National Science Foundation
Seagate Technology
Natural Environment Research Council
Comisión Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnología

UN SDGs

This output contributes to the following UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

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10.1038/nature01690

Cite this

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title = "Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle",

abstract = "The last glacial cycle was characterized by substantial millennial-scale climate fluctuations, but the extent of any associated changes in global sea level (or, equivalently, ice volume) remains elusive. Highstands of sea level can be reconstructed from dated fossil coral reef terraces, and these data are complemented by a compilation of global sea-level estimates based on deep-sea oxygen isotope ratios at millennial-scale resolutions or higher. Records based on oxygen isotopes, however, contain uncertainties in the range of ±30 m, or ±1 °G in deep sea temperature. Here we analyse oxygen isotope records from Red Sea sediment cores to reconstruct the history of water residence times in the Red Sea. We then use a hydraulic model of the water exchange between the Red Sea and the world ocean to derive the sill depth - and hence global sea level-over the past 470,000 years (470 kyr). Our reconstruction is accurate to within ±12 m, and gives a centennial-scale resolution from 70 to 25 kyr before present. We find that sea-level changes of up to 35 m, at rates of up to 2 cm yr-1, occurred coincident with abrupt changes in climate.",

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AU - Schmelzer, I.

AU - Smeed, D. A.

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N2 - The last glacial cycle was characterized by substantial millennial-scale climate fluctuations, but the extent of any associated changes in global sea level (or, equivalently, ice volume) remains elusive. Highstands of sea level can be reconstructed from dated fossil coral reef terraces, and these data are complemented by a compilation of global sea-level estimates based on deep-sea oxygen isotope ratios at millennial-scale resolutions or higher. Records based on oxygen isotopes, however, contain uncertainties in the range of ±30 m, or ±1 °G in deep sea temperature. Here we analyse oxygen isotope records from Red Sea sediment cores to reconstruct the history of water residence times in the Red Sea. We then use a hydraulic model of the water exchange between the Red Sea and the world ocean to derive the sill depth - and hence global sea level-over the past 470,000 years (470 kyr). Our reconstruction is accurate to within ±12 m, and gives a centennial-scale resolution from 70 to 25 kyr before present. We find that sea-level changes of up to 35 m, at rates of up to 2 cm yr-1, occurred coincident with abrupt changes in climate.

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Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle

Abstract

Bibliographical note

Funding

UN SDGs

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