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Sea Level Change, Post-Glacial

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Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments

Part of the book series: Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series ((EESS))

The late Quaternary glacial period was characterized by massive ice sheets that covered parts of North America, northern Europe, and several other high latitude and high altitude regions. This volume of ice was sufficient to lower global sea level by over 100 m. As the ice sheets began to melt and retreat over 20,000 years ago, sea level rose rapidly. However, the time history and magnitude of sea level rise were widely debated, as data from radiocarbon-dated paleosea level indicators began to accumulate in the 1950s and 1960s. A major point of discussion at that time centered on whether or not the post-glacial marine transgression followed a smooth versus a fluctuating curve that reflected world-wide sea level changes (e.g., Shepard and Suess, 1956; Fairbridge, 1961, 1976). Support for both points of view could be found as recently as 1991 in a compilation of Holocene sea level curves (Pirazzoli, 1991). The acquisition of more accurately dated sea level data and development of a...

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  1. Vivien Gornitz
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  1. Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Columbia University, New York, USA

    Vivien Gornitz

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Gornitz, V. (2009). Sea Level Change, Post-Glacial. In: Gornitz, V. (eds) Encyclopedia of Paleoclimatology and Ancient Environments. Encyclopedia of Earth Sciences Series. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-4020-4411-3_207

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