Sea-level fluctuations during the last glacial cycle
Open accessAbstract
The last glacial cycle was characterized by substantial millennial-scale climate fluctuations, but the extent of any associated changes in global sea level (or, equivalently, ice volume) remains elusive. Highstands of sea level can be reconstructed from dated fossil coral reef terraces, and these data are complemented by a compilation of global sea-level estimates based on deep-sea oxygen isotope ratios at millennial-scale resolution or higher. Records based on oxygen isotopes, however, contain uncertainties in the range of +/-30 m, or +/-1 degrees C in deep sea temperature. Here we analyse oxygen isotope records from Red Sea sediment cores to reconstruct the history of water residence times in the Red Sea. We then use a hydraulic model of the water exchange between the Red Sea and the world ocean to derive the sill depth-and hence global sea level-over the past 470,000 years (470 kyr). Our reconstruction is accurate to within +/-12 m, and gives a centennial-scale resolution from 70 to 25 kyr before present. We find that sea-level changes of up to 35 m, at rates of up to 2 cm yr(-1), occurred, coincident with abrupt changes in climate.
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The Red Sea remained narrowly open to exchange of seawater with the Indian Ocean throughout at least the last 450,000 years and perhaps further back in time.
“variations in salinity as recorded in the isotopic record of deep-sea marine cores suggest that the Red Sea remained narrowly open to exchange of seawater with the Indian Ocean throughout at least the last 450,000 years and perhaps further back in time (Siddall et al. 2003).”
From Coastlines, Submerged Landscapes, and Human Evolution: The Red Sea Basin and the Farasan Islands (2007) · cites this paper as Siddall et al. 2003
The earlier conclusion of Deuser et al (1976) that the deep-sea oxygen isotope record of the Red Sea indicates more arid conditions during glacial periods should be discounted, because high salinities are primarily due to reduced inflow from the Gulf of Aden rather than increased aridity.
“However, the earlier conclusion of Deuser et al (1976) that the deep-sea oxygen isotope record of the Red Sea indicates more arid conditions during glacial periods should be discounted, since they inferred increased aridity from high rates of evaporation associated with high salinities, whereas Siddall et al. (2003) show that high salinities are primarily due to reduced inflow from the Gulf of Ad”
From Coastlines, Submerged Landscapes, and Human Evolution: The Red Sea Basin and the Farasan Islands (2007) · cites this paper as Siddall et al. (2003)
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“Whether the Bab al-Mandab Straits at the southern end of the Red Sea, currently 29 km wide, remained open throughout the Quaternary is less certain, but variations in salinity as recorded in the isotopic record of deep-sea marine cores suggest that the Red Sea remained narrowly open to exchange of seawater with the In…”
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- Authors
- Siddall, M., Rohling, E. J., Almogi-Labin, A., Hemleben, C., Meischner, D., Schmelzer, I., & Smeed, D. A.
- Affiliations
- National Oceanography Centre (GB)
- University of Tübingen (DE)
- University of Göttingen (DE)
- Corresponding author
- Siddall, M.
- Venue
- Nature
- Published
- 2003-06-19
- Volume
- 423
- Issue
- 6942
- Pages
- 853-858
- ISSN
- 0028-0836 (ISSN-L)
- 1476-4687
- OpenAlex
- W2003868383
- Cited by
- 1,626
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 36 · 2025: 83 · 2024: 54 · 2023: 44 · 2022: 70 · 2021: 85 · 2020: 62 · 2019: 67 · 2018: 70 · 2017: 70 · 2016: 89 · 2015: 96 · 2014: 79 · 2013: 90 · 2012: 82
- FWCI
- 41.48
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- Licence
- Locations
- Nature (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Bristol Research (University of Bristol) (publishedVersion)
- RePEc: Research Papers in Economics (submittedVersion)
- ePrints Soton (University of Southampton) (submittedVersion)
- GRO (submittedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- National Science Foundation
- Topics
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Atmospheric Science › Geology and Paleoclimatology Research
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Oceanography › Marine and environmental studies
- Physical Sciences › Earth and Planetary Sciences › Earth-Surface Processes › Geological formations and processes
- Keywords
- sea-level change, last glacial cycle, millennial-scale climate variability, deep-sea oxygen isotopes, Red Sea, water residence time, sill depth, hydraulic modeling, ice volume, coral reef terraces, abrupt climate change
- MeSH terms
- Animals, Cold Climate, Ice, Methane, Oceans and Seas, Oxygen Isotopes, Plankton, Seawater, Temperature, Time Factors, Geologic Sediments
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