Hostname: page-component-74656f9884-npj9w Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2026-11-09T18:53:29.771Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false
  • English
  • Français

Global Changes in Postglacial Sea Level: A Numerical Calculation1

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  20 January 2017

James A. Clark ,
William E. Farrell  and
W.Richard Peltier
James A. Clark
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 14853 USA
William E. Farrell
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 14853 USA
W.Richard Peltier
Affiliation:
Department of Geological Sciences, Cornell University, Ithaca, N. Y. 14853 USA
Get access Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

The sea-level rise due to ice-sheet melting since the last glacial maximum was not uniform everywhere because of the deformation of the Earth's surface and its geoid by changing ice and water loads. A numerical model is employed to calculate global changes in relative sea level on a spherical viscoelastic Earth as northern hemisphere ice sheets melt and fill the ocean basins with meltwater. Predictions for the past 16,000 years explain a large proportion of the global variance in the sea-level record, particularly during the Holocene. Results indicate that the oceans can be divided into six zones, each of which is characterized by a specific form of the relative sea-level curve. In four of these zones emerged beaches are predicted, and these may form even at considerable distance from the ice sheets themselves. In the remaining zones submergence is dominant, and no emerged beaches are expected. The close agreement of these predictions with the data suggests that, contrary to the beliefs of many, no net change in ocean volume has occurred during the past 5000 years. Predictions for localities close to the ice sheets are the most in error, suggesting that slight modifications of the assumed melting history and/or the rheological model of the Earth's interior are necessary.

Information

Type
Original Articles
Information
Quaternary Research , Volume 9 , Issue 3 , May 1978 , pp. 265 - 287
Copyright
University of Washington

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

Article purchase

Temporarily unavailable

Footnotes

1

Contribution number 614 of Cornell University Department of Geological Sciences.

