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).