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Antarctic temperature and global sea level closely coupled over the past five glacial cycles

Antarctic temperature and global sea level closely coupled over the past five glacial cycles
Antarctic temperature and global sea level closely coupled over the past five glacial cycles
Ice cores from Antarctica record temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide variations over the past six glacial cycles1, 2. Yet concomitant records of sea-level fluctuations—needed to reveal rates and magnitudes of ice-volume change that provide context to projections for the future3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9—remain elusive. Reconstructions indicate fast rates of sea-level rise up to 5 cm yr-1 during glacial terminations10, and 1–2 cm yr-1 during interglacials11, 12 and within the past glacial cycle13. However, little is known about the total long-term sea-level rise in equilibration to warming. Here we present a sea-level record for the past 520,000 years based on stable oxygen isotope analyses of planktonic foraminifera and bulk sediments from the Red Sea. Our record reveals a strong correlation on multi-millennial timescales between global sea level and Antarctic temperature1, which is related to global temperature6, 7. On the basis of this correlation, we estimate sea level for the Middle Pliocene epoch (3.0–3.5 Myr ago)—a period with near-modern CO2 levels—at 255 m above present, which is validated by independent sea-level data6, 14, 15, 16. Our results imply that even stabilization at today's CO2 levels may cause sea-level rise over several millennia that by far exceeds existing long-term projections3.


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1752-0894
500-504
Rohling, E.J.
a2a27ef2-fcce-4c71-907b-e692b5ecc685
Grant, K.
f9d9fa1b-62f3-4e90-a6f0-b46bc213fdb2
Bolshaw, M.
c09b8ab7-a813-4717-b374-e8d5bdc1bbd3
Roberts, A.P.
4497b436-ef02-428d-a46e-65a22094ba52
Siddall, M.
9c045dd5-498b-488b-9c67-23e24d90ebcc
Hemleben, Ch.
d07e6aa0-389c-437e-9984-e3907432e557
Kucera, M.
1dfd204d-24e1-4e03-b465-c60bb4ac74f7
Rohling, E.J.
a2a27ef2-fcce-4c71-907b-e692b5ecc685
Grant, K.
f9d9fa1b-62f3-4e90-a6f0-b46bc213fdb2
Bolshaw, M.
c09b8ab7-a813-4717-b374-e8d5bdc1bbd3
Roberts, A.P.
4497b436-ef02-428d-a46e-65a22094ba52
Siddall, M.
9c045dd5-498b-488b-9c67-23e24d90ebcc
Hemleben, Ch.
d07e6aa0-389c-437e-9984-e3907432e557
Kucera, M.
1dfd204d-24e1-4e03-b465-c60bb4ac74f7

Rohling, E.J., Grant, K., Bolshaw, M., Roberts, A.P., Siddall, M., Hemleben, Ch. and Kucera, M. (2009) Antarctic temperature and global sea level closely coupled over the past five glacial cycles. Nature Geoscience, 2, 500-504. (doi:10.1038/ngeo557).

Record type: Article

Abstract

Ice cores from Antarctica record temperature and atmospheric carbon dioxide variations over the past six glacial cycles1, 2. Yet concomitant records of sea-level fluctuations—needed to reveal rates and magnitudes of ice-volume change that provide context to projections for the future3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9—remain elusive. Reconstructions indicate fast rates of sea-level rise up to 5 cm yr-1 during glacial terminations10, and 1–2 cm yr-1 during interglacials11, 12 and within the past glacial cycle13. However, little is known about the total long-term sea-level rise in equilibration to warming. Here we present a sea-level record for the past 520,000 years based on stable oxygen isotope analyses of planktonic foraminifera and bulk sediments from the Red Sea. Our record reveals a strong correlation on multi-millennial timescales between global sea level and Antarctic temperature1, which is related to global temperature6, 7. On the basis of this correlation, we estimate sea level for the Middle Pliocene epoch (3.0–3.5 Myr ago)—a period with near-modern CO2 levels—at 255 m above present, which is validated by independent sea-level data6, 14, 15, 16. Our results imply that even stabilization at today's CO2 levels may cause sea-level rise over several millennia that by far exceeds existing long-term projections3.


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Published date: 21 June 2009
Organisations: Ocean and Earth Science

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Local EPrints ID: 66499
URI: http://eprints.soton.ac.uk/id/eprint/66499
ISSN: 1752-0894
PURE UUID: 32951191-296e-445c-a3f6-8d0e26c7ced2
ORCID for E.J. Rohling: ORCID iD orcid.org/0000-0001-5349-2158

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Date deposited: 24 Jun 2009
Last modified: 14 Mar 2024 02:37

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Contributors

Author: E.J. Rohling ORCID iD
Author: K. Grant
Author: M. Bolshaw
Author: A.P. Roberts
Author: M. Siddall
Author: Ch. Hemleben
Author: M. Kucera

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