References

Alterman, Z., Jarosch, H., Pekeris, C.L., 1961. Propagation of Rayleigh waves in the Earth. Geophys. J.R. astr. Soc.. 4, 219 241.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Falconer, G., 1969. Late glacial and postglacial history and emergence of the Ottawa Islands, Hudson Bay, N.W.T.: Evidence on the deglaciation of Hudson Bay. Canad. J. Earth Sci.. 6, 1263 1276.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Andrews, J.T., Peltier, W.R., 1976. Collapse of the Hudson Bay ice center and glacio-isostatic rebound. Geology. 4, 73 75.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Black, R.F., 1974. Late Quaternary sea-level changes, Umnak Island, Aleutians: Their effects on ancient Aleuts and their causes. Quaternary Res.. 4, 264 281.Google Scholar
Bloom, A.L., 1967. Pleistocene shorelines: A new test of isostasy. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull.. 78, 1477 1494.Google Scholar
Bloom, A.L., 1970. Paludal stratigraphy of Truk, Ponape, and Kusaie, Eastern Caroline Islands. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull.. 81, 1895 1904.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Cathles, L.M., 1975 The Viscosity of the Earth's Mantle. Princeton University Press, Princeton, N. J, 386.Google Scholar
Chappell, J., 1974. Late Quaternary glacio- and hydro-isostasy on a layered Earth. Quaternary Res.. 4, 429 440.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, J.A., 1976. Greenland's rapid postglacial emergence: A result of ice-water gravitational attraction. Geology. 4, 310 312.2.0.CO;2>CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Clark, J.A., 1978. An inverse problem in glacial geology: The reconstruction of glacier thinning in Glacier Bay, Alaska, between 1910 and 1960 A.D. from relative sea-level data. J. of Glaciology. .Google Scholar
Clark, J.A., Lingle, C.S., 1977. Future sealevel changes due to West Antarctic ice sheet fluctuations. Nature. 269, 206 209.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Curray, J.R., 1960. Sediments and history of Holocene transgression Continental Shelf, Northwest Gulf of Mexico. Shepard, F.P., Recent Sediments N.W. Gulf of Mexico. Tulsa Amer. Assoc. Petro. Geol, 221 266.Google Scholar
Daly, R.A., 1934 The Changing World of the Ice Age. Yale University Press, New Haven, Conn, 272.Google Scholar
Emery, K.O., Garrison, L.E., 1967. Sea levels 7000 to 20,000 years ago. Science. 157, 684 687.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Fairbridge, R.W., 1961. Eustatic changes in sea level. Phys. Chem. Earth. 4, 99 185.Google Scholar
Fairbridge, R.W., 1976. Shellfish-eating preceramic Indians in coastal Brazil. Science. 191, 353 359.Google Scholar
Farrell, W.E., 1972. Deformation of the Earth by surface loads. Rev. Geophys. and Space Phys.. 10, 761 797.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Farrell, W.E., Clark, J.A., 1976. On postglacial sea level. Geophys. J.R. astr. Soc.. 46, 647 667.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Gill, E.D., 1965. Radiocarbon dating of past sea levels in SE Australia. Abstracts, INQUA VII Congress. Boulder, Colorado 167.Google Scholar
Harrison, W., Malloy, R.J., Rusnak, G.A., Terasmae, J., 1965. Possible late Pleistocene uplift Chesapeake Bay entrance. J. Geology. 73, 201 229.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hollin, J.T., 1962. On the glacial history of Antarctica. J. of Glaciology. 4, 173 195.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Jelgersma, S., 1966. Sea-level changes during the last 10,000 years. Proceedings of the International Symposium on World Climate from 8000 to 0 B.C.. Roy. Meteor. Soc, London, 54 71.Google Scholar
Kaye, C.A., Barghoorn, E.S., 1964. Late Quaternary sea-level change and crustal rise at Boston, Mass., with notes on the autocompaction of peat. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull.. 75, 63 80.Google Scholar
Kranck, K., 1972. Geomorphological development and post-Pleistocene sea-level changes, Northumberland Strait, Maritime Provinces. Canad. J. Earth. Sci.. 9, 835 844.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Loken, O.H., 1965. Postglacial emergence at the south end of Inugsuin fiord, Baffin Island, N.W.T.. Geogr. Bull.. 7, 243 258.Google Scholar
McConnell, R.K., 1968. Viscosity of the mantle from relaxation time spectra of isostatic adjustment. J. Geophys. Res.. 73, 7089 7105.Google Scholar
Mörner, N., örner, 1971. Eustatic changes during the last 20,000 years and a method of separating the isostatic and eustatic factors in an uplifted area. Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, and Palaeoecology. 9, 153 181.Google Scholar
Neumann, C.A., 1971. Quaternary sea-level data from Bermuda. Quaternaria. 14, 41 43.Google Scholar
Newman, W.S., Rusnak, G.A., 1965. Holocene submergence of the eastern shore of Virginia. Science. 148, 1464 1466.Google Scholar
Peltier, W.R., 1974. The impulse response of a Maxwell Earth. Rev. Geophys. and Space Phys.. 12, 649 705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peltier, W.R., 1976. Glacial-isostatic adjustment II: The inverse problem. Geophys. J.R. astr. Soc.. 46, 669 705.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Peltier, W.R., Andrews, J.T., 1976. Glacial-isostatic adjustment I: The forward problem. Geophys. J.R. astr. Soc.. 46, 605 646.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Powers, H.A., 1961. The emerged shorelines at 2–3 meters in the Aleutian Islands. Zeit. Geomorph. Suppl.. 3, 36 38.Google Scholar
Russell, R.J., 1961. Pacific Island Terraces: Eustatic?. Zeit. Geomorph. Suppl.. 3, 106.Google Scholar
Schofield, J.C., 1964. Post-glacial sea levels and isostatic uplift. N.Z.J. Geol. Geophys.. 7, 359 370.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Scholl, D.W., Stuiver, M., 1967. Recent submergence of southern Florida: A comparison with adjacent coasts and other eustatic data. Geol. Soc. Amer. Bull.. 78, 437 454.Google Scholar
Shepard, F.P., 1963. 35,000 years of sea level. Essays in Marine Geology. Univ. Southern California Press, Los Angeles, Calif, 1 10.Google Scholar
Shepard, F.P., Curray, J.R., Newman, W.A., Bloom, A.L., Newell, N.D., Tracey, J.I. Jr., Veeh, H.H., 1967. Holocene changes in sea level in Micronesia. Science. 157, 542 544.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Stoddart, D.R., 1971. Environment and history in Indian Ocean reef morphology. Stoddart, D.R., Younge, Sir Maurice, Regional Variation in Indian Ocean Coral Reefs. Academic Press, London, 3 28 Published for Zoological Soc. of London by.Google Scholar
Stuiver, M., Daddario, J.J., 1963. Submergence of the New Jersey coast. Science. 142, 951.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Thomson, J., Walton, A., 1972. Redetermination of chronology of Aldabra atoll by 230Th-234U dating. Nature. 240, 145 146.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wait, R.L., 1968. Submergence along the Atlantic Coast of Georgia. USGS Prof. Paper. 600-D, 38 41.Google Scholar
Walcott, R.I., 1972a. Past sea levels, eustasy and deformation of the Earth. Quaternary Res.. 2, 1 14.Google Scholar
Walcott, R.I., 1972b. Late Quaternary vertical movements in eastern North America: Quantitative evidence of glacio-isostatic rebound. Rev. of Geophys. and Space Phys.. 10, 849 884.Google Scholar
Wellman, H.W., 1964. Delayed isostatic response and high sea levels. Nature. 202, 1322 1323.CrossRefGoogle Scholar