Dynamic topography and long-term sea-level variations: There is no such thing as a stable continental platform

Moucha, R.; Forte, A. M.; Mitrovica, J. X.; Rowley, David B.; Quéré, S.; Simmons, N. A.; Grand, S. P.

doi:10.1016/j.epsl.2008.03.056

Cited by 300 publications

(335 citation statements)

References 37 publications

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“…Such a rate would be nearly twice as fast as the predicted thermal subsidence rate and observations from drowned western Pacific Ocean guyots (see Section 3.1). Ultimately, we find little evidence to support such a high subsidence rate (~36 m/Myr), especially given the island's location far from any polar ice sheet (Mitrovica and Milne, 2002) and minimal changes in dynamic topography over the past 30 million years (Moucha et al, 2008).…”

Section: Late Miocene To Present Sea-level Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 95%

Late Cenozoic sea level and the rise of modern rimmed atolls

Toomey

Ashton

Raymo

et al. 2016

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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Sea-level records from atolls, potentially spanning the Cenozoic, have been largely overlooked, in part because the processes that control atoll form (reef accretion, carbonate dissolution, sediment transport, vertical motion) are complex and, for many islands, unconstrained on million-year timescales. Here we combine existing observations of atoll morphology and corelog stratigraphy from Enewetak Atoll with a numerical model to (1) constrain the relative rates of subsidence, dissolution and sedimentation that have shaped modern Pacific atolls and (2) construct a record of sea level over the past 8.5 million years. Both the stratigraphy from Enewetak Atoll (constrained by a subsidence rate of~20 m/Myr) and our numerical modeling results suggest that low sea levels (50-125 m below present), and presumably bi-polar glaciations, occurred throughout much of the late Miocene, preceding the warmer climate of the Pliocene, when sea level was higher than present. Carbonate dissolution through the subsequent sea-level fall that accompanied the onset of large glacial cycles in the late Pliocene, along with rapid highstand constructional reef growth, likely drove development of the rimmed atoll morphology we see today.Published by Elsevier B.V.

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Section: Late Miocene To Present Sea-level Variabilitymentioning

confidence: 95%

Late Cenozoic sea level and the rise of modern rimmed atolls

Toomey

Ashton

Raymo

et al. 2016

Palaeogeography, Palaeoclimatology, Palaeoecology

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“…Estimates of peak mid-Pliocene sea levels based on a variety of geological records are consistent in suggesting higher-than-present sea levels, but they range widely (5-40 m) and are each subject to large uncertainties. For example, coastal records (shorelines, continental margin sequences) are influenced by glacio-hydro-isostatic (42) or global mantle dynamic processes (43). Both signals are large (5-30 m) and uncertain, and significant differences in published predictions of dynamic topography suggest that the latter is particularly poorly constrained.…”

Section: Paleo-evidencementioning

confidence: 98%

The multimillennial sea-level commitment of global warming

Levermann

Clark

Marzeion

et al. 2013

Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A.

262

224

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Global mean sea level has been steadily rising over the last century, is projected to increase by the end of this century, and will continue to rise beyond the year 2100 unless the current global mean temperature trend is reversed. Inertia in the climate and global carbon system, however, causes the global mean temperature to decline slowly even after greenhouse gas emissions have ceased, raising the question of how much sea-level commitment is expected for different levels of global mean temperature increase above preindustrial levels. Although sealevel rise over the last century has been dominated by ocean warming and loss of glaciers, the sensitivity suggested from records of past sea levels indicates important contributions should also be expected from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. Uncertainties in the paleo-reconstructions, however, necessitate additional strategies to better constrain the sea-level commitment. Here we combine paleo-evidence with simulations from physical models to estimate the future sea-level commitment on a multimillennial time scale and compute associated regional sea-level patterns. Oceanic thermal expansion and the Antarctic Ice Sheet contribute quasi-linearly, with 0.4 m°C −1 and 1.2 m°C −1 of warming, respectively. The saturation of the contribution from glaciers is overcompensated by the nonlinear response of the Greenland Ice Sheet. As a consequence we are committed to a sea-level rise of approximately 2.3 m°C −1 within the next 2,000 y. Considering the lifetime of anthropogenic greenhouse gases, this imposes the need for fundamental adaptation strategies on multicentennial time scales.climate change | climate impacts | sea-level change S ea-level projections show a robust, albeit highly uncertain, increase by the end of this century (1, 2), and there is strong evidence that sea level will continue to rise beyond the year 2100 unless the current global mean temperature trend is reversed (3-6). At the same time, inertia in the climate and global carbon system causes the global mean temperature to decline slowly even after greenhouse gas emissions have ceased (6), raising the question of how much sea-level rise we are committed to on a multimillennial time scale for different levels of global mean temperature increase. During the 20th century, sea level rose by approximately 0.2 m (7, 8), and it is estimated to rise by significantly less than 2 m by 2100, even for the strongest scenarios considered (9). At the same time, past climate records suggest a sea-level sensitivity of as much as several meters per degree of warming during previous intervals of Earth history when global temperatures were similar to or warmer than present (10, 11). Although sea-level rise over the last century has been dominated by ocean warming and loss of glaciers (7), the sensitivity suggested from records of past sea level indicates important contributions from the Greenland and Antarctic Ice Sheets. Because of the uncertainties in the paleo-reconstructions, however, additional strategies are req...

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“…For example, the vertical stability of the Australian continent and its suitability as a datum for MSL observations has been debated for decades [e.g., Emery, 1986, 1988;Bryant et al, 1988;Amin, 1993;Belperio, 1993;Feng et al, 2004;Sandiford, 2007;Moucha et al, 2008;Watson, 2011;Lewis et al, 2012]. Hay et al [2015], Haigh et al [2014], Hogarth [2014], Holgate and Woodworth [2004], Jevrejeva et al [2014], Jorda [2014], Merrifield et al [2009], Olivieri and Spada [2013], Watson et al [2015], and Woodworth et al [2009Woodworth et al [ , 2011; those that claim deceleration include Boretti [2012], Boretti and Watson [2012], Parker et al [2013], and Watson [2011]; those that claim neither include Schr€ oter [2010, 2014].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Nonlinear subsidence at Fremantle, a long‐recording tide gauge in the Southern Hemisphere

et al. 2015

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A combination of independent evidence (continuous GPS, repeat geodetic leveling, groundwater abstraction, satellite altimetry, and tide gauge (TG) records) shows that the long‐recording Fremantle TG has been subsiding in a nonlinear way since the mid‐1970s due to time‐variable groundwater abstraction. The vertical land motion (VLM) rates vary from approximately −2 to −4 mm/yr (i.e., subsidence), thus producing a small apparent acceleration in mean sea level computed from the Fremantle TG records. We exemplify that GPS‐derived VLM must be geodetically connected to the TG to eliminate the commonly used assumption that there is no differential VLM when the GPS is not colocated with the TG. In the Perth Basin, we show that groundwater abstraction can be used as a diagnostic tool for identifying nonlinear VLM that is not evident in GPS time series alone.

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Dynamic topography and long-term sea-level variations: There is no such thing as a stable continental platform

Cited by 300 publications

References 37 publications

Late Cenozoic sea level and the rise of modern rimmed atolls

Late Cenozoic sea level and the rise of modern rimmed atolls

The multimillennial sea-level commitment of global warming

Nonlinear subsidence at Fremantle, a long‐recording tide gauge in the Southern Hemisphere

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