The geomorphology and morphostratigraphy of numerous worldwide sites reveal the relative movements of sea level during the peak of the Last Interglaciation (Marine Isotope Stage (MIS) 5e, assumed average duration between 13072 and 11972 ka). Because sea level was higher than present, deposits are emergent, exposed, and widespread on many stable coastlines. Correlation with MIS 5e is facilitated by similar morphostratigraphic relationships, a low degree of diagenesis, uranium-thorium (U/Th) ages, and a global set of amino-acid racemization (AAR) data. This study integrates information from a large number of sites from tectonically stable areas including Bermuda, Bahamas, and Western Australia, and some that have experienced minor uplift ($2.5 m/100 ka), including selected sites from the Mediterranean and Hawaii. Significant fluctuations during the highstand are evident at many MIS 5e sites, revealed from morphological, stratigraphic, and sedimentological evidence. Rounded and flat-topped curves derived only from reef tracts are incomplete and not representative of the entire interglacial story. Despite predictions of much different sea-level histories in Bermuda, the Bahamas, and Western Australia due to glacio-and hydro-isostatic effects, the rocks from these sites reveal a nearly identical record during the Last Interglaciation.The Last Interglacial highstand is characterized by several defined sea-level intervals (SLIs) that include: (SLI#1) post-glacial (MIS 6/5e Termination II) rise to above present before 130 ka; (SLI#2) stability at +2 to +3 m for the initial several thousand years ($130 to $125 ka) during which fringing reefs were established and terrace morphology was imprinted along the coastlines; (SLI#3) a brief fall to near or below present around 125 ka; (SLI#4) a secondary rise to and through $+3-4 m ($124 to $122 ka); followed by (SLI#5) a brief period of instability ($120 ka) characterized by a rapid rise to between +6 to +9 m during which multiple notches and benches were developed; and (SLI#6) an apparently rapid descent of sea level into MIS 5d after 119 ka. U/Th ages are used to confirm the Last Interglacial age of the deposits, but unfortunately, in only two cases was it possible to corroborate the highstand subdivisions using radiometric ages.Sea levels above or at present were relatively stable during much of early MIS 5e and the last 6-7 ka of MIS 1, encouraging a comparison between them. The geological evidence suggests that significant oceanographic and climatic changes occurred thereafter, midway through, and continuing through the end of MIS 5e. Fluctuating sea levels and a catastrophic termination of MIS 5e are linked to the instability of grounded and marine-based ice sheets, with the Greenland (GIS) and West Antarctic (WAIS) ice sheets being the most likely contributors. Late MIS 5e ice volume changes were accompanied by oceanographic reorganization and global ecological shifts, and provide one ominous scenario for a greenhouse world.

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ABSTRACT. The Wilkes Station area comprises 75 km.' of rock which form one of the most extensive exposures on this part of the East Antarctic coast. During 1957 and 1958 the continental ice sheet south-east of Wilkes Station was explorcd to a distance of 100 km. inland, and its form and behaviour studied by means of topographic, movemen.t and gravity surveys. Surface stake measurements inland showcd a net accumulation equivalent to 13' 7 cm. of water in 1958. Sub-surface measurements of wctness, hardness, density, grain size, crystal size, shape and fabric and electrical conductivity were made at 60 locations and to depths which reached 62 m. at an auxiliary inland station. Meteorological observations were made and englacial temperatures measured. In summary, the ice shect in this area provides a typical section of a polar glacier. The evidence for glacial fluctuations and the possibility of establishing a chronology for these are discussed.

Hollin, J. T. 1977 03 01: Thames interglacial sites, Ipswichian sea levels and Antarctic ice surges. Boreas, Vol. 6, pp. 33-52. Oslo. ISSN 0300-9483.New and old, pollen and other studies are summarized for seven sites in the Thames estuary, all of them most probably of last (Ipswichian) interglacial age. Early in the interglacial, at Crayford, Little Thurrock, and Purfleet, there was an aggradation of laminated (3 mm/pair) 'brickearth' (clay, with silt and sand), to above f l l m O.D. Observations in modern estuaries suggest that the laminations were of tidal origin, and related to a sea stand at +7 m, represented on the coast by e.g. the raised cliff at Brighton. In the middle of the Ipswichian, freshwater fossils at West Thurrock and Wretton (Norfolk) suggest that the sea fell below 0 m. Late in the Ipswichian, arguably at the break of climate, at Crayford, Ilford, Aveley, West Thurrock, Stutton (Suffolk) and probably Little Thurrock, there was an aggradation of massive brickearth (famous for its mammal remains) grading up into sand, to above $14 m. The possibility is discussed that this second aggradation reflects a second rise of sea level, to $16 m, represented by e.g. the raised beach at Portland, and caused by an Antarctic 'surge'. According to A. T. Wilson, this surge triggered the last (Devensian) ice age.