Articles | Volume 13, issue 4
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1633-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
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the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Special issue:
https://doi.org/10.5194/essd-13-1633-2021
© Author(s) 2021. This work is distributed under
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Last interglacial sea-level proxies in East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean
MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
Jennifer Weil-Accardo
CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Collège de France, Aix-en-Provence, France
Pierre Deschamps
CEREGE, Aix-Marseille Université, CNRS, IRD, Collège de France, Aix-en-Provence, France
Davide Oppo
Sedimentary Basins Research Group, School of Geosciences, University of Louisiana at Lafayette, Lafayette, Louisiana, USA
Alessio Rovere
MARUM – Center for Marine Environmental Sciences, University of Bremen, Bremen, Germany
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Sea level was significantly higher during the Pliocene epoch, around 3 million years ago. The present-day elevations of shorelines that formed in the past provide a data constraint on the extent of ice sheet melt and the global sea level response under warm Pliocene conditions. In this study, we identify 10 escarpments that formed from wave-cut erosion during Pliocene times and compare their elevations with model predictions of solid Earth deformation processes to estimate past sea level.
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We reconstruct sea level extremes due to storm surges in a past warmer climate. We employ a novel combination of paleoclimate modeling and global ocean hydrodynamic modeling. We find that during the Last Interglacial, about 127 000 years ago, seasonal sea level extremes were indeed significantly different – higher or lower – on long stretches of the global coast. These changes are associated with different patterns of atmospheric storminess linked with meridional shifts in wind bands.
Alessio Rovere, Deirdre D. Ryan, Matteo Vacchi, Andrea Dutton, Alexander R. Simms, and Colin V. Murray-Wallace
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In this work, we describe WALIS, the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines. WALIS is a sea-level database that includes sea-level proxies and samples dated to marine isotope stage 5 (~ 80 to 130 ka). The database was built through topical data compilations included in a special issue in this journal.
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Marine Isotope Stage 5e (MIS 5e; the Last Interglacial, 125 ka) represents a period in the Earth’s geologic history when sea level was higher than present. In this paper, a standardized database was produced after screening and reviewing LIG sea-level data from published papers in Southeast Asia. We identified 43 unique sea-level indicators (42 from coral reef terraces and 1 from a tidal notch) and compiled the data in the World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS).
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Lake Mareotis (NW Nile delta, Egypt) was a gateway between the Nile valley and the Mediterranean during Greco-Roman times. The hydrological evolution of Lake Mareotis was reconstructed using lake sediments and archaeological archives. The data show both a rise in Nile inputs to the basin during the first millennia BC and AD and a lake-level rise of ca. 1.5 m during the Roman period. A high-energy deposit such as a tsunami also possibly affected Alexandria's lacustrine hinterland.
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As a result of the collision between the European and Apulian plates, the Alps have experienced several evolutionary stages. The Penninic frontal thrust (PFT) (major thrust) was associated with compression, and now seismic studies show ongoing extensional activity. Calcite mineralization associated with shortening and extensional structures was sampled. The last deformation stages are dated by U–Pb on calcite at ~ 3.5 and ~ 2.5 Ma. Isotope analysis evidences deep crustal fluid mobilization.
Evan J. Gowan, Alessio Rovere, Deirdre D. Ryan, Sebastian Richiano, Alejandro Montes, Marta Pappalardo, and Marina L. Aguirre
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During the last interglacial (130 to 115 ka), global sea level was higher than present. The World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines (WALIS) has been created to document this. In this paper, we have compiled data for southeastern South America. There are landforms that indicate that sea level was 5 to 25 m higher than present during this time period. However, the quality of these data is hampered by limitations on elevation measurements, chronology, and geological descriptions.
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Short summary
Sea levels during the last interglacial (130 to 73 ka) are seen as possible process analogs for future sea-level-rise scenarios as our world warms. To this end we catalog previously published ancient shoreline elevations and chronologies in a standardized data format for East Africa and the Western Indian Ocean region. These entries were then contributed to the greater World Atlas of Last Interglacial Shorelines database.
Sea levels during the last interglacial (130 to 73 ka) are seen as possible process analogs for...
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