Sea Level Change Through the Last Glacial Cycle
Kurt Lambeck,*
John Chappell
Sea level change during the Quaternary is primarily a
consequence of the cyclic growth and decay of ice sheets, resulting in
a complex spatial and temporal pattern. Observations of this variability provide constraints on the timing, rates, and magnitudes of
the changes in ice mass during a glacial cycle, as well as more limited
information on the distribution of ice between the major ice sheets at
any time. Observations of glacially induced sea level changes also
provide information on the response of the mantle to surface loading on
time scales of 103 to 105 years. Regional
analyses indicate that the earth-response function is depth dependent
as well as spatially variable. Comprehensive models of sea level change
enable the migration of coastlines to be predicted during glacial
cycles, including the anthropologically important period from about
60,000 to 20,000 years ago.
Research School of Earth Sciences, The Australian National
University, Canberra 0200, Australia.
*
Present address: The Swedish Research Council 2001 Tage Erlander
Professor, Lund University, Sweden.
