Climate related sea-level variations over the past two millennia.

Publication type

Journal Article

Research Area

Climate

Research Team

Sea Level Research

Abstract

We present new sea-level reconstructions for the past 2100 y based on salt-marsh sedimentary sequences from the US Atlantic coast. The data from North Carolina reveal four phases of persistent sea-level change after correction for glacial isostatic adjustment. Sea level was stable from at least BC 100 until AD 950. Sea level then increased for 400 y at a rate of 0.6 mm/y, followed by a further period of stable, or slightly falling, sea level that persisted until the late 19th century. Since then, sea level has risen at an average rate of 2.1 mm/y, representing the steepest century-scale increase of the past two millennia. This rate was initiated between AD 1865 and 1892. Using an extended semiempirical modeling approach, we show that these sea-level changes are consistent with global temperature for at least the past millennium.

Keywords

Climate, late Holocene, ocean, Salt marsh

Publication Details

Journal

Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America

Volume

108

Issue

27

Pagination

11017–11022

Date Published

07/2011

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