Lack of evidence for a substantial sea-level fluctuation within the Last Interglacial

• Published in: Nature geoscience Vol. 11; no. 9; pp. 627 - 634
• Main Authors: Barlow, Natasha L. M., McClymont, Erin L., Whitehouse, Pippa L., Stokes, Chris R., Jamieson, Stewart S. R., Woodroffe, Sarah A., Bentley, Michael J., Callard, S. Louise, Cofaigh, Colm Ó, Evans, David J. A., Horrocks, Jennifer R., Lloyd, Jerry M., Long, Antony J., Margold, Martin, Roberts, David H., Sanchez-Montes, Maria L.
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London Nature Publishing Group UK 01.09.2018; Nature Publishing Group
• Subjects: 704/106/125; 704/106/413; 704/106/694; Climate; Climatic conditions; Earth; Earth and Environmental Science; Earth Sciences; Earth System Sciences; Geochemistry; Geology; Geomorphology; Geophysics/Geodesy; Glaciation; Global sea level; High sea levels; High seas; Ice sheets; Interglacial periods; Mean sea level; Review Article; Sea level; Sea level fall; Sea level fluctuations; Sea level rise; Stratigraphy; Uncertainty
• ISSN: 1752-0894; 1752-0908; 1752-0908
• DOI: 10.1038/s41561-018-0195-4

During the Last Interglacial, global mean sea level reached approximately 6 to 9 m above the present level. This period of high sea level may have been punctuated by a fall of more than 4 m, but a cause for such a widespread sea-level fall has been elusive. Reconstructions of global mean sea level account for solid Earth processes and so the rapid growth and decay of ice sheets is the most obvious explanation for the sea-level fluctuation. Here, we synthesize published geomorphological and stratigraphic indicators from the Last Interglacial, and find no evidence for ice-sheet regrowth within the warm interglacial climate. We also identify uncertainties in the interpretation of local relative sea-level data that underpin the reconstructions of global mean sea level. Given this uncertainty, and taking into account our inability to identify any plausible processes that would cause global sea level to fall by 4 m during warm climate conditions, we question the occurrence of a rapid sea-level fluctuation within the Last Interglacial. We therefore recommend caution in interpreting the high rates of global mean sea-level rise in excess of 3 to 7 m per 1,000 years that have been proposed for the period following the Last Interglacial sea-level lowstand. Robust evidence for a previously proposed sea-level fall and rise during the Last Interglacial is lacking, according to a synthesis. This calls estimates of high rates of sea-level rise at the end of the Last Interglacial into question.