A review of last interglacial sea-level proxies in the western Atlantic and southwestern Caribbean, from Brazil to Honduras

Abstract

Abstract. We use a standardized template for Pleistocene sea-level data to review last interglacial (Marine Isotope Stage 5 – MIS 5) sea-level indicators along the coasts of the western Atlantic and southwestern Caribbean, on a transect spanning from Brazil to Honduras and including the islands of Aruba, Bonaire, and Curaçao. We identified six main types of sea-level indicators (beach deposits, coral reef terraces, lagoonal deposits, marine terraces, Ophiomorpha burrows, and tidal notches) and produced 55 standardized data points, each constrained by one or more geochronological methods. Sea-level indicators are well preserved along the Brazilian coasts, providing an almost continuous north-to-south transect. However, this continuity disappears north of the Rio Grande do Norte Brazilian state. According to the sea-level index points (discrete past position of relative sea level in space and time) the paleo sea-level values range from ∼ 5.6 to 20 m above sea level (a.s.l.) in the continental sector and from ∼ 2 to 10 m a.s.l. in the Caribbean islands. In this paper, we address the uncertainties surrounding these values. From our review, we identify that the coasts of northern Brazil, French Guiana, Suriname, Guyana, and Venezuela would benefit from a renewed study of Pleistocene sea-level indicators, as it was not possible to identify sea-level index points for the last interglacial coastal outcrops of these countries. Future research must also be directed at improving the chronological control at several locations, and several sites would benefit from the re-measurement of sea-level index points using more accurate elevation measurement techniques. The database compiled in this study is available in spreadsheet format at the following link: https://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.5516444 (Version 1.02; Rubio-Sandoval et al., 2021).

Quaternary and Pliocene sea-level changes at Camarones, central Patagonia, Argentina

“…Much of the Southern part of the Atlantic Ocean is a passive margin, and coastal deposits associated with past interglacials shape the morphology of the coastal landscape and record the history of relative sea level change after deglaciation (see review works by Gowan et al, 2021a andRubio-Sandoval et al, 2021). In this study, we present new data detailing Quaternary sea-level changes at Camarones, Central Patagonia, Argentina.…”

WALIS dashboard: An online tool to explore a global paleo sea-level database

“…From the " Summary Table " page, we can explore the data and see what literature sources are present. The data in this area has been inserted in the WALIS database by two studies, Chutcharavan and Dutton (2021) 22 and Rubio-Sandoval et al (2021) 23 , who reviewed the works of Schellmann et al (2004) 24 and Muhs et al (2012) 25 . The full references to these studies are present in the full version of WALIS 8 .…”

Responses of Caribbean Mangroves to Quaternary Climatic, Eustatic and Anthropogenic Drivers of Ecological Change: a Review

“…Caribbean sea-level reconstructions for the last glacial cycle have largely concentrated on MIS 5 coral terraces, except for a continuous curve from the Gulf of Cariaco based on seismic stratigraphy [85][86][87][88][89][90] (Fig. 9).…”

“…Temperature, moisture and sea level-changes during the last glacial cycle in the Caribbean region, compared with global reconstructions. 1) Sea Surface Temperature (SST) reconstruction from core ODP-999A (Colombian Basin)[80]; 2) Land temperature reconstruction from Lake Petén Itzá (Guatemala)[81]; 3) Millennial ITCZ migration as recorded in the reflectance (R) measures of core ODP-1002 (Cariaco Basin, Venezuela)[82], numbers are the Dansgaard-Oeschger (D-O) events[83]; 4) Oxygen isotope ratio of speleothem Cuba Medio from the Santo Tomás cave (Cuba)[84], numbers are D-O events[83]; 5) Relative sea level (RSL) reconstruction based on seismic stratigraphy from the Venezuelan Gulf of Cariaco (blue line)[85] and several coral terraces from Barbados, Bonaire, Cayman, Curaçao, Haiti and San Andrés (Colombia) (yellow dots)[86][87][88][89][90]. Global temperature and sea-level reconstructions from refs [91].…”