Ancient Sea Level as Key to the Future

Miller, Kenneth G.; Schmelz, William J.; Browning, James V.; Kopp, Robert; Mountain, Gregory S.; Wright, James D.

doi:10.5670/oceanog.2020.224

Cited by 33 publications

(26 citation statements)

References 64 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Order By: Relevance

“…This high sea level did not last long though, as the renewed glaciation of Antarctica (in the late Miocene) led to a rapid drop in sea level (Cowling et al, 2009). Since then, sea levels were transgressional, reaching modern levels during the Neogene (Miller et al, 2020). During the Pleistocene, sea levels also dropped several times during the past 2–3 Myrs, with lowering up to 130 m below the present coastline (Miller et al, 2020).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Cenozoic environmental changes drove the diversification of a weevil genus endemic to the Cape Floristic Region

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Cape Floristic Region in the Republic of South Africa is a well-recognized hotspot of biodiversity. Although this region is mostly known for its high level of plant diversity and endemicity, it also hosts an understudied and likely diverse arthropod fauna. Here we investigate the evolutionary history and timing of diversification of the apterous weevil genus Phlyctinus (Curculionidae: Entiminae), which is endemic to the coastal area and adjacent mountain ranges of the Cape floristic region and generally associated with sunflower plants (Asteraceae). We use a diverse array of molecular analyses (phylogenetic inference, molecular species delimitation and dating analyses) to analyse a novel molecular dataset of 202 weevil specimens (including 170 Phlyctinus sampled in 60 sites), and sequenced for two mitochondrial and four nuclear gene fragments. Phylogenetic and dating analyses indicate that the genus started diversifying in the late Miocene, with contrasting diversification dynamics for the three inferred clades, which present disjunct distributions. Host plant records and the lack of relatedness of species living in sympatry indicate that the diversification of Phlyctinus was predominantly driven by allopatric (geographic) speciation. We hypothesize that the interplay between topography and recurring cycles of coastline-habitat fragmentation resulting from sea level oscillations spurred the diversification of the most speciose clade, whereas in the two remaining clades populations likely remained connected thus hampering allopatric speciation. Interestingly, this pattern echoes with the role of sea level oscillations as an important driver of the radiation of several lineages in the coastline ecosystems of the Cape Floristic Region.

show abstract

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Late Cenozoic environmental changes drove the diversification of a weevil genus endemic to the Cape Floristic Region

et al. 2022

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…However, rapid changes in the RSL can upset this balance, leading to a decline in or even the disappearance of mangrove habitats. Previous studies on worldwide mangrove development during the entire Holocene have shown that the landward migration and communities succession of mangrove forests occurred from the Early to Middle Holocene, the period in which the RSL rose quickly FIGURE 5 | Comparisons between changes in mangrove-derived organic matter (MOM) and natural and anthropogenic records: (A-C) variations in MOM from the Q43 (this study), YLW02 (Meng et al, 2017), and HXL (Xia et al, 2019) cores, respectively, in Guangxi coasts; (D-E) temperature anomaly in China (Hou and Fang, 2011) and the Northern Hemispheric (Ljungqvist, 2010); (F) stalagmite δ 18 O records from Dongge Cave, SW China (Wang et al, 2005); (G) variation in the global sea level over the past 3,000 cal yr BP (Kemp et al, 2018;Miller et al, 2020) (H) population changes in Guangdong Province (logarithmic (base 10) scale (Zhao and Xie, 1988;Huang et al, 2018)); (I) Chinese dynasties and climatic stages (Zhu, 1973;Ge et al, 2014). The latter includes the Zhou Dynasty cold period (ZDCP), Qin-Han warm period (QHWP), Wei-Jin cold period (WJCP), Sui-Tang warm period (STWP), Song-Yuan warm period (SYWP), Ming-Qing cold period (MQCP), and Anthropocene warm period (AWP).…”

Section: Relative Sea Levelmentioning

confidence: 91%

“…(Parkinson et al, 1994;Gilman et al, 2007;Gilman et al, 2008;Li et al, 2012), while most mangrove forests developed in situ over the Late Holocene with a relatively stable RSL (Urrego et al, 2013;Cohen et al, 2016). According to the variation in sea level over the past 3,000 cal yr BP (Kemp et al, 2018;Miller et al, 2020), the sea level in each stage of mangrove development in Qinzhou Bay varied from 0.004 to 0.37 mm yr −1 (Figure 5G). Compared with the vast fluctuation in the RSL in the Early Holocene or even the Last Glacial Period, the changes in RSL have been relatively flat since 3,000 cal yr BP, which implies that mangroves had sufficient capacity to adapt to these changes.…”

