Investigating Early Holocene Sea Level Rise in the Mississippi Delta within a Global Context
Abstract
Radiocarbon dating of basal peat in the Mississippi Delta yields a high-resolution record of early Holocene sea level rise (10.3-7.7 ka). Relative sea level (RSL) records are crucial to our understanding of the contributions of different ice sheets to global sea level rise. The early Holocene is a critical time period with regard to sea level rise because the high temperatures and rapid rates of ice sheet melting may be analogous to future conditions. In the Mississippi Delta, peat that immediately overlies the stable Pleistocene basement records the elevation of intertidal marshes that formed as the basement was submerged; the depth of the peat indicates the position of past sea level. The proximity of our study area to the Laurentide Ice Sheet makes our record relevant to determine the contribution of this ice sheet to early Holocene sea level rise. Comparison of the Mississippi Delta RSL record to distal RSL records shows significant global variations in local rates of sea level rise during the early Holocene. These comparisons lay the groundwork for future GIA modeling that will constrain the magnitude and timing of the contribution of different ice sheets to sea level rise.
- Publication:
-
AGU Fall Meeting Abstracts
- Pub Date:
- December 2016
- Bibcode:
- 2016AGUFMPP51B2294S
- Keywords:
-
- 0726 Ice sheets;
- CRYOSPHEREDE: 1621 Cryospheric change;
- GLOBAL CHANGEDE: 1641 Sea level change;
- GLOBAL CHANGE