Section: Relative Sea Levelmentioning

confidence: 95%

Response of Mangrove Development to Air Temperature Variation Over the Past 3000 Years in Qinzhou Bay, Tropical China

et al. 2021

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Mangroves, a blue carbon ecosystem between land and ocean in the (sub)tropics, are sensitive to changes in climate and the sea level. It is imperative to reconstruct the historical dynamics of their development to predict the fate of mangrove ecosystems in the backdrop of rapid global changes. This study analyzes records of the sources of organic matter from sediment core Q43 of Qinzhou Bay in tropical China by using the endmember mixing model based on stable organic carbon isotopes and C/N ratio. Mangrove-derived organic matter (MOM) is regarded as a reliable indicator for reconstructing the historical development of mangroves. The variations in MOM in Qinzhou Bay over the past ∼3,000 cal yr BP indicate that mangrove forests underwent two periods of flourishment: ∼2,200–1,750 cal yr BP and ∼1,370–600 cal yr BP, as well as three periods of deterioration: ∼3,000–2,200 cal yr BP, ∼1,750–1,370 cal yr BP, and ∼600–0 cal yr BP. Of factors that might have been influential, changes in the relative sea level and the regional hydrological environment (e.g., seawater temperature, salinity, and hydrodynamic conditions) did not appear to have notable effects on mangrove flourishing/degradation. However, climate change, especially the variation in air temperature, formed the primary factor controlling mangrove development. The stages of mangrove flourishing/deterioration corresponded to the warm/cold periods of the climate, respectively. Noteworthy is that the rapid rise in air temperature during the Anthropocene warm period should have promoted mangrove development, but the increasing intensity of human activity has reversed this tendency leading to the degradation of mangroves.

show abstract

“…Global and regional sea‐level change occurs due to a number of physical processes that change the volume of water in the ocean or change the volume of ocean basins (Miller et al., 2005) that act on different timescales and distinctively in space. For example, changes in BSL and GMTSL can act on relatively short (decadal‐10 5 year) timescales, whereas variations in ocean crust production and sedimentation (components of OBVSL) take much longer (10 6 –10 8 years) to substantially affect GMGSL (Miller et al., 2020b). Regional/local subsidence processes can be instantaneous for a process like a single faulting event, rapid for GIA (∼5 kyr scale), or act on long (10 6 –10 7 year) timescales like mantle driven processes (Petersen et al., 2010).…”

Section: Methodsmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A conversion factor (0.13‰/10 m; Winnick & Caves, 2015) was used to relate δ 18 O seawater to a sea‐level component of ice‐volume change. These estimates are largely representative of GMSL change on a geological time scale, as changes in thermosteric effects and lakes and groundwater storage are smaller in scale (∼10 m amplitude) than changes in ice‐volume (∼200 m amplitude; Miller et al., 2020b). These data have an estimated error of ∼10–20 m (Cramer et al., 2011; Miller et al., 2020a; Raymo et al., 2018).…”

Section: Datamentioning

confidence: 99%

Influence of Mantle Dynamic Topographical Variations on US Mid‐Atlantic Continental Margin Estimates of Sea‐Level Change

Schmelz

Miller

Kopp

et al. 2021

Geophysical Research Letters

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Spatial analysis of discrepancies in sea‐level estimates derived from “backstripping” Mid‐Atlantic margin cores reveals a coherent signal that can be fit with a 103 km wavelength, 45 m amplitude sinusoid that moved across the margin at a rate and direction of motion generally opposite to that of the North American Plate. This signal we observe suggests topographical uplift occurred over much of the Mid‐Atlantic region since 35 Ma and may be superimposed upon a longer‐wavelength signal of Cenozoic subsidence associated with the subducted Farallon plate passing beneath the Mid‐Atlantic margin. Our statistical modeling of Mid‐Atlantic margin strata suggests that: (a) Cenozoic subsidence is likely to have occurred, but is very unlikely to have exceeded 100 m in magnitude; and (b) variations in ocean basin volume are likely to have contributed to 39 ± 24 m (1σ) of global‐mean geocentric sea‐level fall over the past 55 million years.

show abstract

Ancient Sea Level as Key to the Future

Cited by 33 publications

References 64 publications

Late Cenozoic environmental changes drove the diversification of a weevil genus endemic to the Cape Floristic Region

Late Cenozoic environmental changes drove the diversification of a weevil genus endemic to the Cape Floristic Region

Response of Mangrove Development to Air Temperature Variation Over the Past 3000 Years in Qinzhou Bay, Tropical China

Influence of Mantle Dynamic Topographical Variations on US Mid‐Atlantic Continental Margin Estimates of Sea‐Level Change

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About